Having seen @nabalkattu.bsky.social’s syllabus in progress on ancient Israel, Judah, and the Levant, I wish I could take this class. Hopefully I’ll have an opportunity in the future to offer a similar class!

They have quite an operation going. www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...

One of the things about people showing up to protest for the first time, that many, many armchair theorists don't grasp, is the effect of seeing what happens with your own eyes, then seeing how media covers it, and what is said ABOUT YOU by media and political personalities/office holders.

I officially filed to run for City Council in District 3! 🎉 See the link in bio to get involved.

Tonight’s progress

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger just issued an executive order shutting down state police cooperation with Trump’s ICE immediately after taking office.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) calls Renee Good a martyr for her faith and part of ‘a sacred lineage of faithful witnesses who have risked and lost their lives in defense of human dignity.’ religionnews.com/2026/01/13/r...

wrote about the occupation in minnesota with a closing note on how the white house has exactly one tactic — repression with goons — but no particular strategy for dealing with entrenched resistance. gift link.

Reviving this today for no particular reason

I think the last 24 hours in VA are a stronger indication of what the Democratic Party platform will be in 2026 and going forward than the feeble quaverings of Chuck Schumer.

A periodic reminder to read this book as a counter to the surge of conservative & right-wing centers and programs focused on civil discourse www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645827...

A little personal update I'm pleased to share. For this Spring term, I'll be lecturing at the University of Virginia School of Law, co-teaching a seminar course titled Transgender History, Recognition, Regulation and Rights. I'm honored to have the opportunity to present this important topic.

Excited to see this happening, and a huge THANK YOU to @drewjakeprof.bsky.social for seeing this through!!

ICE has kidnapped so many people from their cars that the city had to put out this statement. Let that sink in.

Breaking news: The leaders of the University of Virginia’s board resigned Friday after Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger (D) asked them and at least three other appointees of her Republican predecessor to step down.

UATX: "we're the school for free speech." Faculty member: "the rich should pay their fair share." UATX: "you're fired." It's truly a distillation of the reality that the entire "anti-cancel culture" project was just a bunch of rich people who hated being criticized or held accountable.

Please share widely! 3-year Postdoc in Early Christian Studies. Deadline: 8 March. Let me know if you have any questions or want to nominate a colleague.

Higher ed. folks who do teaching and/or research + academic advising: a colleague and I are putting together a pedagogical panel on integrating teaching and advising for AHA 2027 in New Orleans. Interested? Send a DM!

Peopling the Past is planning Season 5 of our podcast! We are looking for folks who are interested in appearing as episode guests: the theme of Season 5 will be the relevance of the ancient world to our understanding of important but challenging contemporary issues docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... /🧵

Repeating my mantra that the average person out there has *no idea* how much of a fiasco the student loan program is right now and that 90% of it has to do with politicking (going back decades) and nothing to do with the borrower.

This really is such an exciting project!!

There are lots of words for coastal West Asia! Multiple words are used simultaneously to describe the location and the people there! Multiple words have ancient origins!

The Virgin Ideologue: "It was always Israel!"/"It was always Palestine!" The Chad Neo-Assyrian Emperor: "I crushed Israel, Palestine, Judah, Tyre, Sidon, Moab, Que, and Damascus. I saw them driven before me and heard the lamentations of their women."

FB reminded me that my first time in Palestine was 11 years ago

NEW: I spoke with this bishop, who offered more context for his (entirely unprepared!) remarks. Turns out other bishops (e.g., in MN) agree with him, and he recalled the moment he told local priests to get their wills in order. “There was a little gasp,” he said. religionnews.com/2026/01/15/t...

"The engine puttered; the inside of his 15-year-old hatchback was starting to smell like burning oil. Within seconds Stancil was on the Expedition’s tail, no more than a few metres off the white bumper. He laid into his horn. 'Meep-Meep-Meep!' It sounded like the Roadrunner. 'Meep-Meep-Meep!'"

Jesus. www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

You are the leader of one of the world’s most prosperous countries. You could spend public money and solve problems for millions. This would in turn create even more prosperity and improve life in general. Instead you take the same money and buy a badly trained army to go hurt people you don’t like.

*Funds contingent on hiring faculty who skip the transgressive dialogues of Plato.

The lovely folks at Anishinaabe-owned Heart Berry made an ICE OUT shirt, from which 100% of the profits will go to the Immigrant Defense Network, a statewide coalition of many orgs. www.heartberry.com/search?q=ICE...

New faculty senate resolution just dropped facultysenate.virginia.edu/resolution-o...

Cornel West tonight at UVA 🫡

Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

So so proud of my brilliant spouse who against all odds got awarded an NEH grant for their amazing work in early Christianity and slavery studies @chancebonar.bsky.social

I’m grateful that @nehgov.bsky.social finds my work on Onesimus valuable for the humanities! When the book comes out via @fortresspress.bsky.social, get excited about the reception (from Ethiopia and Greece to the UK and US) of one of the earliest known individuals who was enslaved by a Christian

Congratulations to my Advising Fellow @chancebonar.bsky.social for winning an NEH fellowship for his project on Onesimus! Sorry you’re stuck with us instead, Chance!

Cripes a’mighty people, Steven Miller is not staging a militarized ethnic cleansing and sending the border cops to murder people in the street to distract from the Epstein files. He’s doing it because he and Trump (and Vance and Homan and Noem etc) really really want to.

Some protesters have reported being hit with rubber bullets close to the scene of a reported shooting in north Minneapolis involving federal agents in the area of W. 25th Street and Lyndale Avenue N. Federal agents have deployed chemical irritants. Updates here: bit.ly/4sI4z3q

Lmao someone threw an open bottle of piss into an ICE vehicle that was driving by

Near Lyndale and 24th Ave in Minneapolis tonight, feds have reportedly shot another person. Preliminary info is shaky for now, hearing two people injured. BORTAC just rolled up in an armored vehicle. A crowd is gathering outside the police tape—MPD presence as well.

It really feels like the federal government of the US has decided to declare war on Venezuelans, Danes, Minnesotans all at the same time. Weak authoritarian regimes (which includes dying colonies and empires) make no sense but are just maximally destructive as they flail around

I choose to believe that everything that happened in Marty Supreme actually happened in real life to Marty Reisman

1. jesus was jewish. i’m having to say that with increasing regularity. 2. the gospels contain a lot of judeophobia. 3. well-meaning christians: don’t tell jews that this arsonist isn’t a real christian. re-claim the tradition like a church father mad at marcion.

we should want to make it undeniable that there is no choice but to end ICE, prosecute its officers for lawbreaking, and fundamentally rethink immigration enforcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Claudette Colvin, whose refusal to move seats on a segregated bus helped spark the civil rights movement, dies at 86.

I mean. I am not an expert. But when the government is like “Hey, give me a list of Jews. For uh protection reasons” it would seem like A BAD THING. apple.news/A-AXrNRgkRhm...

Unions and community orgs are calling for a Minnesota-wide shutdown in 10 days to protest the ferocious assault by federal immigration agents. They're saying on Jan 23, no work, no school, no shopping. SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, & others are supporting, w/ more to join. By me, Amie Stager