Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 5h

He is pathologically a sore loser, and we know this because he’s a sore loser even when he wins

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 9h

I was actually surprised to see that it hadn’t folded. I mean…I guess I could? Userbase looks really small.

Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 11h

Whether in academia or tech (job markets in which I've had to exist), the farther out you are from your first position, the less insight you probably have. Entering tech in 2020 is very different from doing so in 2025; profs who got jobs in the 1990s frequently misunderstand more than they know.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 11h

It feels like a lot of them know that Trump is old and in ill-health, that there's no succession plan, that they're all conspicuous losers and toadies with no charisma, so it's all smash and grab.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 11h

Eventually, it became "why am I even posting here? Most of the people I like are gone, and a solid 25% of my interactions with strangers are borderline hostile." And that last bit feels unique to Mastodon; I do not get many strangers here looking to pick fights.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 11h

I just got to this point posting over there where A: so many of my followers and follows had dropped off, and B: I actively hoped that my posts wouldn't get too widely recirculated because if they did, I'd inevitably have people coming to argue with me and pick really pedantic fights.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 16h

Watching Veggie Tales when I was a kid marked you as an object of pity. Clearly your parents were uncool and they wanted to inflict that same status on you. (Naturally, every kid I knew like this wanted to binge my tv shows with me and play SNES the moment they could come over).

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

Goddamnit

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

But the attrition rate would be enormous; hell, I suspect a goodly number of Bluesky users already tried it once. I was there in November of 2022 and watched the bump followed by the crash, it’s hard to think history wouldn’t repeat itself.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

This is the way. In fact, it is the only way.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

I just don’t know where else to go — I don’t think a compelling alternative exists at the moment.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

The thing is if Bluesky falls apart, I don’t really have another corner of the internet to retreat to. I guess I still have my Mastodon, but I stopped posting there because it stopped being fun; I very much doubt that has changed in the last year.

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Reposted by Zeb Larson

Alex Winter @alexwinter.com · 1d

Great book 👇

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 1d

The table of contents for Read This When Things Fall Apart is a crisis directory—“read this if…” [insert heartbreak, setback, disaster, or breaking point]. I wish I could gift a copy to every activist in Chicago. You can donate a copy to an activist in need here: www.akpress.org/read-this-wh...

The cover for the book, Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis. The cover art features a person wading into a body of water in the woods at night.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 1d

At some point, I began narrating my kid’s diaper changes and turning them into a commercial for the brand (Parasol), but the narration would always be horrifying. “Do your child’s blowouts resemble the Boston Molasses Flood of 1919? Then you should consider Parasol.”

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 2d

Though given how MLK, Jr., Tutu, Mandela and others were treated by liberals or conservatives on the right, it's not so surprising.

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Reposted by Zeb Larson

Molly Shah @mommunism.bsky.social · 2d

Set $100 million on fire last time therealnews.com/mcgrath-rais...

Amy McGrath raised millions after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Is it all wasted?

After the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democrats around the country began donating to Senate races in an effort to remove McConnell as majority leader.

therealnews.com

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 2d

Oh sweet Jesus not again

Dawn of the Dead 💀 @502eire.lol · 2d

if you are out of state and you send Amy McGrath money you are obligated to send an equal amount to a regular Kentuckian as penance for making her a thing again. my Venmo is jdhowa2 ✌️

Lexington Herald-Leader @kentucky.com · 2d

“This is a different race, it’s a different year, it’s a midterm,” McGrath said, comparing 2026 to her 2020 run for U.S. Senate.

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Reposted by Zeb Larson

Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve been going through this weird wave of nostalgia about the short period of time I lived in Alaska; it was one of the few youthful adventures I got to take as the Great Recession put everything on hold.

That nostalgia I think comes out in this piece. This is about the park I worked in.

Why you've never heard of the largest national park in the US

We'll give you a hint: It's in Alaska.

www.sfgate.com

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

“Academic peers as friends” is such a dangerous game to play, in that so much of those friendships fall apart if they’re breathed on too fiercely.

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Reposted by Zeb Larson

Northwest Wind @keewatin.bsky.social · 3d

“As early as 1938, Ernest Gruening, then Gov of the territory, suggested that the area should become a nat’l park. ‘I have traveled through Switzerland extensively, have flown over the Andes …’ he said. ‘It is my unqualified view that this is the finest scenery I have ever been privileged to see.’”

Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve been going through this weird wave of nostalgia about the short period of time I lived in Alaska; it was one of the few youthful adventures I got to take as the Great Recession put everything on hold.

That nostalgia I think comes out in this piece. This is about the park I worked in.

Why you've never heard of the largest national park in the US

We'll give you a hint: It's in Alaska.

www.sfgate.com

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

Obviously I have the time

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

I think the solution is that I open up a used bookstore and coffee shop that doubles as this.

Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 4d

A childhood spent playing TTRPGs and JRPGs had me convinced that I’d have regular access to guild houses with job boards or ways to meet other adventurers. So far, the closest comparison has been alumni chapters and all they do is chisel me for donations.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

Wrangell-St. Elias is beautiful, and remote, and so easy to get lost in. It is in that way very Alaskan.

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve been going through this weird wave of nostalgia about the short period of time I lived in Alaska; it was one of the few youthful adventures I got to take as the Great Recession put everything on hold.

That nostalgia I think comes out in this piece. This is about the park I worked in.

Why you've never heard of the largest national park in the US

We'll give you a hint: It's in Alaska.

www.sfgate.com

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Zeb Larson @zeblarson.bsky.social · 3d

I have a cat who in an old apartment would occasionally pee outside of her litter box, but only in the shower and right on top of the drain. Never figured out what caused this and it stopped the moment we moved.

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