Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/09/2026Ron Cobb’s original signage designs for Alien, made with felt tip pen and graph paper. humanoidhistory.tumblr.com/post/8286472... 71356375
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöProf. Dr Beth Singler @bvlsingler.bsky.social · 24/09/2026static.klipy.comThis Is Fine MemeALT: This Is Fine Meme 063
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöTuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026AI-bros evoke the Terminator scenario, because they would rather talk about that than the regulation of data centres, non-consensual pornography, war stuff, propaganda, copyrights, mental health... "They ask to be regulated". Well, they want regulation for the Terminator. Not for the other stuff. 131
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026Interestingly, I often disagree with Storm, but I almost always enjoy his writings. I'll need to check out what he's up to now. 010
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 19/09/2026EASR Bucharest schedule is finally published, it appears. See you there!religions360.euProgramme — Religions 360°Religions 360° — The 22nd Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions & Regional Conference of the International Association for the History of Religions. Bucharest, 20–25 Septem... 000
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/09/2026AI-bros evoke the Terminator scenario, because they would rather talk about that than the regulation of data centres, non-consensual pornography, war stuff, propaganda, copyrights, mental health... "They ask to be regulated". Well, they want regulation for the Terminator. Not for the other stuff. 131
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026He could at least refrain from using our national anthem as the soundtrack. 010
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöChris @cperez.bsky.social · 27/08/2026"Principal investigators need cheap grad and postdoc labor to boost their own research profiles. Treating them like workers by allowing them to unionize disrupts the feudal lord-serf relationship that exists in most labs." There I fixed it for you 5395114
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöRussell T. McCutcheon @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social · 25/08/2026New book alert.: “Neoliberalism and authoritarian populism are some of the main forces endangering contemporary universities. This applies to the study of religion in several ways…” @teemutaira.bsky.social @equinoxpub.bsky.social @naasr.bsky.social 1115
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 26/08/2026My feeds are sure getting a lot of video clips on how to make living in a car better. 010
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöYale Classics Library @yaleclassicslib.bsky.social · 20/08/2026History of Religions Vol. 66, No. 1 (2026) www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/hr/2026/... @chicagojournals.bsky.social Bruce Lincoln's Secrets, Lies, and Consequences: A Review Symposium @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social @adeler.bsky.socialjournals.uchicago.eduHistory of Religions | Vol 66, No 1 084
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 20/08/2026I've now seen some researchers, who use Atlas.TI to code their data (and it's a good software to do that) also state, that they did not use the new AI features but actually read the data and coded it themselves. I guess I need to start making a remark about this too, or swich to some other program. 110
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöGeoffrey Hughes @geofffhughes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026We have just witnessed an incredible A/B test showing how plagiarism allegations at Cambridge University play out depending on how racialized the subject of the allegations are and it says nothing good about our society or the state of "race relations". O'Reilly is still in post.varsity.co.ukPlagiarising professor stays in post and threatens student journalistsMore than twelve pages of an article published under O’Reilly's name had been lifted almost word for word from two essays by one of his students 10606277
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 07/08/2026So interesting @suscrockford.bsky.social !youtu.beWhy Climate Change Sounds Like Apocalypticism (feat. Dr. Susannah Crockford)YouTube video by ReligionForBreakfast 110
Reposted by Tuomas Äystöwendy norris @wendynorris.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Good morning, scholars. 2259
Reposted by Tuomas Äystörose novick @rosenovick.com · 01/08/2026there is a skill to asking tough questions in a friendly way and we'd all be better off if it were more widely distributed 631247
Reposted by Tuomas Äystövideogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 28/07/2026church of scientology, print ad, your commodore, magazine (1986) archive.org/details/16-y... 37319
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöDr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 11/07/2026Saying universities have to allow AI because people are using it anyway is identical to demanding that mainstream TV stations show hardcore pornography. Like, yes, you can certainly make that argument. But only an absolute fool would see this response as the only viable course of action. 16314
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 02/07/2026EU politicians: what on earth are you still doing there? 021
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 13/06/2026This fits: "Tommy Robinson says Russia is not an enemy as he travels to meet Elon Musk’s father in Moscow."independent.co.ukTommy Robinson says Russia is not an enemy as he travels to MoscowRobinson posted a video of himself and Errol Musk in which he says ‘We are going to go and cause some trouble’ 011
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 11/06/2026New issue of Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion is out, open access. journal.fi/temenos/issu... Articles on topics such as environmentalism, indigenous activism, Asatru in Denmark, Jewish radicalism, and religious dreams from a cognitivist perspective. 010
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöAndrew Rogers @asr-cascadian.bsky.social · 07/06/2026I’m a little behind on my podcasts, even my favorite ones, but guys … @ardenthistorian.bsky.social and @adriandaub.bsky.social talking about Silicon Valley weirdness was so good. I could listen to them for hours. (I also recommend Adrian’s book.) www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/the...straightwhiteamericanjesus.comThe Sunday Interview: Governing Without Accountability: Silicon Valley’s Ideology with Adrian Daub 3269
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöJoel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 07/06/2026The new Department of Defense faith codes list also classifies Orthodox Judaism as a type of Orthodox Christianity and "Reformed Judaism" as a type of Reformed Christian, while classifying Messianic Jews as a type of Judaism. 84824286
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 05/06/2026Pentagon removes 180 items from its internally recognized list of religions (related to chaplains etc.), leaving only 31. Did the US military facilitate the practice of, say, Wicca a lot before this change?independent.co.ukPentagon drops 180 religions from its recognized faiths listA former Army chaplain called the reported changes a ‘tragedy’ 231
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 26/05/2026"Anthropic's Olah appears alongside pope at Vatican."reuters.comAnthropic's Olah says AI must be guided from outside Big TechThe company's co-founder urged greater oversight from religious leaders, governments and civil society. 010
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 12/05/2026We are not really aiming to advance the concept of Christian nationalism as such (especially not in the normative sense), but we had the data to examine whether the concept would work analytically in a completely different context, so we took the opportunity. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... 110
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöJoel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 08/05/2026"The humanities are not a luxury. They are how a democracy understands itself." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/a...nytimes.comDOGE’s Termination of Humanities Grants Is Ruled Unconstitutional 6872286
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 17/04/2026I liked this one a lot! It's about how most of us have lived in some relationship with invisible actors. Bonus points for the author not presenting the (correct) argument as a counter-narrative to secularization theory.press.princeton.eduThe New Science of the Enchanted UniverseOne of the world’s preeminent cultural anthropologists leaves a last work that fundamentally reconfigures how we study most other cultures 110
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 16/04/2026I appreciate what Pope is saying, though it’s worth remembering that he and other leaders of European national churches refrain from political SPECIFICS. It’s a norm they all follow. Which ultimately makes them mostly harmless to the status quo. And that’s how politicians prefer them, too. 020
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 11/04/2026"employees seeking exemptions from using the [AI] technology because of their religion."news.bloomberglaw.comAI Religious Objections at Work Emerge as New Employer ConcernArtificial intelligence in the workplace has employers grappling with a new legal issue: whether to accommodate employees seeking exemptions from using the technology because of their religion. 010
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöSusannah Crockford @suscrockford.bsky.social · 10/04/2026This story smelled wrong from the start and I'm glad the report has been retracted. 071
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 07/04/2026Remeber the HBO's Silicon Valley series episode, where one co-worker was "outed" as a Christian, at that was the point of the whole episode? Things have changed a lot since mid 2010s, at least in terms of public discourse. 110
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 23/03/2026Been reading a lot of user comments and media discourse on religion-associated AI (godbots and such). Users seem to exhibit the same brutal honesty we all have with search engines (e.g., "my son has a weird rash on..."). A machine can seem "safer" and "more anonymous" when seeking spiritual advice. 120
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 17/03/2026Nothing surprising about MAGA attacking scientific journals, but it's more worrying when an NYT reporter is doing it. Attacking leading journals in their field, no less. 020
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 22/02/2026What a great piece. This also reminds me SO much of the anglophone, very online, ostensibly anti-imperialist/leftist talk at the early stages of Russia's attack on Ukraine, where Ukraine was (very offensively) portrayed as a Western proxy, pushing borders eastward on the US's/NATO's behalf. 1356
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 15/02/2026Rubio's colonialist far right 101 speech in Munich also included a reference to global warming policies as a "climate cult". www.state.gov/releases/off... Hence, I'm again linking our article on what people try to do with such language.journals.sagepub.com“The Cult of Greta Thunberg”: De-legitimating Climate Activism with “Religion” - Jere Kyyrö, Tuomas Äystö, Titus Hjelm, 2023Contemporary climate activism has often been called a “religion” or a “cult.” We investigate what is done with climate religion discourse (CRD), by whom, and to... 011
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 31/01/2026This whole teenager social media ban is a distraction. The actual topic is the regulation of large social media companies in a way that actually does something.theguardian.comSocial media time does not increase teenagers’ mental health problems – studyResearch finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression 020
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 27/01/2026You see lot's of support for ICE among the European far right, if you follow individual MPs in social media. Of course they support him -- even if his foreign policy has been a disaster for their respective countries. Trump does a lot of things at home they can only dream of. 000
Reposted by Tuomas ÄystöDr. Rachel Schine @rachelschine.bsky.social · 24/01/2026The fact that people in my field look at theory as unrigorous will never cease to irk me, even if I agree that knowing the sources backward and forward is the ultimate foundation. More is more. 8599
Reposted by Tuomas Äystölastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 06/01/2026This is basically the view of the world that Plato sets out to refute in the Republic. One of the core questions asked therein is: why do powerful people think the mere fact of them exercising dominion makes it good for them to do so? Sure, you *can* get away with stuff if you're powerful - so what? 271269268
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 19/12/2025Short comments from me in The Guardian. Regarding the one Finnish Christian you might have actually heard about, her trial, and her international support from ADF and the like.theguardian.comConservative legal group aims to export its rightwing Christian mission beyond US bordersAlliance Defending Freedom has ramped up its global spending on litigation and other campaigns to push its ultra conservative Christian values 000
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 19/12/2025If you ever feel the AI tempting you to generate some research paper text for you, thinking that you'll get away with it, consider this. It will probably be easy to detect an LLM from 2025 in 2030, when someone mass-scans all scientific publications. You will be caught eventually. 011
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 16/12/2025Our criticism of religious literacy is out. Open access. Took some time (hence, data stops at 2023) and not everyone was happy, but here we are. We do not advocate for the concept of religious literacy, but we do suggest a way forward *if* one would like to consider it as a viable concept.tandfonline.comReligious literacy and its discontents: a critical reviewReligious literacy is a ‘hot’ topic in twenty-first century study of religion and more broadly. But what do we talk about when we talk about religious literacy? To answer this question, we conducte... 020
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 14/12/2025If you're curious about the extremely racist Finnish far right politicians, who you might've seen in the news shoving fingers in their eyes, I've written about them in a couple of places. For example, in this anthology:routledge.comThe Routledge Handbook of Islam and RaceGiven the intense scrutiny of Muslims, The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Race is an outstanding reference to key topics related to Islam and racialization. Comprising over 40 chapters by nearly 50 i... 000
Tuomas Äystö @aystotuomas.eurosky.social · 05/12/2025This new White House publication about Europe echoes European far-right talking points almost verbatim. 100