Philip Nel
LightNews LightNews
banner
philnel.bsky.social
Philip Nel
@philnel.bsky.social
780 followers 590 following 720 posts
👨🏼‍🏫 Prof. he/him.
📚 Books on children's books & comics: https://philnel.com/writing/books/
📷 IG: thephilnel
🐘 Mastodon: @[email protected]
🎵 Spotify: thephilnel
🐦 Twitter (deleted acct in 2022): @philnel
Posts Replies Media Videos
philnel.bsky.social
🚫 Book Banning in the US is at a record high.
🤷 What should we do about it?
🤔 We'll address that question and others in...
📚 English 680: Censoring Children's Literature
👨🏼‍🏫 Kansas State University, Spring Semester 2026
📺 Thursday evenings, in-person and via Zoom
December 12, 2025 at 6:19 AM
philnel.bsky.social
And, I don't know if it's perfect, but I think Squeeze's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti is a great and vastly underrated record from that year. I listened to the Hoodoo Gurus' Mars Needs Guitars! a lot, too.
November 17, 2025 at 4:15 AM
philnel.bsky.social
Succinct warning against outsourcing your thinking to an enthusiastic robot. #AI #LLMAI
Top panel: at left, hand holding mushroom. At right, smiley Pillsbury doughboy character labelled AI Speech bubble: “Is this mushroom edible?” Another speech bubble: “Yes!” Bottom panel: at left, gravestone with “RIP.” At right, AI doughboy character says, “You’re right—that mushroom was poisonous. I’m sorry for the confusion! Would you like to learn more about poisonous mushrooms?”
November 13, 2025 at 2:51 PM
philnel.bsky.social
#FeedThePeople
#CongressDoYourJob
#SwearInAdelitaGrijalva
End the #EpsteinShutdown
October 31, 2025 at 5:44 PM
philnel.bsky.social
For those who prefer a blog, here's "On Being Banned, Strategic Censorship, and Telling the Truth" (same essay) on my blog: philnel.com/2025/09/27/o...
September 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
philnel.bsky.social
The first in the "Children's Classics Critically" series was How to Read Harold. And, full disclosure: Melanie Ramdarshan Bold and I are co-editors of this series. Many more titles planed. Stay tuned!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
September 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Attention, marmalade fans: The second "Children's Classics Critically" book is Please Look After This Bear: How Paddington Became British, to be published by @oxfordacademic.bsky.social in February 2026!
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
White cover, Paddington-style hat at center. Text, from top to bottom: Children's Classics, Critically Please Look After This Bear How Paddington Became British Melanie Ramdarshan Bold and Aishwarya Subramanian
September 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
philnel.bsky.social
📢 Indivisible Manhattan Kansas (@indivisiblemhk.bsky.social) General Monthly Meeting.
📚 Manhattan Public Library Auditorium.
📆 Wednesday, August 27, 7 pm.
✊🏻✊🏾✊🏼✊🏿✊🏽✊🏻✊🏾✊🏼✊🏿✊🏽
Protect people. Defend democracy.
Disrupt and disobey. Build alternatives.
imhk.org?page_id=48
August 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
philnel.bsky.social
“I have hope. I see the possibilities—how, despite the darkness, this is also a time when we can rebuild our societies, starting with what’s right in front of us: our areas of influence.
The world we once knew is decimated. Now we have to decide what we want to create.”
— Maria Ressa
cover of Maria Ressa’s How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future. Title is in white type; subtitle is in yellow type. Background is a greyscale photo of Maria Ressa outdoors on a street.
August 16, 2025 at 3:05 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Because @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social knows how to #RageAgainstTheRegime! Scenes from Saturday’s protest.
Protester wearing larger-than-life art depicting abolitionist John Brown holding ABOLISH ICE sign. Sign: Trump’s Gestapo is now abducting US citizens Several messages. Child, standing, wears TEACH CHILDREN SOCIAL JUSTICE T-SHIRT. Child in wheelchair holds sign FUND SPED MY SCHOOL NEEDS ME. Adult holds sign: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, STOP TRUMP. Adult holds sign: WHAT PART OF NO KINGS IS CONFUSING? Several protesters, one holding sign LOVE THY NEIGHBOR. Another holds sign TRUTH MATTERS.
August 3, 2025 at 8:55 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Saturday Aug. 2! @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social 's #RageAgainstTheRegime protest, 11:30 am MHK City Park. See you there! ✊🪧
August 1, 2025 at 10:02 PM
philnel.bsky.social
"Refusing, Together: How to Fight the Regime, and Defend Democracy" — post by me on the @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social Substack. open.substack.com/pub/indivisi...
"Authoritarians are weaker than they appear. They depend upon the cowardice of Columbia University, the greed of CBS/Paramount, the obedience of law firms like Paul Weiss. They depend upon people and institutions volunteering their obedience." — Philip Nel
July 31, 2025 at 4:37 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Humid & 87 F (31 C) in the shade but @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social is fighting for democracy!
July 26, 2025 at 5:25 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Thanks to @demsabroad.bsky.social in Copenhagen, 275 people marched to say #NoTyrants (& #NoKingsInAmerica). The protests in countries with kings were not called #NoKings. (Denmark’s constitutional monarch was established in 1849.)
Alex (Dane) & Alexandria (American) hold signs saying “I’ve seen better cabinets at IKEA” and “You deserve prison but you won’t get time” (shoutout to Taylor Swift!) At forefront: me. Behind, some protesters. Signs include “MELT ICE”; “PROTECT MOTHER EARTH”; crown with circle around & line through it, placed at center of US flag; a TRUMP checklist with checks next to Rapist, Career Criminal, Liar, Cheat, Terrible Manager, and an X next to King. During march, protesters holding signs: “FINGRENE VÆK!” (“Fingers Away” or “Hands Off!”) & “HOW CAN I PICK ONE SLOGAN WHEN EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE?” Before march began, protesters. One holds sign: “IN AMERICA, THE LAW IS KING!”
June 15, 2025 at 9:03 AM
philnel.bsky.social
Democracy is a living thing. A report from the forum on "Challenges to Democracy" held in Zürich on Tuesday. Featuring MANY citations of the outstanding work of the @vdeminstitute.bsky.social — who you should follow.
Via the @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/indivisi...
June 12, 2025 at 3:56 PM
philnel.bsky.social
📱🌻 Art as Celebrity; or, Feeding Sunflowers to the Algorithm. (Photo taken at National Gallery, earlier today.)

“No one sees the barn” — Don DeLillo
A group of people, smart phones raised, taking photographs of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Their focus is on their phones, not the painting.
June 2, 2025 at 9:57 PM
philnel.bsky.social
Thanks for the shout-out! Minor correction: The Carrot Seed (1945) was the debut collaboration by Krauss and Johnson. However, A Good Man and His Good Wife (1944, with art by Ad Reinhardt) was Krauss's debut book.
Cover of A Good Man and His Good Wife, Story by Ruth Krauss, Pictures by Ad Reinhardt. Cover is green cross-section of house with — in red ink — cartoon rendering of man and wife in bottom right quadrant of house. All text is in red.
May 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
philnel.bsky.social
"This is not a sprint. This is also not a marathon. It’s not a race at all. This is ongoing until we restore democracy. It’s a way of life." — me. Honored to join Rep. Alexis Simmons (58th Dist) & Kaidy Smith — our @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social leader —at Flint Hills Resists, last night, Council Grove
May 14, 2025 at 8:35 PM
philnel.bsky.social
5/5 From @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social's protest against #Trump / #Musk's path of destruction. #HandsOff!
Group of protesters including woman dressed as statue of liberty and man dressed as Uncle Sam. One sign reads "Hands Off Our Democracy."
April 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
4/5 From the @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social protest against #Trump / #Musk fascism. Over 900 people fighting for democracy! #HandsOff!
white pick-up truck drives in front of large crowd, lined up along Poyntz Ave. (Manhattan, Kansas), protesting the Trump/Musk regime.
April 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
3/5 From today's @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social #HandsOff! protest against the #Trump/#Musk regime, in Manhattan, Kansas. 900 strong against the oligarchs! #HandsOff!
People holding signs: "We didn't elect Elon," "Hands off Canada," "Uneducated people don't know how to question authority. Why do you think they're coming for libraries, schools, free speech, research?" and "Libraries Build Communities, not Billionaires"
April 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
2/5 More photos from today's @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social #HandsOff! protest. Over 900 people protested the #Trump/#Musk regime in Manhattan, Kansas.
A group of people holding yellow signs reading "Hands off Canada," "Hands of Rule of Law," "Hands off our bodies," and "In your guts you know he's NUTS!"
April 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
1/5 Photos from today's @indivisiblemhk.bsky.social #HandsOff! protest. Over 900 Kansas protested the #Trump/#Musk Regime.
Man wearing "NOPE" shirt waves distress-signal US flag (upside down). Signs read "Congress: Protect American Citizens," "Hands Off Education," "Dump the Department of Greed and Evil"
April 5, 2025 at 10:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
“Whose Country is This Anyway? Representation of Black People / British Spaces in Children's and YA books” lecture by @ksandsoconnor.bsky.social — Friday, Apr 4, 3:30 pm Central US time. Sponsored by @englishkstate.bsky.social

Register for the Zoom link at tinyurl.com/sandsoconnor
Top 1/3rd: "Whose Country Is This Anyway?: Representation of Black People / British Spaces in Children's and YA Books." At right, cover of Karen Sands-O'Connor's book British Activist Authors Addressing Children of Color Middle 1/3rd: photo of Karen Sands-O'Connor. At right, "DR. KAREN SANDS-O'CONNOR / UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD." Lower 1/3rd: "FRIDAY APRIL 4, 2025, 3:30-4:30 CT. ZOOM TINYURL.COM/SANDSOCONNOR Sponsored by the K-State Graduate Track in Children's Literature with support from the Donnelly Faculty Award" At right: cover for Beyond the Secret Garden by Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O'Connor
April 3, 2025 at 5:19 PM
philnel.bsky.social
📚 In today’s mailbag!
📕 How to Read Like an Anti-Fascist by @o3dipamass.bsky.social, pub by @fordhampress.bsky.social
📘 Writing Themselves Into the Movement: Child Authors of the Black Arts Era by Amy Fish, pub by @umasspress.bsky.social
🔥 2 timely books on childhood, activism, & resistance! ✊🏽✊🏻✊🏾✊🏼
March 19, 2025 at 9:37 PM