Sign in

T. Scott Johnson

@ekphrastictactic.bsky.social
898 followers 1.7K following 284 posts

historian, cook, baker, swimmer Assistant Professor of History. CUNY-Grad Alum. All tweets reflect me not any institutional affiliation.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
AP Stylebook @apstylebook.com · 23/09/2026
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics.
apnews.com
https://apnews.com/article/openai-safety-ai-framework-089e75b95bc935af092da7b79d92706d
5542361628
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
1970132263
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Annie Wu @anniewu.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Batman Day isn't fun for everybody. Please check on your superstitious and cowardly loved ones today.
01077308
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Ok. Hear me out. It's a remake of the 90s HBO made for tv movie Cast a Deadly Spell. But instead of everyone using magic, it's AI. “My collar may be frayed. I may need a shoeshine. But nobody’s got a mortgage on my soul.” www.imdb.com/title/tt0101...
imdb.com
100
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Steely Dandan Noodles
031
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Jerad Walker @jeradwalker.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I’m not saying Ted Cruz is cursed… that’s not what I’m saying.
6707
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It's hot. After last month's historic heat wave, many CA temps will be in the 100's again. Remember the farm workers out harvesting the chilled snack you're enjoying. #WeFeedYou
Mixed berries close-up above a farm worker harvesting fruit in the sun, text highlights extreme heat in Coachella, CA at 118°F and labor behind fruit harvest during a heat wave.
7031831127
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
What makes them so revolting? How about shrimp sphincters? Or the basic assumption that the picture should match a potentially digestible reality? FFS.
030
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
And just like that my Great Lakes mnemonic goes from HOMES to SHAME.
020
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 26/08/2026
It's my hater-versary! Spoiler:
anthonymoser.github.io
I Am Still An AI Hater
I mean, you’re not surprised, right?
615056
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Jonathyne Briggs @jonathynebriggs.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
My campus opens on Monday and I have staff who haven’t had power in 12 days and counting #PowerToGary
182
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
amulya.bsky.social @amulya.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My husband Drew wrote this at breakneck speed while moving cross-country and caring for an 8 month old, bc he felt it was necessary, ethically and politically, to correct the record. If you read Tyler Austin Harper's piece, I hope you'll read this.
10998313
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Literally the last person I want to hear from on this.
020
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
You don't escape this team. You only learn to live with the hardship.
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
(to the tune of "Fridaye Ich am Yn Love"): 🎵 Mondaye you kan fall apart Mondaye, Mondaye, fall apart Oh Mondaye doth not even starte Fuck Mondaye quite a lot 🎵
012916
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Pairs well with the author's conversation on Know Your Enemy know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/gre...
know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com
Great Books and the AI Apocalypse (w/ Matt Dinan) [Teaser] | Know Your Enemy
Matt and Sam talk to Matt Dinan about teaching, the AI apocalypse, and the state of our souls.
031
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Crystal Fleming is on sabbatical @alwaystheself.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
All of this happening in the same week as that Atlantic article is disgusting, actually.
26316
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם) @bestonetx.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
My college is losing $3.5 million promised by the Legislature that they aren't delivering. Why not? Because our students have done better than expected. www.caller.com/story/news/e...
caller.com
Texas falls short on funding promises to Del Mar College
Del Mar College is receiving $3.5 million less than expected in state appropriations.
1167
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 09/08/2026
Does The New York Times reporter in Washington D.C. not understand that fighting Steelers fans at a Browns game will flip you thousands of votes in Ohio? That is not a campaign liability, unlike slamming your ex-wife against a wall, pouring hot water on her head, and drawing a gun at her!

Emily Davies
@ELaserDavies
Amid abuse claims against Max Miller, Democrats think they have a candidate who can flip his solidly Republican seat: 

Brian Poindexter, an ironworker and self-described “regular guy” who was once arrested for fighting Pittsburgh fans at a Browns game.
2449394
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Absolute travesty. Academic freedom simply does not exist at Texas Tech University.
After appealing my tenure denial the 
Tenure Hearing Panel unanimously found that “the promotion & tenure process was ‘significantly noncompliant with the university’s established standards and procedures’. The President however upheld his original decision to deny me tenure.
729882
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Haven't been in ages, but Jungle Jim's is awesome.
020
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
On the one hand, I'm glad the Chronicle is demystifying this sort of jargon. On the other hand, in this environment of ideological capture of higher ed, how can you not talk about institutional "alignment" without at least glossing gleichsaltung? www.chronicle.com/article/high...
chronicle.com
Higher Ed Has Entered the Age of ‘Alignment’
What one word says about this moment.
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
AAUP @aaup.org · 04/08/2026
BOOM. The AAUP is suing Texas A&M University System over their censorship policy that prohibits faculty from discussing topics & viewpoints related to race, sexual orientation, & gender. www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/... 1
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, LEONARD BRIGHT, VANITA REDDY, LANDON SADLER, and AARON GEORGE,
Plaintiffs,
V.
ROBERT L. ALBRITTON, JAY GRAHAM, DAVID
C. BAGGETT, JOHN W. BELLINGER, JAMES R.
BROOKS, MICHAEL A. HERNANDEZ III,
WILLIAM MAHOMES JR., KELLEY SULLIVAN GEORGIADES, and SAM TORN, in their official capacities as members of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents,
Defendants.
CIVIL ACTION NO.
COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
COMPLAINT
Plaintiffs American Association of University Professors ("AAUP"), on behalf of
its members in the Texas A&M University System ("Texas A&M"), and individually named member professors Leonard Bright, Vanita Reddy, Landon Sadler, and Aaron George (collectively, "Plaintiffs") challenge Texas A&M System Policy ("System Policy") 08.01's prohibition on teaching "gender and race ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation, and gender identity" in academic coursework (the "Censorship Policy" or the "Policy").
On its face, the Censorship Policy imposes a complete prohibition, in all core-
curriculum courses, on courses "advocat[ing]" particular disfavored views of race or gender, or
any topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity, but the Policy does not impose any corresponding ban on opposing views on these issues.
7712228
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Truth
011
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
“Hope is an element of struggle, is it not?” he said. “As we used to say in the old days, ‘A luta continua’.”
theguardian.com
Imprisoned writer Mumia Abu-Jamal seeks UN intervention after 44 years behind bars
The former Black Panther’s lawyers ask a UN panel to review his detention after US legal avenues were exhausted
15611
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
7778522571
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 27/07/2026
I like the ones who stop hellish jungle indeed and finally I say okay you try you get high and bright and try then you say oh just praise what you can you smiling bag of death ‘Smile’, a poem by Anne Carson. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Anne Carson · Poem: ‘Smile’
081
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
open mike eagle @mike-eagle.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
AI event flyers are ruining my life cause I didn't know I had so many friends with bad taste
152336260
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I feel like I’ve heard this before.
301451204
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
youtu.be/_KjbL0cnQPE?...
youtu.be
Toys R Us "I'm a Toys R Us Kid" Ad (1983)
YouTube video by Remember These Ads?
010
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
scary medusa ░░░ @rabidosa.org · 18/07/2026
important stuff "...the goal of the technology itself is to harm our ability to detect entryism — it harms our ability to think for ourselves." "[P]eople can make mistakes ... But notice who plows on regardless, who does not listen to feedback, who materially ... aligns with the AI companies.
0186
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Pumped for a Wat Tyler autumn. youtu.be/dUT67vpW5Ms?...
youtu.be
THE UPRISING Official Trailer (2026) Andrew Garfield
YouTube video by ONE Media
000
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
“I can’t put my remaining finger on it, but I’m beginning to suspect Nyarlathotep’s Great American Shitshow… repulsed people? I’m having a hard time comprehending it, but it’s like they wanted nothing to do with us.” www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-d...
mcsweeneys.net
I Don’t Know What I Expected at President Nyarlathotep’s Great American Shitshow, but Color Me Disappointed
“I expected patriotic Dread Lord acolytes from all across this great country of ours to be out in full force this weekend. It was the Fourth of July, for cry...
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
HistorySmith @historysmith.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
“Storms bring luck to every occasion.” Tell that to the Edmund Fitzgerald 🤷‍♂️
091
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I get mad when I see AI scraping all of the work we publish at @contingent-mag.bsky.social because that’s work that people did that we paid for. That matters!
0286
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The only consolation in this Sen-Bel game is Belgium's gonna get absolutely rolled in the next round, no matter how much the refs tip the scales.
000
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Today we said goodbye to Moose. He was the best guy who: -loved scratches from old men with worn hands -bathed lovingly in the Texas sun -slept in when it suited him -looked forward to Thanksgiving turkey -kept our cat in line -kept perhaps too nosy watch over the neighbors -loved us unconditionally
Photo of the handsomest great dane standing in a sunlit yard with a blue sky overhead.
020
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how... “Pinpoint a social ill, monetize it for your personal gain, then spread the problem to increase your share… set up a fake charity that claims to solve the problem you just exacerbated… it’s not white-collar crime if you’re wearing a hoodie.”
mcsweeneys.net
How to Hustle Like a Tech Founder
“You can’t hustle alone. Move to a city where founders thrive and get to work. Head to Miami if you want to scam people with crypto, or San Francisco if you ...
010
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Very optimistic, since I’ve not seen an Eggers joint I didn’t love.
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Melanie Walsh @mellymeldubs.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Excited to share this. @neel2112.bsky.social, @mariaa.bsky.social, and I analyzed 500K anonymous ChatGPT convos (shared w/ consent from WildChat) to see if people were generating fiction. We found tons of stories, fanfiction & erotica. Many users iterated on the same stories for days and weeks.
Screenshot of paper abstract that reads: 

AI FICTION IN THE WILD Neel Gupta  Maria Antoniak  Melanie Walsh

Some professional authors are beginning to use AI tools to help produce their fiction writing. Are readers using AI to generate fiction, too? Drawing on over 500,000 anonymized, English-language ChatGPT-user conversations (Zhao et al.), we find that more than one third of the conversations involve some form of fiction generation—including original stories, roleplay, fanfiction, and erotica. This AI-generated fiction is notably dominated by power users. We identify common fiction generation patterns and profiles among these users, including what we call infinite story demanders, who repeatedly request and revise variations of the same or similar narratives over extended periods of time. We show that users especially gravitate toward fanfiction and erotica, and that they are broadly drawn to generic forms, repetition, immediacy, and niche combinations of story elements. Our findings motivate two theoretical provocations. First, we argue that AI technologies may lead to a shift in the conventional relationship between the author and reader, potentially producing what we call a solipsistic reader-writer, who both generates and consumes fiction within a closed conversational loop, interacting with a machine rather than a human other. Second, we note that LLMs enable interactivity, play, and permutation in ways that are seemingly pleasurable for users, raising questions about where AI will fit into contemporary storytelling and entertainment ecosystems. We situate these developments within broader transformations in literature and media, including self-publishing, fanfiction, and pornography, and suggest that AI-generated fiction shares structural affinities with on-demand, personalized, and repetitive cultural forms.
515645
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Terrence Peterson @tgpeterson.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
"What is particularly obnoxious about the moral case against the Weather Underground is the implication that their limited recourse to violence constituted some unique and inconceivable evil, that Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers crossed lines unimaginable to Henry Kissinger."
1268
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
l'Humanité @humanite.fr · 21/06/2026
L’Humanité du 22 juin - Marc Bloch, dans les annales du Panthéon 📰 humanite.fr
03713
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Update: reading rooms closed until the heat dies down.
221
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Seriously.
Screenshot of the French National Archives website noting changes to procedure for June 22, due to the extreme heat. Full text (in French) follow:
Information
En raison des fortes chaleurs, le musée des Archives nationales est susceptible d’être totalement ou partiellement fermé jusqu’au lundi 22 juin. Nous vous prions de nous excuser pour ces possibles désagréments.

Site de Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
- Aujourd’hui, lundi 22 juin 2026 :
•    les commandes du jour seront limitées à 3 articles jusqu’à 12 h et ne seront plus possibles ensuite ;
•    la remise des documents sera suspendue entre 12 h 30 et 13 h 30.
Le mardi 23 juin 2026, pour les versements relevant du département des archives privées, les commandes du jour ne seront pas assurées et les réservations ne seront pas possibles entre 9 h et 15 h.

Site de Paris
En raison de travaux et des fortes chaleurs régnant dans plusieurs dépôts du site de Paris, la communication des documents au public sera fortement perturbée jusqu’à la baisse des températures. Nous nous excusons pour la gêne occasionnée et vous remercions de votre compréhension. 

Retrouvez les fermetures annuelles de nos salles de lecture.
141
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Such a classic.
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 19/06/2026
But I was told it was inevitable.
reuters.com
Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school
Norway is imposing a near ban on the use of generative AI tools by elementary school pupils while also restricting their ​use in the education of older children to prevent a ‌negative impact on learni...
282878754
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Nothing beats the start of a research trip like the airlines losing your bag.
110
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
The AAUP chapters at Vanderbilt & Wash U have issued a joint statement denouncing the “State of Scholarship” report commissioned by their chancellors. Please, let’s make this as widely read as the gaslighting to which it responds.
Joint Statement on the "State of Scholarship" Report
The Vanderbilt University and Washington University chapters of the American Association of University Professors express our profound disagreement with the "State of Scholarship" report commissioned by our universities' chancellors. The report distorts the state of humanistic and social scientific scholarship at our universities and in the academy overall. Worse, it proposes a shocking intrusion of university administration into faculty governance and portends greater threats to academic freedom that should concern all faculty.
The report currently appears on Vanderbilt's website under the insignia of both Vanderbilt and Washington Universities. It is already receiving public condemnation. As the American Council of Learned Societies makes clear, the report is founded on false premises and anecdotal evidence and thus does nothing to "ensure deeper and more meaningful relations among scholars and members of the public." No doubt more rebuttals from scholars, departments, and professional societies will follow. It suffices for us to say that the report falls far short of the standards of political neutrality and disinterested inquiry it claims to champion. Historians, literary scholars, and anthropologists are singled out for caricature while the authors fail to acknowledge their own public biases against scholarship performed in the name of social justice. Nor does the report divulge its source of funding or conflicts of interest that may entail - standard practice for any work of humanistic or social scientific scholarship. In sum, the report is itself a clear example of "politicized" research that its authors attempt to decry.
What is most alarming is the guidance the report offers to its intended audience of university chancellors and presidents. By falsely arguing that humanities and social science departments are in the throes of an epistemological crisis, the authors lay the groundwork for university adminis…Weakening faculty governance does nothing to solve the real challenges facing our universities, and undermines our ability to effectively address society's most profound problems and challenges, from the inequalities of wealth and white supremacy to the political consequences of climate change.
Indeed, the direst threats to public trust in higher education are not philosophical debates about the nature of truth. Currently, the federal government is dramatically cutting funding for the humanities and social sciences as well as for the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, public health, and the arts. In response, university administrations have instituted austerity measures, even as administrative salaries and administrative positions have taken up an increasing share of decreasing budgets.
The best way for scholars to cultivate diverse opinions and advance knowledge is by strengthening academic freedom. Political threats to higher education have degraded, and will continue to degrade, the quality of all fields of our universities' research, to the detriment of America's global standing.
We note that the organizations now working most actively and successfully to defend academic free inquiry from politicized federal interference are not university leaders but the American Council of Learned Societies, the Modern Language Association, and the American Historical Association - professional societies of the very disciplines chastised by the report.
We call on our chancellors to rescind the report and affirm their commitment to the intellectual autonomy of faculty, academic departments, and governing faculty bodies. Administrative interference into academic departments, as licensed by this report, is a violation of the standards of academic freedom that have made American universities the envy of the world. Rather than undermining these bedrock principles, administrators should vigorously and publicly defend them.
Vanderbilt University AAUP
vanderbiltaaup@gmail.com
Wa…
5439246
T. Scott Johnson @ekphrastictactic.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Whoooo boy. This is a spicy opening WC match.
000
Reposted by T. Scott Johnson
Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Wrote a little about the work the U.S. put into helping academics escape fascism during WWII and why we can't rely on that for our future www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
insidehighered.com
No One Is Coming to Save Us
The realization can either break you or liberate you.
2249103