Academic Mixtape 34
It's been a long time – since July! – since I gave y'all a linky post, so I've had the benefit of being more selective than I usually am. Usually I list them as a hodgepodge but I'll put the more policy/politics stuff separately on the tail end, so to support your self-care regimen.
I only just now learned about the Indian Vulture Crisis. huh. Parallels to the biomagnification of DDT in avian predators, but this time it's an NSAID administered to cattle.
This is a very useful and continuously updated Federal Policy Index for Higher Ed.
Thank you for calling the perimenopause hotline.
"You don't eat enough protein, and it sickens me."
This story about a woman who had schizophrenia for decades and then was 'cured' by an immunotherapy treatment for cancer is absolutely wild. As much about her family as her. Can you imagine what it would be like to have been raised by a mentally ill parent who suddenly gets "better? when you are an adult? It's not what I imagined.
Audio of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson arguments from Marriage Story used to scare off wolves
Wired magazine shows itself accountable when they got taken in by an AI freelancer.
Why did my university system spend a ton of money on ChatGPT? Here's some journalism asking that question. (and the per-person price they paid is absurdly cheap. It's almost as if they want us just for all of the data they're getting from us. Even if they're promising that they won't do that. I don't buy that for a second.)
How to be a scientist in a post-journal world. I wouldn't cosign on this but there's interesting stuff in here to think about.
A peer-reviewed article about systemic territoriality in research calls it the "Gollum effect" and is a thoughtful read. As they say, field advance one (gatekeeping) death at a time, or something like that.
The essential value of university presses.
Peer reviewing for your profession, not for shareholders
"Why [Dr. Cat Hicks] cannot be technical."
China is quietly saving the world from climate change.
So the University of Chicago was investing in Crypto? Huh? How many other endowments are out there doing this?
Science student sentiment in an unpredictable federal job market. It's about entomologists, but not just about entomologists.
University drives for efficiency have the opposite effect.
Is the AI bubble going to burst? What will that look like?
and here's the other stuff:
There have been so many wrongheaded pieces of writing about the murder of the fascist influencer who created the Professor Watchlist. But here are three very good ones that I think have some important ideas and lessons: The first is by Ta-Nehisi Coates in Vanity Fair, the second is by Moira Donegan in the Guardian, and the third is by Jamelle Bouie in the New York Times [gift link from someone]. And while I'm at it, I'd just like to share that in the past several months, I've really been appreciating both Donegan and Bouie for interpreting, contextualizing, and making sense of what's going on in the United States since January. Bouie is active on Bluesky and Tiktok. Yeah, I'm on tiktok.
One consequence of that murder was a huge number of violent threats to HBCUs, resulting in lockdowns. Just because, I guess.
It's as bad as you think. Let's get to work.
What we lost when we lost the greatest generation
Trump is afraid of Black culture, but not for the reasons that you think.
I'm liking to some substacks in here because there's still good writing in there (same for why I still sometimes link to the NYT and WaPo and even The Atlantic which has gotten mostly downright bizarre) but nonetheless, substack's extremist ecosystem is flourishing.
The New York Times is a Conservative newspaper.
and for your dose of positivity: Don't let Donald Trump undermine your faith in the climate fight.
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