If you are still awake right now, the ancient Sumerians have some words for you: GO TO BED!!! #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/mmYXJQI_zPg?si=MLCQiKRi9Z7BYJTg#AncientSayings

Taking a few more minutes to savor "Kids will devour vast amounts of garbage (and it is good for them) but they are not like adults: they have not yet learned to eat plastic."

In 1970, Regan’s education advisor famously said “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we allow [to go through higher education].” They said the quiet part out loud over fifty years ago. An educated public is a threat to fascism.

We didn’t get here by accident. This is the outcome of a war designed to undermine education as a public good. Public education has shifted from a fundamental right to “woke indoctrination,” a framing that’s coming from the highest levels of government. College is a now a financial burden by design.

There’s also a through-line of educational and tech corporations collaborating with conservative governments to have an out-sized influence on driving educational modalities and policies, which creates more wealth for them and poorer learning outcomes for students.

This is a thread, so I’ve left things out and oversimplified a very complex crisis. But I do think it’s worth noting the that there’s a through-line here of conservative think tanks working behind the scenes, often invisibly, to reduce learning outcomes—especially for the working class.

Meanwhile, in higher ed: 12. Public colleges and universities have seen state funding slashed to a fraction of what they were prior to the 1980’s. 13. State governments are stacking boards with conservatives who select presidents, and hire 14. Consulting firms like Huron (the Enron guys) who…

As a precarious (ex?-)academic with young children, I'm witnessing every level of this. It didn't have to be this way, and I'm hoping the brutal realities of what Tony Judd called the "eviscerated society" will help spur on a movement for renewed public investment in education and beyond.

What we need is as many people as possible *not* to be directed down a specific career path, but to have the ability to adapt, to think, to be creative and to see through the illusions. That’s what a good university education should provide.

"It seems like people try to simplify their mental model and represent as few causes as possible in their thinking," MSU Assistant Professor of Psychology Thalia Vrantsidis said.

Oh, so the marketing email from Todoist with the subject line "Eric, you've been flying blind long enough" ISN'T announcing that they've fixed their accessibility nightmare of a product? What a surprise.

We talk a lot about getting people to consume historical content or to pick up employable “skills” for other uses We talk a little about alt-ac, as an excuse for keeping grad programs going We don’t talk about the fact that soon, nobody is going to be around to produce new knowledge in our fields

This is fantastic! A clear and rigorous expression of all the faults I've felt inhered in the Viewpoint Diversity push.

At the end of our 4th week of daily Sumerian proverbs, we arrive at the silliest one yet! What does it mean? Who knows, but it's delightful and apparently important enough to make cuneiform scribal students copy it down. #AncientSayings

Let's talk about dirty donkeys today—or at least, ancient Sumerian proverbs about them! #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/AIcpmnzIlZo?si=CGAuVlK6QMI-h2ZY

“The most consequential development of the 21st century is the destruction by the most powerful state in the international order of its own primacy.” Quite the first sentence by @kschake.bsky.social

In the field of Religious Studies, we have people who are atheists and agnostics and people who are believers, but the field takes as an axiom that people are willing to look at religious texts historically-critically, which basically precludes a lot of the right today from participating in it.

This week we're doing some of my favorite ancient Sumerian proverbs over on YouTube. This one will come in handy for any parents of small children. If it was good enough for the Sumerians, it's good enough for you! #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/19pFRwGsRf8?si=D9gx1u24TVnqQsd6

Because let's face it, the better metaphor of a rising tide would be raising the minimum wage. And that would lift all boats.

Even more, I think we need to stop letting free market fundamentalists have the "rising tide lifts all boats" metaphor. What they have been doing, metaphorically speaking, is lifting their yachts out of the water with a crane and calling it the tide.

samuel beckett was born on this day 120 years ago. astonishing to think that if he had survived, and could run 100m in 9.57 seconds, he would be not only the oldest but also the fastest man in the world - together with his nobel prize for literature, an astonishing trifecta

I dont remember who said it but we need to bring back the idea of investing in basic research as a public good, and thus funded like one

Ancient Sumerians had their friends' backs. That's how you get cuneiform blessings for the perfect comeback. Friends wish friends sick burns. #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/QDinGlJh2es?si=MkzaKs1m7qAaGBkb

“May you find a response at insults hurled at you during a dispute” human nature is timeless 💕

Ancient Sumerians had their friends' backs. That's how you get cuneiform blessings for the perfect comeback. Friends wish friends sick burns. #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/QDinGlJh2es?si=MkzaKs1m7qAaGBkb

A poignant Sumerian proverb about pains of the body and heart. #AncientSayings https://youtu.be/AlstJpDyv-8?si=EGU7az55IawbMTpx

Do you know a journalist who fits the bill? The Rosa Luxemburg Journalism Fellowship will award one $30,000 fellowship to an early to mid-career journalist w/a history of progressive writing who lacks institutional support to do their journalistic work. Deadline to apply is April 20 at 11:59 pm ET.

“American higher education is facing down a process of authoritarian capture that threatens the long-term viability of our system of higher education.”

As we conclude week 3 of our #AncientSayings series, we find a relevant question among the Sumerian proverbs... https://youtu.be/ErOt6uQKhK4?si=COhs39cXPNwJiAAc#AncientSayings

As we conclude week 3 of our #AncientSayings series, we find a relevant question among the Sumerian proverbs... https://youtu.be/ErOt6uQKhK4?si=COhs39cXPNwJiAAc#AncientSayings

Hey classicists! Can any of you recommend books with translations of Greek myths that are aimed at a 9th to 12th grade level? I have a very precocious 11-year-old who is beyond "kiddish" renditions but maybe not ready for Wilson's Iliad served neat. Ideas?

Some more Sumerian thoughts on negativity, but what does it mean? #AncientSayings

Today's Sumerian proverb speaks to the human tendency to focus more on loss than gain. #AncientSayings

Monday's Sumerian proverb advises against unpleasant speech. Why? #AncientSayings

The Benjamin quote is still my fave description of this — the phases don’t have to be strictly sequential. “Work on a good piece of writing proceeds on three levels: a musical one, where it is composed; an architectural one, where it is constructed; and finally, a textile one, where it is woven.”

“The Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget proposes to eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and provides $38 million to conduct an orderly shutdown of the Agency.” — NEH.gov The NEH has $207 million for FY2026. War in Iran? 1 billion per day. We go through 4.83 NEHs a day for what?

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

As a historian of the very ancient past, including some of the earliest known written records, I can confirm. (I really need to do a thread on gender fluidity in ancient Mesopotamia.)

A proverb on the fleeting nature of possessions. #AncientSayings

elite enablers of Trump aren’t afraid of Trump, they’re afraid of what has to be done to politically neutralize Trump. that may sound like semantics, but its not.

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb addresses "borrowing" the way my kids think of it. #AncientSayings

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is one for the oligarchs. #AncientSayings

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is one for the oligarchs. #AncientSayings

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is on the psychology of wealth. #AncientSayings

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is about the compounding burden of poverty and debt. In other words, it's expensive to be poor! #AncientSayings

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is on the psychology of wealth. #AncientSayings

A perennial reminder, on Trans Day of Visibility (and every day!) that gender divergence is a moral good. A society that doesn’t sacrifice its members to the false idol of rigid gender norms is one that is that much more conducive to flourishing.

Today's ancient Sumerian proverb is about the compounding burden of poverty and debt. In other words, it's expensive to be poor! #AncientSayings

@margaret.bsky.social introduced me to the idea of “radical sincerity” in her podcast. Stop trying to fight them with irony. Let go of your detachment and fight them with your whole, honest self.