Jonathan Dresner
@jondresner.bsky.social
Japan/World/Food/Migration historian. Nerd, geek, comics. Blogger. Rootless Cosmopolitan. Still masking. Views expressed are mine alone (RTs are someone else's). Cis he/him/his.
Same handle on Spore.Social.
There are no good-faith anti-trans arguments.
Same handle on Spore.Social.
There are no good-faith anti-trans arguments.
Pinned
Jonathan Dresner
@jondresner.bsky.social
· Jul 24
Our intolerance for disorder, diversity, and difference will kill us all. But we will kill the diverse, different, and creative ones first.
Jonathan Dresner (@[email protected])
#SourceOfTheDance
Songs for the moment, some from long ago
spore.social
December 1, 2025 at 9:51 PM
The only truly radical politics is accountability, as @cripdyke.bsky.social says
Any sign that actual consequences still exist will REALLY freak out a not-insignificant percentage of the current DC elite
And to anyone who’d claim someone worse will replace him: even if that happens, Hegseth would still be outed. Which would inspire more pushback against Trump’s incumbents and lead to more calls for ousting them
December 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
The only truly radical politics is accountability, as @cripdyke.bsky.social says
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
About a decade ago my current institution hired the shiny bow tie from outside rather than the inside person everyone knew and trusted
Shiny bow tie collected his CV line and moved back to what was clearly his home institution; we lost the insider to an Ivy that saw its good fortune in our mistake
Shiny bow tie collected his CV line and moved back to what was clearly his home institution; we lost the insider to an Ivy that saw its good fortune in our mistake
The worst thing to happen to academia was the emergence of a nomadic administrative class like the one in corporations who just move from institution to institution setting fires and walking away.
Say what you will about the flaws of faculty governance, but at least they believe in the mission.
Say what you will about the flaws of faculty governance, but at least they believe in the mission.
December 1, 2025 at 4:47 PM
About a decade ago my current institution hired the shiny bow tie from outside rather than the inside person everyone knew and trusted
Shiny bow tie collected his CV line and moved back to what was clearly his home institution; we lost the insider to an Ivy that saw its good fortune in our mistake
Shiny bow tie collected his CV line and moved back to what was clearly his home institution; we lost the insider to an Ivy that saw its good fortune in our mistake
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
extremely sad for all the authors and artists affected unfairly by angouleme's cancelation, but... sometimes other things matter more. extremely avoidable situation but i'm glad people seem to be clear on where the blame lies
December 1, 2025 at 5:17 PM
extremely sad for all the authors and artists affected unfairly by angouleme's cancelation, but... sometimes other things matter more. extremely avoidable situation but i'm glad people seem to be clear on where the blame lies
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
The liminal time approaches
December 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The liminal time approaches
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
(3) The actually-interesting story that the NPR reporter completely flubbed is that THIS ENTIRE "CENTRIST" OUTLET IS 100% REPUBLICANS TRYING TO SEED THIRD-PARTY SPOILER CANDIDACIES TO HELP THEIR PARTY MAINTAIN CONTROL IN 2026.
Everyone in the Independent Center worked for Trump, FreedomWorks, etc.
Everyone in the Independent Center worked for Trump, FreedomWorks, etc.
December 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
(3) The actually-interesting story that the NPR reporter completely flubbed is that THIS ENTIRE "CENTRIST" OUTLET IS 100% REPUBLICANS TRYING TO SEED THIRD-PARTY SPOILER CANDIDACIES TO HELP THEIR PARTY MAINTAIN CONTROL IN 2026.
Everyone in the Independent Center worked for Trump, FreedomWorks, etc.
Everyone in the Independent Center worked for Trump, FreedomWorks, etc.
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
Another person cured of HIV. We have come such a long way. Happy World AIDS Day. www.iflscience.com/7th-person-c...
7th Person Cured Of HIV After Stem Cell Donation Offers Hope Of Expanded Treatment Options
The success of a transplant from a patient with only one copy of the protective gene might be a one-off, but may also allow others to benefit.
www.iflscience.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Another person cured of HIV. We have come such a long way. Happy World AIDS Day. www.iflscience.com/7th-person-c...
"They are trying to drive trans people out of society using roving hordes of online abusers, and destroying every institution standing in their way.
Stand up for us now, or watch everything you love get torched one by one until you live in the ashes.
Stand up for us now, or watch everything you love get torched one by one until you live in the ashes.
For my newsletter, I wrote about that college essay scandal that's gone viral and what everyone is seeming to miss:
It's about ATTACKING TRANS PEOPLE!!!
www.burnsnotice.com/that-viral-e...
It's about ATTACKING TRANS PEOPLE!!!
www.burnsnotice.com/that-viral-e...
That Viral Essay Scandal is (SURPRISE!) Actually About Trans People
A shoddy Oklahoma University essay went viral. Cis people think this is about conservatives whining for better grades. Trans people see a planned attack on a trans academic.
(Note for free subscriber...
www.burnsnotice.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"They are trying to drive trans people out of society using roving hordes of online abusers, and destroying every institution standing in their way.
Stand up for us now, or watch everything you love get torched one by one until you live in the ashes.
Stand up for us now, or watch everything you love get torched one by one until you live in the ashes.
There are no good-faith anti-trans arguments and no acceptable compromises on trans lives
A lot of transphobic whataboutism is just straight up trying to make being a bigot sound like a legit position asked in good faith.
Nope, same old horseshit.
Nope, same old horseshit.
December 1, 2025 at 2:48 PM
There are no good-faith anti-trans arguments and no acceptable compromises on trans lives
As I once told my students, "People tend to select from history what pleases them, and I think that the historians' job is to remind them that the rest of it exists."
It’s really fun to be a historian. We are fun at parties. We will absolutely not ruin your traditions by explaining the history of them.
Them: You know the Olympic torch relay just began.
Me: Yeah, the flame is ancient but the relay itself was invented by Hitler to connect Ancient Greece to Germany for the Berlin Olympics
Them: Always a ray of sunshine
Me:
www.forbes.com/sites/drsara...
Me: Yeah, the flame is ancient but the relay itself was invented by Hitler to connect Ancient Greece to Germany for the Berlin Olympics
Them: Always a ray of sunshine
Me:
www.forbes.com/sites/drsara...
December 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
As I once told my students, "People tend to select from history what pleases them, and I think that the historians' job is to remind them that the rest of it exists."
Republicans vote to kill
Politicians love to talk about "kids safety" until you ask them to do something that would actually keep kids safe like fund housing, healthcare, education, outdoor spaces, arts programs, etc.
That's because most of them use "safety" as a euphemism for surveillance, control and domination.
That's because most of them use "safety" as a euphemism for surveillance, control and domination.
December 1, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Republicans vote to kill
RSS feed works! Thanks!
Gasp, Our Fierce Differences now has a website where you can enjoy the first few pages of my webcomic online! It's a story about romance, sex, war, and big sexy beasts who want you!
ourfiercedifferences.com 🌟
ourfiercedifferences.com 🌟
December 1, 2025 at 2:04 PM
RSS feed works! Thanks!
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
Every trans person, and those who stand with us and see what we go through, is WELL AWARE that this student is a young woman priming herself to jump on the Right Wing Hate Grift Gravy Train.
When you discuss the merits of the essay at all, you're feeding into that. Stop it. Call this what it is.
When you discuss the merits of the essay at all, you're feeding into that. Stop it. Call this what it is.
Also, to be clear, when a trans instructor at OU is being punished and targeted for quite fairly grading a terrible essay, it’s bizarre to see academics online debating the rubrics.
That’s…not the problem.
That’s…not the problem.
December 1, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Every trans person, and those who stand with us and see what we go through, is WELL AWARE that this student is a young woman priming herself to jump on the Right Wing Hate Grift Gravy Train.
When you discuss the merits of the essay at all, you're feeding into that. Stop it. Call this what it is.
When you discuss the merits of the essay at all, you're feeding into that. Stop it. Call this what it is.
We must protect each other to survive
So yeah, this is fundamentally about trans people and that cannot be elided, but the ways in which junior faculty are targeted and disposed of, while academic jobs are increasingly precarized, and political grandstanders seek to influence academic governance are fucking terrifying for everyone.
December 1, 2025 at 1:42 PM
We must protect each other to survive
"People whose brains have been liquefied by conservative propaganda believe they’re never to blame for adverse consequences. Setbacks always must be the doing of nefarious leftists. ... But, of course, the fact is they’re part of one of the most successful political movements in American history."
Opinion editor @claywires.bsky.social writes: A Kansas town chose cruelty. Now it mourns as the mayor faces voter fraud charge and deportation. #ksleg
A Kansas town chose cruelty. Now it mourns as the mayor faces voter fraud charge and deportation. • Kansas Reflector
Coldwater residents have learned a valuable lesson after their mayor was charged with voter fraud: Actions have consequences.
kansasreflector.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM
"People whose brains have been liquefied by conservative propaganda believe they’re never to blame for adverse consequences. Setbacks always must be the doing of nefarious leftists. ... But, of course, the fact is they’re part of one of the most successful political movements in American history."
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
[speechless]
“The United States has asked Lebanon to return a GBU-39 small-diameter bomb launched by the Israel Air Force toward Beirut during the operation that killed Hezbollah military commander Ali Tabatabai earlier this week, after it failed to detonate, according to Lebanese media.”
November 30, 2025 at 4:38 AM
[speechless]
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
Nationalism is bad history with a body count and is always bad for Jews.
Hitler was bad.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
An essay that, you know, I didn’t think I’d need to write.
Perry: The pro-Hitler problem with the American right
"We need to get back to the basics: Hitler was bad. The people who suggest otherwise are also bad," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Nationalism is bad history with a body count and is always bad for Jews.
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
Because it's too late
This quote from the Atlantic is right & true! One odd thing is how these points, which have been obvious for several years to anyone who spent five minutes considering how LLMs work & what education is, are finally coalescing into the standard take from the center of middlebrow opinion—why only now?
“Based on the available evidence, the skills that future graduates will most need in the AI era—creative thinking, the capacity to learn new things, flexible modes of analysis—are precisely those that are likely to be eroded by inserting AI into the educational process.”
November 30, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Because it's too late
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
...or follow the news about media ownership...
I’m not sure what to make of this survey, honestly? If you’re a young person in solidarity with Gaza, or against police killings, or you’re trans or queer, would you have reason to trust the news?
A lost generation of news consumers? Survey shows how teenagers dislike the news media
You don't have to tell Cat Murphy or Lily Ogburn about the attitudes of young people toward journalists.
apnews.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:43 PM
...or follow the news about media ownership...
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
GenAI doesn't understand what a rule is, only that some words are associated with it, or what a fact is, only that some words are associated with other words.
cool pincer movement if you truly grasp:
AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a quija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
🧵
1/n
AI & any concept relating to it like so-called guardrails are a scam in the deepest sense like a perpetual motion machine or a quija board — and not only a scam like a pyramid scheme which is a possible way to make money if you are first in first out
🧵
1/n
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
November 30, 2025 at 5:07 PM
GenAI doesn't understand what a rule is, only that some words are associated with it, or what a fact is, only that some words are associated with other words.
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
Interview CEOs only under oath
Stop interviewing CEOs
Stop interviewing CEOs about AI.
December 1, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Interview CEOs only under oath
Interview CEOs only under oath
Stop interviewing CEOs
Stop interviewing CEOs about AI.
December 1, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Interview CEOs only under oath
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
it kind of sucks that this brave new world has such people in it, tbh
November 30, 2025 at 11:13 PM
it kind of sucks that this brave new world has such people in it, tbh
Yeah, anyone who thought that Ryan Waters was the problem in Oklahoma...
OU administration would never--never--stand with its instructors.
I have never met a bunch more in complete lockstep with the reactionary Christian right and more eager to do the bidding of orgs like TPUSA and Fox News.
I have never met a bunch more in complete lockstep with the reactionary Christian right and more eager to do the bidding of orgs like TPUSA and Fox News.
Administration should be standing with the instructor.
This goes beyond cowardice.
This goes beyond cowardice.
November 30, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Yeah, anyone who thought that Ryan Waters was the problem in Oklahoma...
Reposted by Jonathan Dresner
T and E versions of the Death Before Detransition design are available as shirts and stickers at my merch store! Your purchases help support an independent author-artist-creator stay afloat in tough times. Thank you to everyone who's been rocking these in the past year!
Death Before Detransition (E, sticker edition)
the estrogen version of the Death Before Detransition design as a sticker!
buff.ly
November 28, 2025 at 4:41 PM
T and E versions of the Death Before Detransition design are available as shirts and stickers at my merch store! Your purchases help support an independent author-artist-creator stay afloat in tough times. Thank you to everyone who's been rocking these in the past year!