Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nathan Pensky

@nathanpensky.bsky.social

340 followers 800 following 210 posts

Writer. / First-gen CMU Ph.D. Adjuncting at Pitt and Duquesne. / Host at Third Person Limited podcast. / Columnist at The Pittsburgh Review of Books. / He/him. cargocollective.com/nathanpensky/ thirdpersonlimited.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · Jul 2

Here's a nice announcement. I just turned in the final draft for my first academic book, 'Cartesian Theaters, Shakespearean Minds: Finding Descartes on the Early Modern Stage' to be published with Edinburgh University Press next year.

A schematic of an explanation of a rainbow from Descartes' "A Discourse on Method" showing a man looking out on an arc of light standing visibly in front of him.

1 1 9

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 11h

We are the richest shithole of a nation to demonstrate our inhumanity in the long, miserable history of this failing planet.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12h

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

7 61 270

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 11h

With the fake headstones it's like, point taken.

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 11h

AI is like a Trolley Problem for media CEOs, except they don't realize the options are actually "stop the trolley" or "the trolley runs me over six months after I let it run over my employees."

2 45 260

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 13h

The reason the Right are so invested in the myth that the arts have no value isn’t because the arts don’t generate wealth (they do); it’s that studying the arts teaches people to imagine better ways of judging the value of an idea than by counting how much money it makes…

53 460 1.7K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 11h

This is obviously cynical and insincere, and using right wing rhetoric like this, or the presence of women and minorities among the right, to delegitimize any efforts at race or gender equality is in fact doing the right wing's job for them.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 16h

A useful illustration of the limits of liberal identity politics.

It's astounding to see self-described progressives lose their minds over the successes of a Jewish female entrepreneur and intellect in @bariweiss, and a wildly successful Black man in @VanJones68. I guess equity, diversity, and inclusion don't mean as much as they've told us.

8 22 240

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 1d

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away; Paint It Black; Don't Take Your Guns To Town; Pump It Up (Elvis Costello); Don't Look Back In Anger; The Twist; Let's Twist Again; The Loco-motion; Don't Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind); Hey Jude; Don't Stop Me Now; Love Me Do; Jolene; The Weight

1 1

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

The Onion @theonion.com · 2d

Stoner Architect Drafts All-Foyer Mansion https://theonion.com/stoner-architect-drafts-all-foyer-mansion-1819565679/

50 210 2.1K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Sean T. Collins @seantcollins.com · 2d

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true

41 2.9K 10K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 5d

@stockstill.bsky.social read Silvia Park's 'Luminous' and concluded, if there's something ineffable about humanity, we're going to find that out pretty soon.

1 1 1

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 5d

1 1

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 5d

There's a real Herlihy Boy House-Sitting Service dynamic to the broader Bari Weiss thing, except instead of Chris Farley bellowing "let the BOY sleep in your BED" it's rich boring people who wish their kids were as respectful to them as she is.

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 6d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

8 9 170

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 5d

I honestly thought the Bari Weiss/CBS news was a joke. Holy shit.

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 6d

So many. "Discount lion safari!" whenever we get a discount for something that should not be discounted. "Dental plan... Lisa needs braces!" also a big one. "I am so smart. S-M-R-T." is in the rotation. "T is for her tooth-filled mouth."

Willow @rockshrimp.bsky.social · 7d

what's the stupidest/randomest Simpsons quote that lives in your head rent free? Mine is the urge to say "you said go to bread" every time I am about to head to bed.

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 7d

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

harpers.org

240 3.2K 7.9K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 7d

Good for Jane!

Jane Fonda Relaunches Committee for the First Amendment With Support of 550 Celebrities Including Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and More

Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment with the support of Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis and more.

variety.com

9 140 790

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 7d

As might be expected, I had some opinions on the use of Chat GPT in writing classes and in the last episode shared the marathon/love letter metaphor I have used with my students.

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 7d

Nathan talks about the effect of Chat GPT on higher education, specifically writing classes.

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 7d

Mason really liked Silvia Park's 'Luminous'...

1 2

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8d

this is, no exaggeration, some of the most loser shit i have ever seen in my life

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "As history teaches us, the only people who actually deserve peace and those who are willing to wage war to defend it. That's why pacifism is so naive and dangerous."

330 1.5K 9.4K

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 9d

Here, Mason and I discuss the ongoing Meta/AI case and also review Silvia Park's 'Luminous'.

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 9d

Here's Episode 8, "Meta Stole Our Writing To Feed Its AI". www.thirdpersonlimited.com/episodes/epi...

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · 11d

…

770 1.7K 7K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Third Person Limited @thirdpersonlimited.bsky.social · 12d

There were a lot of highlights in our chat with Erin, but learning about Saddam Hussein's novels was probably our favorite moment.

1 1

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Ryan Grim @ryangrim.bsky.social · 12d

So Democrats shouldn’t call Republicans fascist or gestapo or anything because that could provoke violence, but it is appropriate to call Democrats domestic terrorists or a domestic extremist organization.

Do I have that right?

65 320 1.3K

Reposted by Nathan Pensky

Steve Kandell @stevekandell.bsky.social · Jan 27

if it's GOOSE with two Os, those are jam band bros

if it's GEESE with two Es, have some indie psych please

20 40 270

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 14d

I have noticed this too.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 14d

I'm not sure what's going on, but this year's freshman class is giving me ... what was that word ... hope?

They're energized and excited, they're doing the reading and doing it well, they're asking great questions and offering smart answers too.

Is this just me or are others seeing it?

Nathan Pensky @nathanpensky.bsky.social · 15d

what

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26d

TIL that for some people with irreparably damaged corneas, you can pull one of their teeth, drill a hole in it, install an artificial lens, sew it into their cheek (so tissue attaches), then pull it out and stick it in their damaged eye, and ... it works fine!?! www.nbcboston.com/news/health/...

Man, 34, is no longer blind after tooth is implanted in eye in 'crazy' surgery

Tooth-in-eye surgery sounds like science fiction, but it can help people with severely damaged corneas see again. A patient and his doctors describe what it's like.