"In recent months, Texas universities have inflicted some of the worst repression of academic freedom we’ve ever witnessed at American colleges, with gag orders, speaker bans and arbitrary firings of dissenting faculty."

Speak. The fuck. UP.

Unpopular opinion - there is no way to use GenAI ethically, and AI literacy should involve helping people to understand why (hint - stolen IP, devastating environmental impacts, exploitation of workers, loss of learning, writing and thinking skills) #AcademicSky #sociology

I propose to make universal the old policy of the Blackfriars conference at the American Shakespeare Center: If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.

I'm available for indexing academic volumes. Areas of specialization include fan studies, media studies, gender studies, visual culture, art history. DM if interested! Please share if you know someone who may need their monograph or edited collection indexed!

FAMU can't use the word Black on anything posted around campus related to Black History Month, to stay in compliance with Florida state laws against DEI. Black students can't use the word Black at their Historically Black College during Black History Month.

All of these senators pushing "reforms" need to explain how they will enforce them given the fact that ICE is a lawless band of Klansmen that breaks the law constantly.

i have just gotten off a productive call with sauron where i laid out our requests - nazgul bodycams - morgul knife must remain sheathed unless suspect is determined to be carrying the one ring - shelob will be the new point of contact

very generous of zoe, and as always, all agitprop i've drawn is available to print for whoever wants it drive.google.com/drive/folder...

I'm not sure Democrats in D.C. are aware that their base's rage against ICE has reached a level of blinding white-hot intensity. They're worried about "looking weak" for voting "against law enforcement" when they should be worried a mob of housewives is going to come beat them to death if they do.

National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation. Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.

Don't call it a "bubble." OpenAI, Microsoft, & Alphabet are just fine with that term because they get to tell you that all the dot-com bubble or the railroad bubble or the whatever bubble was, was a shaking out the greats after an intense period of mania. This isn't a bubble. This is a time bomb.

What he says…

We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.

If you are cishet I NEED you to read this thread and do your best to understand the overlapping tragedies that Claire is describing here.

Just look how gorgeous, how hopeful and uplifting good people and their art are!! Thanks to this artist, and people with spare cash go give some to marginalised creatives who are doing so much to get us all through!!

keep thinking of a vocally anti-woke reporter who insisted that the term "environmental racism" was nonsense

London book talk on HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY! I'll be speaking on Thursday 5th May, 6pm, at @linneansociety.bsky.social More info and registration below. A free exhibition, "Wonder" is now on and ends the next day. 1/2 💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH

From an email to one of our faculty members.... Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

This looks like a fantastic new book (includes some chapters on fandom and participatory cultures too) link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

My final newsletter of 2025 just posted and in it I talk about archives and archiving [two of my favorite topics]. I also talk about Solange Knowles making a zine.

This “trap” is often what admin wants. They put the onus onto individual instructors, tell them it’s their responsibility to meet the student/handle the situation, and they refuse to offer clear guidance/support. Then admin is insulated from blowback & the instructor bears the burden.

Every dollar JK Rowling makes from Harry Potter is going into bankrolling an extortion racket issuing legal threats to organizations across the UK to purge themselves of trans people or face ruinous lawfare.

the onion newspaper is worth it for the ads alone they always kill me

idk not to mention how very nuanced and normal the actual response here was

"Mark my words, one wrong step in this town’ll land you in a whole heap of social services."

Excited to report that two new Cryptids have been sighted at my location. This is the best photo evidence we have collected so far. Research (and cuddles) are ongoing.

Helicopter view of Chicago #NoKings in Grant Park via @cbschicago.bsky.social

It occurs to me how scared she looks & yet she's protecting her constituents. I'd much rather see Chuck Schumer scared & trying something than his cool, all is well shtick. Bravery isn't not being afraid, that's insanity. Bravery is beimg scared & saying fuck it we gotta do something anyway.

When you publish a website that posts the names and photos of scholars who have written or said things you disagree with and encourage people to surveil and harass them, you are not, in fact, a “free speech” organization.

It's Minnesota State Fair time! It's time for Minnesotan folk art! Here, for example, is Saturn Devouring His Corn, in the seed art category!

Just unbelievably stupid. I had no idea how dumb fascism would be when it came to America.

A middle school I interact with is in a state with a school cellphone ban and y’all everybody in there is relieved. EVERYBODY. The kids, the teachers, the janitors. They are so relieved. Nobody is really uptight about it…except some parents.

actually fandom was and still is rife with wanna-be Supreme Space Commanders, Almighty Wizard Kings, and Queen Bees desperate to find nerds to push around. It's just that they get lost in the crowds these days, unless they work for (checks notes) Anime Expo Chibi

yup, this is why we started anime conventions, to get the chance to force people into non-compete clauses, that's what fandom is all about, telling people what they can and cannot do. Sure

A lot of older adults forced a war on universities because that’s where their kids realized their parents were evil.

I made this list of Nonviolent Political Actions for Writers for a course I taught during TFG 1.0 on Writers & Resistance. Please share. You do not need to be a writer to participate. "You are here on this earth at this time. Don't act like you're not a part of what's going on."

Scoop: Threat intelligence reports obtained by WIRED and @propertyofthepeople.org show military and state-run fusion centers are tracking civilian-made ICE encounter maps, while others distribute "threat" alerts about tomorrow's "No Kings" protests. By me @wired.com (free to read):

Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.

An inspiring story: U Mich president withdraws his signature on a letter defending academic freedom because he wants to leave and get paid to join Ron DeSantis's war on higher education, and then doesn't get the Florida job because he supports vaccination www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/06/haha...

#GNUTerryPratchett #Glorious25thOfMay

Every Harry Potter book or shirt you buy directly funds the persecution of trans people. There's absolutely no excuse to support anything Harry Potter anymore unless you hate trans people.

Current collection of #queerhorror reference books (incl mine!) from @bjcolangelo.bsky.social @harmonycolangelo.bsky.social @queerforfear.com @cadenmgardner.bsky.social @willowcatelyn.bsky.social @bloodymilkcrate.bsky.social @thepetermarra.bsky.social @samouflage.bsky.social @drdesmith.bsky.social

I'm joining @drrossgarner.bsky.social and @direjackalope.bsky.social for an edited collection on the Pokémon franchise. We already have many great chapters but are seeking some more in specific areas. Check out the targeted CFP below & pls share widely! rebeccawilliams.org/2025/05/17/1...

9 people were killed in a tornado last night in KY. The NWS office responsible for that area has faced some of the most extreme cuts by the Trump administration, including the loss of overnight forecasting. Last night, they were rushing to find help for the office. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/w...

In Nola ready for #pcaaca25 — after a nap, anyway

CfP Fandom | Cultures | Research We're looking for contributions to Issue 1-26 of our OA journal for #fan and #audience studies! Deadline for abstracts is 1 June, papers are accepted in English and German. journals.uni-marburg.de/fcr/ #fanstudies #fandom #audienceresearch #fanfiction