Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Anat Shenker-Osorio

@anatosaurus.bsky.social

Absolutely fitting coda to the whole Epstein horror show is that the brave testimony of dozens of women could not be credited and we need the emails of men to deem it credible.

November 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

Alice Wong was such an amazing activist. I had the honour of meeting her when she spoke as part of the Disrupting Disruptions series that I organize. May we continue to honour her work by working towards a more socially just world.

Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 6h

“Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.”

Black text on a yellow background - This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing.
Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you. There are a few in progress that might come to fruition in a few years if things work out. I did not ever imagine I would live to this age and end up a writer, editor, activist, and more. As a kid riddled with insecurity and internalized ableism, I could not see a path forward. It was thanks to friendships and some great teachers who believed in me that I was able to fight my way out of miserable situations into a place where I finally felt comfortable in my skin.
We need more stories about us and our culture.
You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment. Our wisdom is incisive and unflinching. I'm honored to be your ancestor and believe disabled oracles like us will light the way to the future. Don't let the bastards grind you down. I love you all.

November 15, 2025 at 11:19 AM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

Today I officially became a member of the Royal Society of Canada. I was elected to the College of New Scholars.

@src-rsc.bsky.social @mcgillarts.bsky.social @mcgillumedia.bsky.social

November 15, 2025 at 1:53 AM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Stacey Burns

@wentrogue.bsky.social

I *just* listened to this excellent episode of @allusionistshow.bsky.social about Dr. Alex Ketchum’s Feminist Restaurant Project and went to check out Bloodroot…only to learn they announced *today* that they’re closing after nearly 50 years!

Bloodroot Vegetarian
Restaurant
Update from 6 hours ago

Dear friends,
As perhaps you may know by now, Bloodroot will be closing on December 21, 2025 after 48 amazing and wonderful years in business. This decision, though sad, is also necessary given many factors in our lives at this time.

We've chosen December 21st
because it is the day of the Winter Solstice (which means sun standing still) and heralds the beginning of the return of the light.

November 12, 2025 at 10:38 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Alt National Endowment for the Humanities

@altnehgov.altgov.info

This amount would fund NEH for more than a decade.

Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 2d

DOD to DOW = $2 billion

www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Trump's Pentagon name change could cost up to $2 billion

Officially changing the Department of Defense to the Department of War can only be done by Congress and would require updating thousands of signs, rewriting digital code and creating new letterheads,...

www.nbcnews.com

November 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

amy buckland

@jambina.bsky.social

WHO ASKED FOR THIS?!?!

Janice Tullock @jtullock.bsky.social · 3d

No no no begs every archivist. You are never going to be able to find anything. Please don’t start using emojis in file names. Who asked for this? What fresh hell is next?

Screen grab from Dropbox saying Emojis in file names are finally here!

November 12, 2025 at 1:49 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌

@chanda.blacksky.app

I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit

this should not be controversial 🫠

November 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

yes! also @librarypunk.bsky.social is a great podcast (honoured to have been a past guest)

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 8d

I talked to librarians, authors who have had their books banned, and groups that support them for this article. The glee with which schools, libraries, governments, and companies are replacing human workers and nuance with AI would not be possible w/o the successful war on schools and libraries

“One thing that I try to make clear any time I talk about book bans is that it’s not about the books, it’s about deputizing bigots to do the ugly work of defunding all of our public institutions of learning,” Maggie Tokuda-Hall, a cofounder of Authors Against Book Bans, told me. “The current proliferation of AI that we see particularly in the library and education spaces would be possible at the speed and scale that is happening without the precedent of book bans leading into it. They are very comfortable bedfellows because once you have created a culture in which all expertise is denigrated and removed from the equation and considered nonessential, you create the circumstances in which AI can flourish.”

Justin, a cohost of the podcast librarypunk, told me that the project of offloading cognitive capacity to AI continues apace: “Part of a fascist project to offload the work of thinking, especially the reflective kind of thinking that reading, study, and community engagement provide,” Justin said. “That kind of thinking cultivates empathy and challenges your assumptions. It's also something you have to practice. If we can offload that cognitive work, it's far too easy to become reflexive and hateful, while having a robot cheerleader telling you that you were right about everything all along.”

November 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

Oh yes- imagine that people want to eat a muffin! Or have any moments of pleasure in their lives...Wow....

all so billionaires can hoard even more wealth that they could never spend in their lifetimes

Kathleen De Vere @kathleen.loadingreadyrun.com · 13d

There is no way to win this game. There is no behavior that will satisfy them.

You are either failing to live within your means, i.e., swearing off all frivolities like some sort of financial anchorite, or you are ruining the economy by not buying things.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 14d

“At the same time, more than half of Gen Z members say they are struggling to make ends meet, yet a majority buy themselves a small treat, such as a pastry, coffee, or sweet, at least once a week. That can lead to overspending…”

archive.ph/2TI8J

November 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Eileen Clancy 🧿

@clancyny.bsky.social

A Nature poll found that 75% of U.S. researchers are considering leaving the country.

Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢

Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'

A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...

www.pbs.org

October 31, 2025 at 7:50 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Martha Lincoln

@heavyredaction.bsky.social

New preprint alert! 🚨

“Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University”

Let Them Eat Large Language Models: Artificial Intelligence and Austerity in the Neoliberal University

Martha Kenney and Martha Lincoln

Abstract
This article examines the expansion of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) into higher education. We argue that genAI’s incursion into university systems represents an effort by Silicon Valley to capture lucrative new markets for their products, as well as enhanced credibility by association. Drawing on our experience as faculty in the California State University (CSU) system—the first university system to contract with OpenAI to provide ChatGPT Edu system-wide—we assess the rhetoric that justifies and legitimizes genAI contracts in higher education. We suggest that the uncritical adoption of genAI in higher education poses problems for labor conditions, the integrity of intellectual property, and student learning on campuses, particularly under the conditions of austerity that are commonly found in public universities.

October 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

Sharing again since folks ask me about organizing book events a lot (since I organize quite a few): www.historicalcookingproject.com/2023/03/orga...

Organizing a Book Tour

Historical recipes reviewed and revisited // Les recettes d'antan revues et corrigées

www.historicalcookingproject.com

October 29, 2025 at 11:47 AM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Ted McCormick

@tedmccormick.bsky.social

It is hard to overstate the stress produced by the incoherence of academic institutions pumping generative AI when they want to play business and then leaving instructors to deal with the results when they want to play school

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 18d

Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.

Corinne Gressang @corinnegressang.bsky.social · 18d

I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.

If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....

October 28, 2025 at 1:45 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Eileen Clancy 🧿

@clancyny.bsky.social

It was a bitch to find. So, I wrote out the steps. You have to do it on desktop only.

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 18d

It makes a huge difference in speed! I had wondered what had changed! 🙏🏼

I had trouble finding it, so here are the steps:

It's the Advanced Settings menu, click Google Drive for desktop menu.

At top right, click Settings (gear icon).

Go to Manage Apps.

Go to Gemini. Uncheck "use by default."

URL: https://drive.google.com/drive/settings

Settings

General
Privacy
Notifications
Manage apps

Manage apps connected to Drive

AppSheet K check box Use by default
..
D DocHub - PDF Sign and Edit check box Use by default

Gemini check box Use by default

October 27, 2025 at 6:08 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Liz Shannon Miller

@lizshannonmiller.com

friend shared this, immediately updated my settings

$Screenshot of text: unfuck google drive by shooting gemini Hey folks! Google is fucking you via sneaky enshittification again! Want the shit in your google drive to load instantly again, instead of taking for-fucking-ever? Open your gdrive (web OR app) Settings > Manage Apps Gemini was checked "use as default" (and i sure the fuck didn't set it that way, this was a silent push) Nuke that, and suddenly, folders that took up to a minute to populate and sort do so in a fraction of a second.$

October 27, 2025 at 4:28 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Moira Donegan

@moiradonegan.bsky.social

One thing I think is useful about Hoschild is that she didn’t just ask people how they divided their domestic labor, but actually tracked how they spent their time. And she found that even in marriages where both partners claimed that the work was evenly divided, in practice women did much more.

October 26, 2025 at 10:27 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Matthew J (is) Tired

@matthewjkuiper.bsky.social

Smart people keep saying…

“AI technologies severely impede humans’ ability to learn and retain skills… Rather than expanding our intellectual horizons, these technologies undermine the very conditions that allow us to think for ourselves.”

AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education

Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.

www.project-syndicate.org

October 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM

Reposted by Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

Jacqueline Antonovich

@jackiantonovich.bsky.social

It's not lost on me that the part of the White House we are destroying is the part that has to do with women's history in the White House.

News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 21d

NEW: NBC News confirms that the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, on the east side of the White House, has been destroyed as part of the demolition of the East Wing.

(📸 Getty Images)

A picture of the garden in front of the east wing of the White House. A mix of colorful flowers and small trees

October 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM

Dr. Alex Ketchum (she/her)

@aketchum22.bsky.social

In honor of Queer History Month, we are soft launching Cafe Queer Montreal

This website showcases Montréal's 2SLGBTQ+ food and drink history, including everything from restaurants, bars, cafes, bake sales, parties, bakeries, potlucks, and more!

www.cafequeermontreal.com
@mcgillarts.bsky.social