Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Julian Lucas

@jcljules.bsky.social

7.3K followers 410 following 24 posts

Staff writer at the New Yorker. Jes Grew Carrier. https://www.julianlucas.com

www.julianlucas.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Julian Lucas @jcljules.bsky.social · Feb 24

I dove to the wreck of Brazil’s last slave ship—and wrote about the global network of maritime archaeologists excavating the Middle Passage www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Dredging Up the Ghostly Secrets of Slave Ships

A global network of maritime archeologists is excavating slave shipwrecks—and reconnecting Black communities to the deep.

www.newyorker.com

7 33 110

Reposted by Julian Lucas

404 Media @404media.co · 1d

A publicly-sourced archive of more than 10,000 national park signs and monument placards went public as part of a massive volunteer project to save historical and educational placards from around the country that risk removal by the Trump administration.

🔗 www.404media.co/save-our-sig...

‘Save Our Signs’ Preservation Project Launches Archive of 10,000 National Park Signs

More than 10,000 images of signs, placards, quotes, photos and more are part of the crowdsourced effort from over 300 national park and monument sites around the U.S.

www.404media.co

1 63 190

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 2d

yearly reminder to people insisting that we view Christopher Columbus as "a man of his time" that *the people responsible for the Spanish Inquisition* thought Columbus was out of pocket

Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 2d

Christopher Columbus was dragged back to Spain in chains by a crusading knight, convicted of tyranny and immeasurable cruelty, pardoned by Isabella but banned from returning to Hispaniola.

Fuck Columbus.

88 2.3K 7.8K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Michael Schulman @michaelschulman.bsky.social · 3d

I absolutely loved having this long conversation with Tim Curry, whose memoir comes out Tuesday. He told terrific stories about, among others, Meat Loaf, Ivana Trump, John Huston, Truman Capote, and Miss Piggy. What a life! www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Tim Curry Does the Time Warp

The actor and singer discusses the origins of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” his relationship with David Bowie, and the joy of working with Miss Piggy.

www.newyorker.com

11 69 250

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Soraya Nadia McDonald @sorayanadiamcdonald.com · 5d

What happened at the ICE facility today?

Well the brownshirts got mad at a group of axolotls doing the hokey pokey, who were then relieved by a set of fluorescent macaws who spent the night dancing the collected works of Martha Graham.

4 16 120

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 10d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

330 2.4K 9.5K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 6d

yeah uh not sure this Nobel Peace Prize is the anti-Trump dunk so many people seem to believe it is www.thetimes.com/world/latin-...

For now, her greatest hope — and that of the majority of Venezuelans, who are opposed to the regime — lies in Trump and his desire to ensure Maduro’s political demise.

“I totally support his strategy,” Machado told me. “And I’ve said on behalf of the Venezuelan people that we are very grateful. I think it is the right thing to do. It’s courageous. It’s visionary.”

But attacking a speedboat? Killing 11 citizens? “I’m in favour of the US dismantling this criminal structure.”

4 12 61

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 7d

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

200 1K 3.5K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 8d

This very very very bad. I cannot stress this enough. I said that they crossed the Rubicon with arresting Ras Baraka several months ago. This is very bad and portends more bad things for regular people.

Gregory Pratt @royalpratt.bsky.social · 8d

The President of the United States is calling for the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois to be jailed.

9 570 1.9K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 12d

Google has determined that ICE agents are a vulnerable group and has used this designation as pretext to delete an app that helped communities determine where ICE raids were happening

www.404media.co/google-calls...

Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’

The move comes as Apple removed ICEBlock after direct pressure from U.S. Department of Justice officials and signals a broader crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

71 410 660

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 14d

Israel has just arrested Greta Thunberg and many others.

Statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla:

“People of conscience have been abducted. The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.”
1/3

Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 14d

Close to 65k watching the livefeed from the Global Sumud Flotilla off the coast of Gaza.

Israel seems to be intercepting right now.

All eyes needed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEN2...

24/7 LIVESTREAM OF GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA

YouTube video by Global Sumud Flotilla

www.youtube.com

80 3K 5.2K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 14d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

660 8.3K 25K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 14d

america, baby: someone shot the internet

www.404media.co/a-bullet-cra...

A Bullet Crashed the Internet in Texas

A ‘stray bullet’ 25,000 people offline near Dallas.

www.404media.co

7 47 170

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 15d

Good night and good luck everyone.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 15d

According to @oliverdarcy.bsky.social in tonight's Status, Paramount's purchase of The Free Press is imminent and will be announced in the next few days, with Bari Weiss being named the editor in chief of CBS News.

www.status.news/p/washington...

WaPo’s Ad Chief Wavers

Johanna Mayer-Jones, the executive tasked with helming The Post’s ad business, has been weighing her future at the paper—raising the prospect of another high-profile departure at a precarious moment.

www.status.news

10 65 270

Julian Lucas @jcljules.bsky.social · 15d

“Google Translate, for instance, says the Fulfulde word for January means June, while ChatGPT says it’s August or September.”

AI-translated Wikipedia articles are putting small languages in a “linguistic doom loop.” Great!

www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...

How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral

Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?

www.technologyreview.com

5 6

Reposted by Julian Lucas

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 16d

By inventing the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee unleashed everything from A.I. slop to tech monopolies. Can the 70-year-old computer scientist rescue his creation from the forces that now dominate it?

Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. Now He Wants to Save It

In 1989, Sir Tim revolutionized the online world. Today, in the era of misinformation, addictive algorithms, and extractive monopolies, he thinks he can do it again.

www.newyorker.com

17 80 240

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Internet Archive @archive.org · 16d

As announced in @newyorker.com, Sir Tim Berners-Lee will receive the 2025 Internet Archive Hero Award!
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

🧵

Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. Now He Wants to Save It

In 1989, Sir Tim revolutionized the online world. Today, in the era of misinformation, addictive algorithms, and extractive monopolies, he thinks he can do it again.

www.newyorker.com

11 100 410

Julian Lucas @jcljules.bsky.social · 16d

I profiled Sir Tim, the mild-mannered Pandora who invented the Web, and asked about his plans to save us from Big Tech. (They involve a trustworthy chatbot named “Charlie.”) Read to find out what went wrong between dot-com utopianism and “MechaHitler”
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. Now He Wants to Save It

In 1989, Sir Tim revolutionized the online world. Today, in the era of misinformation, addictive algorithms, and extractive monopolies, he thinks he can do it again.

www.newyorker.com

3 7

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 17d

Perfect, 10/10

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/n...

6 33 160

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 22d

"Common decency stigmatizes people that do not participate in it—removes them from voluntary association. We indeed have to live with one another, but terms and conditions apply."

me on why Ezra Klein should be ashamed / why shame is Good Actually

www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...

How Can We Live Together? - Boston Review

Ezra Klein is wrong: shame is essential.

www.bostonreview.net

200 1.9K 6.7K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

maya cade @mayascade.bsky.social · 23d

happy autumn equinox from me and prince rogers nelson.

prince, the legendary musician, is center in frame around an autumnal paradise of orange hued trees. his glare pierces through the camera as he stands in front of a vintage maroon colored car. it’s one of my favorite photos.

33 150

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Lydia Polgreen @polgreen.bsky.social · 27d

I wrote about what the desperate attempt to find a trans connection to the Charlie Kirk assassination tells us about the deep psychological impulses at work in Trumpism. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/o...

Opinion | The Fallout From Charlie Kirk’s Killing Reveals Two Truths of Trumpism

www.nytimes.com

36 330 1.3K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 27d

The new Monroe Doctrine.

Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 27d

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/18/t...

Trump Is Ushering in the Era of the Strongman

The U.S. president is promoting iron-fisted rule throughout the Western Hemisphere.

foreignpolicy.com

14 25

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Internet Archive @archive.org · 29d

Book bans get headlines, but the bigger threat to books is hiding in plain sight: A handful of companies control how ebooks reach readers, and they can cut off access with a click.

New from @mariabustillos.com in @columjournreview.bsky.social ⤵️

Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · Sep 16

There's a bigger threat to books than bans: monopoly of distribution, by @mariabustillos.com.
www.cjr.org/analysis/the...

There's a bigger threat to books than bans.

Access to e-books relies entirely on private distributors that have the power to shut them off at any moment.

www.cjr.org

12 200 430

Reposted by Julian Lucas

404 Media @404media.co · 29d

The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the United States.

🔗 www.404media.co/doj-deletes-...

DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing

Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrosim is far-right was disappeared.

www.404media.co

350 6.3K 11K

Reposted by Julian Lucas

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · Sep 15

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.

I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

substack.com

2.5K 16K 45K