Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · 1d

I bet no one told you that the Missouri Farm Bureau endorsed the Republican politicians who support Trump’s tariffs and trade war…the two things decimating Missouri soybean farmers.

Did you know that the Farm Bureau sends out a list of “farmer-friendly” politicians to each Farm Bureau member?

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 1d

Why is Chicago a GREAT town for comics creators? Concordia University (IL) student reporter Eric Perry asked me and (separately) Jazz musician Joe Clark, who’s done some comics writing on the side. A great tribute to our community in this time of travail.

spectator.cuchicago.edu/7046/showcas...

What Pulls Comics Writers and Artists to Chicago?

Chicago’s best-known nickname is The Second City. The moniker was coined by A.J. Liebling, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, who used the nickname to put down Chicago. However, if there is one are...

spectator.cuchicago.edu

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The Deadlands @thedeadlands.com · 1d

did you know THE DEADLANDS is doing a fundraiser

raising FUNDS to keep publishing GOOD STUFF (about death)??

please by a coin and help FUNGUS we mean FUND US

psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

A meme image based on Nickelback’s “Look at this photograph” scene. The lead singer is holding up a framed picture, but instead of a photo, the frame shows a custom coin design featuring a skull with mushrooms, plants, and the words “Admit One.” Below the image, the meme text says: “look at this coin” with the word “coin” in red replacing “photograph.”

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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 1d

Whenever anyone says how much of the U.S. economy is tied to AI right now, I'm like...damn, what if a single rich person had any idea other than "try to zero out labor costs through theft."

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Banned Books Week @bannedbooksweek.bsky.social · 1d

TODAY: Don't miss an afternoon of programs with our friends at Booklist, including a panel with @ashleyhopeperez.bsky.social @kellyyang.bsky.social @jarrettdapier.bsky.social 😍

Booklist Publications @ala-booklist.bsky.social · 2d

📆Registration is free! Join us & @oif.bsky.social tomorrow (10/9) for a multi-session workshop with resources to help libraries prepare for and combat book challenges. Stay tuned for our author panel feat. @jarrettdapier.bsky.social, @kellyyang.bsky.social, & #AshleyHopePérez! RSVP: bit.ly/3KlmknK

Promotional graphic for upcoming Booklist and OIF workshop: READ ON: TOOLS TO HELP YOU PREPARE FOR AND RESPOND TO BOOK CHALLENGES happening Thursday, October 9 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET.

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Middle West Press @middlewestpress.bsky.social · 1d

“A collection that haunts, challenges, and frames anew a region that should perhaps be renamed ‘the dark heartland of America!’”
— @travisklempan.bsky.social, author of the supernaturally tinged post-GWOT novels "Have Snakes, Need Birds"and "Hills Hide Mountains"

More info: amzn.to/47buzvn

IMAGE: Book cover of "Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn" anthology features a giant, shambling creature towering over a lone humanoid figure walking through a flowery forest

TEXT: "New Poetry & Flash!" ... “A collection that haunts, challenges, and frames anew a region that should perhaps be renamed ‘the dark heartland of America!’”
—Travis Klempan, author of the supernaturally tinged post-GWOT novels "Have Snakes, Need Birds"and "Hills Hide Mountains"

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Ray E. Boomhower @rboomhower.bsky.social · 1d

Here's to one of this country's original antifa activists, Mary Donovan Hapgood, the first woman to run for governor in Massachusetts (1928) and Indiana (1940), both times as the candidate of the Socialist Party.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

This pretty much captures the contradictions of the politics of Kirk and Turning Point: Of course we oppose doxxing and violence, but we will absolutely use inflammatory language, false claims, and enemies list that fuels threats and intimidation.

Several days after publishing the petition calling for Dr. Bray’s dismissal from Rutgers, the Turning Point USA chapter added an update saying that it did not support harassment or the doxxing of him or anyone else.

“I think that all death threats and doxxing are unjustified and not how political disputes should be resolved in civilized society,” Ava Kwan, a Turning Point USA chapter member, said in an email on Wednesday.
But she defended the broader point of the petition, saying, “I think Dr. Antifa, who believes in violence as a political tool, should be fired, of course. Taxpayer money should not fund the salaries of terrorists.”

For years, Turning Point USA has maintained a watch-list of hundreds of professors whom the group accuses of advancing leftist propaganda in the classroom. Dr. Bray is on the list.

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Ray E. Boomhower @rboomhower.bsky.social · 1d

I will be part of a panel talking about Hoosier author Booth Tarkington this Saturday as part of the @indianahumanities.bsky.social's Proof Midwest Literary Fest.
indianahumanities.org/event/the-le...

The Legacies of Booth Tarkington - Indiana Humanities

Booth Tarkington is one of just four authors to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction twice, putting him in a category with William Faulkner, John Updike, and Colson Whitehead. However,...

indianahumanities.org

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Middle West Press @middlewestpress.bsky.social · 2d

Praise for “CRYPTIDS, KAIJU & CORN"!

“[T]he visceral heartbeats of grit, horror, and rural life come together to linger provocatively on the reader’s mind!”
— Sirrah Medieros, editor of “Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell: An LGBTQ+ Horror Anthology” @tundraswanpress.bsky.social

More info: amzn.to/47buzvn

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 2d

this is wonky stuff and is also really important

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 2d

So this is funny.
The administration just issued a rule slashing foreign agricultural worker wages. And to justify it, in a public filing, Trump's Labor Department alleges that Trump's immigration enforcement has devastated the Ag workforce and caused a "risk of supply shock-induced food shortages."

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 2d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Apex Magazine (is funding for 2026!) 🎉 @apexmag.bsky.social · 3d

WE'RE 30% FUNDED!! 🎉🎉🎉 Apex will be open to nonfiction pitches FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! ✨

Want to unlock the next chapter of Apex? Please consider backing our Kickstarter and help us keep publishing the strange, surreal, shocking, beautiful stories you love!

www.kickstarter.com/.../apexpu.....

30% UNLOCKED!

For the first time, Apex will open to nonfiction pitches. We are expanding our nonfiction editorial team! ZZ Claybourne has been our nonfiction editor for the past couple of years, and is doing a fantastic job. His editorial eye has elevated Apex’s nonfiction and has helped us discover many new voices. Rodney Carlstrom will be joining the Apex team as an associate nonfiction editor to help ZZ manage submitted nonfiction pitches.

cow floating in space with some astronauts next to the current Kickstarter number, "$6,000!"

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SeanB @scribbalqwill.bsky.social · 3d

I'M PUBLISHED!!

My micro-story, "The Family Farm" is included in this new anthology from Middle West Press, available TODAY in ebook and print!

Check it out now, along with the 50+ other stories and poems about monsters in the American Midwest.

Middle West Press @middlewestpress.bsky.social · 3d

NEW! HAUNTING VISIONS OF 'FLYOVER COUNTRY!'

“Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters”
- Print: amzn.to/47buzvn
- Kindle e-book: amzn.to/3ZSvQn0

Short poems & 300-word narratives that illuminate, celebrate, or challenge stereotypes of Midwestern identity!

Book cover of "Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn" anthology features a giant, shambling creature towering over a lone humanoid figure walking through a flowery forest. Text reads: "NOW ON SALE! More than 50 fresh visions and explorations regarding the ‘forgotten’ terrain and deep recesses of the American Midwest!"

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Maggie Tokuda-Hall @maggietokudahall.bsky.social · 4d

It's banned books week and so I'm legally obligated to bully you, a person who has ever had their name on a book, into joining @authorsabb.bsky.social.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

We fight the source of book bans with calls to action, partnership w everyone in the game, and offer training.

AABB Author Sign-Up Form

Hello! We're Authors Against Book Bans, a group of authors who’ve come together to protect and promote the freedom to read on both the national and local levels. We’re creating a network of authors to...

docs.google.com

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Iamerror @imakethin.gs · 4d

I have a bunch of these I stick in places

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A.C. Wise @acwise.bsky.social · 3d

The @thedeadlands.com annual fundraiser is here! Get a gorgeous custom coin, plus cool singed books, including the fancy German editions of Wendy, Darling and Hooked!

The Deadlands @thedeadlands.com · 4d

it's here, The Deadlands fundraiser 💀

buy your very 2026 coin for the ferryman and help support us

we've got signed books, deadlands issues + psychopomp book bundles, and more coming soon!

please like + RT this to help spread the word

psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

behold!

Illustration of a white skull partially obscured by colorful mushrooms and plants. Different fungi sprout from and around the skull, including red mushrooms with white spots, yellow fan-shaped mushrooms, gray cluster mushrooms, and orange bulbous mushrooms, with green and purple plants filling the background. A ribbon at the bottom of the skull reads “ADMIT ONE.”

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Eric Chandler @shmof16.bsky.social · 3d

*marc rebillet alarm song*

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Dr. Syntax @drsyntax.bsky.social · 3d

Teachers of #Frankenstein - anyone have favorite essays/articles you like to use with undergraduates that engage the novel in terms of artificial intelligence (AI)? Thanks!

a man in a black suit is walking down stairs

ALT: a man in a black suit is walking down stairs

media.tenor.com

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Split/Lip Press @splitlippress.com · 3d

Happy Publication Day to @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social and her incredible comic collection GRAPHIC RAGE: COMICS ON GENDER, JUSTICE, AND LIFE AS A WOMAN IN AMERICA!!!

Time to celebrate! Aubrey will be in conversation with @robhollywood.bsky.social TONIGHT at 8pm ET--registration info in our bio. 🎉🎉🎉

LET'S LAUNCH THIS BOOK!

The GRAPHIC RAGE VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH: Tuesday, October 7, 8:00pm ET, registration link in bio

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Lin Hart @poetry-with-hart.bsky.social · 3d

I'm not sure it turned out how I initially meant it to. May revisit the "Madness as visitor" concept later on down the line without the form. But it was fun to attempt and embellish the #madrigal as it was. Enjoy 🤗

#promptcombo #visitor #5amwritersclub #6amwritersclub #poemaday #poem #poetry

Madness arrived as a welcome visitor.
She brought gifts of manic merriment and wine,
often spilling secrets, most of them were mine.

One part benevolent, one part sinister
yet her presence felt immaculate, divine,
as Madness arrived, a welcome visitor
bringing gifts of manic merriment and wine.

On my heart, she neatly penned her signature.
In her absence I shake, weep, and pine.
The allure of her presence as if by design
as Madness arrives, a welcome visitor.
She brings gifts of manic merriment and wine
often spilling secrets, most of them are mine.

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Middle West Press @middlewestpress.bsky.social · 3d

NEW! HAUNTING VISIONS OF 'FLYOVER COUNTRY!'

“Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters”
- Print: amzn.to/47buzvn
- Kindle e-book: amzn.to/3ZSvQn0

Short poems & 300-word narratives that illuminate, celebrate, or challenge stereotypes of Midwestern identity!

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Reposted by Middle West Press

mosh pit daria @gr8earlofhell.bsky.social · 4d

icymi, i lost my job and am running some workshops to make money to uh, live?

tickets for the first run of THE RANDOMIZER are up now at natraum.com/links. the rest are coming soon!

2025 workshops

It's Lit: Literary Magazine Submissions. October 29 @ 7PM EST.

THE RANDOMIZER #1. November 6 @ 7pm EST.

No Choice But to Stan: Writing Pop Culture in Poetry. November 15 @ 12pm EST

Writing to Grieve: Poetry as Processing. November 22 @ 12pm EST

THE RANDOMIZER #2. TBD late November.

About your instructor

nat raum is a queer, disabled, and recently unemployed artist and writer based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all of which were proudly published independently.

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Kate Heartfield @kateheartfield.com · 4d

I'll admit that for my entire life as a Canadian I have been a little unsure of what exactly Americans mean when they say "Midwest", so this is helpful. From now on I'll think of it as "from the middle to the east." (We don't have a leg to stand on, given where we put "Central Canada.")

James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 4d

The boundaries are blurry but roughly this

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The New Verse News (always open for newspoems) @newversenews.bsky.social · 8d

NVN Thursday at Substack: Ron Riekki’s @rriekki.bsky.social #newspoem “MASS SHOOTING #6” thenewversenews.substack.com/p/nvn-thursd...
@writingcommunity.bsky.social @rodmannix.bsky.social
@literarycommunity.bsky.social

NVN Thursday: MASS SHOOTING #6

14201 2nd Ave, Gabrielle Apartments & Townhomes, Highland Park, MI, Sep 28 2025

thenewversenews.substack.com

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