It’s book release day! I’m back on social media! I feel slightly awkward about it because part of the book is about how social media transforms your motivations for communication! But honestly writing a book is lonely, weird basement-work, and now I want to talk to people about this weird jank.

Canadians in #Iran should leave now if safe to do so. Overland crossings are available via #Armenia and #Türkiye. Canadian passport holders do not require a visa to enter either country. travel.gc.ca/destinations...

University of Guelph offering supports for students stranded in Iran www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

In which I argue both that Pete Hegseth is humiliatingly bad at kettlebell swings and that his particular variety of conspicuous badness tells us a lot about the psychology of MAGA. www.aaronrosspowell.com/3mcb4y7vwqk24

Why Keeping Score Isn’t Fun Anymore In a new book, C. Thi Nguyen looks to his personal passions — from video games to yo-yoing — to illuminate the downside of our increasingly gamified world. #philsky #unlocked www.nytimes.com/2026/01/13/b...

The world has become shamelessly power-ranked, from football teams and Netflix shows to law schools and Instagram likes. So philosopher C. Thi Nguyen offers some gamified advice for 2026, to plug the downside of data into the upside of your mind. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Adb...

This approach will be illegal under recently-passed Bill 33. It only works if the assessment rubric is secret and can;t be gamed and the province is banning secret rubrics.

It would appear I am now a columnist at Inside Higher Ed. My first piece focuses on McCarthyism, censorship, and our current moment in higher education. This is an essay I started nearly 6 months ago so I'm glad to finally share it with y'all. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

I criticize Reason for relentless bothsidesing, so it's worth praising a high-profile piece that is honest about where we are. reason.com/2026/01/12/t...

"University administrators and state lawmakers are saying, in effect, that academic freedom won’t protect you if you teach ideas they don’t like." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...

+1

Guys, I'm happy to stipulate that the Poilievre Conservatives are the worst choice. I voted Liberal in 2025 to avoid them too. But the threat of an immoral government doesn't mean having an amoral one is a good thing.

Tomorrow's SCOTUS Case Is Not Just About Transgender Sports; Ruling Could Impact All Trans Rights www.erininthemorning.com/p/tomorrows-...

Breaking NYT: The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter. The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status. That is a war crime called "perfidy."

I'm a fan of giving students more options for shorter degrees. But a recent proposal for three year-degrees from a former Ford govt staffer is unfortunately mostly handwaving nonsense.

Well, the markets failed to discipline the administration, which means things will continue to get much worse.

White supremacist talking points. No dog whistles.

Expanding my horizons and my #26for2026 list before the year even really begins fitisafeministissue.com/2026/01/12/e...

We need less research framing the problem facing our country as "polarization" and more research framing the problem as "anti-democratic radicalization".

Why Donald Trump is telling such obvious lies on the ICE Minneapolis killing Philosophers Tim Keyon and Jennifer Saul on authoritarian discourse #philsky theconversation.com/why-donald-t...

Go Team 2026: Don’t forget that you are the boss of you. fitisafeministissue.com/2026/01/12/g...

Alison Bechdel: 8 Things You Need to Start Your Own Commune #unlocked www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/o...

Heated Rivalry shows how queer joy can disrupt hockey’s culture of masculinity theconversation.com/heated-rival...

Between the popular backlash to ICE brutality and Jerome Powell‘s statement, we are getting more and more signs that Trump is failing to consolidate an authoritarian regime

Three year degrees undergrad degrees, good and bad arguments in favour... higheredstrategy.com/three/

How it’s going

How many of the commentators, op-ed writers, and politicians *outraged* about the SCC's decision striking down mandatory minimums in child porn laws have said anything about X, or quit X, as a result of it propagating CSAM?

Go Team 2026: Dealing With Deja Vu fitisafeministissue.com/2026/01/11/g...

Civic action, costumes, dogs and steps, too: just a regular Saturday fitisafeministissue.com/2026/01/11/c...

Trump Eyes Greenland, and Europe Figures Its Best Bet Is a Negotiation European officials were stunned that President Trump restated his desire for Greenland after a yearlong effort to dissuade him, according to diplomats and others. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/w...

In an announcement that shocks no one, Nobel committee says the prize isn't something you can just give away to someone else of your choosing. www.ctvnews.ca/world/articl...

I can't believe I'm posting this video - but we actually have to have a conversation about the real world implications of America going to war over Greenland. Let me walk you through it. It doesn't turn out well for us.

I taught art in a high-security prison – Waiting for the Out took me straight back to my classroom theconversation.com/i-taught-art...

Idk maybe listen to smart women

What remains remarkable is that every day everything manages to exceed the previous day's stupidity. It is mindboggling that this malignant narcissistic criminal fool is being allowed to destroy the world.

In light of recent events, today seems like a good day for my Anxious Rabbits against Fascism t-shirt. Thanks to the Queer Print Club, artnotshame.org/queer-print-.... They're co-led by Anna Gaby-Trotz of our School of Fine Art and Music in the College of Arts at the University of Guelph.

Canadians have to be much more involved in our country's political future. youtu.be/TqoNBsnV6pY?...

Renee Good’s Murder was Misogyny We cannot ignore the distinctively gendered dynamics of this—and much other—fascist violence katemanne.substack.com/p/renee-good...

Canada could be hit hardest by U.S. political upheaval, report warns www.ctvnews.ca/canada/artic...

Abolish ICE

Just think for a moment about how absurd this is. People fought remote school during a pandemic, but now it is necessary (and it is!) to cope with the actions of the federal government.

The shooter calls her a "fucking bitch" right after shooting her three times. He shot because he was pissed off, not because he reasonably believed he was in danger. Also, he is filming while handling his weapon at the same time?!? Was he even looking at where he was shooting?

"YouGov has ICE at 39% favorable, 52% unfavorable...But this top line really understates the intensity of public backlash to ICE and its tactics. In February 2025, just 19% of Americans held a strongly unfavorable view of ICE. Today, 40% do." open.substack.com/pub/gelliott...

She smiles at the man who shoots her and says she isn't mad at him. Clearly initiates the effort to leave when the aggressive agents arrive. The question now (not that this was in question) isn't who's telling the truth. It's when DHS had this video and knew that what they were saying was a lie.

Yesterday Elon Musk retweeted "white solidarity is the only way to survive". In our numb overwhelmed media environment it barely made headlines that the world's richest man endorsed blood-curdling white nationalism. My brief writeup for @religiondispatches.org religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...

The rage that has to exist in the average Minnesotan to watch someone stuck on an icy hill and STAND BY AND TAUNT THEM

In the last month there have been increased signs of pushback, including a very important one in Trump v. Illinois. But between the Venezuela attack and its aftermath, and ICE now just murdering protestors, it seems to me that things are getting worse faster overall.

Canadian unemployment stable at 8.2% but youth (15-24) unemployment now up to 13.3%. Not quite early 1990s levels, but things haven't been this bad for this long for over 30 years.

TIL that 67% of German undergraduate students take longer than three years to finish their three-year degree programs (In Canada, 55% or so take longer than four years to finish a four-year program) So toss on-time completion on the pile of things that free tuition doesn't necessarily make better.

Jason Stanley is one of three Yale profs who left Trumpland to teach at U of T. In his first op-ed for @thestar.com, he says Canadians need to wake up and smell the fascism: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...