Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 5h

I've been learning a bit of Danish recently, and it really is a crazy language

Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 1d

I get that journalists need to make money, and I don't have a good answer, but it can't be to limit real journalism only to older people who already know and love real journalism. Because TikTok is there with a free (but vastly inferior) alternative.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 1d

In the long run, journalism paywalls will be utterly self-defeating.

I subscribe, but I grew up in a home with subscriptions to multiple paper newspapers. As we enter a post-literate era, younger generations won't to read, let alone subscribe, if they don't even know what exists behind paywalls.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 2d

Source: nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

nytimes.com

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 2d

The number of international students arriving in the US in August fell by nearly 20% year-on-year, the largest decline in history aside from the COVID-19 pandemic year

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 6d

Old photos of German World War II cavalry lancers wearing gas masks are pure nightmare fuel

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Reposted by Nick Kapur

Modern Japan History Association @modernjapanhist.bsky.social · 6d

A video of this year's Distinguished Lecture, "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History," given by Andrew Gordon is now available on the MJHA YouTube channel.

Please have a look, and feel free to share with anyone who might be interested

youtu.be/EN8tx8J8KzA

2025 Annual Lecture: Andrew Gordon, "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History"

YouTube video by Modern Japan History Association

youtu.be

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 6d

Again, I'm not saying Soto is a bad player. He's really good!

I'm saying the price was too high for 1/26 of your team.

Markets are not always rational. Especially when there are only two real participants.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 7d

I didn't say adding him was a mistake. I said signing him at that particular price was a bad idea.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 7d

That's exactly the point. One player can't make or break a team!

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 8d

The tale of the tape:

The Yankees were 94-68 last year with Soto and...94-68 this year without him.

Meanwhile, the Mets were 89-73 last year with Soto and just 83-79 this year with him, even though Soto played great.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 8d

The Mets signing Juan Soto to a bananas contract completely outside of market was always a bad idea, but the results have been a brutal reminder that one superstar doesn't get you that far in baseball (unlike in other sports).

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 14d

I still think I was right.

But the crazy thing is, right now we're getting both at the same time.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 14d

Our high school English teacher had us vote which was scarier: Orwell's "1984" where fascists use force to make you do what they want, or Huxley's "Brave New World," where they keep you so mindlessly entertained they don't even have to.

I was the only one in the class to vote for Huxley.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 16d

Link: jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

The dawn of the post-literate society

And the end of civilisation

jmarriott.substack.com

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 16d

Thought-provoking piece on the collapse of reading in the wake of the smartphone revolution and the disaster a post-literate society portends for creativity, science, and democracy

"The screen revolution represents the greatest theft of knowledge from ordinary people in history"

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · 22d

Thrilled to finally get my hands on this brand new treatment of postwar Japanese history by one of the leading experts in our field, Simon Avenell!

Can't wait to read this one!

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Reposted by Nick Kapur

Modern Japan History Association @modernjapanhist.bsky.social · 23d

Today!!!

Modern Japan History Association @modernjapanhist.bsky.social · Aug 12

Mark your calendars!

The 2025 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecture will be given by Andrew Gordon (Harvard) on Monday, September 15, 2025, and is titled "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History."

REGISTER FOR ZOOM HERE: mjha.org/event-6201539

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Reposted by Nick Kapur

Modern Japan History Association @modernjapanhist.bsky.social · 28d

Next Monday!!!

Modern Japan History Association @modernjapanhist.bsky.social · Aug 12

Mark your calendars!

The 2025 MJHA Distinguished Annual Lecture will be given by Andrew Gordon (Harvard) on Monday, September 15, 2025, and is titled "After the Pandemic: Revising a Textbook and Rethinking History."

REGISTER FOR ZOOM HERE: mjha.org/event-6201539

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 8

Corporations are increasingly using AI to charge different individuals different prices for the same product

www.pbs.org/newshour/eco...

Personalized pricing has spread across many industries. Here's how consumers can avoid it

As AI powers individualized pricing across industries, businesses are increasingly charging based on what they think you can pay.

www.pbs.org

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 4

Link: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘I felt doomed’: social media guessed I was pregnant – and my feed soon grew horrifying

The algorithm knew I was expecting before I had had a chance to tell my family, friends or GP. At first, I was served up joyful videos. Then the tone became much darker ...

www.theguardian.com

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 4

TikTok's algorithm figured out a woman was pregnant, and then began immediately forcefeeding her miscarriage and birth defects videos.

She tried to make it stop and then deleted the app because it was too traumatizing, but then immediately re-installed the app, because addiction.

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Reposted by Nick Kapur

Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 3

Gonna be grim when herd immunity collapses and babies, the elderly, the immune compromised, and even some previously vaccinated people start dying of horrible diseases no one even remembers anymore.

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 3

Link: www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Florida surgeon general says state will eliminate all vaccine mandates

"Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery," Dr. Joseph Ladapo said. "Who am I to tell you what your child should put in [their] body?"

www.nbcnews.com

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Nick Kapur @nickkapur.bsky.social · Sep 3

Gonna be grim when herd immunity collapses and babies, the elderly, the immune compromised, and even some previously vaccinated people start dying of horrible diseases no one even remembers anymore.

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