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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them)

@drnycnerd.bsky.social

860 followers 739 following 392 posts

Journalism researcher, linguistic anthropologist, fiction writer. Some things I discuss: language & social meaning, news media, #binders, puns, food. Now: @cnti.bsky.social Once: @knology.org My colleagues & I made: www.reportingwithnumbers.com

Posts Replies Media

Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Even my bicycle is on the bandwagon.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

After listening to La Brega, I wanted to find the words to "Amanecí Partió" and sensibly googled "letra amanecí partio." No luck, but I did find this unfortunately hilarious AI gem. (cc @alanacb.bsky.social, @onthemedia.bsky.social ) Es cierto que Ponce de León fue lanzado alrededor de 2022...

Screenshot of AI query. Response begins:

"Amanecí Partio" es un tema del artista Juan Ponce de León, destacado por su estilo pegajoso, lanzado alrededor de 2022...."

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

JFK is setting expectations really low these days, huh?

Sign at the airport with a quote from Lao Tzu: "A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving."

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Sweet relief is coming soon:

Screenshot of the forecast. It's predicted to be 79 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow, which is 24 degrees cooler than today.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Senior U.S. government officials just included a journalist in their private Signal chat. @cnti.bsky.social found that 15% of journalists primarily communicate w/ sources via peer-to-peer encrypted apps (like Signal). Read the full report: innovating.news/2024-journal...

A split bar graph from a report on "what it means to do journalism in the age of AI." The results are from a survey of 433 journalists in 63 countries conducted between October 14, 2024 and November 24, 2024.

Graph headline: "The methods journalists use to communicate with their sources vary greatly by regime type."

Question: "What is the most common way that you communicate with your sources these days?"

Overall, 22% say phone calls, 20% say email, 15% say peer-to-peer encrypted apps, 14% say social media, 10% say in person, 9% say text message, 3% say video conference. Additional columns show the patterns in autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracies. The biggest difference in any individual regime type is that 44% of journalists in liberal democracies say they primarily communicate with sources via email.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Truly amazing autotranslate fail. In general, I find that Spanish-English autotranslate works less well when someone uses more pragmatically interesting word order. (This should say something like, "if it's still there on Tuesday, I'll come for it")

Screenshot of FB message.

The first message says "Hi, is this available? El martes si está voy a buscarlo."

The second says "Hi, is this available? If Mars is there, I'm going to look for it."

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 16/05/2024

The three genders.

Screenshot of news paragraph, which begins, "The jury of six men and six women -- as well as six alternate jurors..."

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 02/04/2024

Today I received the worst hot take I have ever seen in a cursèd email from the National Academies:

Why social science? Because it can contribute to AI that benefits society

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 02/02/2024

This thought brought to you by

Screenshot of Duolingo.

A bearded and turban-ed person says "I drink tea and water."

The only verb option provided in Hindi is the feminine form, पीती.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

Today in the impossibility of "neutrality". I don't love this headline. It takes for granted one particular worldview, which happens to be associated with Republican politics. Let me explain:

Screenshot of New York Times headline. It reads, "For book fairs, Scholastic will separate titles that deal with race and gender." The sub headline reads, "Schools can opt to display these books--or not. The list includes biographies of the civil rights icon John Lewis and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson." Below that is a picture of a child with dark hair and lightish skin looking at books, taken from behind.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 11/08/2023

What if I told you that I do look my age, you just don't know what 40-year-olds look like?

Photo of 40ish white person with a blue undercut, green eyeglasses, a candy-print shirt, and a they/them pronoun pin.

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

Guessing they deleted it 🙄 because:

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

Today in bad public math: They use median rent prices to determine who's overpaying, which means that half of New Yorkers are overpaying *by definition*

Subway ad which reads, "Most New Yorkers are overpaying for rent. Find out if you're one of them."

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Dr. Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein (they/them) @drnycnerd.bsky.social · 12/07/2023

Show me a picture on your phone that has your energy. Not a selfie.

Bowl of ice cream. The inside of the bowl has a drawing of a happy green monster who is half buried in ice cream and looks absolutely delighted about it.

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