Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1d

The only thing anyone needs to know about Bari Weiss is that she first came to national attention trying to get a Middle East Studies professor at Columbia fired for anti-Israel views, and yet somehow huge amounts of the US media elite think she is committed to "free speech" and "heterodoxy."

Ian Gordon @idgordon.bsky.social · 1d

The NYT's Michael Grynbaum reported that this is the note that Bari Weiss sent to CBS News staffers this morning (1/2)

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Peter Beinart @peterbeinart.bsky.social · 1d

Why don’t Jewish groups who go on and on about Jewish safety demand David Adler’s release? Because when Jews defy Israel, their safety no longer matters. They stop being Jews because for the American Jewish establishment, "Jew" means "pro-Israel." This is what happens when you make a state your god.

Ro Khanna @rokhanna.bsky.social · 2d

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Ph.D. Program in History at The CUNY Graduate Center @historygc.bsky.social · 12d

🚨Interested in American Studies? Curious about how others lean into their scholarship in this current political climate?
Join scholars, writers, and students practicing various aspects of American Studies.
⭐History faculty members David Waldstreicher and David Reynolds will be among the speakers.

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 3d

Excellent response.

Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 4d

Dartmouth response to the Trump Administration Compact

president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...

Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President

president.dartmouth.edu

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 8d

It's not just bribery. He's now using personal litigation, backed by state extortion, to extract "settlements" which he then puts into an account he created to spend on government work, all entirely outside of Congress taxing or appropriating. It's full Charles I illegal taxation and spending.

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 8d

BREAKING

YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle the lawsuit brought by President Trump against the company for suspending his account.

Most of the funds will go towards the fund the president setup for the White House ballroom.

Full Story: on.wsj.com/46IT4P1

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 8d

I would like to talk with you about this sometime!

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 14d

This is great piece about the contradictions of unitary executive theory. I’ve always struggled to understand why powerful people take it seriously and the obvious answer is that it takes powerful people seriously.

There is something odd, however, about a democratic accountability that relies on maximalist claims of executive power and the subversion of congressional statutes. It seems positively strange, in fact, to have to point out that Congress - a coequal branch of government with more power at its disposal than any of the others — is democratically elected. But it's true.
Majorities of Congress are, in fact, democratically elected alongside the president. And where the public only has one chance every four years to choose a president, it has one chance every two years to choose a Congress.

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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 14d

a most useful+dialectical philosopher, on shame +decency

"seeing this kind of basic social norm enforcement as fundamentally at odds with living in a free country is deeply delusional...shame serves as a robustly liberal alternative to political violence."

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review

Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

www.bostonreview.net

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 15d

I'm in the "Guardian" writing about Judith Butler and the new McCarthyism: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Judith Butler is being targeted by the US government. We must stand up | Joel Swanson

What is happening to Judith Butler – a Jewish intellectual – in the name of fighting ‘antisemitism’ is outrageous

www.theguardian.com

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 15d

"A new survey shows that while most Jews are concerned about antisemitism on campus, “three-fourths of the sample view the Trump administration as using antisemitism as an excuse.”1 We are the majority."

www.npr.org/2025/09/17/n...

Most American Jews say Trump is using antisemitism as an 'excuse' to silence free speech at universities

Most Jewish Americans disapprove of the Trump administration withholding funds from colleges to address anti-Jewish sentiment, according to a new survey.

www.npr.org

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Evil Orc Heart @evanurquhart.bsky.social · 15d

This message is very important to remind ourselves of and to share with other people.

slick nik @coleskiiiiii.bsky.social · 16d

shit ain’t over til it’s over

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 16d

Ah now we know why you have the highest Colleague Above RePlacement numbers ever.

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 16d

only if exchangeable for a bitcoin

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 17d

this charlie kirk deification is some of the weirdest shit i have ever seen

Soraya Nadia McDonald @sorayanadiamcdonald.com · 17d

LMAO WUT

Oklahoma Republicans propose all state colleges must have Charlie Kirk statue

Schools would be required to build memorial plaza and describe slain activist as civil rights leader or face fines

www.theguardian.com

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 17d

Watergate-level high crimes and misdemeanors happening right in front of us every day

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17d

There is no world in which it is normal for the president to publicly call upon his attorney general to hurry up and prosecute his political foes. It’s like the Watergate tapes but posted on social media. Let’s get a grip on what’s happening here.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 20d

I’ve already shared this, but it is good and worth your time. There is no excuse for the way supposedly free and responsible media outlets, including @npr.org, have helped and are still helping this fiction along

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 20d

Ezra Klein went beyond opposing political violence to extol Charlie Kirk for doing politics "exactly the right way," making up a fictional version of Kirk to praise.

That distortion, with its indulgence of bad faith, is a perfect illustration of the larger media failure that helps Trump.

My latest

Ezra Klein Accidentally Shows How the Media Brought Us Trump

The prominent liberal pundit made up a fake version of Charlie Kirk to praise, laundering his reputation the way a lot of mainstream media launders MAGA

www.arcdigital.media

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 23d

This technology is so clearly designed to profit off cheating and struggling students--its insidious. And yet universities keep announcing how they're allowing this company into its midst, to exploit and incapacitate our students even more

A photo from Jamie Keller Davis for the NYT: a color photo of a Chicago skyline showing three buildings photographed from street level. The one in the center has brown brick-like walls, and a very large poster advertising ChatGPT. The poster shows a conversation between a hypothetical student and ChatGPT: "Can you quiz me on the muscles of the leg?" "Can you build me a first time marathon training plan?" The text at the bottom of the poster reads: "ChatGPT Plus is free during finals.

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onion person @junlper.beer · 24d

what we’ve seen from the right is the most insane case of cancel culture i’ve ever witnessed. the left has never even done close to a fraction of a fraction of what they want to do now

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Christopher McKnight Nichols @cmcknichols.bsky.social · 24d

OSU faculty and staff on the tragedy of our current violent, polarized, hyper-politicized moment and era #Lantern www.thelantern.com/2025/09/ohio...

Ohio State professors share insight on political violence following Charlie Kirk’s assassination

An increase in party polarization and bipartisan political violence are the top reasons Ohio State experts in political science and extremism attribute to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. A right-wing ac...

www.thelantern.com

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 24d

Founders discourse defined.

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 24d

If your point depends on you and your readers not knowing too much about your subject, it may not be a good point

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 26d

NYT Is Doing Op-Ed Pages the Wrong Way

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 26d

“Kirk & I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side of the continued possibility of American politics.”

So it’s personal? B/c if you were a Black woman or transgender, Kirk would not imagine you having any role in the future of American politics.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 27d

The Israeli right's postulation of a meaningful concept of "Judeo-Christian civilization" conflicts with their Judeo-pessimist attempt to postulate an eternal anti-Judaism in the world, so criticism of the modern state of Israel can be conflated with medieval blood libels.

"Charlie Kirk was murdered for speaking truth and defending freedom. A lion-hearted friend of Israel, he fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization. I spoke to him only two weeks ago and invited him to Israel. Sadly, that visit will not take place.
We lost an incredible human being.
His boundless pride in America and his valiant belief in free speech will leave a lasting impact.
Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk"

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 27d

Kirk received $1.25 million from a billionaire supermarket heiress to arrange bus transportation for people to attend Trump’s January 6, 2021 rally in DC devoted to overturning the results of the election he lost.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 27d

Kirk waged a national campaign to tarnish MLK's legacy. This was last year.

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David Waldstreicher @dwaldstreicher.bsky.social · 27d

Always knew the Yankees had fashy tendencies (George, Rudy) but this is next level.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 27d

“youth activist group”

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 27d

“Judeo-Christian” is a twofer: it’s both antisemitic and Islamophobic

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