'Texas A&M philosophy professor Martin Peterson is leaving the university after administrators told him in January that he couldn’t teach Plato’s Symposium in his philosophy class; they said the ancient Greek philosopher’s work violated the system’s restrictions on gender and sexuality content.' 1/3
Really excited to see my and @ardenthistorian.bsky.social 's pieces on the nerdy fascism of Palantir up @religiondispatches.org -- give it a read, those people are weird and awful.
religiondispatches.org/fool-of-a-to...
New times, same old arguments. New post on my Brexit & Brexitism blog discussing the latest developments in the rapidly changing international order and how post-Brexit Britain is stuck in delusions of greatness and cries of Brexit betrayal: chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/new-...
'Verlaeckt said universities and academics must play a more active role in defending the humanities and social sciences in a policy environment that is increasingly focused on competitiveness' 1/2
Jisc warning on escalation of cyber-attacks on universities:
'We are alerting members to a persistent and highly sophisticated phishing campaign currently targeting education and research institutions across the UK and internationally.'
The Trump administration continues its assault on federal science and scientists with its proposed FY27 budget, which would reduce the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget by 54%.
NEW: The Pope is doubling down.
In Cameroon today:
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
💥
(🎥 Vatican News)
Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon: “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.”
We’ve joined 130+ organizations in an open letter with 4 clear demands: end the war, tax profiteers, cancel debt and secure food and energy for all. They profit, we pay. It’s time to change that. 350.org/they-profit-...
A little bit by me on green men in the latest @helleborezine.bsky.social. Look at the rest of the contributors! It's going to be a banger.
Photo shows a copy of a black and red hardback book, entitled 'A History of Horror, Fear, and the Uncanny'
Out now! I very much enjoyed working with Prof. Dawn Keetley as academic consultants to this fascinating and beautifully presented book from Dorling Kindersley
Un estudio revela que la comunicación de los cachalotes guarda un estrecho paralelismo con el lenguaje humano.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
'As anthropologists, we have been conducting ethnographic research since 2022 on how research culture is understood and experienced within the intricate ecosystem of universities.'
Smart piece this: worth a read. 1/2
After attacking Pope Leo, Trump posted a picture depicting himself as Jesus while in the background you see a shadow resembling the demon Baal.
Reform donor Ben Delo, who has given £4 million to the party, is making legal threats to those who reference his 2022 US conviction for failing to implement anti-money laundering laws, prior to a pardon by President Trump.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
PhD Studentship: King’s College London’s Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War (CRSW) Doctoral Studentships- King's College London - Department of War Studies #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRD022/p...
What if misinformation spreads because it feels right not because it is true 👀😨
Dr Dan Taylor explains why fear fuels fake news and why in the age of AI we need to double-check everything we see and share.
Watch the latest Beyond the Books: https://youtu.be/_7otmig_7Co?si=bNmBPqW6tx3lZ4gG
youtube.com/watch?v=2D-l...
A WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT My son needs lunch, and I have to put his backpack together, but a whole civilization will die tonight, so I'm wondering if they've closed their schools. Like, a snow day, maybe, except instead of snow it's "keep your children home so if you die, you die together" — instead of "well open back up once the plows have cleared" it's "we don't know if we'll be here tomorrow, hold your babies tight." It's just "talk" I'm told, which I've been told before. "It's how the president makes his deals." But I've never heard anyone talk about other human beings this way, and I'm not certain I can look my son in the eyes if we all agree to stomach it one more time. A civilization will die tonight, but as I zip up his backpack and kiss him off to school I think: if this is what we call leadership then I'm not entirely sure ours isn't already dead. @michaelfdubois Mukad A QuBoy @michacifdubois
Brutal.
The Trump administration offered a Vatican envoy "a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants—and that the Church had better take its side"
www.thefp.com/p/why-the-va...
He is insane.
And this is an open declaration of intended genocide.
If any other world leader said this, there would be sanctions and an arrest warrant, not just for him, but for his whole regime.
What the actual fuck
“Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.”
Geneva Convention Additional Protocol I
and
Department of Defense Law of War Manual, § 5.2.2
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
"Hard working British landlords".
In a blatant act of provocation yesterday, Sadiq Khan allowed Christians to perform the Passion of Jesus in Trafalgar Square - a disgraceful show of dominance by a religion from the middle east.
What if we just went back to reading a bunch of books and thinking about them together, and that was the class? With syllabi no longer than three pages.
The exhibition on the second floor shows devils created by folk masters, craftsmen, and authors of professional art, which were donated to the museum after the death of the initiator of the collection A. Žmuidzinavičius. The collection increased intensively in the 1970s and 1980s. The prevailing political system at that time was favourable for making this mythological character popular. It was not merely an artefact illustration of the past time folklore. The character of a devil became a convenient reflection of Soviet ideology to introduce the Catholic faith as a rudiment of the past to be destroyed. Anyone could make fun of the faith by portraying a devil, and it was a funny joke to impart to a negative character an "innocent" transformation into a cheerful, naive, trustworthy, charismatic, or even sympathetic personage. At that time, there was an increase in the production of folk art souvenirs with devil images (medals, wooden masks, sculptures, ceramic vases, mugs, candlesticks, whistles, cups), which were purchased as merry holiday gifts.
On the third floor, the gifts donated by foreign visitors are shown. These are devils and masks from the European, American, Asian, African countries. The exhibits help to reveal the concept of a devil in the ethnography of the nations of the world, demonological beings, celebrations. They are displayed according to foreign countries from which the objects have come to the museum. Most of the exhibited works are the gifts of visitors.
A fine fellow in my Insta comments told me about the Devil Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania, home to over 3000 demonic items. It's going on The List. Particularly fond of the accordion guy...
