Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 6h

History Workshop and, largely because I use it surprisingly often for teaching, History Compass.

Reposted by Sarah Emily Duff

Dig It Dan @digitdan.bsky.social · 16h

Maine Central Railroad was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, it was the longest railroad in New England. It was the merger of the Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad and the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad, resulting in a line from Danville (now Auburn) to Bangor.

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artnau @artnau.bsky.social · 6d

Seated female torso, 1918 by Egon Schiele

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Forever Louise Brooks @foreverlouiseb1.bsky.social · 3d

Miss E. Carise by George Hoyningen-Huene, Paris 1930.

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 16h

‘“More money is pouring in, more businesses are feeling the pressure to do likewise, without knowing how they can really use AI. It’s the worst of both worlds — you don’t get productivity improvement… At the same time, you displace people and you reduce the possibility for meaningful human work.”’

The Real AI Risk is ‘Meh’ Technology That Takes Jobs and Annoys Us All

While AI doomsday scenarios dwell on the risks posed by superintelligent robot overlords, one Nobel-Prize winning economist fears a more mundane possibility.

www.bloomberg.com

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Neon Deutschland @neondeutschland.bsky.social · 1d

We’re back … and we brought you a wonderful weekend Umlaut from Würzburg.

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Paul Welsh @paulwelsh89.bsky.social · 5d

Manuel Cabré
Tejados de la Vieja Caracas y el Avila, 1933

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 16h

“In his address to the UN last month, the Uruguayan president, Yamandú Orsi, spoke of how he ‘can walk among the people without bodyguards, and can enjoy a football match in the stands of a stadium like any other supporter’”

Forrest Hylton | Across the Rio de la Plata

At sunset on a clear day you can see thirty miles across the Rio de la Plata from Colonia de Sacramento to the...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 16h

‘Conflicts over what may seem like minor details pointed to a broader debate: the more sophisticated the operation, the more plausible the theory that the Russian state had played a role in its facilitation.’

By @philipoltermann.bsky.social

The Pushkin job: unmasking the thieves behind an international rare books heist

The long read: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe. Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bi...

www.theguardian.com

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Moby Dick @mobydickatsea.bsky.social · 1d

admire the magnanimity of the sea which will permit no records

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 1d

Saint Jerome and his lion, bonding meditatively over thoughts of life's vanity in 1548. As painted by Georg Pencz, whose day is today.

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Arthur David Spota @adaspota.bsky.social · Feb 11

Quebecois abstract expressionist painter Jean‑Paul-Riopelle

Untitled, 1949
#AbstractExpressionism

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@dlp. @umadlp.bsky.social · 2d

Hannah Hoch’s address book.

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artnau @artnau.bsky.social · 2d

Lucian Freud in his studio sketching his dog, Pluto

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 1d

‘This is Pynchon’s genius: what seems ridiculous at first glance might just also be a faithful rendering of earnest American culture’

Shadow Ticket — all the colours of the Pynchon rainbow

America’s best-known, least-seen writer is back with a swaggering, hard-boiled caper set in a 1930s US toying with fascism

on.ft.com

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 1d

‘I should add that I never hurry and I never dawdle. That’s not walking. I walk with hands linked behind my back. And I take note of what I see.’

A short story by László Krasznahorkai, translated by George Szirtes, in @lrb.co.uk

László Krasznahorkai, translated by George Szirtes · Story: ‘There Goes Valzer’

My name is Róbert Valzer and I like walking, not that I have anything to do with the famous Robert Walser, nor do I...

www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Sarah Emily Duff

Nothings Monstered @nothingsmonstrd.bsky.social · 3d

from Dr. Blankman’s NY — Tod Papageorge, 1967

Photograph of an woman wearing fur trimmed coat. Her hair, makeup, and jewelry make me think this picture is on Park Avenue or some other expensive neighborhood. Her eyes are wide, and she is looking up at something. She may be in a conversation with another woman whose back is to us.

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Paul Welsh @paulwelsh89.bsky.social · 6d

Pieter Bruegel the Elder
De "Weinig" Toren van Babel

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 1d

‘One paper in The New England Journal of Medicine estimated that supplements are responsible for 23,000 emergency room visits a year.’

A Plea From Doctors: Cool It on the Supplements

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 1d

‘for every additional 10 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter of air there was a corresponding 10 percent increase in infertility risk.’

She Found a Link Between Air Pollution and Infertility

www.nytimes.com

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 1d

‘“AI companies have accounted for 80 per cent of the gains in US stocks so far in 2025… That is helping to fund and drive US growth … and feeds a boom in consumer spending by the rich.”

Put simply, only the extremely wealthy appear to be benefiting from all of this.‘

Bank of England Warns of Impending AI Disaster

The Bank of England has sounded the alarm, warning of an intensifying risk of a "sudden correction" due to an AI spending frenzy.

futurism.com

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Reposted by Sarah Emily Duff

Remedios Varo @remediosvaro.bsky.social · 5d

Eyes on the table
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/19146

"Eyes on the Table" by Remedios Varo showcases a surreal arrangement of spectacles and disembodied eyes resting on a floating table, evoking themes of perception and the intersection of reality and imagination. Known for her distinctive style within the realm of Surrealism, Varo often infused her works with mystical and dreamlike elements, reflecting her interest in alchemy, science, and esoteric knowledge.

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Reposted by Sarah Emily Duff

Paul Welsh @paulwelsh89.bsky.social · 6d

Jim Dine
White Teeth. 1963

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Reposted by Sarah Emily Duff

Tactical Onions Vendor @inkana.bsky.social · 3d

read SATANTANGO, read THE MELANCHOLY OF RESISTANCE, read SEIOBO THERE BELOW, read BARON WENKHEIM'S HOMECOMING, watch SATANTANGO, watch THE WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES, drink in the experience of apocalypse because this is the Krasznahorkai century

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Sarah Emily Duff @sarahemilyduff.bsky.social · 2d

‘the line for the men’s bathroom when he makes his biannual appearance at a New York bookstore is longer than it is at a Steely Dan concert.’

The Nobel Prize in Literature Is Boring Now

László Krasznahorkai, who was awarded the prize on Thursday, is a brilliant novelist and consummate laureate. But has the Swedish Academy lost its sense of fun?

newrepublic.com

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