Scholars at Risk is offering two new tracks of fellowships for early-career researchers on academic freedom! We have one track for scholars working on the US and one for scholars on global/comparative/other countries: www.scholarsatrisk.org/the-network-...

This is an interesting development to watch. Once authoritarians get in power, elections are either fragile or meaningless. Orban and Russia at it. Thinking about midterms in the US and wrongfully imprisoned political party leaders in Turkey.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

And how many of them pronounced Iran as “I ran”?

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Person of Interest is such a great show. I won’t count the reasons why except noting that it is consistently good through the end. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It is even more relevant now in the age of AI and federal government scaring school kids at school bus stops.

Local elections matter. It’s not all about who the president is.

She was an Istanbul street cat in a previous life #2. (No, she did not get any.)

This is a great list. I taught a course on identity politics with a film component once; my list has some overlaps with this. My favorite genre sci-fi has many movies/series that tackle authoritarianism in imagined worlds/futures, that’d be a separate list.

2025 brought many new things into my life and these babies were the best of them. Hoping for a 2026 where we can at least maintain our sanity. May the new year be as sweet as these kittens for all of you!

Because I work in education, I had to participate in an in-person active shooter training. I’m a generally calm person but the training was difficult emotionally. Our children do these trainings regularly again and again. They carry emotional burden of shootings even when they are not targeted.

In our district former English Learners (those who gain proficiency in English and exit language support) outperform other students. Maybe low scores for immigrants are due to language barriers. 🤷‍♀️

Bir önceki hayatında İstanbul sokak kedisiymiş. #caturday

@arkadas.bsky.social shared this www.authoritarian-stack.info -does it remind Turkey watchers of anything? See the link in the first comment 👇

Mamdani and his campaign give me Imamoglu vibes, her şey çok güzel olacak! I would have loved to see these two mayors of two mega cities get together and shake hands but you know… Mamdani better be ready for a lot of scrutiny over his every move.

Thanks to Netflix Physical Asia, a whole new demographic now knows about oil wrestling. I knew something was up when my colleague asked me about it. I took a glimpse at the show and felt like this is what the Olympics were like back in the day -minus too much nationalism.

Forgot to update: Tried it, it is great. 5 minutes in the air fryer and çıtır çıtır simit. It is not some Americanized bagel wannabe. It is the real deal. So good. I hope it is a permanent product, not seasonal. Definitely give it a try.

Where is the Pokémon? Another episode of the US becoming more like Turkey, I.e. authoritarian.

Yep, I had that well before Trump. Very disruptive but I was able to shut it down. Their evaluation comment said I was recruiting for terrorist organizations. I talked to various admins to have this removed from my records and they said “Don’t worry about it!” but then brought it up in my reviews.

Trader Joe’s, here I come!!! Hem de Ankara simidi! (Although, I have to say, we need a Trader Osman or Trader Can label on this).

The opening of this piece made me realize Charlie Kirk’s death is the 15 Temmuz for MAGA, the pretext to silence and bulldoze the opposition.

What? Trump is having Erdogan hold his ayran; will he start imprisoning journalists who don’t comply?

I don’t know, when extreme restrictions like closing the main arteries and bridges happen, we immediately think a coup attempt is taking place. I’d say this is also a variety of coup. Reverse coup? Last exit before the bridge coup?

Feel like I have to repost this. The move on the Istanbul HQ of the main opposition party is both a sign of desperation by the Erdogan regime and of the entrenchment of one man-one party rule. Paradoxical isn’t it? Americans, take note. When the NG shutters I95 or 495, don’t be surprised.

Hear hear…

I wish they did a before and after the 22nd st bike lane to see the impact of bike friendly road design. If the Washington st. Bike friendly revamp happened, this could be even higher.

It shouldn’t have come to this. Nobody say a word to me about the banality of evil.

Upping this for those who might have missed before.

When I see someone refer to a democratic process or democracy in Turkey, I cringe hard. They don’t exist. Elections do not mean democracy. Existence of a legislature or a Supreme Court do not mean democracy. One needs to talk about authoritarianism or paths out of authoritarianism for Turkey.

This reminds me of the time I was supposed to choose a bicycle where there was a tricycle and a motorcycle but no bicycle in the photo.

Bayader Youth Team is a Gaza group that provides local aid and help. My (Palestinian) friend’s cousin is part of the group, and I’m hoping to spread the word. Please donate if you can, amplify if you’d like. Support Bayader Youth Team to continue their mission in Gaza chuffed.org/project/1342...

Suskunluğum asaletimdendir deyip koca bir paragraf yazı yazmalar, alttan alta iğnelemeler, aba altından sopa göstermeler de ne bileyim… Asaleti o kadarsa artık?

It’s really odd why Turkish regulators would ban eSIM providers, especially in the middle of tourism season. These companies use local networks, so it cannot be control over access. Is it to control the market? That does not make sense, users are mostly transient/short term people (right?).

If I were a Kurd living in Turkey, I wouldn’t put too much trust in a peace process that winks at Apo but keeps Demirtas and many other Kurdish politicians/journalists in jail, and while the trustees run municipalities instead of elected Kurds. Peace cannot exist without democracy and rule of law.

This makes sense to me given that the US assets in Al-Udeid were already removed last week and US/UK citizens got shelter in place warnings this morning. I really hope this can serve as a save face for Iran and start de-escalation.

Qatar has also closed its airspace.

Spoilt kid breaks others’ toys to teach his brother a lesson.

Amidst today’s media circus, I want to highlight this and express hope that the judge’s ruling prevails to make the funding actually available. In our niche of children’s education, this is a big deal. 🤞

The Trump-Musk bickering is bringing back memories of 17-25 Aralik and the Gulen-Erdogan falling out. Very fuatavni of Musk. People who are reading the revelations with a smirk: Careful! You, who have nothing to do with these guys, may become the real victims of this falling out.

This is scary. I don’t want to spoil it (you must read the whole thing) but the way ChatGPT uses “therapy language” when challenged is really unsettling. It is blatant manipulation, reminiscent of corporate statements written by lawyer/publicist teams after they fuck something up publicly.

Apparently this is not a joke. I’m intrigued but I like my baklava in my tummy not on my skin.

One day we will understand how harmful these federal cuts are/will be. I hope we can come back from it.

Dissolution of PKK, without any “truth and reconciliation” can’t have full success at establishing peace. When so many Kurdish politicians are in jail, including Demirtaş, is a peace process possible?

Even the AI knew to give Trump a red lightsaber.

Grey rock T*rump, JADE GOP. Look these up. After all, we’re all trapped in an abusive relationship.

Walz: If you say you love freedom but you don't believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love is not freedom, it is privilege.

Same. I am horrified at how much the US rights and freedoms have regressed in such a short time. The shock and awe has left the opposition paralyzed. US citizens are discussing buying burner phones for overseas travel, this is not normal.

This is a worrisome development. Timing coincides with Passover, which I’m guessing was intentional. Pennsylvania is an important swing state and Shapiro is very popular with a promising future career in politics.

We're tracking the number of international students whose visas have been revoked by the State Department. We've confirmed over 300 so far and there are likely many more. Get in touch if you've got information you'd like to share with us www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...