Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

@ksvarnon.bsky.social

2.4K followers 100 following 63 posts

Historian of Russia, Ukraine, the USSR, and East Germany. Writer and Commentator. Texan. Former K-12 teacher and Community College faculty. Perpetually behind PhD Candidate.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Jul 16

I'm seeing more followers, so I'll introduce myself. I'm a PhD Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania, writing a history of Blackness in the Soviet Union and East Germany. I'm a regional expert on Russia and Ukraine post-Cold War, particularly issues of racism, nationalism, and foreign policy.

4 3 61

Reposted by Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 6d

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

3 210 190

Reposted by Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 18d

This is an absolutely terrific piece from @texastribune.org and reinforces my belief that the best coverage of right-wing cancelations occur at the local level, after years of the national media focusing on threats from the left.
www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/t...

How a secret recording of a gender identity lecture upended Texas A&M

Officials have struggled to detail the exact reasons for the A&M professor’s termination, citing a technical issue with her course description. Faculty say the move was politically motivated.

www.texastribune.org

38 710 2.1K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · 18d

What, exactly, is happening in Oklahoma? Isn't this man under investigation for watching pornography during a State Board of Education meeting? Has he ever taught school? Isn't Oklahoma recruiting teachers from abroad due to shortages? This is performative and fixes nothing. He knows that.

Wendy Suares @wsuares.bsky.social · 18d

INBOX- Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters says a Turning Point USA club will at every high school campus in OK. “Our kids must get involved and active. We will fight back against the liberal propaganda, pushed by the radical left, and the teachers unions.”
#oklahoma #oklaed

1 3 19

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · 18d

Impotrant reporting, although I loathe the name "Alligator Alcatraz." Seems like a terrible way to normalize kidnapping and camps.

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 18d

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site

As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

www.miamiherald.com

7 14

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · 18d

Zelenskyy also met with Tokayev today. I think the US deals with Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan play a role in Trump's about-face on Ukraine today. But, as usual, this administration is too mercurial for Ukraine and its allies to let their guards down. Social media isn't equal to weaponry on the ground.

4 26

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 29

Many of the federal troops who massacred Native American women, children, and unarmed men at Wounded Knee received Medals of Honor. As I have said before, these are not unprecedented actions. Their precedents are erased history.

2 15 57

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 29

She called Taylor uneducated, said she had no class, and that she should just wait until she is out of the US.

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 29

Did I say there were excuses for the rest of the world? No. Did I say any of these areas didn't have racism? No, I did not. In fact, I said the opposite. Do you think you did something there?

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 28

And to remind you of my rural, Southeast Texas roots: considering the dumpster fire that is *everything* right now, particularly the academy (read: my future), I'm not the one to try about this on this app.

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 28

Finally, calling Black people uneducated, that they have no civilization (class) etc. were the same forms of discrimination African students faced in the Soviet Union (incl. Latvia) throughout the 1960s to the collapse. Same vein of dog whistle thrown at Serena + Venus for being "too manly."

1 8

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 28

Anti-Black racism as an accident/example of being naive is not acceptable. It also isn't "applying American race ideas" to Europe. These excuses simply refuse to recognize that racism and racist ideologies have circulated the world, and are rarely articulated in isolation. 3/

1 7

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 28

It is really tiresome to see people argue about treating Eastern European countries the same as the "West," and in the same breath create the idea of the naive racism of Eastern Europe. Same excuses for the racism Serena faced against Sharapova, when Polish presenters were in Blackface, etc. 2/

1 7

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 28

The discourse around Ostapenko being racist and rude to Taylor Townsend is fascinating. This issue is literally my research. We see, once again, the "racism doesn't exist in Latvia" excuse. Racism exists in the Baltics just like the rest of Eastern Europe. 1/

4 4 16

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 18

Seeing more job postings in various fields (European history, East Asian history, etc.) that are 'encouraging' people who focus on the history of science, technology, medicine, to apply. Feels like this is the new way to hire people who research 'safe' topics. Don't think it'll save us.

3 7

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 12

As negotiations between Russia and the US loom this week, it is important that we all understand what is at stake. I am one of the experts interviewed about the significance of Crimea to both Ukraine and Russia. @theworld.org

theworld.org/stories/2025...

In negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Crimea’s status is a red line that neither side will cross - The World from PRX

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged accusations while also expressing a willingness to negotiate a ceasefire. Meanwhile, any talks of concessions regarding Crimea remain a non-starter for both.

theworld.org

2 2 14

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 8

It is always a privilege to share my expertise with the public. I am one of the experts quoted in this piece on the experience of Black people, including African Americans, Africans, and Afro-Russians, in Russia today.
kyivindependent.com/what-its-rea...

What it’s really like being Black in Russia

After facing police discrimination as a Black woman in the U.S., Francine Villa decided to return to her birth country, Russia, in 2019, searching for the safety America had denied her. A year later,...

kyivindependent.com

2 9 24

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 7

It's an endless cycle: complain that you may buy school supplies for children whose parents don't/can't, complain when the teacher asks for donations, the teacher buys their own, complain that the schools should buy them, then vote against school funding increases (state and local).

1 6

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 7

Forget the shopping cart theory, I have the buying elementary school supplies theory.

1 6

Reposted by Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

Professor KPA 🗃️😷 @kpanyc.bsky.social · Aug 7

Stealing text from books written by PhDs and using probability-based algorithms to scramble that text up to make answers that *sound* *like* a person with a PhD answered them is not in fact PhD-level intelligence or expertise. It does tell us something about the people selling and using this slop

NBC News @nbcnews.com · Aug 7

OpenAI releases the newest version of the AI model that powers its popular ChatGPT chatbot, with CEO Sam Altman promoting it as like having a “team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket.”

OpenAI releases GPT-5, calling it a ‘team of Ph.D. level experts in your pocket’

OpenAI says its latest version of the popular AI model is better at coding, more accurate and less deceptive than previous versions.

nbcnews.to

6 67 200

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 5

I see this after the premier professional organization of my discipline releases its "AI guidelines" that undermine the entire practice of teaching critical thinking, reading, and writing. You know, the entire point of what we do. Bleak doesn't even begin to describe this.

Erin Fogg says Free Link @criminalerin.bsky.social · Jul 31

help my job says i have to do my job what do i do help

From r/chatGPTpro, 25 minutes ago: chatGPT blocked at work

Today my job decided to block the site. I use chatGPT to create SOPs (standard operating practices) and power points and polish my emails. What should I do now four question marks. It has 0 upvotes and 20 comments

1 2 13

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 4

My dissertation has pushed me into Cold War-era Soviet history, but my passion and training since undergrad is Stalinism. I've seen this movie before, though the US is doing a shorter timeline. We are nearing Shakhty. I am wondering who will be named the 'wreckers,' and if they will need a Kirov.

3 8 39

Reposted by Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon

Owen Barcala @obarcala.bsky.social · Aug 4

Before you see a hundred or so posts saying that Texas has issued arrest warrants for the absent Dem legislators, you should be aware that they are civil warrants issued by the House that are not effective outside the state

www.texastribune.org/2025/08/04/t...

180 2K 6.5K

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 1

Also, Medvedev regularly tweets insanity about the United States. So...how many times are we going to be moving nuclear subs? Or is it a distraction since old girl got moved to a minimum security prison and is probably going to get pardoned?

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Aug 1

So, we're repositioning nuclear submarines based on what Medvedev tweets. Lord, have mercy.

4 3 39

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon @ksvarnon.bsky.social · Jul 23

I'm in my archival research cave, but wooh! Hunter's got that dog in him!

1 5