Two beautiful & brilliant women smile into the camera. On the left is a brunette with black plastic glasses. On the right is a blond.

Ps: I also got to fangirl my newest author crush! Rachel Kushner, whose Creation Lake I just read & loved, was the keynote speaker for her prior book that is now on my tbr pile: The Mars Room

I don’t really have anything cogent to say about this symposium today except that it made me think about social inequality & public health & incarceration & how we talk about crime & punishment.

#AcademicSky this is your sign to go to that event on YOUR campus that is outside your area.
5/5

I also loved seeing how the students — grad & undergrad alike — took in this powerful testimony. I often say my students are the “secret sauce” behind my campus’ recognition in community engaged scholarship bc they come from backgrounds that are underrepresented (we are engine of #SocialMobility) 4

what responsibility we have to the people in those institutions & to their families.

I appreciated hearing from my academic colleagues & from their community partners, including activists and formerly incarcerated people whose stories of what happens behind bars are heartbreaking.
3/

I don’t work on #prisons or with incarcerated people.

But when you live in a state that has built 22 prisons vs 1 university in the last 46 years, & work on a campus surrounded by agriculture + prisons, it’s important to think about what it means to be a mission-driven institution &
2/

A large screen displays a poster for the event titled a Symposium on Incarceration, the Humanities, & Humanity. List of speakers and agenda. A man at the podium

A large screen shows a quote from the CA Department of Corrections medical director: “one of the best things about working in prisons is the focus we are able to bring to the treatment of relevant symptoms. Because our patients have fully state-sponsored health care, our physicians do not have to seek authorization from insurance companies.”

Today reminded me what a privilege & responsibility to work w colleagues who care about the role of the public university in serving the community, & what a good💡 it is to leave my own silo to learn from colleagues & community members.

Symposium on #Incarceration, the #Humanities, & #Humanity
1/

This is so good!

Excerpt from GATHER by Dr. Ashanté M. Reese -- the book is out now and it looks great! #FoodDemocracy #FoodJustice #FoodStudies

I will simply be adding a link to this brilliance as a comment under every article on birth rates I come across. 🤣💯🎯

this guy seems to go one notch further than Leo did in his Holy Week homilies, pretty much flat-out saying “it is a moral imperative for American Catholics to contact their legislators and demand an end to the war”

feels like they want us to know they were not intimidated by the Avignon thing 😂

My friend
who studies computers
says that this
is a week
that will go down in history.

My friend
who studies politics
says that this
is a week
that will go down in history.

My friend
who studies history
says that this
is a week
that shows
we’re all going down.

BREAKING: in March 2026, *every single one* of the 1,341 refugees admitted in the United States were white South Africans:

In FY 2026, the U.S. has admitted a total of 4,496 white South Africans, three Afghans (back in November), and nobody else.

www.rpc.state.gov/documents/Re...

I just ewwwwd out loud
Bad take Very bad

Having some weather whiplash—kids were swimming since Friday…today thunder ⚡️ 🌩️ ⛈️ & this super cool sky thanks @phaneritic.bsky.social !

The Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program

Every year we hire a few editorial fellows to do fact-checking and reporting. Great entry/early career gig that has helped populate pretty much every news org you've heard of: www.motherjones.com/careers/fell...

So cute!! I’m eager to travel by train 🚊 in the 🇺🇸 but it hasn’t worked out for long distances & timing.

I have very much enjoyed the 3-hour commutes to the Bay Area I’ve been doing—same as driving or faster if traffic & I work or read or nap.

Still shocking 😳🤯🤣

But #libraries will only remain free, publicly supported, shared spaces if we defend and strengthen them. From getting on library boards to amping up what your Friends group does, you can find lots of ideas from @librariesftp.bsky.social at www.librariesforthepeople.org

Homeland Security @DHSgov X.com Luke 23:46 On this solemn day, we reflect on the ultimate sacrifice our Savior made for all humanity. Trust in God's plan. [picture of Jesus on the cross] 十 FATHER INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT Luke 23:46 Post your reply

Atheists are mad about this and they’re absolutely right but please just let me say as a Christian I am not wild about the Center for Racialized Kidnapping profaning the iconography of my religion either. The Piss Christ or that David Wojnarowicz video are thoughtful provocations, this is just shit

I don’t know how you can be a #Catholic and not see the parallels between what they did to your Savior and what 🧊 🐽 are doing today.

God have mercy on us all for what we are doing and what we are not doing.

A stage is set up in a church parking lot. The stage is set to look like an ancient Roman court. People are dressed in costumes of Roman soldiers Jewish high priests and common people. One is Jesus

Yesterday I went to a living #ViaCrucis

Parishioners acted out the scenes starting w sentencing by Pilate. The crowds shouted in rage, crucify! The high priests dressed in finery demanded the cross. The uniformed Roman soldiers laughed, whipped, spat at Jesus.

It was Biblical. It was 🇺🇸today. 2/

Screenshot of Bluesky post by @samthielman “Atheists are mad about this and they’re absolutely right but please just let me say as a Christian I am not wild about the Center for Racialized Kidnapping profaning the iconography of my religion either.” It is a reshare of a post by US Dept of Homeland Security sharing an image of Christ on a Cross with text: Luke 23:46. On this solemn day, we reflect on the ultimate sacrifice our Savior made for all humanity. Trust in God’s plan.

Yesterday (Good Friday) is the holiest most solemn day of Christianity ✝️

I know only Catholic traditions.

In lieu of Mass on Good Fri we celebrate by retracing the solemnity of Jesus’ last days, walking & praying the Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis).
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The specific uses of religious language and iconography in Trump's posts and in an ICE post are deeply offensive, but I would also say that *any* communication from the government that appears to promote a specific religion including Christianity is offensive to the constitutional protections...

Great explainer 🧵@mbarber.bsky.social on @doctorswithoutborders.org learning how current model of pharmaceutical $$ restricts supply of essential medicines -- innovations can't save lives if they don't reach people who need them.

Yep.

Or, to put it more bluntly: "Rich people could pay less in taxes if only women would do more unpaid labor at home."

I was grateful to be in class and unable to watch.

I was in 3rd grade watching on the wheeled in TV after we'd been studying thanks to Christa McAuliffe. The trauma, it's real. Glad today went well.

More here via @thetnholler.bsky.social :

Because #LocalNews & #Independentnews also are critical for democracy

The way these people think is so very wasteful of taxpayer money. We are all going to support this hero bc #LibrariansRock #LibrariesSaveLives and she is going to sue the bigots & instead of nice things like schools & parks & books 📚, their community will be paying for the stupid lawsuit.

they want baby peafowl, they keep the non-pea separated by a fence. The boys get mad at each other. But the lady doesn’t care about either of them.

There is so much DRAMA in the animal world! I wish I could tell it like the zookeeper did. He had stories about ALL the birds in that place. 🦚

Ok I have a wild story. The @philadelphiazoo.bsky.social has a terrific bird area w an excellent keeper. There is a sad love triangle—two big fancy birds (peacock & something that looks like but isn’t that) both lust for the same peahen. 🦚 as the other bird is the wrong species, &