Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Mikki Brock

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 22h

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility.

Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying.

All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 1d

You can joke about Pam Bondi’s ridiculous unprofessionalism all you want, but I’m deeply shocked by it: She acts as if she fears absolutely no consequences, convinced that there will be no more political power transfers. — This should shake everyone to their core.

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is right. And I appreciate how she takes seriously the mentalities of the interrogators too—something your work does brilliantly as well. Mostly, whenever I revisit this book, I’m reminded how beautifully it’s written.

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 1d

One of the best things about teaching is the opportunity to revisit works that have shaped your thinking as a historian. This one, I’m reminded, is such a compelling tour de force. I can’t wait to discuss it with my students.

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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 3d

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 3d

If a federal judge, appointed by Trump, can call him “simply untethered to facts,” our White House press corps can as well.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

In sum, the President is certainly entitled "a great level of deference," Newsom II, 141
F.4th at 1048, in his determination that he "is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws
of the United States." 10 U.S.C. § 12406(3). But "a great level of deference" is not equivalent to
ignoring the facts on the ground. As the Ninth Circuit articulated, courts must "review the
President's determination to ensure that it reflects a colorable assessment of the facts and law
PAGE 22 - OPINION AND ORDER
Case 3:25-cv-01756-IM Document 56
Filed 10/04/25
Page 23 of 31
within a 'range of honest judgment.'" Id. at 1051 (quoting Sterling, 278 U.S. at 399). Here, this
Court concludes that the President did not have a "colorable basis" to invoke § 12406(3) to
federalize the National Guard because the situation on the ground belied an inability of federal
law enforcement officers to execute federal law. Id. at 1051-52. The President's determination
was simply untethered to the facts.
c. Whether there is a Rebellion or Danger of Rebellion
Defendants also aroue that the Sentember 28 2025 federalization order is authorized

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 5d

This is the message.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 5d

The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session.

Want to know why?

Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.

Call GOP and tell them to swear in @adelitaforcongress.bsky.social.

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Charles Louis Richter @richterscale.bsky.social · 6d

apparently you become a combatant as soon as they shoot at you

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 6d

“This is not stretching the envelope. This is shredding it. This is tearing it apart.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump 'Determined' the U.S.
Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea "unlawful combatants."

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 6d

If universities agree to this—if they capitulate even further—then something that *actually* makes America great will crumble into unrecognizable fragments. Academic freedom is not a bargaining chip; it’s the whole ballgame. This is not a “compact.” It’s extortion. It’s an ending.

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 7d

People think they’re taking down a rich intellectual sinecure but they’re mostly terrorizing committed public servants who make $58,000 a year after 15 years of experience at a school that has to budget creatively so students can access textbooks.

Emily Farris @emayfarris.bsky.social · 7d

This new column by @tressiemcphd.bsky.social makes me think about when I recently had to talk to the police for yet another safety plan, I tried to “lighten” the mood by saying that we all knew this wasn’t my first rodeo. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

For at least the past 15 years, my colleagues in academia have grappled with angry letters to university officials for doing their jobs. They have weathered campaigns for their firing. They have contended with an internet army obsessed with doxxing them, their parents, their kids. I’ve been contacted by the F.B.I. more than once in my career. Not because I hold any important state secrets or know a biker gang but because one of my colleagues has lived with so much sustained harassment from right-wing “activists” that it has become a matter of federal concern. Watch lists (one of which was constructed by Kirk’s organization) do not distinguish between public intellectuals at wealthy enclaves and hoi polloi who teach popular classes at cash-strapped schools. In either case, an army of trained provocateurs stands ready to destroy their lives to prove their bona fides as conservative activists.

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 7d

Here's a better message

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Hannah Elias @hannahelias.bsky.social · 8d

Are you an emerging scholar researching Black British history and looking for opportunities to share your research? Please get in touch with @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social or Meleisa Ono George via contact info below to take part in this ⚡️ talks session @ihr.bsky.social (and please share widely!)

IHR Black British History Seminar @ihrblackbritish.bsky.social · 8d

Kicking off our fantastic line up with a showcase of new research! Get in touch if you are a postgraduate or early career researcher who would like to introduce their work to the field.

📍 Hybrid: N304, IHR, Senate House, WC1E 7HU and Online
📅 Thursday 16th October, 2025
⏰ 17:30
🔗 bit.ly/3INwCfO

Email Olivia.Wyatt@ed.ac.uk or Meleisa.Ono-George@history.ox.ac.uk to present online or in-person

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 7d

I can’t believe I’m watching interviews of city mayors talking about how they are coordinating with other mayors to discuss how to protect their residents FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

I know we are “used to it” but it is absolutely insane

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 9d

I’m in this photo and I don’t like it

Meg Mulrooney @megmulrooney.bsky.social · 9d

I get to post this meme again! It’s my header for some reason.

That famous meme of a guy looking at a pretty woman and whistling while his actual girt looks at him in disbelief but the pretty woman is labeled the historic crises I’m living through and the girlfriend is labeled the historic crises I’m supposed to be researching. The guy is of course labeled ME.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 11d

Before I turn on @npr.org again or read another @nytimes.com editorial, because I know exactly how it'll be:

This isn't "a threat" to academic freedom. It's not igniting "a debate" about it. The "future" of academic freedom isn't at stake. This is what the end of academic freedom has made possible.

Texas Tech chancellor directs faculty to recognize only two sexes in classroom instruction

The memo comes after Texas A&M fired a professor over a lesson related to gender identity after a student objected to it.

www.nbcnews.com

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Karl Jacoby @karl-jacoby.bsky.social · 12d

Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/

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Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 14d

“For him, the study of the past was about better understanding the path to the present - whose contours weren’t assumed, but rigorously, unrelentingly sought. Living in the darkness of Nazism, Bloch understood that he first needed to seek the roots of the tree before it could be uprooted & toppled.”

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 14d

This nearly made me spit out my coffee. 😂

Humor For Resistance @funnysnarkyjoke.bsky.social · 15d

#satire #epsteinfiles

[pic of pam bondi]

BREAKING NEWS PAM BONDI CONFIRMS EPSTEIN FILES RAPTURED. FILES WITH JESUS NOW. "Respect God's Privacy," Says Bondi, Slapping Microphones Out Of Reporters' Hands'

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Reposted by Mikki Brock

Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 14d

Thread. The new McCarthyism is, and has been, tearing through education for years. These are just a sampling, and they have been the rehearsals for purges in places like late-night TV.

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 14d

How about the Texas teacher fired for reading an excerpt from an illustrated Diary of Anne Frank?

Teacher Fired for Reading Excerpt from Illustrated Diary of Anne Frank to Eighth-Grade Class

An unidentified teacher at the Hamshire-Fannett Independent School District in Texas has been fired after she read aloud an excerpt from the illustrated version of Anne Frank’s 'The Diary of a Young G...

people.com

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TheNACBS @thenacbs.bsky.social · 14d

Join us today at noon to hear more about Kiran Mehta's To Detain or Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840!

TheNACBS @thenacbs.bsky.social · 23d

📢Book event📢

📗To Detain or Punish
📅Sep 24

Free and open to the public. RSVP below!

Join NACBS to celebrate @kiranmehta.bsky.social recent publication To Detain or Punish: Magistrates and the Making of the London Prison System, 1750-1840.

www.nacbs.org/event-detail...

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 15d

AN #EARLYMODERN POST!! They still exist! And a lovely one at that, for five years and with the brilliant people at KCL who have turned that place in quite the hub of exciting early modern research.

Run, don’t walk.

Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World at King's College London

Discover an exciting academic career path as a Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Mary Anne Franks @maryannefranks.bsky.social · 17d

"Gender studies scholars and experts on domestic violence have long known that gender-based bigotry is a gateway to violent extremism. It’s time for national security officials to catch up, says @milleridriss.bsky.social" 19thnews.org/2025/09/how-...

Want to stop political violence? Start by addressing hostile sexism.

In her new book, an expert on violent extremism lays out evidence that gender-based bigotry fuels hate — so national security officials need to do something about it.

19thnews.org

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Mikki Brock @mikkibrock.bsky.social · 16d

I’m not going to comment on anything being broadcast on TV right now for (ahem) reasons, other than to say: we need scholars—and students—who understand religion and the power of religious rhetoric perhaps now more than ever. Religious literacy is *essential* to understanding the current moment.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 18d

Loving the responses and how much people enjoy beautiful historical writing! Do have a look through the replies for excellent reading commendations and add your own, #SkyStorians 🗃️

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 19d

I’m having intro chats with dissertation students this fortnight, and one of them asked which historians I’d recommend for beautiful writing they could absorb to further develop their own writing style.

So, gang, which are your favourite *writers* among historians, any time, any topic, any place. 🗃️

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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 17d

Republicans legislatures across the South have passed laws preventing communities from legally removing statues. Now they are passing laws ordering that new statues be raised.

It was never about protecting history. 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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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