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Benjamin Flowers

@benjy-flowers.bsky.social
1.1K followers 687 following 382 posts

Professor of Architecture, Knowlton School, The Ohio State University. Research and write about stadiums, sport architecture, and skyscrapers. Fmr. Exec. Board member IAKS. Arsenal supporter/sufferer. Opinions mine.

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Reposted by Benjamin Flowers
Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Requisite Tony Judt quote about the single greatest institutional achievement in 250 years of the Republic:
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
theonion.com/florida-stat...
theonion.com
Florida State University To Phase Out Academic Operations By 2010
SARASOTA, FL—Bowing to pressure from alumni, students, and a majority of teaching professors of Florida State University, athletic director Dave Hart Jr. announced yesterday that FSU would completely ...
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Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 06/08/2026
This is what my book is about! More or less! (I call it "advantageous agnosis.")
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
"No UEFA national teams will participate in any FIFA competition for so long as these proposals remain alive, unless this proposal has been abandoned in its entirety and binding assurances have been given that FIFA will never again open its governance or competitions to private ownership".
uefa.com
Statement on behalf of UEFA and its 55 national associations
UEFA and its national associations will not participate in FIFA competitions.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
What does football need? Is it more kleptocracy? FIFA has thoughts...
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
[finger pointing down emoji]
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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The drug war also acts as sort of a “price support” for drug traffickers. It turns minimally processed agricultural and chemical commodities that cost pennies to produce into priceless substances through a counterproductive risk premium. It ensures there will be an endless supply of traffickers.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
A lot of people have been texting me congrats on this news today…it’s been a whirlwind, I’ll say for this lifelong Arsenal supporter.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This is great—will play when one day myself, for sure.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
An email from my alarm company informs me I need to order a new system battery. I follow the prompt in the email to "chat" with a live agent to order said battery. In the midst of a discussion of battery types, the "live" agent tells me:
A chatbot compliments me in the middle of helping me order batteries for my alarm system.
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Jennifer Clark @jclarkcrp.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Post World Cup analysis on 🏟️#stadiums (stadia 😉), urban architecture, and what these buildings mean for cities from architecture Professor @benjy-flowers.bsky.social www.dezeen.com/2026/07/16/b...
dezeen.com
"Stadiums are the most significant expression of monumentality in our time"
Benjamin Flowers considers the role of stadiums as one of the last monumental architectural forms that demands affection from the public.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
It’s the first day of my research fellowship at the…
Shelves filled with ramen at the “Ramen Library”
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Wanted in Rome @wantedinrome.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Bologna opens a new library containing more than 32,000 books from Umberto Eco's private study - arranged exactly as he left them - a decade after his death.
wantedinmilan.com
Umberto Eco library opens in Bologna, 10 years after his death
The University of Bologna has opened a new public library housing the personal book collection of writer Umberto Eco, a decade after his death.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
today in destroying higher ed is economic sabotage: “Economists project a 1/3drop in international STEM students will strip $240-481B from GDP research institutions employ enormous numbers of people directly, purchase locally, anchor economies” johnaubreydouglass.substack.com/p/trump-poli...
johnaubreydouglass.substack.com
Trump Policies Depressing Not Only Future US Graduate Student Enrollments, But Economic Growth
On the Anniversary of the One Big Beautiful Bill we are seeing the consequences
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Man, the social safety net in this country for failsons must be the envy of the rest of the world.
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Glenn Kenny @glennkenny.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Last Year At Marienbad/This Month At The State Fair
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Maxims from architectural history that are spot on comments about right wing classicism, ca. 2026, part 2: Auguste Perret: One must never allow into a building any element destined solely for ornament, but rather turn to ornament all the parts necessary for the support
An nearly blank arch with square nipples dozes in front of a ferris wheel. Two gilded vultures flank what may be the angel of history at the top of the arch.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Maxims from architectural history that are spot on comments about right wing classicism, ca. 2026: Eugène Viollet-le-Duc: In architecture, there are two necessary ways of being true. It must be true according to the program and true according to the methods of construction.
An nearly blank arch with square nipples dozes in front of a ferris wheel. Two gilded vultures flank what may be the angel of history at the top of the arch.
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A credulous media will be the death of the republic
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DC Public Library @dcpubliclibrary.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
🎸 DC Punk Archive is back on the rooftop ⚡ MLK Library kicks off the 12th season of live rooftop shows marking 50 years of punk in the U.S. Free, all-ages shows all summer bringing together fans and the DMV punk community. bit.ly/3YppyKm
Poster for "DC Punk Archive Rooftop Punk Shows" at DC Public Library, summer 2026. Features dates and bands: July 8 - Bed Maker, Buko Buko, Pinkhouse; August 12 - Abacot, Girls on Toast, Special Guest; September 9 - Loose Leash, Truth or Dare, Special Guest. Presented by Mt. Pleasant and MLK Library Friends. Themes include music and library archiving with a guitar and microphone design. All shows start at 6:30 PM.
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Amanda Kolson Hurley @amandakhurley.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
McKinsey partner says the "mass affluent," with assets of $100k to $1 million, can use AI for banking now so bankers should focus on the emotional needs of the truly rich. (Please, won't someone think of the emotional needs of the truly rich?) www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
The ‘Mass Affluent’ Are Losing Their Allure for Wealth Managers Navigating AI
Wealth managers keen to stay relevant in the age of artificial intelligence may soon find that clients with a mere $1 million in liquid assets are no longer worth spending human hours on.
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Whistleblowers almost always pay a heavy price for their courage and honesty, and @bonitamersiades.bsky.social is no exception. What she endured after shedding light on some of the darkest corners of Fifa was awful; yet she soldiers on - and "soldiers" here, is the right word. A true truth fighter.
inews.co.uk
I'm a Fifa whistleblower - here's how Infantino keeps his grip on football
Football's world governing body remains unethical a decade into Gianni Infantino's reign, argues Bonita Mersiades, who exposed corruption in World Cup hosting bids
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Jules Boykoff @julesboykoff.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
🔥"Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry & Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no." Whew!
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Not sure what to get Satan for Father's Day? Look no further...
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Emily Wood @ebwood.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
A member of Congress—you won't be surprised when you see which one—has filed an amendment to the FY27 State Department appropriations bill that would strip funding for the Fulbright Program. Use the link below to write your reps and ask them to oppose this amendment. #StandForFulbright
votervoice.net
Action Alert: Tell Your Representative to Oppose Amendment That Would Eliminate Fulbright Program Funding
The Fulbright Program is the flagship U.S. government-sponsored international exchange program. For 80 years, Fulbright has stood as a cornerstone of American global engagement and has provided nearly...
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
“What the American people need to understand,” the congressman added, “is that I’m very stupid.”
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
👇
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Karrie Jacobs @karrieurbanist.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
“We have a term for enterprises that look successful because they keep drawing in new investors and keep drawing in new investors because they look successful. They’re called Ponzi schemes. And Elon Musk is basically a human Ponzi scheme.” open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com
Elon Musk, Human Ponzi Scheme
With Wall Street’s help, you’re about to be forced to buy stock in SpaceX
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Best use for these I’ve seen. Also always happy when anyone dumps on Dolan, an absolute failson.
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Robert Heinze @rheinze.myatproto.social · 09/06/2026
@danielagabor.bsky.social tells us in two minutes what the actual problem is
youtu.be
AI is the next financial bubble. Who pays when it bursts? | SOAS Explains
YouTube video by SOAS University of London
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
“Was ist Aura?” (What is Aura?), Walter Benjamin’s notes for The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction on San Pellegrino stationary, San Remo, c. 1935. (Walter Benjamin Archive, Akademie der Künste, Berlin)
Handwritten notes, in German, on a page so S. Pellegrino stationary. Text reads: "Was ist Aura? Die Erfahrung der Aura beruht auf der Übertragung einer in der menschlichen Gesellschaft geläufigen Reaktionsform auf das Verhältnis der Natur zum Menschen. Der Angesehene oder angesehen sich gGlaubende erwidert mit einem Blick [schlägt den Blick auf]. Die Aura einer Erscheinung oder eines Wesens erfahren, heißt, ihres Vermögens inne werden, einen Blick zu erwidern [aufzuschlagen]. Dieses Vermögen ist voller Poesie. Wo ein Mensch, ein Tier oder ein Unbeseeltes unter unserm Blick seinen eignen aufschlägt, zieht es uns zunächst in die Ferne; sein Blick träumt, zieht uns seinem Traume nach. Aura ist Erscheinung einer Ferne so nah sie sein mag. Worte selbst haben ihre Aura; Kraus hat sie besonders genau beschrieben: »Je näher man ein Wort ansieht, desto ferner blickt es zurück.« [**]

Soviel Aura in der Welt als noch Traum in ihr. Aber das erwachte Auge verliert nicht die Kraft des Blickes, wenn der Traum gänzlich in ihm erloschen ist. Im Gegenteil.; dann erst wird sein Blick wirklich eindringlich. Er hört auf, dem Blick der Geliebten ähnlich zu sehen, die unterm Blick des Geliebten ihr Auge […]" 
Source: https://cenex.net/logos-was-ist-aura/
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Ivan the K ™ @ivanthek.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
media.tenor.com
GIF
GIF
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"Infantino isn’t fit to lead FIFA. 
And FIFA isn’t fit to govern football. But to change it, we first have to expose and prove how unaccountable FIFA really is. Add your name to our complaint to FIFA’s Ethics Committee, demand that Infantino be investigated immediately" (@fairsq.bsky.social)
rebootfifa.com
Act now to stop abuse of power at FIFA | Reboot FIFA campaign
Infantino isn’t fit to lead FIFA. 
And FIFA isn’t fit to govern football. Agree? Add your name to our mass complaint now >>
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anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
wow — the preprint host, arxiv, is banning authors for a year if they submit papers with hallucinated citations 🤖
Twitter thread from Thomas Dietterich, reading "Attention 
@arxiv
 authors: Our Code of Conduct states that by signing your name as an author of a paper, each author takes full responsibility for all its contents, irrespective of how the contents were generated. 1/
3:03 PM · May 14, 2026
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Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
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1h
If generative AI tools generate inappropriate language, plagiarized content, biased content, errors, mistakes, incorrect references, or misleading content, and that output is included in scientific works, it is the responsibility of the author(s). 2/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
·
1h
We have recently clarified our penalties for this. If a submission contains incontrovertible evidence that the authors did not check the results of LLM generation, this means we can't trust anything in the paper. 3/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
·
1h
The penalty is a 1-year ban from arXiv followed by the requirement that subsequent arXiv submissions must first be accepted at a reputable peer-reviewed venue. 4/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
·
1h
Examples of incontrovertible evidence: hallucinated references, meta-comments from the LLM ("here is a 200 word summary; would you like me to make any changes?"; "the data in this table is illustrative, fill it in with the real numbers from your experiments") end/"
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Smarthistory: the Center for Public Art History @smarthistory.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Recent uploads to our free, high quality, high-res image sets on Flickr include Louis I Kahn's 1972 Kimbell Art Museum architecture. Modernists, we got you. www.flickr.com/photos/profz...
Walkway with repeating arch form, closed arcade. Louis I. Kahn, Kimbell Art Museum, 1972, Fort Worth, TexasExterior covered walkway, barrel vault. Louis I. Kahn, Kimbell Art Museum, 1972, Fort Worth, TexasInterior arch w/ skylight like a curved sliver of a cake, elegantly thin. Louis I. Kahn, Kimbell Art Museum, 1972, Fort Worth, Texas
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Will @n5n7badges.com · 06/05/2026
Paris 2006
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
I don't know, maybe if you're this terrified of dealing with students you shouldn't be a university president: www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...
cornellsun.com
Kotlikoff Drives Into Student and Recent Grad Following ‘Harassment’
President Michael Kotlikoff backed his car into a student and drove over the foot of a recent graduate after what he called a "harassment and intimidation incident" in a Friday email blast to the...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
If only there were a court, perhaps we would think of it as a supreme one, that could "say what the law is" — particularly when the executive chooses to ignore it.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
The party of free markets and limited government.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
good morning discoursers! middlebrow furrowed chaos yesterday whew but CULTURE IS FOR EVERYBODY hyperallergic.com/how-to-prote... @isanchezprado.bsky.social
hyperallergic.com
How to Protect Your Right to Culture
The United States government’s coordinated repeal of the right to culture has grave consequences for the texture of our daily lives. But there are ways to fight back.
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 28/04/2026
Not sure everyone understands that this is a trillion-dollar wealth transfer from everyone to the world's richest people, who hold an overwhelming majority of oil and gas company ownership and stock. Staggering upward redistribution of wealth.
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Truly a "pro-life" administration. U.S. Government Will Stop Paying for Test Strips to Detect Deadly Drugs www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/h...
nytimes.com
U.S. Government Will Stop Paying for Test Strips to Detect Deadly Drugs
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Everything that is worth preserving, we, Fifa, will destroy.
theguardian.com
Leagues to be allowed one game abroad a season under new Fifa proposals
New protocol would bring in clearer regulations to police the divisive issue and introduce strict limits, while giving Fifa a right of veto
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Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
In honor of Tim Cook's stepping down, here is the story of how I emailed him, not once but twice, with open email tracking enabled, only to discover that, not once but twice, my emails to the CEO of Apple were opened on a computer running Windows.
wired.com
How Email Open Tracking Quietly Took Over the Web
You give up more privacy than you might think each time you open an email.
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Philippe Auclair @philippeauclair.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
A proper game of football, this one, berween a team that should have wrapped up the title already and another which should have been demoted to League One a long time ago.
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Ray E. Boomhower @rboomhower.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
"A community is democratic only when the humblest and weakest person can enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess." A. Philip Randolph, born on this day in 1889
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Benjamin Flowers @benjy-flowers.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
At lunch today, an otherwise apparently sane man at the table next to mine told his companion that he was using AI for "Christ-centered life instruction." Said apparently sane man was in commercial real estate, which doesn't skew lefty in CMH.
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Adam Schwarz @adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Péter Magyar on Polish politicians Zbigniew Ziobro and Marcin Romanowski, facing misuse of public funds & abuse of power charges, who Orbán granted asylum to: "They shouldn't buy any furniture in Hungary because they are not staying long. Hungary will not be an asylum for international criminals."
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Zahava Stadler @zahavastadler.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The last time my team put out a big, data-intensive project, we included this in the acknowledgments, and it's something I want to continue to do going forward. Time to sing these heroes.
This analysis would not have been possible without several federal data sources, including the American Community Survey, the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Program, and geographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau. We are grateful to the federal statisticians, geographers, and other data scientists who collected these data, ensured their integrity, and shared them with the public. Their work is indispensable for any effort to understand, describe, and improve America’s education systems.
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Josh Spero @joshspero.ft.com · 02/04/2026
Witty writing in a piece about the pope vs Trump and allies as.ft.com/r/2044e472-6...
Orders from above were issued to keep bona fide theologians away from the conferences, and Italian media reported that in the Roman palazzo where Thiel lectured, the flâneurs with waxed moustaches vastly outnumbered the Bible scholars. The evangelical tech mogul was informally excommunicated by a church he doesn’t even belong to.
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