Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kai Thaler

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 8h

The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

33 750 2.7K

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 1d

The original photo by Bettmann (licensed from Getty Images) is of people in Managua celebrating the 1979 revolutionary victory of the Frente Sandinista and a popular uprising in Nicaragua www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-...

Managua, Nicaragua-Victorious Sandinista rebel forces completely...

Managua, Nicaragua-Victorious Sandinista rebel forces completely cover a small mini-tank as they ride through the downtown streets singing and celebrating their victory over Somoza and his National...

www.gettyimages.com

2

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 1d

When Rebels Win now has a cover! Thanks to the @cornellupress.bsky.social team for work on the design. It's out December 15, & available to preorder. Please get in touch if you're interested in having me talk about the book in a seminar series or a class! www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Book cover for When Rebels Win: Ideology, Statebuilding, and Power after Civil Wars by Kai M. Thaler, featuring an image of people riding a military vehicle and celebrating the 1979 Sandinista revolutionary victory in Nicaragua

1 1 18

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Dr. Semuhi Sinanoglu @semuhi.bsky.social · 3d

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 #𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 #𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬?

They face huge risks, especially during economic crises, when dictators choose to financially extort or #purge their business allies. And yet, despite their power to disrupt, business elites rarely switch sides.

My research shows why.

2 11 15

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 8d

My article "From Insurgent to Incumbent: Ideology, Rebel Governance, and Statebuilding after Rebel Victory in Civil Wars" is now out in an @comppol.bsky.social print issue with page numbers www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cuny...

1 5

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 10d

Fabricating “evidence” of crimes is one use. You know the reactions to political violence? Soon false accusations will have video that appeals real to anyone not looking closely. And maybe to them too.

But another problem is people dismissing real evidence because they think anything could be fake.

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 10d

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

18 170 710

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 11d

EU extending targeted Nicaragua sanctions for another year as we reach seven and a half years since the 2018 protests and government crackdown www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

Nicaragua: Council extends restrictive measures for another year

The Council prolonged sanctions regime by one year, in the light of the political and social situation in Nicaragua.

www.consilium.europa.eu

3

Reposted by Kai Thaler

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 11d

This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 11d

regrettably if you try to point this out online you'll get yelled out by 79208 journalists going OH SO YOU WANT JOURNALISTS TO STARVE??? even if you're, say, a journalist yourself, and point out that while there are clearly no easy answers, the status quo isn't exactly working for society

86 1.2K 3.4K

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Cristi Proistosescu @cristiproist.bsky.social · Jul 4

People always ask me : “Cristi, how do you manage parenting a baby while going up for tenure?”

It’s easy. The secret is *flow-based-scheduling*. Here are its three core strategies for new academic parents:

Sleep when the baby sleeps
Cry when the baby cries
Publish when the baby publishes

17 120 790

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Matt Pearce @mattdpearce.com · 13d

Kaleb Horton RIP.

The last magazine writer

What left with Kaleb Horton.

mattdpearce.substack.com

14 170 820

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 13d

Enjoy! my first match at the new stadium was Wolves a couple years ago (and a 1-0 win), so hope you get a similar result but more goals!

1 1

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 17d

"higher ed is an economic engine, health-care engine, technological-innovation engine.

it should be a common public good for everyone. the vast majority of Americans of any political stripe need education for their kids, their families, in order to move forward."
www.chronicle.com/article/is-t...

Is the AAUP Too Partisan? Its President Doesn’t Think So.

Todd Wolfson has taken heat for some of the organization’s political stances during his tenure. Here’s what he makes of the criticism.

www.chronicle.com

1 24 120

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 15d

Are there people in sociology who still don't know what happened to the journal, or is it pretty widespread knowledge? I could certainly imagine political scientists (who sometimes published in T&S in the past) being unaware what's happened

1 2

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 16d

Important reporting on how young people from multiple African countries have been lured by promises of jobs and education and then forced to work in support of Russia and Belarus's war on Ukraine www.premiumtimesng.com/investigatio...

INVESTIGATION: Russia's Alabuga Scandal in the Great Lakes: Caught in the Snow

"They used us in human wave attacks, treating men as cannon fodder. So many of the people I trained with in Rostov-on-Don were lying dead on the ground in Donetsk."

www.premiumtimesng.com

1 3

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Megan O’Toole @meganotoole.bsky.social · 16d

Final goodbyes to Gaza City: ‘I look at the walls of my house, even the lamp, and it breaks my heart, the little details. It feels strange to think I won’t have a house. This thought will haunt you no matter where you go.’

Final goodbye: MEE reporters on the pain of being forced out of Gaza City

Facing death or displacement, Palestinian journalists make the agonising decision to leave or stay in the city under Israeli attack

www.middleeasteye.net

1 9 19

Reposted by Kai Thaler

James Worrall @jamesworrall.bsky.social · 19d

#CRS2025 also saw the launch of our latest @civilwarsjournal.bsky.social Special Issue on the Legacies of Rebel and Paramilitary Governance.
Check out the SI here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/fciv20/c... with @nielsterpstra.bsky.social

5 5

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Jerome Drevon @jeromed.bsky.social · 18d

The arrival of Ahmad al-Sharaa in NYC for the UNGA is a timely moment to highlight our new book, published a few weeks ago in Europe and in a month ago in the US (already on Kindle). What lessons can we draw from the past? A threat

1 4 5

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 18d

Some good news from Egypt wapo.st/46zoDuT (gift link)

Egypt’s president pardons jailed Arab Spring activist Alaa Abdel Fattah

Abdel Fattah was a symbol of the 2011 uprising but was arrested two years later. He has since spent almost all of the past 12 years behind bars.

www.washingtonpost.com

2 9

Reposted by Kai Thaler

Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 18d

David Petraeus greeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Concordia Summit in NYC. When Petraeus was a 3-star in Iraq in 2004-6, Sharaa was fighting the US as a member of the al-Qaida branch there; when Petraeus was a 4-star, Sharaa was teaching fellow Camp Bucca detainees classical Arabic

7 44 200

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 19d

Also featuring insights from Dora María Téllez, Karen Kampwirth, and Alberto Cortés Ramos

1

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 20d

Link should be a gift link, but let me know if you can’t read the full article

1 1

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 20d

In Nicaragua, longtime regime loyalists have been purged, shoring up Rosario Murillo’s power, likely to help her fully take over if her husband, longtime President Daniel Ortega, resigns or dies. I spoke with Frances Robles from the @nytimes.com about the crackdown www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/w...

They Helped Oust a Dictator. Now the New Regime Is Coming for Them.

www.nytimes.com

1 5 10

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 20d

Proposal would cut oversight of LA county jails in the name of “cost-cutting,” when the need for outside scrutiny of jail conditions is extremely clear www.latimes.com/california/s...

Jail watchdog that exposed grim conditions faces elimination under L.A. County plan

The Sybil Brand Commission, which has documented substandard L.A. County jail conditions for decades, would cease to exist if the Board of Supervisors moves forward with a cost-cutting plan.

www.latimes.com

1 1

Reposted by Kai Thaler

James Myall @jamesxmyall.bsky.social · 21d

Update on Maine-Canada border crossings - August saw 115,000 fewer people crossing at ports of entry compared to 2024, a 28% decline.

That takes the total reduction in crossings to 560,000 since February. #mepolitics

5 35 84

Kai Thaler @kaimthaler.bsky.social · 24d

www.bbc.com/news/article...

'The bombing has been insane': Palestinians scramble to flee Israeli assault on Gaza City

Palestinians tell the BBC whole residential blocks have been levelled as the Israeli army ramps up its offensive in the city.

www.bbc.com