It's hard enough to be Jewish in a place with few Jews even without violent criminals burning down your synagogue. mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...

Absolutely harrowing to watch the hypothetical question “Would you hide Anne Frank’s family?” made real and urgent simply by ordering DoorDash.

GANDALF: Can you see anything? FRODO: There's nothing…Wait. There are markings. It's some form of Elvish. I can't read it. GANDALF: There are few who can. The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here. In the common tongue it says, "Light the lamp, not the rat."

If universities would prioritize smaller classes and fewer bells and whistles like third-party technology contracts, a significantly bigger number of PhDs would find a position in higher education.

Sen Mon Mothma for PA 2028

Hey everyone! Can I get 50 reposts for this program? It would mean a lot! www.jccsf.org/event/michae... #RecipesfromtheAmericanSouth

The Muppets Take Manet.

#videogames #Zelda #LegendsofZelda #callforpapers

“I am the OG vibe shift.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...

Matt Walsh's imaginary professor: "good morning student-comrades. today we learn how to bayonet a white Christian capitalist while taking trans hormones" actual average professor: "folks, I am begging you, please do the reading for tomorrow this time. it is five pages"

BIAJS is sadly saying goodbye to #Glasgow after three amazing, intense conference days at #BIAJS2025, organised by our president Mia Spiro on the theme of crossing borders. In this thread, some images from the week…

Trump refers to bankers as "shylocks"

A man with a scorpion bite. A woman with cholera. A diabetic who needed insulin. A 3-year-old boy. They all died when the U.S. stopped sending medicine to Sudan. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

yes i am sure

Anyone who thinks LA is full of socialists has never taken a meeting at a studio

I can’t speak for other sports and I’m not a competitive runner, but this tracks with the running community I know. It’s a beautiful statement.

Suddenly everyone is rooting for the Pope and Harvard to save democracy what timeline is this

BREAKING: President Donald Trump abruptly fires Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. The dismissal was disclosed in statements from three top House Democrats and confirmed by a separate person familiar with the matter.

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

SCENE: The REL Dept. ME, running into fellow JST colleague's office: Habemus papem! COLLEAGUE: Oh wow! COLLEAGUE 2 arrives. COLLEAGUE 2 (nonchalant): I can't believe my two Jewish colleagues are the ones most excited about the new pope. </scene>

Wait, how did they pick a new Pope so fast? If rabbis had a conclave, we'd still be on the part where we argue about what a Pope even is.

Remember that it's STILL not cool to make fun of ANYONE'S weight, in any context, and that's STILL not how we get to ANY justice or liberation, EVER EVEN if you think you're being sly and funny about how the president is like the mob boss from that movie or whatever. Words and deeds only.

ppl keep mistaking Jurassic Park for a survival film against dinosaurs when it's actually a survival film against startup culture

Right. Yes. Why on earth would anyone need to know anything about the Middle East right now? Or how to speak Spanish. Or understand data or religions.

I have been fortunate to receive @nehgov.bsky.social grants including for a forthcoming book. I served on grants panels for faculty fellowships, documentary films, K-12 projects, and cultural institutions, where I met extraordinary NEH staff and supported great work. We need the #NEH!

I ..... am wondering if my flight will get to MKE tonight. [sigh].

My parents died from incurable degenerative neurological disorders. Dad from Parkinson's and mom from ALS. One thing that kept me going after they died was the hope that there would one day be better, more affordable treatments. I've run races to raise money for that. This news is hard to see.

Wisconsin is in the news for much more important reasons this week, but I'll be speaking at UW Milwaukee this Thursday! 4/3, 7 pm, Curtin Hall 175. Someone order me a New Glarus, stat. #CraftingJudaism #AmRel #AcRel #materialreligion

I'm very concerned that some rare skills will become even rarer. I appreciate that people think that there might be more important things to do than study rare topics, but once the knowledge goes, it goes. /6

New Report: American Jews are Doing Great! bermanarchive.stanford.edu/new-report-a...

The ASCH forum on Heathen, from the Jan 2024 conference, is live on Church History. Open access! @kecarte.bsky.social’s intro: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh’s response: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... @mbaysa.bsky.social’s response: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Tomorrow at Lehigh!

THIS. I was on a plane with an interrupted take-off in January. The flight attendants were AMAZING. Their training, put into practice, was the real deal. A much less dramatic situation but you could see how well prepared they were.

(1/4) Recent layoffs of federal workers has a disproportionate impact on Native Americans, but is receiving almost no media attention. In Indian Health Services, which provides healthcare to 2.8 mil NAs, 2,200 people were laid off, including 1,400 who provide direct patient care.

How I think I look when teaching/ How I actually look

They're eating the checks! They're eating the balances!

At what point did we stumble into the plot of the South Park Movie? And when will Brian Boitano be arriving to save us?

This is the worst imaginable remake of Groundhog Day.

I wrote about Goofy and fragility, and now the sun is setting so I'll sign off for a bit. #Disney #runDisney open.substack.com/pub/faithind...

My book How the Rabbis Became Experts is now available for preorder! Officially out on Apr 22, 2025. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

I suspect we're going to be hearing a lot about university endowments soon, so a reminder that there mostly isn't one big pot of money called "the endowment." "The endowment" is thousands of accounts labeled "Douglas H. Jones Jr. '72 Scholarship for Trombonists from South Dakota."

This weekend I completed the Goofy Challenge-- a half marathon and a full marathon. 39.3 miles in two days. I am so grateful for six years cancer free. There are obviously much more pressing things going on in the world right now, but if you can give, please do. pages.lls.org/tnt/lv/wdw25...

I'm thrilled to share my first peer-reviewed #Disney /religion publication, which is open-access in Religion Compass! "Exploring Disney's World's Through Religious Studies." compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #AmRel #AcRel Immense thanks to reviewers; all errors mine <g>

ICYMI, I love this piece from Dr. @rachelbgross.bsky.social. My students are also generally shocked by this history. I'll share my favorite quote from the piece down thread, but go read the whole thing! jweekly.com/2024/12/30/p...

The federal government spending money on pediatric cancer research is good, actually.

Everything is awful but I'm working on rebooting my newsletter? Anyway, happy end of the year. #disney #AmRel #FaithInPixieDust open.substack.com/pub/faithind...

Delighted that one of my pieces made this great roundup of holiday articles from @therevealer.bsky.social! Check them all out.

4. The answer is 4.

This looks really, really awesome! Apply!