Dan Vitkus
@danvitkus.bsky.social
Literature Professor, historical materialist, eco-theorist, solarpunk
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
AI dialogues shifted political support by 2 to 3 points in trials, eclipsing standard ads. Roughly one-third of this effect persisted for a month. However, models optimized for persuasion proved more factually error-prone.
#MLSky
#MLSky
AI chatbots can persuade voters to change their minds
Conversations with AI can sway people’s political views. Concerningly, a chatbot’s facts are not always accurate, especially when it supports right-wing positions.
www.nature.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:04 PM
AI dialogues shifted political support by 2 to 3 points in trials, eclipsing standard ads. Roughly one-third of this effect persisted for a month. However, models optimized for persuasion proved more factually error-prone.
#MLSky
#MLSky
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
This is the conclusion, which I'm pulling out from behind the paywall because it'll probably be a free newsletter or podcast one day. I think the AI era is a reckoning for the tech industry, one where consumers finally realize they're being abused.
December 5, 2025 at 4:02 AM
This is the conclusion, which I'm pulling out from behind the paywall because it'll probably be a free newsletter or podcast one day. I think the AI era is a reckoning for the tech industry, one where consumers finally realize they're being abused.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.
For the last decade, the pervasive spread of bullshit & manipulation of online platforms have been widely recognized societal concerns. Now non US citizens studying those subjects can be labeled “censors” & denied visas or deported from the US. Censorship, indeed. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Exclusive: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants of H-1B visa
An internal State Department memo said that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection.
www.reuters.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:27 PM
This is what government censorship actually looks like: defunding entire fields, deporting researchers, and quite effectively chilling speech that helps people understand how our information systems are being exploited and calls out powerful people and platforms for their bullshit.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Weird situation. AI adoption in the work world is stagnating, while higher-ed institutions are rushing to embrace it so that students will be prepared for…the work world?
“we estimate employment-weighted share of Americans using AI at work has fallen by a percentage point & now sits at 11%. Adoption has fallen sharply at the largest businesses, those employing +250 people. 3 yrs into the genAI wave, demand looks surprisingly flimsy” www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Weird situation. AI adoption in the work world is stagnating, while higher-ed institutions are rushing to embrace it so that students will be prepared for…the work world?
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
He’s gesturing to a sleeping man as he says “He’s the only leader in the world who can help end [the war in Ukraine].”
Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.
December 2, 2025 at 7:57 PM
He’s gesturing to a sleeping man as he says “He’s the only leader in the world who can help end [the war in Ukraine].”
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education - actual, real education in reading, writing, thinking, arguing, analyzing, & synthesizing by doing the actual hard work for which there is no substitute - is stronger than it’s ever been at any point in human history.
November 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education - actual, real education in reading, writing, thinking, arguing, analyzing, & synthesizing by doing the actual hard work for which there is no substitute - is stronger than it’s ever been at any point in human history.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
the primary thing that TPUSA provides to young conservatives is a blueprint for weaponizing the abject cowardice of university administrators against individual teachers and instructors, and university admins should take a long look in the mirror and think about what that says about them
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Oh my god the absolute depravity of this.
🧵This 58-year-old nurse from Maryland is seen being violently dragged along the ground by officials in Ghana.
Trump deported her there.
This abhorrent & disgusting abuse of a woman who saved American lives and cared for injured and ill Americans for 30 years.
All the details below are worse.
Trump deported her there.
This abhorrent & disgusting abuse of a woman who saved American lives and cared for injured and ill Americans for 30 years.
All the details below are worse.
Woman deported from Maryland shown on video being dragged in Ghana
Rabbiatu Kuyateh was detained this summer at her annual ICE check-in, her son said. She moved to the D.C. area 30 years ago as she fled civil war in Sierra Leone.
www.nbcnews.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Oh my god the absolute depravity of this.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
AI generated content of any kind undermines the credibility of whatever is being communicated
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
AI generated content of any kind undermines the credibility of whatever is being communicated
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
'These days, I stress that close reading is not magic. Its power lies in argument: always vulnerable, nothing simpler and yet nothing harder.'
Loved this both tender and sobering defence of close reading:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Loved this both tender and sobering defence of close reading:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 27, 2025 at 7:47 PM
'These days, I stress that close reading is not magic. Its power lies in argument: always vulnerable, nothing simpler and yet nothing harder.'
Loved this both tender and sobering defence of close reading:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Loved this both tender and sobering defence of close reading:
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
There’s a reason Caesar was forbidden to cross the Rubicon and return to Rome with his army. It’s what separates a relatively free society from a fascist one.
Pirro: "These Guardsmen and all who are here to protect the District are the line that separates a civilized society from a barbaric one."
November 27, 2025 at 4:07 PM
There’s a reason Caesar was forbidden to cross the Rubicon and return to Rome with his army. It’s what separates a relatively free society from a fascist one.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
unlikeliest tho it is, this account is now always chicago pope o'clock
Don't let AI do your homework, Pope Leo tells US youth reut.rs/48tKTYY
Don't let AI do your homework, Pope Leo tells US youth
Artificial intelligence may be a useful tool for learning, but don't use it for your homework, Pope Leo told about 15,000 U.S. youth during a question-and-answer session on Friday.
reut.rs
November 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
unlikeliest tho it is, this account is now always chicago pope o'clock
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
I missed this yesterday amidst Trump swooning over Mamdani and veterans being threatened with the death penalty.
This is the STUPIDEST SHIZ I’ve seen in a long time. We’re in the fight of our lives and congress is doing THIS?!
With Democrats like these, who needs Republicans? 😖
This is the STUPIDEST SHIZ I’ve seen in a long time. We’re in the fight of our lives and congress is doing THIS?!
With Democrats like these, who needs Republicans? 😖
November 22, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I missed this yesterday amidst Trump swooning over Mamdani and veterans being threatened with the death penalty.
This is the STUPIDEST SHIZ I’ve seen in a long time. We’re in the fight of our lives and congress is doing THIS?!
With Democrats like these, who needs Republicans? 😖
This is the STUPIDEST SHIZ I’ve seen in a long time. We’re in the fight of our lives and congress is doing THIS?!
With Democrats like these, who needs Republicans? 😖
youtu.be/vmSpyRNXtXo
In a good (and in a terrifying way), this makes me feel like anything is now possible. No holds barred. No bottom to the decline and the horror. But also new possibilities in this time of monsters and morbid symptoms as we wait for something (what?) to be born!
In a good (and in a terrifying way), this makes me feel like anything is now possible. No holds barred. No bottom to the decline and the horror. But also new possibilities in this time of monsters and morbid symptoms as we wait for something (what?) to be born!
Zohran Mamdani on if President Trump is a Fascist
YouTube video by C-SPAN
youtu.be
November 21, 2025 at 10:21 PM
youtu.be/vmSpyRNXtXo
In a good (and in a terrifying way), this makes me feel like anything is now possible. No holds barred. No bottom to the decline and the horror. But also new possibilities in this time of monsters and morbid symptoms as we wait for something (what?) to be born!
In a good (and in a terrifying way), this makes me feel like anything is now possible. No holds barred. No bottom to the decline and the horror. But also new possibilities in this time of monsters and morbid symptoms as we wait for something (what?) to be born!
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
🎙️ Episode 4 of the COPOut Podcast is LIVE! Tune in to hear from @davidho.bsky.social and @frediotto.bsky.social as they discuss what we know and what we still need to understand (as well as what makes them angry with the climate regime).
cece.american.edu/copout-episo...
cece.american.edu/copout-episo...
COPOut Episode 4: On Measurement and Attribution - Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE)
In our fourth episode of the COPOut Podcast, Dr. Dana R. Fisher talks with guest experts who help us understand where we are in measuring carbon and attributing the effects that climate change is havi...
cece.american.edu
November 21, 2025 at 12:35 PM
🎙️ Episode 4 of the COPOut Podcast is LIVE! Tune in to hear from @davidho.bsky.social and @frediotto.bsky.social as they discuss what we know and what we still need to understand (as well as what makes them angry with the climate regime).
cece.american.edu/copout-episo...
cece.american.edu/copout-episo...
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
I wrote for @lpeblog.bsky.social about @alybatt.bsky.social's new book—which, I argue, shows how the critique of political economy can allow us to clearly name the social cause of climate catastrophe: capital. lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
When Nature is Worthless
Under capitalism, the social domination of nature occurs through and is mediated by the commodity form. Certain portions of non-human nature can be valued, but only when they are transformed into…
lpeproject.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I wrote for @lpeblog.bsky.social about @alybatt.bsky.social's new book—which, I argue, shows how the critique of political economy can allow us to clearly name the social cause of climate catastrophe: capital. lpeproject.org/blog/when-na...
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
READ: The devastation in Gaza is not just genocide but also ecocide - the intentional destruction of the ecology. Israel’s assault shows how settler-colonial violence is tied to environmental harm, and why climate justice depends on Palestinian liberation. mondoweiss.net/2025/09/ecoc...
Ecocide, Imperialism and Palestine Liberation
The devastation in Gaza is not just genocide but also ecocide - the intentional destruction of the ecology. Israel’s assault shows how settler-colonial violence is tied to environmental harm, and why…
mondoweiss.net
November 15, 2025 at 2:00 AM
READ: The devastation in Gaza is not just genocide but also ecocide - the intentional destruction of the ecology. Israel’s assault shows how settler-colonial violence is tied to environmental harm, and why climate justice depends on Palestinian liberation. mondoweiss.net/2025/09/ecoc...
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Every academic should join the @aaup.org national and their local AAUP chapter. If your uni doesn't have one, start one! Colorado academics, check out @aaupcsu.bsky.social! We're active, growing and looking to collaborate. Join the resistance on academia's front lines.
WE WON!!!
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
The US District Court for the Northern District of California has issued a preliminary injunction in AAUP et al v. Trump et al (the wall to wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of Title VI to reshape the University of California system.
Read the order here:
democracyforward.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Every academic should join the @aaup.org national and their local AAUP chapter. If your uni doesn't have one, start one! Colorado academics, check out @aaupcsu.bsky.social! We're active, growing and looking to collaborate. Join the resistance on academia's front lines.
The big question for the 99%: how do we come together to stave off the apocalypse?!
excellent analysis at "The Nerd Reich"
Why are tech billionaires fixated on doomsday?
Because "apocalypse capitalism" is the business model— existential threats as trillion-dollar opportunities.
New at the Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Apocalypse Capitalism
www.thenerdreich.com/silicon-vall...
Because "apocalypse capitalism" is the business model— existential threats as trillion-dollar opportunities.
New at the Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Apocalypse Capitalism
www.thenerdreich.com/silicon-vall...
November 14, 2025 at 8:30 PM
The big question for the 99%: how do we come together to stave off the apocalypse?!
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Jim Ryan's letter is not just surreal and troubling; it provides a series of deeply sobering lessons—about the perils facing public universities today; about what it means to "work with" this Department of Justice; & about what leadership does (and doesn't) entail at this especially fraught moment.
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Jim Ryan's letter is not just surreal and troubling; it provides a series of deeply sobering lessons—about the perils facing public universities today; about what it means to "work with" this Department of Justice; & about what leadership does (and doesn't) entail at this especially fraught moment.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Inside one Palestinian family's harrowing experience of having their son's dead body withheld by Israel as a bargaining chip. Israel has held the bodies of 726 Palestinians in refrigerators and the so-called "cemetery of numbers" for decades.
Israel killed her son and held his body. Her story is one of hundreds of Palestinian families.
Inside one Palestinian family’s harrowing experience of having their son’s dead body withheld by Israel as a bargaining chip. Israel has held the bodies of 726 Palestinians in refrigerators and the…
mondoweiss.net
November 14, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Inside one Palestinian family's harrowing experience of having their son's dead body withheld by Israel as a bargaining chip. Israel has held the bodies of 726 Palestinians in refrigerators and the so-called "cemetery of numbers" for decades.
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
What is happening at Texas A&M is nothing less than a new episteme in which the prejudices of trustees and the opinions of students count more than the expertise of scholars and researchers.
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/do-y...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/do-y...
Do Your Own Damn Research: The New Episteme of Trump 2.0
www.unemployednegativity.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:41 PM
What is happening at Texas A&M is nothing less than a new episteme in which the prejudices of trustees and the opinions of students count more than the expertise of scholars and researchers.
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/do-y...
www.unemployednegativity.com/2025/05/do-y...
Reposted by Dan Vitkus
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
November 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Love to see community action against this AI nonsense! neighborhoodview.org/2025/11/13/d...
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism!!!
California AB 715, Criminalizing Criticism of Israel, Aims to Quash Free Speech
California AB 715, Criminalizing Criticism of Israel, Aims to Quash Free Speech
Censoring academic content does nothing to promote "a safe learning environment," as Newsom's signing statement concludes.
dlvr.it
November 14, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism!!!