Dave Mazella
@davemazella.bsky.social
eighteenth-century scholar in Heatstroke, TX. let's see how this goes.
Book: Making of Modern Cynicism, now in paperback from UVA press: https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2793/
Book: Making of Modern Cynicism, now in paperback from UVA press: https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2793/
Pinned
Dave Mazella
@davemazella.bsky.social
· Oct 25
The Making of Modern Cynicism
<div><p>Once describing a life of exile, self-denial, physical rigor, and mastery of one’s desires, cynicism now describes a life of political quietis
www.upress.virginia.edu
My book on ancient and modern cynicism, The Making of Modern Cynicism (2007, UVA press), is now available again in paperback!
Because cynicism never goes out of fashion.
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2793/
Because cynicism never goes out of fashion.
www.upress.virginia.edu/title/2793/
Reposted by Dave Mazella
I will add: there’s a sense in which we (I speak as a learner not a teacher now; or as both) have always had to fight to get an education out of institutions of learning. A capacity for gamification or proceduralism is built into any system. But the resources for fighting that fight are shrinking.
November 29, 2025 at 4:01 PM
I will add: there’s a sense in which we (I speak as a learner not a teacher now; or as both) have always had to fight to get an education out of institutions of learning. A capacity for gamification or proceduralism is built into any system. But the resources for fighting that fight are shrinking.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
I wish there was more emphasis on access to education disentangled from employability and focusing instead on enrichment because people who engage with education (or have the ability to) as enrichment interact with it differently. (And that's a whole society thing, not an in-uni thing) 7/7
November 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I wish there was more emphasis on access to education disentangled from employability and focusing instead on enrichment because people who engage with education (or have the ability to) as enrichment interact with it differently. (And that's a whole society thing, not an in-uni thing) 7/7
Reposted by Dave Mazella
“The deskilling, denigration, and displacement of teachers and scholars have historically been central to fascist takeovers, since educators serve as bulwarks against propaganda, anti-intellectualism, and illiteracy.” — @olivia.science
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
October 17, 2025 at 10:59 PM
“The deskilling, denigration, and displacement of teachers and scholars have historically been central to fascist takeovers, since educators serve as bulwarks against propaganda, anti-intellectualism, and illiteracy.” — @olivia.science
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/a...
Reposted by Dave Mazella
A running theme of Trump II is cautious, level-headed, mainstream, career professional experts sounding existential alarms about how we aren't panicking nearly enough.
I know you already know, but for other folks who don't, Goldsmith was previously head of OLC, is a genuinely brilliant mind on executive authority and separation of powers, and is usually very cautious about making claims this unqualified and direct. That he is saying it so starkly is v significant
November 29, 2025 at 6:05 AM
A running theme of Trump II is cautious, level-headed, mainstream, career professional experts sounding existential alarms about how we aren't panicking nearly enough.
👇👇👇👇
The AI Chatbot is a UX designed for executives. If your sense of how you do things is "I ask someone else to do them" the chatbot makes sense. If you actually do stuff, it mostly doesn't.
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
November 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
👇👇👇👇
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Removal politics must come before any serious impeachment politics. So far the only impeachment politics we've seen has been unserious; not because the people pursuing it are necessarily, but because it's lacked coordination. That's what a removal politics gets you: coordinated minds & intentions.
November 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Dave Mazella
@davemazella.bsky.social has swears! They've used 101 profanities in their last 3,328 posts.
🥇 "shit" (26 times)
🥈 "shitty" (9 times)
🥉 "fuck" (8 times)
🥇 "shit" (26 times)
🥈 "shitty" (9 times)
🥉 "fuck" (8 times)
November 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM
@davemazella.bsky.social has swears! They've used 101 profanities in their last 3,328 posts.
🥇 "shit" (26 times)
🥈 "shitty" (9 times)
🥉 "fuck" (8 times)
🥇 "shit" (26 times)
🥈 "shitty" (9 times)
🥉 "fuck" (8 times)
Reposted by Dave Mazella
At left: a New York Times letter to the editor from October 9, 2001, warning that "the newly formed homeland security office" could lead America to a very dark place
At right: Tweets today from the Trump Department of Homeland Security
At right: Tweets today from the Trump Department of Homeland Security
![DHS tweets:
The stakes have never been higher, and the goal has never been more clear: Remigration now.
Help Deport Them: [link to job site]
Help Arrest Them: [link to tip site]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:gljcmclsvuebhhnvpa2rwvjr/bafkreieiolswrlh6lfcepzxwbnwy2f7wklgse2lw2pe33xie4i6eeig7ry@jpeg)
November 29, 2025 at 3:14 AM
At left: a New York Times letter to the editor from October 9, 2001, warning that "the newly formed homeland security office" could lead America to a very dark place
At right: Tweets today from the Trump Department of Homeland Security
At right: Tweets today from the Trump Department of Homeland Security
@profanity.accountant what’s going on with my swears?
November 29, 2025 at 3:12 PM
@profanity.accountant what’s going on with my swears?
Reposted by Dave Mazella
The Trump administration’s decision to apply pressure to the most amoral cowardly members of American society, big law firm partners and college administrators, is paying big dividends.
November 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The Trump administration’s decision to apply pressure to the most amoral cowardly members of American society, big law firm partners and college administrators, is paying big dividends.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
I am often asked what laws I would recommend blue states adopt. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are seven changes every state could adopt right now, for virtually no cost or administrative burden. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/seve...
Seven Voting Laws Every Blue State Should Enact Right Now
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I am often asked what laws I would recommend blue states adopt. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are seven changes every state could adopt right now, for virtually no cost or administrative burden. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/seve...
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Prof. Nielsen, from that faculty meeting: “Beyond being plainly unlawful & unconstitutional, homophobic, transphobic, it asks us to disavow science, learning & knowledge, to accept a system for awarding research funding that side steps peer review & replaces scholarly judgment w/ preferred access.”
November 29, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Prof. Nielsen, from that faculty meeting: “Beyond being plainly unlawful & unconstitutional, homophobic, transphobic, it asks us to disavow science, learning & knowledge, to accept a system for awarding research funding that side steps peer review & replaces scholarly judgment w/ preferred access.”
Reposted by Dave Mazella
[observing someone’s obsessive passion project] wow i really like whatever’s wrong with that guy
November 28, 2025 at 11:40 PM
[observing someone’s obsessive passion project] wow i really like whatever’s wrong with that guy
Hoping that filmed ICE violence ruins it for all the other cops
Realty TV cop shows like "Cops" "PD Live" etc. have tons of tape of officers yelling "stop resisting" to justify violence. "Stop hitting my dog" while the suspect is screaming because the dog has suspect's arm in his teeth. Academy or on the job training?
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Federal agents engaged in widespread misrepresentations to justify use of force: Judge
The ABC7 I-Team is taking a closer look at a trove of videos ordered released by a federal judge in her explanation of the preliminary injunction she issued earlier this month restricting use of force...
www.yahoo.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Hoping that filmed ICE violence ruins it for all the other cops
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Here’s the thing about settling to keep the government grant $ flowing: this administration is actively trying to destroy state capacity to fund research at anything close to its current scale. If they’re successful, the entire model of the research university is dead.
Who is supporting these settlements? It’s generally not faculty or even long-time university administrators, it’s university boards and interim administrators who they’ve installed after admins with more of a fighting instinct have been forced out. There’s a playbook here.
@mbkplus.bsky.social and I will have more thoughts on the podcast, but it's no coincidence that the two most draconian settlements were signed by *interim* university presidents.
November 29, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Here’s the thing about settling to keep the government grant $ flowing: this administration is actively trying to destroy state capacity to fund research at anything close to its current scale. If they’re successful, the entire model of the research university is dead.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
If Democrats were smart, they would make a major push for ending off cycle elections.
“This November was only the second time since 1989 that Democrats won mayoral races in each of the state’s five largest cities.” www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Forget Mamdani. New York’s real political shift happened everywhere else.
Democrats flipped over 50 county legislative seats across the state. Republicans flipped one.
www.politico.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
If Democrats were smart, they would make a major push for ending off cycle elections.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Today I learned that two-thirds of the band that would become ZZ Top started their careers by touring the U.S. while falsely claiming to be the British band the Zombies.
www.buzzfeed.com/danielralsto...
www.buzzfeed.com/danielralsto...
The True Story Of The Fake Zombies, The Strangest Con In Rock History
In 1969, the Zombies had a huge hit single, despite having broken up two years earlier. To meet the unexpected demand, one promoter did the only sensible thing: hire four kids from Texas to tour Ameri...
www.buzzfeed.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Today I learned that two-thirds of the band that would become ZZ Top started their careers by touring the U.S. while falsely claiming to be the British band the Zombies.
www.buzzfeed.com/danielralsto...
www.buzzfeed.com/danielralsto...
Reposted by Dave Mazella
I think it’s fair for folks to wonder “well what will happen, then? Nothing has happened so far!”
The last couple of years of elite impunity are infuriating, but calibrate your expectations to what is necessary for the regime’s ruling coalition to fracture.
The last couple of years of elite impunity are infuriating, but calibrate your expectations to what is necessary for the regime’s ruling coalition to fracture.
It’s a fair question, I think there are a couple of things.
A: *all* governments have politics, even authoritarian ones, but especially non consolidated ones.
B: those incentives are shifting as Trump’s coalition weakens and his ability to either shape or determine electoral performance dies.
A: *all* governments have politics, even authoritarian ones, but especially non consolidated ones.
B: those incentives are shifting as Trump’s coalition weakens and his ability to either shape or determine electoral performance dies.
November 29, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I think it’s fair for folks to wonder “well what will happen, then? Nothing has happened so far!”
The last couple of years of elite impunity are infuriating, but calibrate your expectations to what is necessary for the regime’s ruling coalition to fracture.
The last couple of years of elite impunity are infuriating, but calibrate your expectations to what is necessary for the regime’s ruling coalition to fracture.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
What weird timing too, the regime is cratering in popularity and their governing coalition is best described as “fractious” right now.
Goes some way to the argument that boards stacked with Trump or regime aligned actors are the primary drivers of this now, if they weren’t at the start.
Goes some way to the argument that boards stacked with Trump or regime aligned actors are the primary drivers of this now, if they weren’t at the start.
November 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
What weird timing too, the regime is cratering in popularity and their governing coalition is best described as “fractious” right now.
Goes some way to the argument that boards stacked with Trump or regime aligned actors are the primary drivers of this now, if they weren’t at the start.
Goes some way to the argument that boards stacked with Trump or regime aligned actors are the primary drivers of this now, if they weren’t at the start.
Reposted by Dave Mazella
first holiday season after rescuing my dog, i got to thinking about whether or not she’d seen christmas movies before so i showed her some and here are her reactions: thread
November 29, 2025 at 2:13 AM
first holiday season after rescuing my dog, i got to thinking about whether or not she’d seen christmas movies before so i showed her some and here are her reactions: thread
Reposted by Dave Mazella
#ElectricGuitarForAll
#MusicChallenge
#MusicSky
Day 29
Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs
youtu.be/n9T06UfP1S0?...
#MusicChallenge
#MusicSky
Day 29
Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs
youtu.be/n9T06UfP1S0?...
Robin Trower Live - Bridge of Sighs
YouTube video by Jesse Fitzgerald
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 1:32 PM
#ElectricGuitarForAll
#MusicChallenge
#MusicSky
Day 29
Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs
youtu.be/n9T06UfP1S0?...
#MusicChallenge
#MusicSky
Day 29
Robin Trower - Bridge Of Sighs
youtu.be/n9T06UfP1S0?...
Reposted by Dave Mazella
The link for the full article is here:
archivdigital.info/ce/anthology...
Sadly, it looks like very few if any US/UK universities have subscriptions to _Archiv_, and I'm not permitted to post it publicly. If interested, please message or email me and I can share it with you.
/End
archivdigital.info/ce/anthology...
Sadly, it looks like very few if any US/UK universities have subscriptions to _Archiv_, and I'm not permitted to post it publicly. If interested, please message or email me and I can share it with you.
/End
Anthology, Archive, Corpus: the Design and Implications of African American
archivdigital.info
November 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The link for the full article is here:
archivdigital.info/ce/anthology...
Sadly, it looks like very few if any US/UK universities have subscriptions to _Archiv_, and I'm not permitted to post it publicly. If interested, please message or email me and I can share it with you.
/End
archivdigital.info/ce/anthology...
Sadly, it looks like very few if any US/UK universities have subscriptions to _Archiv_, and I'm not permitted to post it publicly. If interested, please message or email me and I can share it with you.
/End
Reposted by Dave Mazella
I have a new #DH essay out in a German journal called Archiv, as part of a special issue on "Archives and the Global Turn." The title is: "Anthology, Archive, Corpus: the Design and Implications of _African American Poetry: a Digital Anthology_."
Here's a thread about it in plain English:
1/
Here's a thread about it in plain English:
1/
November 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM
I have a new #DH essay out in a German journal called Archiv, as part of a special issue on "Archives and the Global Turn." The title is: "Anthology, Archive, Corpus: the Design and Implications of _African American Poetry: a Digital Anthology_."
Here's a thread about it in plain English:
1/
Here's a thread about it in plain English:
1/
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Among other things, a giant red flag for faculty at private institutions that our "advisory" faculty governance bodies are wholly inadequate, we should be fighting for shared governance with actual teeth
So apparently the administrators at Northwestern have caved to the extortionist demands of the Feds. Faculty voted 595-4 AGAINST this measure.
November 29, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Among other things, a giant red flag for faculty at private institutions that our "advisory" faculty governance bodies are wholly inadequate, we should be fighting for shared governance with actual teeth
Reposted by Dave Mazella
Among the provisions are ones agreeing to the Trump administration's definition of sex as "biological sex" and agreeing "not perform hormonal interventions and transgender surgeries ... on any individual under the age of 18 years old, effective immediately."
November 29, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Among the provisions are ones agreeing to the Trump administration's definition of sex as "biological sex" and agreeing "not perform hormonal interventions and transgender surgeries ... on any individual under the age of 18 years old, effective immediately."