Mike Boylan-Kolchin
@mbkplus.bsky.social
Dad, husband, astrophysicist, dog herder. Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor in Astronomy at UT Austin. This is a personal account and the views expressed in my posts here are mine. https://mrbk.github.io
Pinned
Mike Boylan-Kolchin
@mbkplus.bsky.social
· Sep 13
Mike Boylan-Kolchin
mrbk.github.io
New (academic) year, new me — well, new title, anyway. I promise to uphold the standards you’ve come to expect from the Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor in Astronomy.
Franklin the Turtle Learns the Dos and Don'ts of the Chow Line at Leavenworth
December 2, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Franklin the Turtle Learns the Dos and Don'ts of the Chow Line at Leavenworth
You could tell me that AI came up with this and none of the bands are real and I'd believe you. You could also tell me that the bands are listed first and the songs are listed second and I'd believe that, too. Think it's time for me to sit on a rocking chair on the porch & complain about the weather
December 2, 2025 at 4:37 PM
You could tell me that AI came up with this and none of the bands are real and I'd believe you. You could also tell me that the bands are listed first and the songs are listed second and I'd believe that, too. Think it's time for me to sit on a rocking chair on the porch & complain about the weather
Here are some more details, and a link to the full memorandum, related to the flowchart. This is going to cause a lot of confusion and concern at the faculty level and will probably result in an unimaginable increase in workload at the admin level. www.texastech.edu/downloads/25...
December 2, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Here are some more details, and a link to the full memorandum, related to the flowchart. This is going to cause a lot of confusion and concern at the faculty level and will probably result in an unimaginable increase in workload at the admin level. www.texastech.edu/downloads/25...
Challenging my audience's assumptions by repeatedly stating that 2+2=22
If you think your job is not to tell the truth but to "challenge your audience's assumptions" if the latter is in tension with the former then you're going to end up lying. bsky.app/profile/larr...
For my part, I would say that questioning the framing of some Times stories—for example, the highlighting of Trump’s putative emotions or the foregrounding of what he says (even when, as is often the case, what he says is false)—is not an indication that I want my “views validated.”
December 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Challenging my audience's assumptions by repeatedly stating that 2+2=22
We asked the least authentic instrument in the cosmos to gauge authenticity, and we think you'll be pretty pleased by the results.
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
We asked the least authentic instrument in the cosmos to gauge authenticity, and we think you'll be pretty pleased by the results.
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Owning one of these could fix me
December 2, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Owning one of these could fix me
'The money expands the number of children who will receive seed money for the investment accounts, known as “Trump accounts.”' 🫠
Michael and Susan Dell to Put $250 in 25 Million Children’s Accounts
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:24 PM
'The money expands the number of children who will receive seed money for the investment accounts, known as “Trump accounts.”' 🫠
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Did you ever wonder "what kind of amoral monster would be a cheering spectator at a lynching?"
December 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Did you ever wonder "what kind of amoral monster would be a cheering spectator at a lynching?"
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
are you fucking kidding me with this framing in 2025
Donald Trump had reasonable concerns about how Joe Biden’s relatives enriched themselves through his service. Yet his own family is making the “Biden crime family” look small-time
How Donald Trump is turning into Joe Biden
It’s about more than denying inflation
econ.st
December 2, 2025 at 2:44 PM
are you fucking kidding me with this framing in 2025
Owning one of these could fix me
December 2, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Owning one of these could fix me
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Hegseth wants to portray himself as a macho 'lethality' warrior without taking any responsibility for the actions or consequences he celebrates (and shitposts about on twitter). That's weakness incarnate, and I can't imagine that either enlisted personnel or officers respect him in the least for it.
WAPO: “.. Officials in Congress and the Pentagon said Monday they are increasingly concerned that the Trump administration intends to scapegoat the military officer who directed U.S. forces to kill two survivors of a targeted strike ..”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
December 2, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Hegseth wants to portray himself as a macho 'lethality' warrior without taking any responsibility for the actions or consequences he celebrates (and shitposts about on twitter). That's weakness incarnate, and I can't imagine that either enlisted personnel or officers respect him in the least for it.
That preventative MRI sure did its job, the guy is as sharp as ever
Trump has posted to Truth Social at least 75 times and counting in the past hour.
It’s weirdo garbage produced by random people on X and TikTok across a number of topics, like conspiracy theories about Ilhan Omar and influencers who claim “communists” are attempting a color revolution in the U.S.
It’s weirdo garbage produced by random people on X and TikTok across a number of topics, like conspiracy theories about Ilhan Omar and influencers who claim “communists” are attempting a color revolution in the U.S.
December 2, 2025 at 4:17 AM
That preventative MRI sure did its job, the guy is as sharp as ever
Did you ever wonder "what kind of amoral monster would be a cheering spectator at a lynching?"
December 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Did you ever wonder "what kind of amoral monster would be a cheering spectator at a lynching?"
Fewer mismatches bigger than an O lineman getting to tee up a DB in the open field
December 2, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Fewer mismatches bigger than an O lineman getting to tee up a DB in the open field
Hegseth wants to portray himself as a macho 'lethality' warrior without taking any responsibility for the actions or consequences he celebrates (and shitposts about on twitter). That's weakness incarnate, and I can't imagine that either enlisted personnel or officers respect him in the least for it.
WAPO: “.. Officials in Congress and the Pentagon said Monday they are increasingly concerned that the Trump administration intends to scapegoat the military officer who directed U.S. forces to kill two survivors of a targeted strike ..”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
December 2, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Hegseth wants to portray himself as a macho 'lethality' warrior without taking any responsibility for the actions or consequences he celebrates (and shitposts about on twitter). That's weakness incarnate, and I can't imagine that either enlisted personnel or officers respect him in the least for it.
The embarrassments to the Justice Department will continue until morale improves
The Justice Department could present a new indictment against James Comey to a grand jury as soon as this week.
Justice Department could present a new indictment against James Comey to a grand jury this week | CNN Politics
No matter what, prosecutors will likely present new indictments against the former FBI director and New York Attorney General Letitia James to grand juries in the Eastern District of Virginia.
www.cnn.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:29 AM
The embarrassments to the Justice Department will continue until morale improves
I guess I still don't know what's a catch in the NFL...
December 2, 2025 at 2:23 AM
I guess I still don't know what's a catch in the NFL...
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
One of the reasons that 'right-wing ideology appropriates absolutely everything' is their quixotic desire to make inherently uncool ideas seem cool. They despise the cultural currency and cachet that a wide variety artists hold and are forever engaged in a futile quest to capture a modicum of cool.
“In her interview with Hearon, Wachowski said that she was unsurprised conservatives have latched onto the film because ‘right-wing ideology appropriates absolutely everything.’”
Lilly Wachowski Has Learned to “Let Go” of the Right Wing Co-opting Her Work
During an interview with podcaster Caleb Hearon, the ‘Matrix’ codirector talked about conservatives embracing the concept of being “red-pilled”: “This is what fascism does.”
www.vanityfair.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
One of the reasons that 'right-wing ideology appropriates absolutely everything' is their quixotic desire to make inherently uncool ideas seem cool. They despise the cultural currency and cachet that a wide variety artists hold and are forever engaged in a futile quest to capture a modicum of cool.
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Well, I hated reading parts 1-3, but
December 1, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Well, I hated reading parts 1-3, but
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Yeah, this is a resource, access, & tenacity problem. They can spend a lot of time & energy that no individual has to being the weight of major media & political forces on people, & there’s no real countering that right now. Both the forces brought to bear & the lack of a counterweight are a problem
I’ll also add that once TPUSA or its ilk has you in their sights, it’s over. if they decide they want to ruin your career it won’t matter what you did to mitigate.
December 1, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Yeah, this is a resource, access, & tenacity problem. They can spend a lot of time & energy that no individual has to being the weight of major media & political forces on people, & there’s no real countering that right now. Both the forces brought to bear & the lack of a counterweight are a problem
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Seems bad that one of the few people who control the media thinks like this and is willing to say it on main
This is not true. Musk is endorsing (again) a version of the white nationalist great replacement theory, as told by Stephen Miller.
It is a conspiracy theory and it was confined to the fringes of the Internet until 10 or so years ago.
If true, Harris would’ve easily won in 2024.
It is a conspiracy theory and it was confined to the fringes of the Internet until 10 or so years ago.
If true, Harris would’ve easily won in 2024.
December 1, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Seems bad that one of the few people who control the media thinks like this and is willing to say it on main
Well, I hated reading parts 1-3, but
December 1, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Well, I hated reading parts 1-3, but
That's a little presumptuous, CNN
www.cnn.com/cnn-undersco...
www.cnn.com/cnn-undersco...
December 1, 2025 at 9:06 PM
That's a little presumptuous, CNN
www.cnn.com/cnn-undersco...
www.cnn.com/cnn-undersco...
"Kara Swisher had cracked the case" 😬
December 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM
"Kara Swisher had cracked the case" 😬