Christine Johnson
@christinkallama.bsky.social
Historian of Renaissance Germany. Author of _The German Discovery of the World: Renaissance Encounters with the Strange and Marvelous_. Also on Mastodon: @[email protected].
She/her
She/her
Reposted by Christine Johnson
I would prefer protection from predatory pricing and mandated easy refunds, thanks!
Duffy on what he's doing to improve the airport experience for travelers: "Maybe I want a workout area where people might get some blood flowing doing some pull ups or step ups in the airport."
December 8, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I would prefer protection from predatory pricing and mandated easy refunds, thanks!
Reposted by Christine Johnson
The tech bozos should receive a bill every time a librarian has to look for a fabricated book or article. Slop enablers should be held accountable.
Another class action suit needed here - a global one. The UN needs an anti-AI charter. WTAF is this timeline.
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Another class action suit needed here - a global one. The UN needs an anti-AI charter. WTAF is this timeline.
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Interlibrary loan is also being inundated everywhere it sounds like. Requests for scans of items that don't exist. Someone has to search for them and respond.
December 8, 2025 at 4:40 PM
The tech bozos should receive a bill every time a librarian has to look for a fabricated book or article. Slop enablers should be held accountable.
Another class action suit needed here - a global one. The UN needs an anti-AI charter. WTAF is this timeline.
1/n
Another class action suit needed here - a global one. The UN needs an anti-AI charter. WTAF is this timeline.
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Reposted by Christine Johnson
Just as departments have to have requests for new faculty lines approved by school-level committees, administrations should have to have requests for new administrator positions approved by faculty committees.
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 8, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Just as departments have to have requests for new faculty lines approved by school-level committees, administrations should have to have requests for new administrator positions approved by faculty committees.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
my goal as a journalist is to report carefully on the best, most practical social policy ideas that can change the world, and this is easily the most exciting one I’ve had the opportunity to cover this year
🧵↓
www.vox.com/policy/46963...
🧵↓
www.vox.com/policy/46963...
What happens when a city takes women’s unpaid work seriously?
Bogotá’s radical experiment in caregiving is going global.
www.vox.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:51 PM
my goal as a journalist is to report carefully on the best, most practical social policy ideas that can change the world, and this is easily the most exciting one I’ve had the opportunity to cover this year
🧵↓
www.vox.com/policy/46963...
🧵↓
www.vox.com/policy/46963...
Just as departments have to have requests for new faculty lines approved by school-level committees, administrations should have to have requests for new administrator positions approved by faculty committees.
They claim financial exigency, but then turn down $4 million pledges to keep the PhD programs open and disregard financial analyses that point to the real problem—bad real estate deals, spending on consultants, and their own salaries 2/2
December 8, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Just as departments have to have requests for new faculty lines approved by school-level committees, administrations should have to have requests for new administrator positions approved by faculty committees.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
A very important thread. When I was probably no more than 10, I saw this picture of the woman known as Harlow in the Philly Inquirer. A little babygay, I was shocked that such a glamour queen could live in my hometown and even more shocked to see her described as "a former man."
December 6, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A very important thread. When I was probably no more than 10, I saw this picture of the woman known as Harlow in the Philly Inquirer. A little babygay, I was shocked that such a glamour queen could live in my hometown and even more shocked to see her described as "a former man."
Reposted by Christine Johnson
A night out in Cedar-Riverside
December 6, 2025 at 1:46 AM
A night out in Cedar-Riverside
Reposted by Christine Johnson
December 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Christine Johnson
You have to stand up and fight. And that’s not what administrators are selected for. But that’s what they owe to the people who make up the institutions they represent.
December 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM
You have to stand up and fight. And that’s not what administrators are selected for. But that’s what they owe to the people who make up the institutions they represent.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
We restored the zip ties on baby Jesus. The #Christmas story is literally about an authoritarian ruler using violence, causing fear, and eventually driving the holy family to become refugees in Egypt. The parallels couldn't be more clear between scripture and our nativity. We're not going anywhere.
December 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM
We restored the zip ties on baby Jesus. The #Christmas story is literally about an authoritarian ruler using violence, causing fear, and eventually driving the holy family to become refugees in Egypt. The parallels couldn't be more clear between scripture and our nativity. We're not going anywhere.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
I'm anti-rape, I'm decidedly uninterested in idolizing men (including Chomsky... I never saw the appeal), and I promote respect and dignity. This is all true in public and behind closed doors.
Call these stances what you like. The substance matters, not the labels.
scroll.in/article/1089...
Call these stances what you like. The substance matters, not the labels.
scroll.in/article/1089...
What Noam Chomsky’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein says about progressive politics
The Left icon overlooked sexual violence, much like India’s literary and cultural progressives have embraced a man whose rape conviction was overturned.
scroll.in
December 6, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I'm anti-rape, I'm decidedly uninterested in idolizing men (including Chomsky... I never saw the appeal), and I promote respect and dignity. This is all true in public and behind closed doors.
Call these stances what you like. The substance matters, not the labels.
scroll.in/article/1089...
Call these stances what you like. The substance matters, not the labels.
scroll.in/article/1089...
Reposted by Christine Johnson
Very smart and insightful thread about why AI's simulation of writing doesn't sound human.
so look, some of the 'tells' of AI in here are things I feel by instinct, and I could be wrong about any individual one, but apart from the obvious stuff (lists of three, 'not this but that') and the less obvious (no personal recollection, all just abstract nouns) there's a *meaning gap*...
Also something like “groundedness”. Not about physical details but a sense of a mind reflecting on its own experiences.
I’m sure Sarah Friar of OpenAI feels it’s great to “write” with ChatGPT so I can explain with hers.
There is no thinking about the person in here.
I’m sure Sarah Friar of OpenAI feels it’s great to “write” with ChatGPT so I can explain with hers.
There is no thinking about the person in here.
December 6, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Very smart and insightful thread about why AI's simulation of writing doesn't sound human.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
I love the idea that human writers start with a thought and then find the words, while AI starts with words and—well—never proceeds to anything.
December 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I love the idea that human writers start with a thought and then find the words, while AI starts with words and—well—never proceeds to anything.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
So proud of the young people at OU! www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrmbByXP/
OU students protest on Friday in response to the University of Oklahoma's decision to place a graduate assistant on administrative leave after a student was upset about receiving a failing grade on a ...
TikTok video by NewsChannel8Tulsa
www.tiktok.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:35 PM
So proud of the young people at OU! www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrmbByXP/
Reposted by Christine Johnson
Weird Al on stage singing "some of those who work forces are the same that burn crosses" really does feel like a major vibe shift
We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over
December 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Weird Al on stage singing "some of those who work forces are the same that burn crosses" really does feel like a major vibe shift
Reposted by Christine Johnson
Framing GenAI as a battle between teachers and students is a red herring. Students and educators are on the same side. The real opposition are the data extraction firms and brokerages and their allies among the managerial class.
December 4, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Framing GenAI as a battle between teachers and students is a red herring. Students and educators are on the same side. The real opposition are the data extraction firms and brokerages and their allies among the managerial class.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
The “garbage” destroying America isn’t in Minnesota’s Somalian community. It’s in the Oval Office. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 4, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The “garbage” destroying America isn’t in Minnesota’s Somalian community. It’s in the Oval Office. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Christine Johnson
In my research (and teaching experience), I learned there were a lot of academic accommodations that work better for survivors and facilitate more learning across the semester, including:
- Waiving missed small assignments to allow a student to focus on more important things
- Waiving missed small assignments to allow a student to focus on more important things
December 2, 2025 at 8:02 PM
In my research (and teaching experience), I learned there were a lot of academic accommodations that work better for survivors and facilitate more learning across the semester, including:
- Waiving missed small assignments to allow a student to focus on more important things
- Waiving missed small assignments to allow a student to focus on more important things
Reposted by Christine Johnson
The fact that Brutus has such high negatives is interesting considering he literally stopped a tyrant.
Cleopatra is the single most popular ancient figure* among Americans. Big potential support base for the "attractive maniac" candidate
* they didn't poll for Jesus, but to be fair I suspect he'd take the crown.
* they didn't poll for Jesus, but to be fair I suspect he'd take the crown.
December 3, 2025 at 4:42 AM
The fact that Brutus has such high negatives is interesting considering he literally stopped a tyrant.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
"Too often, competitiveness is culturally-coded as masculine, and for boys it becomes a pillar of identity. From childhood play to college sports, boys learn that “real” competition is male-against-male—the arena where status is earned and manhood confirmed."
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls."
time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com/7335723/auto...
The Real Way Schools are Failing Boys
“If we really want boys to succeed, we need to ensure that they know how to both beat—and lose— to girls."
time.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"Too often, competitiveness is culturally-coded as masculine, and for boys it becomes a pillar of identity. From childhood play to college sports, boys learn that “real” competition is male-against-male—the arena where status is earned and manhood confirmed."
Reposted by Christine Johnson
Thrilled that HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is one of @brdemuth.bsky.social's best books of 2025 in @historytoday.com!
💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH #politics
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💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH #politics
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African queens and Anglo-Saxon towns, Indira Gandhi and Irish STEM, Celtic Studies and the caste system: 10 more historians choose their favourite new history books of 2025.
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
www.historytoday.com/archive/revi...
Books of the Year 2025: Part 2
www.historytoday.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Thrilled that HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is one of @brdemuth.bsky.social's best books of 2025 in @historytoday.com!
💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH #politics
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💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH #politics
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Reposted by Christine Johnson
Time for licensing organizations to start stipulating that knowledge about race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on be required. And for medical, law, and graduate schools to announce that they will not consider a bachelor's degree from a school with these limitations adequate preparation.
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 2, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Time for licensing organizations to start stipulating that knowledge about race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on be required. And for medical, law, and graduate schools to announce that they will not consider a bachelor's degree from a school with these limitations adequate preparation.
Time for licensing organizations to start stipulating that knowledge about race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on be required. And for medical, law, and graduate schools to announce that they will not consider a bachelor's degree from a school with these limitations adequate preparation.
TX Tech has a flow chat for guidance on what can be taught in the university system. Two things:
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
1. Very little content seems to be permitted. This is partisan control of the curriculum.
2. I would not enjoy teaching under these conditions, but I really would not want to be a Chair or Dean.
December 2, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Time for licensing organizations to start stipulating that knowledge about race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on be required. And for medical, law, and graduate schools to announce that they will not consider a bachelor's degree from a school with these limitations adequate preparation.
Reposted by Christine Johnson
Eric Foner, "What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power," The Nation -- February 27, 2017
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power
The actions of attorneys general in California and other states have their antecedents in the fight against that draconian law.
www.thenation.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Eric Foner, "What the Fugitive Slave Act Teaches Us About How States Can Resist Oppressive Federal Power," The Nation -- February 27, 2017
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
www.thenation.com/article/arch...
Reposted by Christine Johnson
There’s an old saying, “Anything a computer can’t do yet is Artificial Intelligence. Everything the computer can already do is Machine Learning.”
One annoying part of the AI hype bubble is now they just call everything — the stuff computers do well and the stuff that doesn’t work at all — AI.
One annoying part of the AI hype bubble is now they just call everything — the stuff computers do well and the stuff that doesn’t work at all — AI.
you would be well served to pay attention when paul says this and it's also worth noting that the shoddy elf tit machine and the coding assistant machine are _different machines_. you can very much have one and not the other.
He’s right! You don’t have to use it—but it’s going to sweep through codeworld like a purifying fire. You may not care! But it’s not like when it draws you a bad picture of a large-breasted elf. It’s more like it shreds the foundation of what makes tech “valuable.”
November 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
There’s an old saying, “Anything a computer can’t do yet is Artificial Intelligence. Everything the computer can already do is Machine Learning.”
One annoying part of the AI hype bubble is now they just call everything — the stuff computers do well and the stuff that doesn’t work at all — AI.
One annoying part of the AI hype bubble is now they just call everything — the stuff computers do well and the stuff that doesn’t work at all — AI.