As my kid said "Me, when I hate the democratic process."

It seems like the constant affirmation of whatever you say would be the first obvious fail in the Turing test...

New game: Holiday songs that should be banned. I'll go first. Christmas shoes.

I think sometimes, the performative speech around news events goes beyond useless. Horrible tragedy Newsmaker reaction. 😔 New innovation! Newsmaker reaction. 😀 Like, sometimes, it's not about you.

This weekend would have been a doozy for folks who work in news - so many massive, newsworthy tragedies and a limited amount of space/time/audience attention. Plus, it's a weekend so trying do it with fewer staff. News values: Timeliness, proximity, impact, bizarreness, conflict, share ability...

Sunday sillies (because I finished grading 🏅🎄): How much did Santa's sleigh cost? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nothing. It was on the house.

My editing final exam was a simulation of covering a campus shooting for campus media while on lockdown. I pointed out you should not share locations where people are hiding while a shooter is at large. Watching this Brown coverage. How do professional media not know this?

I put in so much time when I do reviews

I have questions. *I've seen the flying public. How many are even capable of a pull-up? *Am I supposed to be doing the step-ups in the skirt, hose and heels of my Golden Age airplane outfit? Because that sounds tricky...

My final is a take-home project, but I'm required to require my students to show up for the exam period. So I just put together a breaking news simulation for them and it's 🔥

Gloomy, doomy Sunday morning thought: The transformation of higher education into a transactional credential factory could be fine, as long as high schools do a great job of only graduating knowledgeable, ethical citizens skilled in critical thinking.

Last day...get yer shiny!

🏅Seems like anyone can give a medal for stuff now? Reply with what you want a medal for, and I'll award you one.

I guess fact-checking is unAmerican now? Could we please get a working definition of "censorship"?

Student media is, at the same time, 1. The ONLY regular news source covering locally in a lot of communities 2. Facing cutbacks and threats at universities around the country, for a combination of political and financial reasons. Thought you should know.

My students introduced me to the We are Charlie Kirk meme phenomenon and now I know why academics retreat to ivory towers.

I find myself saying pretty much daily "We are living in the stupidest timeline." No idea if it's correct or how you'd measure it. But my not-scientific vibes about the issue sure make it feel true. So much dumb, everywhere all at once.

That made my night. Thank you.

I find myself saying pretty much daily "We are living in the stupidest timeline." No idea if it's correct or how you'd measure it. But my not-scientific vibes about the issue sure make it feel true. So much dumb, everywhere all at once.

Happy St. Andrew’s Day!

Please do enlighten me: What is this monolithic American culture?

Kid is heading for a doctorate and reading an paper in which monkeys were trained using a reward of a diluted jelly-type thing (JTT). Conversation: K: A solution prepared with X grams JTT in Y grams H20... Me: Grad student spends days weighing JTT for monkeys. K: Great way to spend your 20s.

Ok, this was hilarious. And sounds better than what I'm making.

🦃 Thankful this morning for: * My family, and the fact that we're all still here after a whopper of a year * My job, that lets me shape the future by working with curious young adults AND lets me study things that interest me * The fact that pumpkin is my very favorite pie, and today's the day!

Why does your 80-year-old Aunt Gladys act like a petulant toddler when you correct her wacky ideas? Throw the latest UnSpun podcast on in the car on the way to Thanksgiving and learn what actually works to help someone change their mind. redcircle.com/shows/56c050...

Pssst...packing up to head over the river or whatever later this week? Maybe throw this UnSpun episode in your podcast player for the road. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i... It will help you understand this and

Can verify.

So...you knew that was stupid and not supportable before you said it, right?

There's a difference between a dictionary definition (punishable by frowns and pearl clutching) and legal definitions (punishable by jail/fines/whatever the law says). Learn something new and forward to a friend who needs to learn: www.law.cornell.edu/wex/sedition

Ok, FINE. Here's a hint for the music quiz in this week's UnSpun. There are THREE song clips that show reactance - the theme of the episode for you to guess. (here or where you pod...https://bit.ly/UnSpunPod)

Literal conversation with a campus journalist yesterday: "Don't like bad press? Don't do bad things." People in trouble will try to blame the messenger as a deflection. That doesn't mean the message isn't vital to society.

PSA: Right to Be (not on Bsky) offers free, on-line bystander training. I've done it, and it's pretty empowering. righttobe.org/upcoming-fre...

#ProfLife - a very short thread. Mega boss: "We know extra task will make you work 12 hour days this semester. We're short-staffed because [pick one], but will compensate you in appreciation" Choose: 1. The demographic cliff hit enrollment 2. Federal funding cuts 3. College is no longer cool

When someone says “Get the facts,” our brains often hear, “You’re wrong.” That gap between intent and perception is how truth gets lost, and this matters for your 🦃 talks with Aunt Gladys. Tips for how to change a mind in this week's UnSpun. Here, or wherever you pod. bit.ly/UnSpunPod

When someone says “Get the facts,” our brains often hear, “You’re wrong.” That gap between intent and perception is how truth gets lost, and this matters for your 🦃 talks with Aunt Gladys. Tips for how to change a mind in this week's UnSpun. Here, or wherever you pod. bit.ly/UnSpunPod

We are living in the future, and it is stupid. Someone asked me if I could find a paper to send them. We have a trial of a highly advertised grammar checker at my school, and it offered to help me reply. It took a 1-line "hey, do you have this" email and then wrote a paragraph interpreting.

La Noticia in Charlotte's covering ICE enforcement actions today. It's hard to do journalism when you are not safe. Nationally, there's evidence of citizens and green card holders being caught up. I appreciate journalists doing this risky work. Check out their work here. lanoticia.com

Over-parsing the definition sometimes means your argument is very weak. If you take your car out, put a big dent in it, and return it, I don't want to listen to you saying you just borrowed it as if that clears everything.

Why isn't Barney in Get Out?

I might have just seen the worst Christmas idea ad I have ever seen. Go to some website, answer some questions about a loved one, upload a picture and pick a topic, and then they get a book that look like they wrote it with their photo on the cover, but it's AI. Who would want that? Why?

In my experience, the preening peacocks and grunting baboons who serve them can cause a lot of damage. But it's the quiet folks in the back with great minsd and terrible ideas that whisper to the peacocks that you really have to watch out for. Tolkien wrote Wormtongue for a reason.

So, I feel a little dumb for asking, but this is phishing, yes?

Extremely niche hot take: the nation's pre-eminent newspaper needs to rethink publishing pieces on sartorial choices of politicians. What a waste of ... newsprint? screen real estate? But seriously, I couldn't care less about party-aligned neckties or whatever. I do care about what they do.

Assuming this is a good faith question, and acknowledging that I'm not a food economics expert, here's what I think. You asked why people in the U.S. need government food assistance in a country this wealthy. Don't we have charity? It’s a fair question. The answer isn’t simple.

"Are there no prisons?" asked Scrooge? "Plenty of prisons," said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. "And the Union workhouses?" demanded Scrooge? "Are they still in operation?" ... "If they had rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population." #vibe

So, I go to church. One of the things I do is coordinate volunteers for a homeless family shelter in the city. Most of the 20 families who live there are single mom + kids and often fleeing domestic violence. The moms work, but are usually low wage and get SNAP to help with foods.

Hey! Calling all Wonder Women! We all are sisters…pulling together with one spirit. 50 years ago today the first episode of the series Wonder Woman aired.

Poetic #FridayFeeling Of the bloviating in my feed the excuses in my classroom the "we just need you to" in my email the "but you're so good at" so ... the "well, you know, they're difficult so..." I am tired.

Linked-In tells me today is something called "World Productivity Day." No.