Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

50K followers 740 following 1.3K posts

Truthmonger. I write books, teach students and make podcasts about you being smarter about misinformation. #WeAreAltGov #DetectingDeception https://bit.ly/UnSpunPod

Posts Replies Media Videos

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

So, I feel a little dumb for asking, but this is phishing, yes?

DM received asking me to click a link to verify my account

November 12, 2025 at 12:57 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

So, I go to church. One of the things I do is coordinate volunteers for a homeless family shelter in the city. Most of the 20 families who live there are single mom + kids and often fleeing domestic violence. The moms work, but are usually low wage and get SNAP to help with foods.

November 8, 2025 at 12:16 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

New on the UnSpun #Podcast this week: The media's role in hybrid wars and why you may already be a casualty. Find it here or wherever you pod. bit.ly/UnSpunPod

Soldier in US uniform sits in front of computer screens as a cyber combatant in a hybrid war.

November 5, 2025 at 2:06 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Sunday sillies: nerdy knowledge edition. IYKYK

Art by Aram J. French

Find him here: www.patreon.com/cw/mandatory...

Lawyer talks to group of crows, saying: "You're right. It doesn't sound good. But I'm going to see if we can get it downgraded to manslaughter.

November 2, 2025 at 1:20 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

I'm personally donating to emergency food programs, because obviously this is bad.

If you are on team personal responsibility, wouldn't you be ashamed that your employees need handouts?

I'm also wondering where my tax money is presently going.

Embedded text is from a food bank in NC, that is asking for increased donations. There is a photo of a TSA uniform and the text notes that one of the patrons of the food bank was a TSA officer still in uniform with a family of 5 and no food in the home. (TSA employees are working without pay due to a U. S. Government shutdown that has persisted for a month.

November 2, 2025 at 2:24 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Sunday sillies: Now I'm hungry edition.

Cartoon by @loosepartsguy.bsky.social. <-- he shares lots of other fun stuff at this handle.

October 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Sign of the times.

Embedded text reads closing due to the tariffs. Liquidation.

October 26, 2025 at 1:26 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

3/ And interior space allocation.

Did Versailles and the Winter Palace have ballrooms? If so, what were they like? Yes, both the Palace of Versailles and the Winter Palace had ballrooms and other space for dancing, which were lavish and designed to reflect royal power and opulence.

October 23, 2025 at 2:10 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

2/ And interior decorating.

Were there gold decorations prominent on the walls at Versaille and the Winter Palace? If so, why? Yes, both the Palace of Versailles and the Winter Palace prominently featured gold decorations, particularly on their walls. This was done to display the immense wealth and absolute power of the French and Russian monarchies.

October 23, 2025 at 2:10 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Thanks, Google. Architecture edition.

Embedded text reads: What are historical cases of citizens being outraged over the opulence of royal palaces? Historical outrage over royal palace opulence is most famously illustrated by the French Revolution, but similar resentment also fueled the Russian Revolution and appeared in 19th-century Britain. In these cases, the lavishness of royal residences became potent symbols of an elite disconnected from th struggling populace.

October 23, 2025 at 2:10 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Bridgefy. Signal. Tor. Today’s activists don’t just encrypt for secrecy — they encrypt for survival. Because silence is never safe. And every whisper says: We’re still here.

Learn about resistance communication on this week's Unspun.

bit.ly/UnSpunPod or wherever you pod.

Crowd of people holding up cell phone lights, taken as part of Hong Kong protests against China.

October 22, 2025 at 11:26 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Y'all...

I'm really excited about today's UnSpun podcast!

The topic is how resistance movements communicate and it covers from 1770s to 2019 and methods including mesh networks, song tempos and fancy underwear.

bit.ly/UnSpunPod or wherever you pod.

October 21, 2025 at 10:18 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

Why you don't rely on AI for factual information:

Seen at the Bad Place. Notice Grok's summary is just wrong, given that the data is from 2019/2020.

ALSO, I'd love to know

a) the base rate before the increase
b) external factors like Okla. buying a Bible for every school classroom.

Screenshot from X. The Grok summary at the top states "Christian Engagement Surges in US after Charlie Kirk Assassination". The post under has a photo indicating the data they are reporting (Bible purchases, religious app downloads, etc.) are from 2019 and 2020.

October 15, 2025 at 3:23 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

"Faith gives legitimacy.
Leaders become anointed.
Dissent becomes sin.
Violence becomes acceptable."

Learn about civil religion in this week's UnSpun podcast. Here or wherever you pod. bbit.ly/UnSpunPod

A stadium crowd raises their hands in worship as a rock band performs in front of a backdrop of both an American flag and a cross.

October 7, 2025 at 11:02 PM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

3/ Oh, and if you missed it, you might enjoy this piece from Sunday on people joining the military now. It's well-written and a gift link, so free to read. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/u...

Embedded text reads: A New York Times reporter was granted access to the program at Fort Jackson for a week in August. None of the dozens of trainees interviewed cited Mr. Trump's election as a factor in their decision to enlist. Many said they had come to Fort Jackson because they saw no other choice. "I was tired of being homeless," a 22-year-old trainees, who had grown up on a South Dakota Indian reservation, said. A 34-year-old from Ivory Coast graduated from an online college that promised him an I.T. career but instead left him $90,000 in debt. Others had joined to escape home or to make their families proud. Some said their recruiters had told them military service would protect their undocumented parents from deportation.

October 6, 2025 at 10:33 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

So, um, @nytimes.com, I though the Repubicans controlled the administration and both parts of the legislative branch?

Screenshot of New York Times headline reading "These 6 charts explain why Democrats shut down the Government"

October 1, 2025 at 10:33 AM

Professor Amanda Sturgill

@drsturg.bsky.social

I did an UnSpun episode on how media coverage shapes the view of protests and I called it Riots or Rights. Seems pretty timely right now. bit.ly/UnSpunPod