Jon Phillips
@jowiph.bsky.social
Historian of evolutionary biology and scientific racism who has somehow turned into a historian of the physical sciences. Expect lots of cat pictures and general miscellany. Baltimore.
Pinned
Jon Phillips
@jowiph.bsky.social
· Oct 5
I’ve shared these a few times on the other site, but since everything is new again, here’s a thread of extremist profiles on prominent scientific racists I wrote for @SPLC roughly 10 years ago:
The FBI may no longer be relying on SPLC, but their anti-extremist resources are still extremely worthwhile, especially these days. So in that spirit, time to re-up the thread of extremist profiles I wrote for them on scientific racists
I would trade my Bobson Dugnutt rookie card for that
November 30, 2025 at 4:12 AM
I would trade my Bobson Dugnutt rookie card for that
Reposted by Jon Phillips
i do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
November 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
i do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
Reposted by Jon Phillips
It seems worth noting that, given what he's ordered, Hegseth's freedom long-term almost certainly depends on staying in Trump's good graces enough to swing an end-of-administration pardon.
So he is likely to cling *very hard* to the job to avoid being pushed out before the end.
So he is likely to cling *very hard* to the job to avoid being pushed out before the end.
Hoo boy
Whole buncha folks about to have to face a choice between complying with a Congressional subpoena and getting fired because pete's mad at them
Also if anything is a "start the clock" moment on pete's tenure coming to an end, it's this
Whole buncha folks about to have to face a choice between complying with a Congressional subpoena and getting fired because pete's mad at them
Also if anything is a "start the clock" moment on pete's tenure coming to an end, it's this
There are now bipartisan investigations in both the House and Senate into the administration targeting and killing people in the Caribbean without due process.
November 30, 2025 at 3:39 AM
It seems worth noting that, given what he's ordered, Hegseth's freedom long-term almost certainly depends on staying in Trump's good graces enough to swing an end-of-administration pardon.
So he is likely to cling *very hard* to the job to avoid being pushed out before the end.
So he is likely to cling *very hard* to the job to avoid being pushed out before the end.
🎶And I'm proud to be an American🎶
The best American flag is the battle flag of Tecumseh Sherman’s 23rd Corps, made from the tattered remains of Confederate banners.
November 30, 2025 at 3:31 AM
🎶And I'm proud to be an American🎶
Tbh the Moss estate should sue the loss guy
Marlow Moss, Composition in Black and White Number 4, 1949
https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1135948
https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1135948
November 30, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Tbh the Moss estate should sue the loss guy
I swear I am not being a retvrn guy when I say this is such a true and underappreciated sentiment. There are still some good kids' shows out there, but they tend to be pretty niche, and there's just nothing close to Batman: The Animated Series in terms of both quality and reach.
related: it's wild watching the DCAU compared to what contemporary kids programming is now
i hate to be all like “decline of culture” but, god damn, kids’ TV (outside apple TV+) has sloppified worse than any other genre. And don’t reply “what about bluey?” bc that’s not a show for kids, thats a show for parents produced so that kids don’t mind watching it and i will not debate that point.
November 30, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I swear I am not being a retvrn guy when I say this is such a true and underappreciated sentiment. There are still some good kids' shows out there, but they tend to be pretty niche, and there's just nothing close to Batman: The Animated Series in terms of both quality and reach.
Reposted by Jon Phillips
"Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D), who was first elected in 2020, has brought the city’s homicide rate down by treating violent crime as a public health crisis... a symptom of multiple factors, including racism, poverty, and past violence."
National media ignores this bc the solution isn't police.
National media ignores this bc the solution isn't police.
November 29, 2025 at 11:25 PM
"Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D), who was first elected in 2020, has brought the city’s homicide rate down by treating violent crime as a public health crisis... a symptom of multiple factors, including racism, poverty, and past violence."
National media ignores this bc the solution isn't police.
National media ignores this bc the solution isn't police.
Black Friday weekend reminder
Heads up for anyone else who purchased the product, it's being recalled due to quality and safety issues
November 30, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Black Friday weekend reminder
Reposted by Jon Phillips
Reposted by Jon Phillips
The subcategorization/tropefication of popular fiction has been very bad in general, both for authors and readers.
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 6:52 PM
The subcategorization/tropefication of popular fiction has been very bad in general, both for authors and readers.
This, but also, if you're going to do multiplayer, make couch co-op the default. Sometimes I do want to play with other people, but I never want to play with random internet strangers.
My most boomer video game complaint is stop trying to make be fucking social, stop trying to get me buy a season pass, stop trying to funnel me to a ‘community’. Let me buy the videogame and play the videogame. Stop microagressing me by implying it’s weird to want to play alone.
November 29, 2025 at 8:40 PM
This, but also, if you're going to do multiplayer, make couch co-op the default. Sometimes I do want to play with other people, but I never want to play with random internet strangers.
Reposted by Jon Phillips
My most boomer video game complaint is stop trying to make be fucking social, stop trying to get me buy a season pass, stop trying to funnel me to a ‘community’. Let me buy the videogame and play the videogame. Stop microagressing me by implying it’s weird to want to play alone.
November 29, 2025 at 7:38 PM
My most boomer video game complaint is stop trying to make be fucking social, stop trying to get me buy a season pass, stop trying to funnel me to a ‘community’. Let me buy the videogame and play the videogame. Stop microagressing me by implying it’s weird to want to play alone.
Reposted by Jon Phillips
Gonna have to do a re-read today
November 29, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Gonna have to do a re-read today
Not the point, obviously, but I hadn't realized the New Yorker's style guide extended to using diaereses in skeets
When a cancelled performer reënters the culture, we expect them to offer us a great work, channelling their newfound clarity into the finest art they’ve ever made. With his new comedy show and début novel, has Louis C.K. met the bar?
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Louis C.K.’s Next Chapter
In a new standup special, and a début novel, the comedian navigates murky, post-#MeToo terrain: not quite exiled, not quite welcomed back.
www.newyorker.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Not the point, obviously, but I hadn't realized the New Yorker's style guide extended to using diaereses in skeets
Reposted by Jon Phillips
...and thank you for entrusting your papers to @ransomcenter.bsky.social so that future researchers can learn more about your creative process.
research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/fin...
#TomStoppard #booksky #theatre 📜🗃️
research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/fin...
#TomStoppard #booksky #theatre 📜🗃️
Tom Stoppard: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
research.hrc.utexas.edu
November 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
...and thank you for entrusting your papers to @ransomcenter.bsky.social so that future researchers can learn more about your creative process.
research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/fin...
#TomStoppard #booksky #theatre 📜🗃️
research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/fin...
#TomStoppard #booksky #theatre 📜🗃️
Reposted by Jon Phillips
A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:
November 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:
There is no more frustrating level in the history of video games than Donkey Kong Country's Mine Cart Carnage.
November 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
There is no more frustrating level in the history of video games than Donkey Kong Country's Mine Cart Carnage.
Oh man, RIP
November 29, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Oh man, RIP
Read this "essay" and then scroll down a few replies to read the incredibly generous and patient feedback from the course instructors that prompted this whole bullshit tizzy
Turning Point at OU posted this girl's essay in full and man is it rough
November 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Read this "essay" and then scroll down a few replies to read the incredibly generous and patient feedback from the course instructors that prompted this whole bullshit tizzy
Reposted by Jon Phillips
Last month, @theguardian.com framed this historical event project the same way; minimizing the years of archival work, the interviews etc it took to be able to do this.
Instead ‘AI solved this historical problem!’
Instead ‘AI solved this historical problem!’
November 29, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Last month, @theguardian.com framed this historical event project the same way; minimizing the years of archival work, the interviews etc it took to be able to do this.
Instead ‘AI solved this historical problem!’
Instead ‘AI solved this historical problem!’
Reposted by Jon Phillips
I went to an "ojos" training tonight hosted by New Orleans DSA and Union Migrante and thought I'd pass on new things I learned:
1. Low/old info ICE sighting posts are wreaking havoc on immigrant communities. Basically, incomplete or old info is actively harmful (even if ppl have good intentions)
1. Low/old info ICE sighting posts are wreaking havoc on immigrant communities. Basically, incomplete or old info is actively harmful (even if ppl have good intentions)
November 29, 2025 at 6:23 AM
I went to an "ojos" training tonight hosted by New Orleans DSA and Union Migrante and thought I'd pass on new things I learned:
1. Low/old info ICE sighting posts are wreaking havoc on immigrant communities. Basically, incomplete or old info is actively harmful (even if ppl have good intentions)
1. Low/old info ICE sighting posts are wreaking havoc on immigrant communities. Basically, incomplete or old info is actively harmful (even if ppl have good intentions)
Reposted by Jon Phillips
I didn’t want to overreact, and took time to read this. Having done so, I’m adding Northwestern to the list of places I won’t visit or speak. The concessions re: international students and gender-affirming care are not merely symbolic.
Here’s the text of the Northwestern settlement with the DoJ, which includes a $75 million financial component / payoff (cc @profmarkovic.bsky.social):
November 29, 2025 at 5:10 AM
I didn’t want to overreact, and took time to read this. Having done so, I’m adding Northwestern to the list of places I won’t visit or speak. The concessions re: international students and gender-affirming care are not merely symbolic.
This is Diplomacy
Taiwanese ambassador to Finland performs with his metal band at Taiwan-Finland cultural event! 🤘✊️
That's what I call great ambassador
That's what I call great ambassador
November 29, 2025 at 2:45 AM
This is Diplomacy