Nick Thompson
@suthfor.bsky.social
Historian of religion at University of Auckland: Early Modern Christianity, religious violence, and religion in Aotearoa/NZ. Home brewer. Gen X dilettante. Ambulando solvitur.
Poster for a new course at the Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, and seven months to get it ready!
October 13, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Poster for a new course at the Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland, and seven months to get it ready!
Garden right now.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
September 8, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Garden right now.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
The blossom of a delicious plum hanging over the fence from the next-door neighbour's property. They don't eat them, so I do.
A praying mantis, which has not yet figured out the art of camouflage, crawling over the winter-red leaves of my blueberry bushes. NB. its piratical black eye. #nzgardening
July 8, 2025 at 3:35 AM
A praying mantis, which has not yet figured out the art of camouflage, crawling over the winter-red leaves of my blueberry bushes. NB. its piratical black eye. #nzgardening
Manu aute (Kite) Day for Matariki on Puketāpapa, Auckland
July 6, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Manu aute (Kite) Day for Matariki on Puketāpapa, Auckland
Last of the summer pomegranates, burst by the midwinter rain. #nzgardens
July 5, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Last of the summer pomegranates, burst by the midwinter rain. #nzgardens
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
July 5, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Seems appropriate to end with the statement issued by the first Ploughshares action in 1980, when eight activists entered a General Electric factory and damaged nosecones destined for nuclear ICBMs. They got sentences of up to 10 years each.
But not on charges of 'terrorism'.
But not on charges of 'terrorism'.
July 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Seems appropriate to end with the statement issued by the first Ploughshares action in 1980, when eight activists entered a General Electric factory and damaged nosecones destined for nuclear ICBMs. They got sentences of up to 10 years each.
But not on charges of 'terrorism'.
But not on charges of 'terrorism'.
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Direct action has a long history in Britain - from the DAC, the Committee for 100 & the Spies for Peace, to the Greenham Common Women - and that's only the peace campaigns. That's the history Palestine Action is part of - and it will continue no matter what the courts eventually decide.
July 5, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Direct action has a long history in Britain - from the DAC, the Committee for 100 & the Spies for Peace, to the Greenham Common Women - and that's only the peace campaigns. That's the history Palestine Action is part of - and it will continue no matter what the courts eventually decide.
"The idea of using AI to somehow personalize learning is less a plan to provide excellent learning opportunities, and more a gimmick to put a little lipstick on the underfunded massification of higher education"
Excellent analysis of bland techno-optimism in universities
github.com/paezha/Unive...
Excellent analysis of bland techno-optimism in universities
github.com/paezha/Unive...
GitHub - paezha/University-AI-Panel
Contribute to paezha/University-AI-Panel development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
June 26, 2025 at 12:47 AM
"The idea of using AI to somehow personalize learning is less a plan to provide excellent learning opportunities, and more a gimmick to put a little lipstick on the underfunded massification of higher education"
Excellent analysis of bland techno-optimism in universities
github.com/paezha/Unive...
Excellent analysis of bland techno-optimism in universities
github.com/paezha/Unive...
I marked Matariki by giving the roses their winter pruning. These are the stragglers I rescued from the devastation. #Matariki #midwinter
June 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
I marked Matariki by giving the roses their winter pruning. These are the stragglers I rescued from the devastation. #Matariki #midwinter
June 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Insofar as Auckland has seasons, this is winter in Auckland #Kikorangi #winter
June 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Insofar as Auckland has seasons, this is winter in Auckland #Kikorangi #winter
Reposted by Nick Thompson
They really are the whiniest bunch.
And it’s actually diagnostically relevant, if we want to understand their political project: A movement of people who feel victimized by a society they believe owes them constant adulation and deference, whose self-pity inevitably turns to authoritarian cruelty.
And it’s actually diagnostically relevant, if we want to understand their political project: A movement of people who feel victimized by a society they believe owes them constant adulation and deference, whose self-pity inevitably turns to authoritarian cruelty.
Dan Bongino has a nice cry on Fox & Friends: "I gave up everything for this. I mean, my wife is struggling... I stare at these 4 walls all day in DC, you know, by myself, divorced from my wife. Not divorced, but I mean, separated. And it's hard."
(Note that Brian Kilmeade has to encourage him lol)
(Note that Brian Kilmeade has to encourage him lol)
May 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
They really are the whiniest bunch.
And it’s actually diagnostically relevant, if we want to understand their political project: A movement of people who feel victimized by a society they believe owes them constant adulation and deference, whose self-pity inevitably turns to authoritarian cruelty.
And it’s actually diagnostically relevant, if we want to understand their political project: A movement of people who feel victimized by a society they believe owes them constant adulation and deference, whose self-pity inevitably turns to authoritarian cruelty.
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Universitäten “dürfen” forschen, so lange sie “synchron mit der Regierung” und den Zielen der Regierung arbeiten. Gleichschaltung.
Linda McMahon: "Universities should continue to be able to do research as long as they're abiding by the laws and in sync, I think, with the administration and what the administration is trying to accomplish."
May 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Universitäten “dürfen” forschen, so lange sie “synchron mit der Regierung” und den Zielen der Regierung arbeiten. Gleichschaltung.
Best papal commentary so far from a friend of a friend: "A Chicago pope implies the existence of an MLA pope and an APA pope, no?"
May 8, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Best papal commentary so far from a friend of a friend: "A Chicago pope implies the existence of an MLA pope and an APA pope, no?"
Reposted by Nick Thompson
I converted to Catholicism a few months ago after listening to a podcast about Chesterton. Here's why I think the Vatican chose the wrong pope.
May 8, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I converted to Catholicism a few months ago after listening to a podcast about Chesterton. Here's why I think the Vatican chose the wrong pope.
I wonder what Luther would have thought of an Augustinian pope called Leo.
May 8, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I wonder what Luther would have thought of an Augustinian pope called Leo.
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Now *this* is what AI is good for! This is an expert system developed by applying machine learning to a specialist, selected dataset, is designed for a specific, technical purpose, refined by human experts. And does not require the wholesale theft of creators' copyright intellectual property.
X-ray reveals ancient Greek author of charred first century BC Vesuvius scroll | Archaeology | The Guardian
🏺 #ClassicsBluesky #BlueskyClassics #AncientBluesky 🏛️
🏺 #ClassicsBluesky #BlueskyClassics #AncientBluesky 🏛️
X-ray reveals ancient Greek author of charred first century BC Vesuvius scroll
Ink traces show text is part of work by Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, burned during AD79 volcano eruption
www.theguardian.com
May 6, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Now *this* is what AI is good for! This is an expert system developed by applying machine learning to a specialist, selected dataset, is designed for a specific, technical purpose, refined by human experts. And does not require the wholesale theft of creators' copyright intellectual property.
My* homage to Francis Bacon's Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953)
*ChatGPT's.
*ChatGPT's.
May 3, 2025 at 11:12 PM
My* homage to Francis Bacon's Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953)
*ChatGPT's.
*ChatGPT's.
"...Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. God’s economy, on the other hand, does not kill, discard or crush." - Francis I, Meditations and Prayers for the Via Crucis 2025.
April 22, 2025 at 3:34 AM
"...Today’s builders of Babel tell us that there is no room for losers and that those who fall along the way are losers. Theirs is the construction site of Hell. God’s economy, on the other hand, does not kill, discard or crush." - Francis I, Meditations and Prayers for the Via Crucis 2025.
A bracing combination of realism, pessimism and tentative hope. The best assessment I've read of Francis's tenure as pope.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/rel...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/rel...
Pope Francis’s illusions
The controversial liberaliser brought humanity to the Vatican – but he was unable to arrest the Catholic Church’s decline.
www.newstatesman.com
April 21, 2025 at 9:47 PM
A bracing combination of realism, pessimism and tentative hope. The best assessment I've read of Francis's tenure as pope.
www.newstatesman.com/politics/rel...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/rel...
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Better late than never #hotcrossbuns
April 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Better late than never #hotcrossbuns
Reposted by Nick Thompson
Everyone wants there to be a grand scheme behind all of this but the terrible truth is that extremely stupid people are in charge and they have a fanatical devotion to wrong, childlike concepts of society and economics cooked up by right wing radio hosts in order to sell tainted dietary supplements
April 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Everyone wants there to be a grand scheme behind all of this but the terrible truth is that extremely stupid people are in charge and they have a fanatical devotion to wrong, childlike concepts of society and economics cooked up by right wing radio hosts in order to sell tainted dietary supplements
Necessity is the mother of invention
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
March 21, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Necessity is the mother of invention
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)
(Seen in the Humanities common room where institutional largesse does not extend to the kind of coffee machines enjoyed in the business school)