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Charles Mathewes

@ctmathewes.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.3K following 2K posts

I teach religion & ethics @ UVa I'm mostly here to find books & articles I don't yet know about Sometimes also interested in opinions, but not as often as many of you seem to believe

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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 1h
Oh no
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 6h
I can no longer hope, short of the Eschaton, to see Ditka driving the bus
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22h
jesus christ i have never heard a democratic talk this bluntly about an opponent
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 22h
Who could imagine a bigger one. This seems a sane & obvious thing to say, which is why it'll probably be controversial
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 22h
I mean, how could it not be
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 08/10/2026
For some residents of storm-prone Southeastern states, the best indicator of a hurricane's severity can be found at the local Waffle House.
bit.ly
The Waffle House Index helps Southerners — and FEMA — gauge a storm's severity
For some residents of storm-prone Southeastern states, the best indicator of a hurricane’s severity can be found at the local Waffle House.
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David Sterman @davidsterman.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Between this and watching people who have been dismissive of campus antisemitism and protestor actions finally see some of the horror because it targeted Mamdani, just have had it today. So much has been excused. And too many have allowed overreach to blind them. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/u...
nytimes.com
Religion Professor Accused of Harassing Colleague With Antisemitic Posts
The professor at Haverford College in Pennsylvania was charged with cyberstalking in connection with what federal prosecutors say was a series of threatening messages to a co-worker.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 08/10/2026
Breaking News: The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson. nyti.ms/4yCUebH
nyti.ms
Anne Carson Is Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature
The writer joins a list of laureates that includes Toni Morrison, Samuel Beckett and Bob Dylan.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This stuff about Haverford College religion professor Guangtian Ha is bad, really really bad. I hope a reputable news outlet produces a readable article on it soon. Unbelievable stuff, but in this context, to me, all too believable.
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Isaac (proud small hat wearer) Gantwerk Mayer @isaacgantwerkmayer.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
If you want to know why Jews are suspicious of you when you're just trying to be a well-meaning antizionist gentile, consider that these two things were written by the same man, Guangtian Ha, a (currently suspended) religion professor at Haverford
a passage from an article by guangtian ha that reads:

We make this call amidst growing concern about antisemitism on our campus. Questions have arisen in the context of a number of specific situations, including external influences from Lower Merion, from donors, and from some alumni who are hell-bent on defining the " ways to be Jewish. This, of course, flies in the face of thousands of years of Jewish tradition which is fundamentally based on interrogation, questioning, and truth-seeking. We take these attacks on our anti-Zionist Jewish community members seriously and we understand the real damage the state of Israel causes for the entire Jewish world when it claims to be acting on behalf of all Jews while engaging in horrific atrocities that - truth be told- mirror some of the worst stereotypes of Jews that have been a part of European racism for centuries. We will be clear: antisemitism should be unacceptable at Haverford, but the energy and consideration which some in our administration have granted these bad faith actors suggests otherwise.a passage from a court document about guangtian ha that reads:

In or about January 2026, through in or about February 2026, defendant GUANGTIAN HA, using X account "America IstLM" posted a series of threatening and harassing messages directed at Victim 1, including the following:
a. "Jew, get the fuck out of my country" 
b. "Jew pig, get the fuck out of Lower Merion"
c. "If jews are so special then they should also be placed in special  camps and receive special treatments" 
d. "LM jews are going to have it big time, jew. Remember this. You scums have had it too easy. Goyim are taking America back, blood-guzzling demons."
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 07/10/2026
Troy Jackson after Collins takes credit for rural healthcare cuts in big beautiful bill not being as bad as they could've been even though she voted to advance the bill: "Sen. Collins is like an arsonist who helped set the fire, and then she wants credit for bringing a cup of water to put it out"
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Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This strikes me as really fuckin bad
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
“Massive spending on data centers is crowding out investment in everything else in the economy.” paulkrugman.substack.com/p/ai-versus-...
paulkrugman.substack.com
AI Versus Everything Else
The hyperscaler boom is crowding out other investment
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Max Roser @maxroser.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The share of children who died before they were 5 years old in 1950 and 75 years later. Africa: 33% ↘ 6% Asia: 25% ↘ 2.5% Oceania: 9.3% ↘ 2% Latin America: 21% ↘ 1.5% Northern America: 3.8% ↘ 0.6% Europe: 10.5% ↘ 0.4% Globally: 23% ↘ 3.5%
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You can stay, Matt! But yes, all conversations have a natural end point. Be well.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WLD...
youtube.com
"Stone Cold Stunner Compilation | Best Stone Cold Steve Austin Moments (1996-2023)"
YouTube video by NEED FOR SPEED
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A lot going on in that “presumably” there.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Not sure it's "academic" framing so much as "sane" framing. Of course people gonna resist:
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yeah, he's not demanding that anyone MUST meet someone else to PLEAD their case. He's inviting people to talk to each other more than they do. You're misrepresenting what he is proposing. But that's our reflex on social media. Which is why imho he is more right than you (or others) think.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Predictable that this is generating anger, but it's more right than almost all of the reply guys are
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I thought this was a very nice review of Habermas's work. I'd recommend it as a place to start for a novice reader of JH.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
If anyone actually cares (and that's a big if), there's actually a lot of good work on this by Philip Tetlock, I'd start with this: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu
Expert Political Judgment
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
They see what they can get away with
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This what a real wave looks like. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmAC...
youtube.com
NYT/Siena Just Dropped a Bombshell Senate Poll
YouTube video by The Bulwark
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Just tried to call him, looks like he is changing his number or something, alas
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It's what happens when people who think they have gravitas because they can code meet people who actually have, you know, gravitas
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The kind of news we need right now
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There's a certain kind of philosopher who looks to find the most counter-intuitive and batshit crazy thing and then argue strenuously for it, because they value arguments over reality, and this guy's also into "cognitive science" to boot. Oh well.
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 30/09/2026
This is priceless. Check out how local news is reporting on Sen Eric Schmidt’s clown-show grilling of Jack Smith. They found Jack Smith at the game… “Top corner, section 109, row 1. In fact, that seat doesn’t even exist in Atlanta.”
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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New thread on various aspects of university budgets at top 50 research universities. It is all available online via HERD (ncses.nsf.gov/surveys/high...). There is a time lag to collected data, but such as it is. One budget fact per day until I get bored.
ncses.nsf.gov
Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) Survey 2024 | NCSES | NSF
Higher Education Research and Development Survey
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In which I take issue with the notion that colleges place too high a value on writing. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/im-a-colle...
danieldrezner.substack.com
I’m a College Professor. Writing is Pretty Damn Important.
It’s hardly the only thing -- but it’s a very important thing!
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Jill Lawrence @jilldlawrence.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A good case from @dickpolman.bsky.social that this man’s selfish short-sightedness set us on path to where we are today. Excruciating insights on the wreckage of a legacy. dickpolman.substack.com/p/ralph-nade...
dickpolman.substack.com
Ralph Nader is still a pariah. He deserves to be.
Tilting the ‘00 race to Bush was his original sin. We’re still suffering the consequences.
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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Official monthly data is in, and US solar power generation hit a new record high, up 21% compared to this time last year!
a graph of US monthly solar generation
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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Most TV is just this now.
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Fast Casual TBogg+ @tbogg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Eric Schmitt before his whole world collapsed…
static.klipy.com
Basketball Shot Fail
ALT: Basketball Shot Fail
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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Aaron is not underrating this. It's cinema. The sly smirk when Schmitt thinks he's gotten Smith to perjure himself. The hasty vanishing of the sign. Klobuchar getting Kennedy to hold it up. Schmitt getting LOUD and ANGRY when Klobuchar points out he mixed up the Hawks and Hawkeyes.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Good book, one of the rings is Fenelon: www.nyrb.com/products/thr...
nyrb.com
Three Rings
A memoir, biography, work of history, and literary criticism all in one, this moving book tells the story of three exiled writers—Erich Auerbach, François Fénelon, and W. G. Sebald—and their relations...
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“Bessent has now transformed himself into the Baghdad Bob of bonds.” paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-beclow...
paulkrugman.substack.com
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent
Another Trump enabler pays the price
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
One obvious point about the Republican rats desperately deserting the sinking Trump ship: They're still rats.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Of Grant? Wow, thoughts and prayers
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I personally love the old Oxford World's Classics hardbacks--little blue books. They're the best for travel too, as they fit in a jacket pocket.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 28/09/2026
What’s Rustling In That Leaf Pile?
What’s Rustling In That Leaf Pile?
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I v much respect @ruthbraunstein.bsky.social's work & I hope there is some larger evidence for what Rauschenbusch says here--a "great awakening" on the religious left--but I think that, since this script has played out repeatedly since 2005's "God's Politics," I'm going to withhold assent for now
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
What can we say, this technology makes a lot of us a little sick, and a few of us very sick. Sorry it happened to you.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Earliest KNOWN or RECORDED use.
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Eduardo Porter @eduardoelreportero.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The backlash against AI and its data centers is built on a profound discomfort. It's fueled by a brooding distrust of a political system that allowed a clutch of weird, sci-fi addled plutocrats to pursue a civilization-threatening project behind people’s backs. www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
theguardian.com
Democracy blindsides Silicon Valley’s power players looking to transform the world with AI
‘The push against datacenters speaks to the frustration of people who don’t feel they are making the choices in their lives’
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Phil Klinkner @pklinkne.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Iowa has had a Republican governor for the last 16 years. He could have retired at any time after he turned 77.
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Yeah, I think that's part of the core of what college teachers (aka me) should be doing
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Charles Mathewes @ctmathewes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Really great movie
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