Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · 13d

Amazing. Good thing our government didn’t cut $500 million of mRNA research. Oh wait…

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 14d

a new mRNA therapy apparently can cut the rate of Huntington's disease progression by ~75%. yet more miracle shit www.bbc.com/news/article...

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

www.bbc.com

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · 15d

Apparently The Rapture is trending? Time to surface and oldie: No, the Rapture is not in the Bible: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsj...

The Origins of the Rapture

YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast

www.youtube.com

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Rachel @rachelneedsanap.bsky.social · 17d

The Kabbalistic Tree of Baking

Whereby divine Volume emanates to the lower vessels & is differentiated into units

A chart showing how to convert various measures of volume used in baking. Each unit is portrayed as a circle with bumbers around it, and lines link each circle to the appropriate number on each of the other circles. It looks like the Kabbalistic tree of the sefirot.

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · 20d

Thank you!

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · 23d

I didn't realize how bad Google's enshittifictaion had become, until I switched my default browser to DuckDuckGo a few seconds ago. Holy shit, the AI overviews were degrading the user experience so much.

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · 23d

I’d be shocked

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Doug Saunders @dougsaunders.bsky.social · 26d

Definitely the best Iran headline of the year

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Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · Sep 4

A lot of the justifications point to the number of Religious Studies majors—but is this really how a dept’s value should be judged? In many RS departments in which I’ve taught, our courses have enormous enrollments & student interest +

“Counting majors does not reflect the value religious studies brings to a college, its proponents and practitioners say. Courses in religion are popular among undergraduates because they learn, often for the first time, about religion as something to study rather than to practice. Now that is more important than ever, some in the discipline say.”

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Shaily Patel @vox-magica.bsky.social · Sep 5

apropos of the religious studies isn’t theology convos…

my mom: i’m going to put [a copy of your book] by the altar.

me: i don’t know that it’s good enough for god, mom.

my dad: but god is all you write about.

(i didn’t have the heart to tell them i don’t write about god, obvs.)

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Sep 4

Love that these old videos are still getting attention. I've bene meaning to publish updated versions.

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Cass Morris @cassmorriswrites.com · Aug 22

This is a neat video by @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social, relevant to the considerations we've been playing with as part of #MythAugust, and very much the sort of thing we mean when we talk about a world feeling "lived-in" on @worldbuildcast.bsky.social.

youtu.be/pjrrUZeJMSo

Why Fictional Religions Feel So Fake

YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast

youtu.be

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GT @granitetide.bsky.social · Aug 22

we used to build household shrines to Going On The Computer and it's no coincidence that as we abandoned these we started straying further from god's light

90s computer desk with shelves for speakers, tower, printer, pull-out mouse and keyboard drawer etc

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Aug 21

Can any of my religious studies colleagues explain to me why Peter Thiel is so fascinated by the Antichrist? I need to know more

Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · Aug 21

Peter Thiel to give four lectures on the "biblical Antichrist." Among the "religious thinkers upon whom Peter will draw" is Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt.

Information on Thiel's lectures, which notes that he will draw from "religious thinkers" such as Rene Girard, Francis Bacon, Jonathan Swift, Carl Schmitt and John Henry Newman.

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Charles Louis Richter @richterscale.bsky.social · Aug 20

WITH 50% INCREASE, SHAKERS FASTEST GROWING RELIGION IN AMERICA

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Ruth Graham @ruthgraham.bsky.social · Aug 20

The Shaker population has risen by 50%: www.npr.org/2025/08/19/n...

The number of Shakers in the U.S. rises to 3

A new person has joined the last active Shaker community in the U.S, bringing the Christian, communal, and celibate group to a total of three. They once numbered in the thousands.

www.npr.org

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Aug 19

Awful news. I’m so sorry

Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Aug 12

I remember attending the Society of Biblical Literature’s annual meeting for the first time. I thought I had entered the twilight zone. So weird seeing papers being read word-for-word. We academics have normalized it as part of academic culture, but it is fucking weird.

Jerry Coyne @evolutionistrue.bsky.social · Aug 11

Why do academics in the humanities read their papers aloud, word for word, when they give talks at universities or at meetings, while scientists generally speak extemporaneously? If you read, you might as well just hand out the paper. It's a mystery.

whyevolutionistrue.com/2025/08/11/w...

Why do academics in the humanities read their papers aloud?

One of the big differences between academics in the humanities and in the sciences is that, at professional meetings or during lectures, humanities scholars read aloud from a paper they are holding…

whyevolutionistrue.com

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Todd Snider @toddthelinguist.bsky.social · Aug 3

Just imagine, extend their vision:

the student preparing for that job interview, that interview isn't with a person, it's with a chatbot
if the chatbot decides they get a job... wait I thought there weren't any jobs anymore, so is this a job where they just do prompting all day?

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Aug 3

I’m curious to see the antithesis. A university with no AI. Only pen, paper, and discussion. I’d put my money on those graduates than those graduating from “A.I.-native universities”

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Jun 7

Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, has a plan to overhaul college education — by embedding its artificial intelligence tools in every facet of campus life.
If the company’s strategy succeeds, universities would give students A.I. assistants to help guide and tutor them from orientation day through graduation. Professors would provide customized A.I. study bots for each class. Career services would offer recruiter chatbots for students to practice job interviews. And undergrads could turn on a chatbot’s voice mode to be quizzed aloud ahead of a test.
OpenAI dubs its sales pitch “A.I.-native universities.”

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Darius Baktash @sol-cantus.bsky.social · Jul 30

The most controversial thing I think @katieturnerphd.com dropped in her recent "What did Jesus Wear?" webinar (organized by @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social) was that Jesus may well have worn socks with sandals.

In all seriousness, it was phenomenal and deeply educational.

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Jul 24

It is very grim

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Tine Rassalle @tinerassalle.bsky.social · Jul 23

Every 2 years, my Belgian hometown celebrates the Medieval witches that used to live there. There's a parade, fireworks, and at the end, the burning of a witch at the stake. There's a lot of folklore involved, including decorating your front garden with witches

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Andrew Mark Henry @andrewmarkhenry.bsky.social · Jul 19

What did Jesus wear—and why does it matter? Join @katieturnerphd.com for a deep dive into 2nd Temple period Jewish clothing and how dress shaped identity, power, and piety in Jesus’s world.
Live online talk. Register here: www.religiondepartment.com/jesus-wear

What Did Jesus Wear

www.religiondepartment.com

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Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · Jul 9

“After two glorious years at the helm of this wonderful company, I have decided that being CEO during the release of Mechahitler was honestly a pretty bad vibe.”

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Jul 9

Linda Yaccarino announces she’s stepping down as the CEO of X

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