Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 11h

Huzzah!! Hope the recovery goes smoothly.

Reposted by Nicholas Orvis

Dungeons + Drama Nerds @dndramanerds.bsky.social · 1d

Far from home on a strange planet, our heroes(?) are faced with a daunting new foe: a flying saucer full of horrifying Void Elves! Even worse: they’re artists.

tune into the continuation of our @stillfleet.bsky.social campaign on your podcatcher of choice!

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 2d

The interesting thing about studying the humanities is it doesn’t necessarily give you answers, but it can teach you to learn to live without them.

To live with others, to live with human frailty, and to explore rather than attempt to escape yourself.

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Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 2d

It also teaches you that the way you think and feel and experience the world is, in other ways, *not* universal. There are other ways to be. The world you walk through isn’t always the same one other people are navigating.

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Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 2d

It’s that it puts you in the minds and experiences of other humans. It teaches you that the way you think and feel and experience the world is, in some ways, universal: you are not alone.

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Jessica Price @delafina777.bsky.social · 2d

The point isn’t that a humanities education will immunize you against STEM thinking mistakes. And we all know it isn’t going to get you a job.

The point of studying the humanities isn’t utilitarian.

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InkyInGreen 🍂 @blackwallmancer.bsky.social · 13d

Found this on the AO3 subreddit, and I'm about to let it change my whole life (or at least work really hard to internalize it wrt my writing).

Someone's screenshot of a two-post twitter thread, from user blue (@bluewmist):

the fastest way to kill motivation is to make your identity depend on the outcome. it's called ego involvement. when failing becomes failing as a person, your brain starts avoiding the whole thing. not because you don't care, but because you care too much.

you don't need lower standards. you need less self-worth tangled up in your goals. the work gets easier when it's not about proving who you are.

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emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · 4d

it would probably be sorta hard for just anyone to do it *this well* because it requires you to actually be normal about trans people, but still it feels important to state for the record that WE ARE NOT HARD TO STAND UP FOR AND ANY OF THEM COULD DO IT.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 5d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 5d

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 4d

Terribly sad news about one of the greats. Diane Keaton has died at 79.
people.com/diane-keaton...

Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in 'Father of the Bride,' 'First Wives Club' and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)

Diane Keaton has died at age 79. Keaton was best known for roles in movies like 'Annie Hall,' 'The First Wives Club,' 'Something's Gotta Give' and 'The Godfather.'

people.com

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Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 7d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.

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Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 7d

Incredible.

Jack Posobiec references the earliest version of antifa -- the anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic who were opposed to the Nazi Party -- as the bad guys.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 7d

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 7d

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 7d

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach

A grand jury Tuesday night declined to indict two protesters in the...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 8d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Jonaya Kemper @violetriotgames.bsky.social · 7d

We denigrate play and make believe as frivolous and unserious so our language uses these terms to make facism seem unserious. How about we just call them for what they are...liars.

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · 8d

"Cosplaying" and "larping" are real activities done by real people, and using these terms as slang for "pretending to be someone you're not, for political purposes" does indeed alienate those of us who take part in these activities.

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 7d

Do you love bad decisions and non-Euclidean vomit-inducing spaces? Who doesn't?! Check out the continuation of "Start the Steal," our Stillfleet campaign on @dndramanerds.bsky.social.

Dungeons + Drama Nerds @dndramanerds.bsky.social · 8d

our campaign of @stillfleet.bsky.social picks back up as our intrepid team of voidminers descends into the Escheresque...

linktr.ee/dndramanerds

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 8d

Sorry, probably our fault in theater studies - we told them to stop using "Kabuki theater" as a bad and racist metaphor.

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Joshy McBoo! @riseupcomus.bsky.social · 8d

Y'all, I am VERY excited to introduce you to one of my new favorite Tolkien artists: Kay Woollard (1924-2008).

Woollard first read LotR in '79 when she was 55. From then until her death, she was heavily involved in Tolkien fan culture, contributing illustrations to Tolkien Society publications.

A🧵

A recursive cover of Amon Hen, Bulletin of the Tolkien Society, with a hobbit reading a copy of Amon Hen with a hobbit reading a copy of Amon Hen, and so on

A bulletin titled "A Long-Expected Party Progress Report: Preparation" depicting many hobbit chefs baking pies

Christmas card of a Hobbit couple carrying their child on their shoulders through a snowy landscape

A postcard titled "A Slumbering Pedlar" showing a sleeping Hobbit pedlar resting on his pack of goods

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 8d

This is the best map I've seen as far as correctly IDing "upstate NY."

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8d

i’d day this nails the South as well

William Hazen @williamhazen.bsky.social · 8d

This is the most accurate depiction of the Midwest to date. Wichita has always felt like the last Midwest city while also being the first plains city.

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 8d

I find both these people exhausting

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Nicholas Orvis @nsorvis.bsky.social · 9d

This 25-year-old woman lived an unremarkable life until she encountered the Thing in the Woods one day. It spoke to her in a strange voice and though she fled and it didn't follow, she still hears it sometimes on moonless nights. Now her sweetheart's proposed to her, but she's uneasy...

(8, 2)

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Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 10d

Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words.

The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.

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Contingent Magazine @contingent-mag.bsky.social · 14d

Our new CFP is up and it is monstrous.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

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