Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 15h

Writing a thoughtful and helpful peer review takes *time* and *expertise*, things rapidly being removed from US universities.

Rebecca Colesworthy @rcolesworthy.bsky.social · 20h

the dirty secret of peer review is that it works great but there’s a huge academic labor crisis being compounded by an authoritarian government takeover soooo

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Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social · 1d

There's obviously no shortage of urgent issues right now, but I really want to start seeing "ban online sports betting" as a major agenda item for political candidates

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 1d

like my god I’m glad we have him and the people who work for WCK are heroes but there are so many systems and institutions who should be ashamed WCK exists because hunger is a policy failure

and also btw so is a federal workforce being so underpaid for so long that a shutdown creates a hunger risk

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Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 1d

Just writing up my abstract! It was easy to connect my work to the theme 🙂, just had to find something I hadn't put on paper already.

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 1d

Even more annoying is that the original poster is using the LLM to “wade through a mountain of papers for a systemic review”. Which means feeding a lot of academic material into the plagiarism machine that always lies, without the consent of the authors.

Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 1d

Seeing people nonchalantly post stuff like makes me feel like I'm going crazy honestly.

A post from an academic on blue sky that says: "I'm learning about "prompt engineering" when asking LLMs to extract data. I now add this to all instructions:

Style
Be concise, analytic, and specific (cite page/figure if provided). If essential info is missing, keep going but flag Unclear and exact data needed. Never invent data.

#academicsky"

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tmoney2007.bsky.social @tmoney2007.bsky.social · 1d

Edit: "The idea that the elephantine shadow looming over the entire LLM based GenAI industry could be vanquished by telling the models not to hallucinate is just insane."

Lost track of my sentence structure there,...

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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 1d

This looks great 👇👇, and also there is an open-access version of the 400-page exhibition catalog online, for those of us sadly unable to travel and see the objects displayed in person: books.ub.uni-heidelberg.de//arthistoric... #medievalsky

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Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 1d

I don't hate Las Casas, but he also had a story to tell that makes him unreliable on the specifics. The horrors of the Spanish conquest are well documented through more reliable testimonies; Las Casas's stories are sensational because he crafted them to be.

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Hell-issa Johnson, PhD 🎃 @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 1d

It was, but history requires rigor. We can't excuse sloppy or polemic history just because it comports with our politics. We get mad if the other side does it! It's not ok for us either!

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Oneya Okuwobi @oneyaokuwobi.bsky.social · 1d

Clearly, there are many Italian people who should have been honored instead. But honoring Columbus had the ability to help elevate Italians into whiteness because of his connection to genocide and white supremacy. His cruelty is part of the point.

Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 2d

name an italian more worthy of an american holiday than columbus

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Χοδαδαδίος Ρεζαχανίδης, PhD, KRT, Duc de Téhéran @sasanianshah.bsky.social · 1d

My interview with The Ancients podcast on the Sasanians and the Rise of Islam.

open.spotify.com/episode/42Mc...

Rise of Islam

open.spotify.com

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Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 2d

This would be GREAT paired with my article in doctors in the Klan in the 1920s.

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 3d

New article out this month on how doctors become fascists.

50% of German physicians joined the Nazi Party––twice the proportion of any other profession. US doctors today are arguably the most conservative in the world, and we're heading along a similar path.
drive.google.com/file/d/1CAk9...

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

Oh yeah, this isn't just Bringing Out The Bling. This is "We Don't Let This Bling Out Unless Is Goddamn Serious. And Yet Here It Is. Over To You.".

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Justin Zimmerman @jztidecat.bsky.social · 3d

Oregon has the nicest football uniforms. You would think they weren’t laying off professors.

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Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 3d

This mindset, alas, also helps explain the deafening silence of Boards of Trustees, who should be safeguarding the universities' financial and academic status. Many trustees are happy to see professors and students who challenge the status quo get muzzled.

Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · 4d

One of the under-observed parts of the last several years is the switch where wealthy donors claims directive authority over university policy. So they think Trump’s efforts of undermine academic freedom promote their own control. It’s a symptom of oligarchy, and how oligarchy gives way to Tyranny.

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 10d

The Times' coverage of Rowan's role has been remarkable. It is sad to me that after forcing his alma mater, Penn, to oust a really good president for incredibly poor reasons, Rowan's megalomanical next thought was "maybe the federal government should do this everywhere" and they're actually trying.

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Jay @rogueaiconstruct.bsky.social · 5d

It’s because of these assholes that I’ll be attending my first No Kings rally on October 18. I value my rights so much I’m doing what I think is the best course of action to preserve them, which is the opposite of “hating the country”.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5d

The House Majority Whip is also insisting that a peaceful "No Kings" demonstration is in fact a "hate America rally" held for the "terrorist wing" of the Democratic Party.

Really feels like they're trying to manifest a violent reaction to it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

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Mark Blacknell @blacknell.bsky.social · 5d

You know, I hadn't planned to go to this, but clearing the calendar now.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5d

The Speaker of the House is telling the Fox News audience that a peaceful demonstration by Americans on the National Mall will actually be a gathering of organizations the administration has designated as violent terrorists.

Seems bad?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "

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Micah @rincewind.run · 5d

they are clearly trying to terrify everyone out of showing up to the No Kings protest and I simply do not think it is going to work

see you all there

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Sen. Roger Marshall: "October 18 is when the protest gets here. This will be a Soros paid-for protest for his professional protesters. The agitators show up. We'll have to get the National Guard out. Hopefully it will be peaceful. I doubt it."

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Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 4d

A map of the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, with hundreds of dark circles representing "No Kings" events on October 18, 2025.

Christine Johnson @christinkallama.bsky.social · 4d

www.nokings.org#map

No Kings

As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

www.nokings.org

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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 4d

It's basically impossible to earn a living as an independent commentator on the left.

By contrast, Fox and its imitators *constantly* elevate new voices and encourage people to get involved.

They pool their resources. They recycle their dollars and keep them in-network. They crowdfund like crazy.

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spooky tim dewey @tjdfotographist.bsky.social · 5d

Free speech is when I encourage people to send you death threats; hate speech is when you tell me to stop.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5d

Can you hear the words coming out of your mouth, Megan?

Yes, the guy who received so many threats because of your own actions he had to flee to Europe isn’t the real victim. No. You are, because people called you out.

Megyn Doyle, a student at Rutgers and the treasurer for the Turning Point USA chapter who started the Change.org petition to remove Bray, told Fox News Digital in a statement that Di Filippo's petition is slanderous.
"The petition once again proves that Conservative students are always on the receiving end of hate when speaking about concerning issues," Doyle said.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6d

CHICAGO — Outside an elementary school during dismissal… horrifying. What have we become?

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 6d

Yep. Dems should also be salivating over Trump’s IEEPA powers if SCOTUS upholds them. Forget the regulatory agencies, just slap 500% tariffs on Tesla and Oracle until they bend the knee.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 6d

This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.

Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.

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Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 6d

If you are an alum of:

Vanderbilt
UVA
UT Austin
U of Southern California
Dartmouth
Brown
MIT
U Penn
U Arizona

Your alma mater is RIGHT NOW weighing the costs and benefits of giving up its independence and abandoning academic freedom. SPEAK UP NOW:

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STAND WITH YOUR SCHOOL: Trump attacks 9 universities. Sign the alumni petition now.

Are you an alum from one of the 9 schools the federal government just attacked? Sign this alumni petition now to support your school, defend democracy, and build a grassroots movement for campus freed...

alumni.controlshift.app

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