whatever you think about the British royal family, it's pretty striking that Andrew, eighth in line to the throne, has been publicly humiliated and stripped of his titles and honors while Lawrence Summers is still University Professor at Harvard

Sorry, I’m sure I sound abysmally negative in a celebratory moment, but it’s important to know that UC admin have fought us every step of the way as we attempted to stand up for our university. It’s become very clear to many of us that they view the values we cherish as impediments to their work.

This is a grotesque assault on faculty expertise and self-governance. I was fortunate enough to start my academic career as an assistant professor at Montclair State. Solidarity with MSU humanists being buzzworded into a new School of Human Narratives and Creative Expressions none of them want.

Does your university have a Committee on Academic Freedom (I'm especially interested if it's separate from your tenure/promotion/grievance processes)? If so, is it meeting the moment right now? (DMs on this topic welcome if you prefer not to post publicly.)

Maybe it’s just the Humanities professor in me, but let it be noted that events of today (ahem) have demonstrated the value of being able to assess a large volume of qualitative data and do careful textual analysis with deep attention to context.

Is it time to revive Susan Leigh Star's idea of the Society of People Interested in Boring Things?

I asked about this, and one of our excellent librarians discovered that in fact AI summaries/"Research Assistant" can be switched off at the level of the library. Something to request. support.proquest.com/s/article/Eb...

Trying to follow the intricacies of the coup against the BBC but distracted by the very British phrase "gardening leave" and wishing it could be a literal thing (instead of a euphemism for fired but still on the payroll).

Has something shifted in higher ed?The New York Times hasn't quoted Christopher R#f0 for at least a month now.

Too late.

Florida Tree Snail, Everglades National Park

It's abundantly clear: ordinary people with whistles and inflatable costumes on the streets of U.S. cities represent the overall opinion of Americans far more accurately than our elected representatives. I'm not a political scientist, but I bet there are opinion polls on this if you need them.

After their resounding victory in Tuesday’s elections, the Democrats had no choice but to surrender.

The smartest thing a politician can do in 2026 is to come up with a bold plan for shoring up and EXPANDING public libraries. Call it Project 2050. It's a way to reintroduce the grammar of commoning and the commons to a new generation in a way they can easily grasp. Such low hanging fruit.

Lepidopterist friends: Cloudless Sulphur or Orange-Barred Sulphur? It's feeding on the flowers of a Bahama senna, hence the yellow caterpillar.

so Cuomo is in fact the living epitome of Rich People Threatening To Leave New York When Mamdani Wins Who Do Not In Fact Leave New York

I feel like Sandwich guy's defense attorney may have majored in creative writing in college, because these 2 sentences are just absolutely beautiful.

This week was my 35th* PhD defense. The new Dr isn't on here so I won't be specific. But it's always a privilege and a delight to be part of this conversation. And I learn so much, and get so much hope for the future. *(36th, I suppose, if I count my own PhD, although I'd rather forget that day)

When Trump speaks in Miami today, look at this great election map by @mcimaps.bsky.social from yesterday's Miami election, zoom in to precincts 982 & 980, where the Freedom Tower and Trump's future corruption monument are located: Democrat Eileen Higgins got >60% of the vote there.

Africana Studies is going to have one hell of an update to their "what our majors have done with their degree after graduation" page.

A propos of nothing

Zohran at the rally for trans youth on february 8 ❣️ he was polling single digits.

Don't forget that Zohran Mamdani spent his entire campaign standing proudly beside the trans community. He went to trans rights rallies just to show support. He proudly waved trans rights flags without hesitation. He refused to back down in support of trans rights. That makes me happy.

Attn: Maria Salazar (FL-27)

this is so much better than the last time we were all new yorkers

The city of Miami hasn't elected a Democrat as mayor in almost 30 years, and a woman has never been mayor, but Eileen Higgins is well ahead tonight and looks like the clear favorite in the run off next month (run off between the top two candidates bc nobody got above 50%).

Plenty of vacancies opening up for Andrew Cuomo down here www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/04/q...

I've been trying to remember when I first learned about Mamdani. It was definitely a video, maybe 9 months ago, and I'm pretty sure it was just Mamdani standing on a street corner in Queens (Jackson Heights?) talking to people who passed by about stuff ... what stuff? I can't remember.

so I don't have any more information than this Instagram post but apparently Boris Johnson has a new part-time job

happy first day of student registration for the Spring 2026 semester to all who celebrate (especially undergraduate program coordinators tracking enrollments to show their deans that students are choosing humanities courses, but maybe that's just me)

I wonder if every field of expertise centers on an object the defining features of which those experts can never agree on. Ask an English professor to say what a poem is. Ask a cultural anthropologist to define culture. Botanists don't know what a tree is. Maybe sex and gender are like that too.

Kathleen Jamie is one of my favorite contemporary nature writers. Sightlines is a wonderful book. I've taught her marvelous piece "Three Ways of Looking at St Kilda" three times now and it looks different—more intricate and more entrancing—each time.

Brian has moved away from Miami but he continues to be one of the very best sources of information about our changing climate in South Florida. The developers don't seem to care, however, as they continue pouring concrete for new waterfront condo buildings.

This is a fascinating story. Black British history is also rural/parish history. And the archives! In 1977, Cathy O'Neill wrote an essay for her A-levels titled "The Early Cambridge Campaign against Slavery, 1780–1790," with original research, including a photograph of Anna Maria Vassa's grave.

OMG I love this. My first job as a new immigrant in NYC in the early 90s was at Community's rival bookstore on 7th Ave, Booklink. (Palestinian owned, incidentally). Mamdani makes me miss New York so much. Please vote, NYC friends.

Adding this to my list of Must Do items when I advise graduate students.

this should be as horrifying as the police massacre in Rio but because the dead are not lined up next to each other in public view we are in danger of losing our sense of shock and shame

Here's your next mayor of Paris, everyone.

auntifa

just thinking about how it’s our greenhouse gases that are fueling these monster storms, not theirs

University of Miami folks: if you want to encourage the president and provost not to have the university sign on to the extortion scheme known as the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, please sign this open letter (anonymously if you prefer).

I live in Florida. I hate the idea of Andrew Cuomo as my neighbor. But if that's what a Mamdani victory means, I volunteer to meet Cuomo's flight at MIA holding a "welcome to the Sunshine State" sign.

NOAA hurricane hunters are working without pay tonight!

Local sign of Greens surging: the Green leader of East Herts District Council found and followed me on here (presumably bc I have "Bishop's Stortford" in my profile). Locking up the East Herts-Florida overseas voting bloc. Your move, Josh Dean.

like so many days since the blitz, today was terrifying. but the terror is outpaced by the burning hot solidarity of parents blocking school streets, hundreds of neighbors walking patrol, bicyclists chasing SUVs broadcasting whereabouts, and whistling winemoms bringing the fire of one thousand suns.

"No more." This speech made me admire him even more and miss NYC even more. No more Islamophobia; no more campaigning without calling out the way that Islamophobia is tolerated by so many; no more staying in the shadows. His campaign gives me so much hope.