Sign in

Dr. Mystery

@damemystery.bsky.social
328 followers 297 following 422 posts

Teacher, scholar, book lover. House full of cats. She/her.

PostsRepliesMedia
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 10h
When I told my students yesterday that licking radioactive substances was bad, I didn't realize it wasn't just a historical observation (we were talking about the Radium Girls). Truly the worst timeline.
050
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 12h
Yes, this thread!
032
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Boots on the Ground Midwest @bootsonthegroundkc.bsky.social · 21h
‼️MISSOURI!!!!! You have until this WEDNESDAY to register to vote!!! Time is running out! Stop stressing us out and go register RIGHT NOW!!‼️ Call your family, text your friends, go tell random people on the street they need to make sure to register, make a yard sign, post it to your socials!! GOTV!⏱️
01312
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 22h
It's Oct 3. The midterms are a month away, but early voting has already begun in some states. Mail-in ballots will start circulating soon. Some of the usual suspects are already pushing the same "rigged election" rumors we've all heard before. This year, you can play along at home. bingo.cip.uw.edu
bingo.cip.uw.edu
"Rigged Election" Bingo
Spot the tropes before they spread. Recognize the common story elements behind election rumors — can you get BINGO?
816781
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you are part of an academic society or a professor of any kind, public statements that you do not condone Drexel cutting off the academy of natural sciences from the public of Philadelphia is very important right now. We need your voices. Urgently.
10795399
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Jennifer Prokop @jenreadsromance.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
now this is a funny thread, but the truth is, it makes a fundamental error. Every romance reader knows that it's Nora Roberts who is gonna take you fucking down. This is a woman you should NEVER mess with.
24910
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026
Man, imagine you're minding your own business, getting kind of drunk with your friends at a picturesque brewery in Maine, when suddenly John Roberts walks by and you get to start heckling him. Must have felt incredible. That's the dream. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...
The chief justice used to preside over a Supreme Court whose members were afforded more privacy and freedom than many other public officials. Once, years ago, Mr. Lipson and the chief justice found themselves up the peninsula from Port Clyde without a car, Mr. Lipson recalled in an interview. So he stuck out his thumb by the side of the road and a pickup truck pulled over. He and the nation’s top jurist hopped in the back and hitchhiked back to town.

Now, Mr. Lipson said, he is cautious about introducing his friend to strangers. This year, on an outing to nearby Monhegan Island, people recognized the chief justice as he walked by a brewery and started to chant: You should be ashamed.
1525360808
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Jodi McAlister @jodimca.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Scholarly types! The call for papers for the next @iaspr.bsky.social conference is now open. It'll be in Oviedo, Spain in June 2027 and the theme is Choosing Love, centring around hope and optimism in a world which often does not engender especially hopeful or optimistic feelings about the future.
iaspr.org
Choosing Love: Call for Papers, IASPR Conference 2027 – International Association for the Study of Popular Romance
0811
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I've been watching Taskmaster for some levity at the end of a long day. I've enjoyed all of them, but season 6 has been a real stand-out for making me cry laughing.
020
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Academic folks: one of my friends is looking for an indexer for the edited collection she's publishing. It's a tight turn around, but she has money to pay an expert. Anyone have suggestions? The couple of people she approached are booked up.
110
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Ghostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 25/09/2026
Nora Roberts.
624334
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
If you care about keeping the Academy of Natural Sciences open to the public in Philadelphia, I need you to read and share this thread. Trish Wellenbach was sent from the mayor's office to oversee the Academy of Natural sciences situation. She needs to hear from us. Here comes the action item:
15553486
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Olivia Waite @oliviawaite.com · 25/09/2026
Check your voter registration and check it often
02718
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
ATTENTION BLUESKY! Annie says they are really hoping to boost the number of artists (crew, performers, creative teams, anyone) outside New York who are filling this out to get a broader sampling. If you are in the arts please take a second and fill this out!
0251284
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Gerry Cohen @gercohen.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
USPS Postmaster General suggests mailing back an absentee ballot SEVEN days before the election (thus mail back by Tues Oct 27) Alternatively in NC you can currently personally deliver it to the county board of elections office that issued ballot, during business hours apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
055
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
K.B. Spangler @kbspangler.com · 21/09/2026
Early voting has started in some states! Vote as early as you can. In person, if you can. Be as obnoxious as possible about spreading this message. Get everyone you know to the polls. Be That Friend but for voting.
vote.gov
Register to vote in your state | Vote.gov
Find the information you need to make registration and voting easy. Official voter registration website of the United States government.
8269169
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I've been buying my niblings this calendar for a few years, and every year I get texts with pictures of awesome facts in return. This year I'm excited for snails!
0185
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
They open these boondoggle centers and then they come to us, the hot people, to help make them hot. Come teach a class! Be edgy! Be heterodox! For half a faculty line, no prestige, and no extra money. Sir, I’m already hot. Students want to take my classes. Why would I go to the weird guy cabal??
439022
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Noah Arney @ndarney.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Ever notice how quickly any form of utilitarianism becomes "my ends justify treating 'them' as mere means"? *listens to headset* I'm being informed that literally everyone for 150 years has pointed this out.
012
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I thought I forgot to preorder the new book by @jodimca.bsky.social , but past me took care of it!
Photo of a hand holding a paperback book with a bright pink cover with two illustrated figures: a blonde man wearing glasses drinking a glass of wine and looking at a brown haired woman who is seated at a bar reading a book with a glass of wine in front of her. The book is A Study in Sparkling by Jodi McAlister.
171
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Cate Denial @cjdenial.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
There are humans directing the things other humans report "AI" is doing
0113
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Melanie Walsh @mellymeldubs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Great profile of the leading AI detector, Pangram, and the people behind it—including a former English major who wrote a thesis on Ishiguro (me too). Fascinating snapshot of our cultural moment with AI, and a sober reflection on the future of the internet, teaching, and human communication.
12713
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
High Priestess, Low Patience @cheriepriest.com · 16/09/2026
ooh, I like this take - all the elements are present, so call it what it is: not liminal (which was never quite right, tbh), but gothic for a new generation of people who don’t remember why we built that shit in the first place, or what it was supposed to be *for*
5425127
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
BREAKING: Boston University's English department (my dept) recently voted to approve new learning outcomes for the English major, including an anti-AI provision that requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI."
bu.edu
New Learning Outcomes Announced | English
402366471
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
The Leadership Conference @civilrightsorg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Millions of eligible Americans aren't registered to vote — and many who think they are may have had their status lapse. Don’t be one of them. Take two minutes today to check. Then let your friends know to check too! nationalvoterregistrationday.org
01522
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Journal of Popular Romance Studies @jprstudies.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
📣 Here at JPRS we know that size doesn't matter! That's why we have a dedicated section for pieces that wouldn't fit the scope/requirements of a more traditionally published academic article: our "Notes and Queries Section". Follow the link to submit contributions: www.jprstudies.org/submissions/...
jprstudies.org
Notes and Queries Section – Journal of Popular Romance Studies
064
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
And so, before I planted my feet on the floor, I looked that letter up on my phone and re-read it. Of course, many are familiar with (but fail to heed)its famous warning: “If they come for me in the morning, they will come for you in the night.” For the unfamiliar 2/ www.nybooks.com/articles/197...
nybooks.com
An Open Letter to My Sister, Miss Angela Davis | James Baldwin
One might have hoped that, by this hour, the very sight of chains on black flesh, or the very sight of chains, would be so intolerable a sight for the American people, and so unbearable a memory, that...
1156
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Ghostly Bree @mostlybree.kitrocha.com · 13/09/2026
It's Check Your Registration Status Weekly season down here in the south! Tell a friend. Tell the group chat.
189103
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 12/09/2026
i am incredibly excited to share our research about how paying people’s rent through mutual aid made an impact on minnesota this year we accidentally collected more data than anyone ever has for an effort like this, and can very seriously say we prevented an eviction bubble that everyone expected
3031021154
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Laura Vivanco @lauravivanco.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This includes a quote from IASPR's own @dramyburge.bsky.social !
198
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Shane Brodie @shanebrodie.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) is seeking to hire village voting ambassadors for the upcoming election. In the primary, there were many problems with lack of payment to & lack of staff at rural Alaska polling places. Many opened late & had restricted hours. AFN's facebook page has more info.
Poster from Alaska Federation of Natives describing how they want to hire up to 3 people in each rural Alaska village polling area to help with the 2026 election. Drawing of an Indigenous woman processing fish with a river and mountains in the background.
177
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Criticism of the other new media forms were quite infamously about these forms being TOO human -- biased, uncredentialed, etc — and not about scale or automation ant all.
219215
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
"you're gonna get left behind if you don't start using ai" oh thank god, please leave me behind, i'm good over here, i do not want to go to there
171654398
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Cassandra Good @cgoodhistorian.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you're thinking about how to cover 9/11 with your students this week, here's what I did with my Museum Studies students last week. It should be scalable to shorter or longer lessons and could be good in any history course. 🗃️ #sschat #historyteacher
cassandragoodhistorian.com
Teaching 9/11 to a New Generation
It’s truly hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since the 9/11 attacks. Having been in downtown DC that day, I still feel the emotional weight and recall the terror that shattered ou…
11113
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Here's a graphic illustrating their "rigged election" strategy:
A circular flow diagram on a blue background titled "Rigged Election" Strategy (in the center, in pink text). Six white text boxes are arranged in a ring, connected by light-blue curved arrows pointing clockwise, indicating a repeating cycle. Reading clockwise from the top, the six steps are:

Repeatedly say elections are "rigged"
Change laws to make it harder to vote
Muddy the waters: confuse voters & suppress votes
Seed & amplify rumors that echo "rigged election" refrain
Contest results (you don't like)
Sow distrust in democracy

The arrows loop back from "Sow distrust in democracy" to "Repeatedly say elections are 'rigged,'" showing the cycle as self-reinforcing.

Center text: "Rigged Election" Strategy
319492
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 04/09/2026
Also, it appears that the settlement folks are having persistent errors with self-published works with more than one author. They can understand that a self-published work with one author = 100% payout to author.
311017
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Smart Bitches @smartbitches.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We Are Hiring! We're looking for a Content and Community Assistant.  This is a paid, part time remote position from Nov. 1 through June 1 2027, for a US-based person who is as into romance & discussion as they are into details & organization. You can find all the info here: bit.ly/SBTBTemp
25754
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 03/09/2026
Hi! Anthropic Q&A re:rights reversion and publisher claims. This is not legal advice; I can't give you legal advice. What I can do is tell you what I would do under certain circumstances.
3264141
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Students who nod and smile during lecture when we try to make a point? Heroes
872464163
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
eileen chengyin chow @chowleen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. -Wendell Berry 1934-2026, from “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” full poem here: commongood.cc/reader/manif... Safe travels.
commongood.cc
“Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front”
“Listen to carrion – put your ear/ close and hear the faint chattering/ of the world that is to come.” Berry’s famous poem encourages readers to remain feral. Whether in dense urban neighborhoods, sub...
17125
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Olivia Waite @oliviawaite.com · 01/09/2026
A lot of people overlooking the “Charles Dickens personal experience growing up with a father in debtors’ prison” to try and argue that he wanted to express some nuanced view about rich assholes
012925
Dr. Mystery @damemystery.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"It's me, Jacob Marley! You know how we kick orphans out of their homes? Well, legal says it's fine, but PR would like us to spin it a little differently. I bought you some extra time to work on that. Have you considered making Bob a contractor? No paid holidays that way."
000
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Rabies is 100% fatal if untreated. Please help spread the word about the exposure at the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo in North Carolina. The vaccine is incredibly effective and will save your life. Also…. Rabies at a petting zoo!?!? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
nbcnews.com
Four baby goats at mobile petting zoo in North Carolina test positive for rabies
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the petting zoo held events involving children and elderly people between July 28 and Thursday.
7223451761
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR TEXAS VOTERS.
2405401
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Jennifer Prokop @jenreadsromance.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
If you're a teacher, I have a new "using AI is like using a forklift on the weights at the gym" metaphor I've been using. I asked my students (they're in 7th grade) the thing they are really good at making for themselves in the kitchen. It's what you'd expect: Mac & cheese, PB&J, noodles, eggs.
49330
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Moral instruction is a good thing. It will not stop students from using AI to "cheat." However, there is hope on this front, but it means directly confronting the incentives around outsourcing your school work. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
insidehighered.com
“Integrity Is Great, but You Can’t Eat Good Morals.”
The way to stop cheating is to worry less about cheating and more about learning.
1184
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Journal of Popular Romance Studies @jprstudies.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
We are excited to release a preview of our forthcoming Romancing Africa Special Issue, with a fascinating article by Enet Mundembe and F. Fiona Moolla on the centrality of motherhood in Nigerian popular romance 📢 #PopularRomance #Africa #NigerianRomance www.jprstudies.org/2026/08/marr...
jprstudies.org
Marriage and Procreation: Continuities and Transformations in the Ankara Novellas A Tailor-Made Romance and Love Me Unconditionally Against the Backdrop of Flora Nwapa’s Efuru – Journal of Popular Rom...
055
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
Cameron L. Mitchell @cameronlmitchell.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Don't dream it, be it RIP Tim Curry, you fabulous man
013128
Reposted by Dr. Mystery
John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Less than 10% of one year’s revenue, 30% of a single year’s profit. A fine is a price. If we must do fines, they need to be 100% of profits during the offending period + 10%.
21571211