Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Kate Laity 🧿

@katelaity.bsky.social

3.2K followers 1.3K following 3.3K posts

Professional Dilettante • Arcane Artist • Fulbrighter • Uberskiver • ‘Retired’ Medievalist • Tarotist • Owl-Blasted Surrealist | she/her |Dundee & Hudson *Visionary Fuel* https://linktr.ee/katelaity

linktr.ee

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Dr Kate Laity 🧿 @katelaity.bsky.social · 25d

I am selling tour merch to get to Berlin to share the gospel of #LeonoraCarrington at @occulture.bsky.social visionaryfuel.threadless.com

2 6 7

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 18m

The great thing about being a Trumpist is that Speaker Johnson can make the most absurd, evidence-free, ideologically-extreme claims imaginable about the democratic opposition, and media outlets will note the aggressive nature of his claims ("slams") and amplify his lies in the headline.

Politico @politico.com · 18h

Johnson slams the No Kings protest march scheduled to take place in DC next week as the “hate America rally” that would draw “the pro-Hamas wing” and “the antifa people.”

Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering

Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.

www.politico.com

5 13 48

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 1d

Of all the clerics they could have popped, those ICE idiots had to hit Hot Priest.

Presbyterian minister David Black on CNN, who was shot with pepper balls while praying outside an ICE facility.

330 2.4K 13K

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 1d

Premium: The AI Bubble's promises are impossible. NVIDIA's customers are running out of money, GPUs die in 3-5 years, most 1GW data centers will never get built, and OpenAI's Abilene data center doesn't won't have the power it needs before 2028 - if it ever does.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-ai-bubbl...

The AI Bubble's Impossible Promises

Readers: I’ve done a very generous “free” portion of this newsletter, but I do recommend paying for premium to get the in-depth analysis underpinning the intro. That being said, I want as many people ...

www.wheresyoured.at

30 240 930

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · 19m

Yep, I’ve been calling this “one-sided both-siderism.” It’s become a norm in mass media industry self-protection political positioning.

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2h

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

2 4 17

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 2h

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

150 2K 7.1K

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Lili Saintcrow @lilithsaintcrow.com · 16m

"But this whole ediﬁce hangs by a thread, and a study of how the poem has come down to us reveals many moments when the work could easily have disappeared for ever."

How Close Did We Come to Losing Beowulf Forever?

There are cases of important literary and historical works that survive in only one or two manuscripts. If they had suﬀered some accident, then our picture of the past might be altered in important…

lithub.com

4 2

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 18m

Fred Willard talking about a dog show in Best of Show (2000) is Donald Trump or any of his surrogates talking about any subject of public importance in 2025. (Autism and Tylenol, war ravaged Portland, tariffs, Trump’s Nobel Prize, etc etc)
youtu.be/-GaJPgI3jh4

Best in Show (7/11) Movie CLIP - Judging the Hounds (2000) HD

YouTube video by Movieclips

youtu.be

5 18 120

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 15m

EXCLUSIVE: Tommy Lee, Bill Cosby Sex Assault Accusers Await New Law to Revive Lawsuits — ‘I’m Not This Ghost’

If enacted, a California law could mark a seismic shift for women "waiting for justice" like Heather Taylor and Victoria Valentino.

Story: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

1 11 36

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 15m

Florida’s surgeon general’s anti-vax beliefs are only the tip of a very deeply weird iceberg.

Joseph Ladapo’s guiding voice? His wife, who believes she can talk to “Archangel Michael, Mary Magdalene, and many other beings of light.”

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

23 55 110

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

InkyInGreen 🍂 @blackwallmancer.bsky.social · 8d

Found this on the AO3 subreddit, and I'm about to let it change my whole life (or at least work really hard to internalize it wrt my writing).

Someone's screenshot of a two-post twitter thread, from user blue (@bluewmist):

the fastest way to kill motivation is to make your identity depend on the outcome. it's called ego involvement. when failing becomes failing as a person, your brain starts avoiding the whole thing. not because you don't care, but because you care too much.

you don't need lower standards. you need less self-worth tangled up in your goals. the work gets easier when it's not about proving who you are.

55 2.9K 6.4K

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 31m

The leadership of the measles outbreak response was fired in the RIF spree while RFK JR attempts to completely dismantle measles vaccine access for children.

Measles (Rubeola)
MENU V
As of October 7, 2025, a total of 1,563 confirmed* measles cases were reported in the United States. Among these, 1,542
measles cases were reported by 42 jurisdictions: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. A total of 21 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the U.S.
There have been 44 outbreaks** reported in 2025, and 87% of confirmed cases (1,355 of 1,563) are outbreak-associated. For comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated.

3 46 60

Dr Kate Laity 🧿 @katelaity.bsky.social · 14m

There's no such thing as an attractive poncho, is there? Unless you have a washboard chest.

a person standing in front of a sign that says popco talk suc

Alt: a person in a poncho walking in front of a sign that says popco talk suc

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Nov 13

if i've learned one thing from doing union stuff while also doing other forms of organizing, it's that you're better off with people you disagree with who are nevertheless trying to do the same thing as you than with people you agree with who aren't trying to do anything

63 1.4K 5.7K

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 17h

Republicans are pushing debunked anti-abortion propaganda as an excuse to rip mifepristone off the shelves and block women from getting abortion care.

100+ studies prove mifepristone is safe and effective.

SPEAK UP, we can't let them get away with this.

Nearly All GOP Senators Urge the FDA to Restrict Abortion Pills

The senators are asking the FDA to suspend its approval of generic mifepristone, which would heavily restrict access to abortion pills nationwide.

www.notus.org

28 350 910

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 @reshetz.bsky.social · 2h

Some kid is doing the standard “ur mom” voice chat trash talk and they got no idea they’re talking to bashar al assad

25 150 960

Dr Kate Laity 🧿 @katelaity.bsky.social · 1h

poets.org/poem/vitae-s...

Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam

They are not long, the weeping and the laughter

poets.org

1 1

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Dr Rebecca Hall I’m Spartacus! @wakerevolt.bsky.social · 2h

1 5

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Sarah E. Bond @sarahebond.bsky.social · 3h

The late antique communion bread find was exciting. And it again came up what the oldest bread known is. As Stephanie Wong and I wrote about, the oldest extant bread appears to be from Jordan—not Turkey. hyperallergic.com/878348/disco...

Discovery of 8,600-Year-Old Bread Gives Rise to Half-Baked Claims

Turkey’s narrative surrounding “the world’s oldest bread” raises questions about how archaeological heritage is used for nationalistic ends.

hyperallergic.com

3 19 81

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Bryan Talbot @bryan-talbot.bsky.social · 2h

Get a signed copy of the Casebook of Stamford Hawksmoor @goshcomics.bsky.social event on Saturday 8th November 2025 between 1-2pm! - full details over at goshlondon.com/the-gosh-blo... and there's even the ability to pay for a copy in advance!

3 7 12

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

J.A.Tallon @tallon.bsky.social · 1d

Alastair Sim in "The Belles of St. Trinian's" - BOTD

1 6 30

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 2h

To summarize,
it seems likely that British people were introduced to the oat-based ANZAC biscuit that Australians were sending in care parcels during the First World War and—for reasons unclear—began calling similar oat bars “flapjacks” around 1928.

In the US, flapjacks continued to mean pancakes.

Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 17h

We are realizing that we have no idea what British people think a “flapjack” is.

5 5 38

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Nothings Monstered @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social · 13h

Louise Glaum for The Leopard Woman, 1920

Black and white photograph of silent film star Louise glom wearing a leopard skin coat with the leopard's head as kind of a hat or Hood over her head and down on her forehead

1 9 45

Dr Kate Laity 🧿 @katelaity.bsky.social · 2h

Vitae summa brevis spem nos vehat incohare longam.

1 3

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Bloody Disgusting @bloody-disgusting.com · 2h

While a fourth season of YELLOWJACKETS has already been ordered up by Showtime, it has been announced this weekend that the fourth season will serve as the final season.

“Yellowjackets” Will End With Fourth and Final Season

While a fourth season of “Yellowjackets” has already been ordered up by Showtime, it has been announced this weekend that the fourth season will serve as the final season. Creators Ashley Lyle and Bar...

bloody-disgusting.com

6 23

Reposted by Dr Kate Laity 🧿

Randall Stephens @randalljstephens.bsky.social · 2h

Legal status of conversion therapy for minors

4 6