Dan Li, Ph.D.
@dan-li-o.bsky.social
In academia, merit doesn’t pay — visibility does. I help scholars become visible. | danlio.studio | Also, my Erdős number is 5.
personal site: https://dan-li-o.github.io
personal site: https://dan-li-o.github.io
Pinned
Dan Li, Ph.D.
@dan-li-o.bsky.social
· Nov 6
Most people say "I need a website."
WRONG.
You don't give a keynote thinking "I need clothes."
You think "I need to look sharp and professional. Most importantly, I need to look ME."
This is why fumbling with WordPress/Wix templates gives you clothes but not style.
WRONG.
You don't give a keynote thinking "I need clothes."
You think "I need to look sharp and professional. Most importantly, I need to look ME."
This is why fumbling with WordPress/Wix templates gives you clothes but not style.
Daughter: Everybody loves everybody in this family!
Ryan: I'll teach you how to write that in predicate logic when you turn 7.
Me: For all x... Do?
Ryan: We don't use the do operator here.
Me: Except for between Dad and Mom?
Ryan:
Ryan: I'll teach you how to write that in predicate logic when you turn 7.
Me: For all x... Do?
Ryan: We don't use the do operator here.
Me: Except for between Dad and Mom?
Ryan:
a man in a suit and tie is holding a cup of coffee and says `` pfft '' .
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is holding a cup of coffee and says `` pfft '' .
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Daughter: Everybody loves everybody in this family!
Ryan: I'll teach you how to write that in predicate logic when you turn 7.
Me: For all x... Do?
Ryan: We don't use the do operator here.
Me: Except for between Dad and Mom?
Ryan:
Ryan: I'll teach you how to write that in predicate logic when you turn 7.
Me: For all x... Do?
Ryan: We don't use the do operator here.
Me: Except for between Dad and Mom?
Ryan:
17 | Not a Very Good Mom
From a professor to a "not very good" stay-at-home mom
open.substack.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:50 AM
Each choice I made to give up my own opportunities so that we can keep together as a family was obvious at the time, but inch by inch, they took away my career, identity, and the worst of all: confidence.
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
17 | Not a Very Good Mom
From a professor to a "not very good" stay-at-home mom
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Each choice I made to give up my own opportunities so that we can keep together as a family was obvious at the time, but inch by inch, they took away my career, identity, and the worst of all: confidence.
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
When my toddler said I'm not a very good mom...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
17 | Not a Very Good Mom
From a professor to a "not very good" stay-at-home mom
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:14 PM
When my toddler said I'm not a very good mom...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
14 | An Affair in the Elevator
Reason can only take you so far
open.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:25 PM
"Motherhood feels like a slow disappearance—of sleep, solitude, even air. But in that disappearing, something else expands: the number of hearts beating because of you."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
5 | Space
When love leaves no room untouched
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
"Motherhood feels like a slow disappearance—of sleep, solitude, even air. But in that disappearing, something else expands: the number of hearts beating because of you."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
"Meritocracy is an illusion, a myth, a mechanism to trick us working-class apes into working harder for those who can tell good stories."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
13 | The Myth of Meritocracy
Accepting that meritocracy doesn't exist will set you free
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:04 PM
"Meritocracy is an illusion, a myth, a mechanism to trick us working-class apes into working harder for those who can tell good stories."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
"It takes something special to make New York subway say 'Don’t be someone’s subway story.'"
nothingbut30.substack.com/p/15-when-do...
nothingbut30.substack.com/p/15-when-do...
When Does One Become a New Yorker?
Are New Yorkers simply cold-blooded jerks?
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
"It takes something special to make New York subway say 'Don’t be someone’s subway story.'"
nothingbut30.substack.com/p/15-when-do...
nothingbut30.substack.com/p/15-when-do...
“When you’re employed, you don’t care about the tangible returns of the work you do. You get paid. That’s all you need to know.”
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
9 | The Work That Doesn’t Work
On the fine line between self-employment and unemployment
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:15 PM
“When you’re employed, you don’t care about the tangible returns of the work you do. You get paid. That’s all you need to know.”
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
"... he lost most of his teeth—toothache after toothache—because it pained him even more to pay to visit a dentist."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
12 | Is Frugality a Scar?
My unsettled relationship with money
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM
"... he lost most of his teeth—toothache after toothache—because it pained him even more to pay to visit a dentist."
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
November 24, 2025 at 1:28 PM
It's hard to make a difference when people Google you and only find Bluesky posts.
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
It's hard to make a difference when people Google you and only find Bluesky posts.
"Jane texted me out of the blue a few days ago.
your due date’s close right how’s it going I’m good thanks how are you how’s the kiddo we’re good she just started kindergarten that’s good"
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
your due date’s close right how’s it going I’m good thanks how are you how’s the kiddo we’re good she just started kindergarten that’s good"
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
10 | Because We Grew Up
From sounding indifferent to being indifferent
nothingbut30.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:25 PM
"Jane texted me out of the blue a few days ago.
your due date’s close right how’s it going I’m good thanks how are you how’s the kiddo we’re good she just started kindergarten that’s good"
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...
your due date’s close right how’s it going I’m good thanks how are you how’s the kiddo we’re good she just started kindergarten that’s good"
open.substack.com/pub/nothingb...