descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 23hThis whole piece 🤌. “The very notion of ‘predicting’ future advances in AI and related technologies has become an exercise in what economist Paul Romer once called “mathiness,” where the appearance of numbers, especially enormous ones, dresses up unquantified speculation as calculative objectivity.” 010
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The Apple News feed for my local paper (long ago eaten by Mcclatchy) used to be the best way to read it. I’d given up on their website a million years ago. Anyhow, over the past several months, that feed looks more & more like a junk lifestyle pub—ai-generated stories about peptides, hair loss, etc 100
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialJay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Not the odds, but the stakes. That's my shorthand for the organizing principle we most need in election coverage. Not who has what chances of winning, but the consequences for American democracy. Not the odds, but the stakes. Sep. 11, 2023 1238578
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialTressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 08/10/2026A real successful 1A day here on campus. Heavy hitters. Big student turnout. Engaged questions. My notes for the academic freedom panel is a sort of Cliff Notes of how I approach this thing. This is it. My whole talk. 4508112
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialDominique Revue ᥫ᭡. @dominiquerevue.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Still one of the baddest recordings (Minnie the Moocher) and one of the coldest intros (Cab Calloway dancing to St. James Infirmary). Said to be the first known footage of Cab Calloway . . . *imagine* what it must have been like to see Cab layin' this down on screen for the first time in 1932?!! ☠️ 1319
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialTressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026some descriptive statistics here on the civility industrial complex on college campuses that I haven’t seen analyzed before www.uncivilcollective.org/resources 7943342
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 02/10/2026An important measure of how out of pocket your people are is % of your 1st-degree relatives are/were this kid. For me, it’s about 50%. 000
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialTressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026sent this to everyone. 632093
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 30/09/2026I think this confusion about the point of creating/ ingesting the creations of others is the natural consequence of ends-focused ed. Get the grade or credentials however vs actually engage w the work. We teach kids to market themselves to institutions before knowing themselves. We emphasize credit. 120
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialEvan Urquhart @evanurquhart.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Definitely click through on this story for the quotes from the Third Way spokesperson, who AGREED Democratic candidates should NOT adopt Republican language on trans issues. I was floored - even tried to get Billie to put it in the headline. This is not just analysis, these quotes are news. 201317426
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026My spouse+I have kind of an ongoing dialogue w each other, our teens, ourselves about dinner that is only partly about what we wanna eat tonight. It’s also about what kind of day we had, how we feel, what we’re craving, inspiration, what tomorrow is shaping into. It’s actual connection/care. 110
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialTyler King @tyleraking.com · 29/09/2026A key component of the Cambridge Analytica outrage was your friends subjecting you to data theft without your consent or knowledge. Facebook is running the same playbook on your text messages. Even if you’re not on Meta properties, they’re ingesting your interactions. 182013975
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialOn the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 25/09/2026On the show this week, @micahloewinger.bsky.social and @brookegladstone.bsky.social break format to discuss why it took the White House press corps so long to stand up to Trump’s attacks on the media. 5297
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialMar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 26/09/2026As of today, the CDC has changed (reverted) their Covid guidance to make the vaccine recommended for all people over 18. In addition to being a smart public health move, this recommendation also means insurance must cover it. Read more here: www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/va... Listen to a breakdown here: 131864906
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.social🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota. 125123755272
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I’ve now lived through Republicans saying that (pre ACA) people who have insurance and use health care regularly are the problem AND (now) the people who have insurance and don’t use health care regularly are the problem. 000
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 22/09/2026This is meant to suppress out-of-state families from getting treatment in CA that they can’t get in their home state, families that already have to navigate so many obstacles to meet their kids’ needs. Idk how CA has less progressive laws than VA, but y’all backsliding something fierce over there. 110
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 22/09/2026This shit can’t be normalized by Dems. 010
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Everything is <deep sigh> but I took my kid to see a local production of Hairspray that went so hard. Singers AND sangers. Plus some great comic performances. That message really rhymed w the Ed Sheeran of it all this week. 100
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $8 trillion. The entire bottom 50% of American households is worth just $4.27 trillion. Read that back. Remember: Wealth can’t be separated from power. Power begets wealth and wealth begets power. 351103284268
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I love the markers of seasons changing, like the appearance of films/roles being called Oscar worthy and receiving 14 political-solicitation texts in 1 hour. 000
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Hi: I have a trans teen who has been out to me more than 5 years. We have been watching/navigating these restrictions in real time, including shifts in who counts as an adult, from 18yo to 19, or even 21 proposed in some places, just for healthcare access for this one subset of young people. 101
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialCaitlin McGlade @caitmcglade.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I, the only data reporter at the Charlotte Observer, am among the McClatchy layoffs in the bloodbath today. The HR person asked me not to talk about it! AMA. Anyway, here’s a link to one of my most important stories this year. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/a...charlotteobserver.comA Black teen found hanged near Charlotte church was a suicide, police say. Questions remainIn May, 16-year-old Juliana Nzita was found dead in a Charlotte churchyard. CMPD called it a suicide. Her family isn’t so sure. 612157850
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialErin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 11/09/2026The voter who won't back Turek or Talarico over trans sports was never going to back them. The ad just changes to a new anti-trans topic. The ads are designed to illicit disgust at trans people, and caving on sports doesn't blunt that disgust for those who these ads work on. Caving doesn't work. 767190
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialErin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 11/09/2026And surprise surprise. Elon Musk drops $100 million targeting Dems with anti-trans ads. Looking at the ads, it appears he is ramping up the ads targeting Dems who already caved. This includes Turek and Talarico. Subscribe to support our journalism.erininthemorning.comElon Musk’s PAC Drops $100 Million On Anti-Trans Ads Targeting Dems Who Already CapitulatedAnti-trans capitulations didn’t stop Musk from spending big to attack these Democrats. 471160417
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I can’t believe that dialect map pegged me w out asking “are you incapable of saying ‘sill’ any other way than ‘seal’ without massive will power and a head start?” See also any single syllable “-ill” word. 000
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialloreleikelly @loreleikelly.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Here is the election risk heat map. These are the places where you need to help Friends & relatives get credible information. Starting now attn: @protectdemocracy.org votingrightslab.org/election-ris...votingrightslab.org2026 Election Risk Heat MapA tool designed to identify where the conditions for election crises are most likely to emerge this year. 11612
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 05/09/2026As a primate, being around other critters is satisfying in a weirdly deep way so I’m not surprised it could be instinctual. 010
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 03/09/2026The reason I’ve used Ms. as my title ever since I was a very young woman, all the way thru my last instake form as a married woman, is in no small part due to Ms. Steinem and her magazine popularizing the option. A lot of the women who shaped me were 2nd wavers who were shaped by her work. 100
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialNicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Here's the dramatic improvement of Republicans' opinion of Vladimir Putin in 2016. As with anti-Canada sentiment now, the unmistakable main cause of the change is Trump. I think of these examples when pundits claim politicians can't change public opinion so they must follow wherever it already is. 18591126
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialDr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 30/08/2026FYI, Hulu is letting people with the basic account level watch 9 to 5, last week you needed a higher cost account to watch it 👀 518176
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 28/08/202610 min into Steel Magnolias and I am far more offended by Olympia’s southern accent than anyone using y’all. 000
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026As a southerner all the way down to the colonies, all y’all can say y’all. It works! It works! It’s inclusive. It’s elegant! It’s lifting up my culture. Just don’t start spinnin yarns about my dad ‘n nem. 120
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialLaura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 28/08/2026They're calling it the most Let Them Fight moment in history, folksnypost.comFar-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos nabbed by ICE in LouisianaControversial right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, a former spokesman for Kanye West, has been arrested by ICE at an airport in Louisiana. 411818241
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 27/08/2026On the recent PCHH @baparker.bsky.social talks about G Dunne in My Girl & surfaced my memory of what, to me, was the most relatable plot line, as a precocious reader/aspirational writer around the same age as Clumsky. Suddenly the joy and heartbreak welled up again, like I was a stressed 12 again. 100
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 26/08/2026How much do we have to pay Hades to take his own? 000
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Goddamn, I feel like my fav grandma died again. When I saw and heard Dolly, I heard the women I come from. That earth. That twang. That heart. That humor. That sense of not paying a fool any mind. 110
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Saw Teen Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and it is so joyful and funny and open. That such a specific, candy-colored film came out of a trans filmmaker in these times is one of most inspiring, punkest things I’ve experienced in a minute. Like, my psychic health increased by a great %. 000
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialJoshua Holland @joshuaholland.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Nothing could be less surprising than a half-hearted attempt at reputational repair shortly before HBO launches its new Harry Potter series. Costs a lot to keep that beautiful yacht in ship shape. 14713
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Regularly laughing my ass off is one way I’m surviving and thriving. Just finished Black Monday recently, which made me cry wheeze so often. It’s GROWN. It’s fast. It’s wrong and right. 100
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 21/08/2026I have to say, wielding goss is a southern specialty. 001
descriptivist.bsky.social @descriptivist.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I got to spend a week in Big Bend alone as a deeply traumatized 18-year-old and it was the most healing place to me. I dream of it often. I hate this so profoundly. We’re being led by people w no sense of respect or wonder, no sense of connection. 010
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialDavid Sirota @davidsirota.com · 17/08/2026🚨NEW: Hakeem Jeffries declared his opposition to Medicare For All 72 hours after a Yale study shows it would save 100,000 lives & $1 trillion. Context: Jeffries raked in $391k from health PACs in 2026 & faced no primary pressure to hold the line on Dem priorities because a primary was blocked.levernews.comHakeem Jeffries’ Betrayal Shows Why Democratic Voters Are So EnragedHouse Dems’ leader declared his opposition to Medicare For All on the same day a new poll shows almost all Democratic voters support it. 1041367565
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialGil Durán @gilduran.com · 15/08/2026It’s official: the Nerd Reich podcast is getting banned from YouTube….the week of my book launch! Incredible timing, since I’ll be all over the media next week talking about tech fascism. They can delete my account. They can’t stop my work. Buy the book: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne... 13534561293
Reposted by @descriptivist.bsky.socialJesse Thorn @jessethorn.bsky.social · 13/08/2026M. Gessen has written a truly extraordinary piece about the "soft fascism" faced by transgender people in America, and by trans people in Kansas particularly. Beautifully written and reported, deeply humane. I really hope you'll read it. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/o...nytimes.comOpinion | What’s Happening in Kansas Should Alarm Us All (Gift Article)Is Kansas just the beginning? 71062355
