Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

@zolides.bsky.social

1.6K followers 2.3K following 700 posts

Associate Professor specializing in Digital Media Industries I live in The Medium Place (Cincinnati, OH) Everything I say is me saying it, not my employer… which should be obvious (Profile art by Angel Trazo)

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · Jan 15

Teen Vogue is now the paper of record, and the NYT is a fashion magazine. The transfer is complete.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · Jan 14

23 82

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 1h

This is one of the most depraved things this administration has said, which is certainly saying something.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Bondi: "We've been living through a horrific cycle of political violence in this country ... night after night antifa wrecks havoc on the streets of our cities. In Minnesota, a gunman murdered a state lawmaker and her husband."

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

The Pleasure Vice Principle (he/him/his) @hannibaltabu.bsky.social · 1d

I saw the dot coms crash from a front row seat. AI is running out of money way faster.

The evangelism is insecurity from people who made the wrong bet. I’ve seen it before. futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

29 580 1.4K

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 1d

What in the hell is a “public expression activity?”

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 1d

Found this just incredibly depressing, more than anything.

An easel sign reads, “UCLA
ATTENTION
No events are permitted in this area today. Per Policy 852, this location is NOT designated for public expression activities.
Individuals participating in an event or a public expression activity in this area are subject to discipline and/or arrest.
Scan for policy information.”

1 2

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

Assistant HR Director of Antifa @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 1d

AI HUCKSTER: "i built you a machine that reads books for you."

ME: "can you build me a machine that unloads the dishwasher for me so *i* can read a book?"

14 280 1.1K

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 3d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

330 8.8K 28K

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 1d

Both fun and helpful for describing *everything.*

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 1d

That’s… not what he said at all. You shouldn’t misrepresent something just to score ‘points.’ It’s dangerous and unethical.

1 1 4

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 4d

Stephen Miller said the quiet part out loud. Trump has “plenary authority,” then suddenly went silent. Their plan wasn’t to be public yet. Clearly, someone hit the panic button in his earpiece.

It gets weirder: CNN uploaded the interview with the “plenary authority” comment edited out.
1/2

710 5.3K 9.1K

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 5d

GOP policy or wonton ‘AI’ speculation: which will destroy the American economy first?

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 6d

"The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year... In a way, then, America has become one big bet on AI."

America is now one big bet on AI

It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

www.ft.com

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

francisco varela fan club @paleopragmatist.bsky.social · 9d

honestly, there's no point in reconvening congress basically ever again if the executive branch claims unilateral authority over appropriated funds. democrats have nothing to gain by helping to obscure the fact that the republicans are trying to build a monarchy - let him have his rump parliament

9 140 630

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 5d

Every academic using ‘A.I.’

an older man is holding a ring in his hand and asking why shouldn 't i .

Alt: an older man is holding a ring in his hand and asking why shouldn 't i .

media.tenor.com

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 6d

Is any mainstream media going to report on all the times Trump has called out his political opposition during a speech to the military? Seems important.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."

1 3

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 7d

this is what happens when people who have never been oppressed a second of their lives try to invent oppression

Bunt Gunderson: Stock Market Expert @birdrespecter.bsky.social · 7d

BREAKING:

23 190 1K

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 8d

Remember this post from BlueSky CEO when they need to start monetizing… You aren’t wanted or needed here by those that “own” it.

Use it while it’s free and utile… but you don’t ‘owe’ this platform anything.

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 8d

You could try a poster’s strike. I hear that works

1 4

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 8d

Trump has already declared a Civil War with the goal being one-party autocracy.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Leavitt: "President Trump will end the radical left's reign of terror in Portland once and for all. The president has directed Secretary Hegseth to provide all necessary troops to protect war-ravaged Portland."

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 9d

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 10d

What’s more, this has been built to for years. Campuses have been bending over backwards to accommodate conservative complaints, stifling speech and processes all along.

I have seen scores more ‘progressive’ events cancelled/limited than I have ‘conservative,’ and frankly the ratio isn’t close.

Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 10d

We are in for an era on campuses where if conservative activists don’t get their way, they’ll run crying to Twitter in the hopes of getting politicians to force schools to accommodate them. It’s not about free speech, it’s about the ability to exert their will over others.

Chron.com @chron.com · 10d

"This is how free speech dies."

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 11d

“With the government shutdown and not funded, how will the President pay the troops he plans to have wage war on American cities?” is now a legitimate question for our political discourse.

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 12d

“.. OpenAI spent more on marketing and equity options for its employees than it made in revenue in the first half of 2025. That single fact sums up where we are in the AI cycle more neatly than anything we could ever write, so we’ll just end there.”

@financialtimes.com
www.ft.com/content/908d...

10 160 490

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 11d

Note the way he *holds* the box. It’s bizarre, like he has Spider-Man powers and it just sticks to his fingers and palm.

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 11d

I see. I saw more retreat down in Southwest Ohio myself during the first Trump term, but that might be due to being in the Cincinnati region. Deeper rural shifts you’re describing are significant

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 11d

THEY CLOSED PUBLIC POOLS RATHER THAN SWIM WITH BLACK PEOPLE

YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE SAME GROUP OF PEOPLE AS THE FOLKS WHO DID THIS

PLEASE WAKE THE FUCK UP

360 6.2K 25K

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 11d

I wonder how much is that the MAGA project is so much built on ‘beating’ Dems (in elections) more than actual governance. Now that the election is passed, these people have retreated back from civic life in so many ways and will just emerge to criticize Dems whenever they get another chance.

Andrew Zolides, Ph.D. @zolides.bsky.social · 11d

President declares Civil War.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 11d

Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"

Reposted by Andrew Zolides, Ph.D.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11d

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

680 16K 50K