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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

At our Foucault conference last month @danlor.bsky.social and I screened a little-known Foucault documentary produced by a Swiss TV network in 1978, MICHEL FOUCAULT: STORICO DELLA VERITA ("Historian of Truth"). 1/ www.rsi.ch/archivi/Mich...

rsi.ch

Michel Foucault: storico della verità - RSI

Ritratti, 1. febbraio 1978

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1m

This is the mash-up we needed for October

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Megan Goodwin @mpgphd.bsky.social · 40m

this is not the monster mash this is just a tribute

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

I'd say that's what makes the whole interview so valuable for those of us trying to wrap our heads around Foucault's legacy. The interviewer keeps pitching Foucault the most simplistic, textbook interpretation of his work. And Foucault playfully bats him down every time. 11/11

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

The most powerful part of the documentary for me was his deep and abundant joy. He loves sparring with the interviewer, almost teasing him, always dancing just out of reach of the effort to pin him down into a tidy interpretive box. 10/

Michel Foucault smilinig broadly in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "From this historical perspective what is the role of the inquisitor in relation to the psychiatrist and that of the witch in relation to the mentally ill person?"

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

...and rejects the picture sometimes foisted on him of being "that melancholy man" 9/

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "Here I woudl be frankly more optimist. I know perfectly well that in the eyes of many people"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "I am regarded as that melancholy man who is always talking about the omnipresence and omnipotence of power"

"Never have people been more resistant to power in all its forms and at every level"

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

In one of the most remarkable exchanges with the interviewer, he describes himself as both "more pessimistic" about the possibility of escaping power, because of its capacity to auto-regulate by yielding pleasure, and "more optimistic" about the inevitability of transformation of existing power 8/

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

He speaks candidly about the failures of the French Communist party, both for its complicity in French colonialism and its deference to the Soviet Union, proposing as an alternative an effort to think beyond the binary offerings of capitalism and communism. 7/

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "Well the Soviet example--and not only the Soviet example, for that matter--has considerably diminished the desirability of revolution"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "but to undertake an enormous effort, similar to the one made in the 18th century, to imagine something else"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "a vocabulary dating from the 19th century--is an obstacle to this effort of imagination"

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

He develops a fascinating side point about the relationship between writing, reading, and pleasure. 6/

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "And at the same time, I must say, I want it to give people pleasure, because I do not think that reading must necessarily be"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "And therefore, that it can be read by anyone"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "it seems to me that this is the minimum of politeness also in relation to possible allies and adversaries"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "sufficiently interesting in itself for me to also afford the luxury of being boring"

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

Foucault discusses his experiences teaching in Tunis in 1968 and contrasting the May 1968 Paris uprising with the student movement he had witnessed in Tunis a few months earlier. He describes himself as feeling estranged from May 1968 and its legacy. 5/

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "but in March-April 1968, so just a few weeks earlier, I experienced a student movement there"

Michel Foucault in a blue turtleneck, subtitles read "I saw the police enter the University of Tunis, drive the students down into the basements"

A grainy image of a protest at night, subtitles read "Well, so I didn't experience that. Nor did I experience May '68, sicne I was in Tunisia at the time"

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

They are also in the process of creating a subtitled version (we donated the translation we commissioned to them to hopefully speed up the process). I'll update this when the subtitled version is made public, but for now, some highlights using our in-house translation: 4/

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

After the glowing reception of the documentary at the conference, we encouraged the network (RSI) to look into making it more widely available. We're very happy to say that in response, RSI has already made the documentary publicly available on their website in its original language (link above) 3/

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

The interview that makes up the bulk of the documentary is an extraordinary window into Foucault as a human thinker. It's not just a transcript of his ideas, but a portrait of his playful philosophical spirit. 2/

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 1h

rsi.ch

Michel Foucault: storico della verità - RSI

Ritratti, 1. febbraio 1978

194

Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 4h

This is some Bjork shit

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Barbara J. King @bjking.bsky.social · 7h

"If we want to take them seriously as beings with their own preferences and ways of navigating the world,” Raza said, “I’m not going to make tiny Cartesian modernist villas.” Instead rats particularly enjoy chaotic spaces with lots of entries, exits, places to hide. #rats #multispecies #animals #art

theguardian.com

‘Curious and circumspect creatures’: the artist making sculptures for the rats of New York City

For his latest project, Asad Raza made ‘public art’ for rats with pieces designed to appeal to the city’s maligned rodents

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 2h

we could all use more religious studies cosplay in our lives

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 4h

I hereby grant all authors permission in perpetuity to remove my middle initial from your bibliography for the purpose of getting an article under word limit. Please be advised I have already exercised this prerogative vis-a-vis your middle initial.

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 4h

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 4h

Absolutely. There's not nearly enough talk about how much of the AI revolution has benefited scammers.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

RT @ryankturnbull.bsky.social · 8h

The amount of AI slop senior clergy are unloading on the church right now is seriously causing me a vocational crisis.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 21h

At Monday's hearing, City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz repeatedly asked an OpenAI rep if this tech would write entire essays for students and she repeatedly avoided answering. The entire company is predatory trash run by obfuscators and liars.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 20h

Re-wetting drained peatlands is a powerful and underappreciated climate solution.

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Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

me, agreeing to some gig months in advance: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!! me, when it turns out the passage of time is real and I have to get on a plane: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

me, arriving for the party after spending all day reading old books in the library

Puss in boots with his paws in the air from Doré’s illustrations for Perrault

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Biked across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge to Camden to give a talk to @nickkapur.bsky.social's amazing students this morning, then bounced down to the legendary Lesbiveggies for this glorious fried mushroom po boy

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Dean Dettloff @deandettloff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I feel like if you can't convince your own community to bear the burden of your data centers you shouldn't be allowed to try to convince others.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

“Any time I've asked an AI tool about something I have expertise in, it's almost always wrong. Nobody should trust AI answers, because all you get is all the crap from the internet. If you have bad input, you get bad output.” You don’t say?

businessinsider.com

I’m the CEO of United Airlines and the least stressed person you've ever met. Here's my daily routine.

CEO of United Airlines Scott Kirby shares his daily routine, emphasizing family time, efficient meetings, and the role of AI in enhancing his work.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Erin L. Thompson @artcrimeprof.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Top-tier weird little guy on an incantation bowl from Nippur, Iraq, c 500 BCE, in the Penn Museum.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

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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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Dean Dettloff @deandettloff.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The US uses more power per capita than any other country on the planet already, an immensely unequal situation compared to energy use by the majority of people on the planet; and now it's using even more so that people can vibe code a goofy app or ask a chatbot how to ruin their vacation itinerary.

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

That sequence in _Civil War_ where he talks about Nathan Bedford Forrest as "one of the great geniuses of the Civil War" makes my skin crawl.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

And this is why we don't take Shelby Foote seriously as a historian. #CivilWarMemory

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Central NY folks! I'll be speaking at Hamilton College next week about monuments, power, and emotion. Hope to see some of you there!

Is a Monument a Text?

Is a monument a text? What does a statue mean? How does sculpture signify? This talk will explore how the monumental built environment shapes public life. I propose that we need to move on from the framework of symbolic meaning that is commonly used to explain material culture. Instead, statues conduct power by operating on the register of feeling. This talk will look at the way racialized dynamics of shame and dignity play out around Confederate monuments like Richmond’s Monument Avenue and the Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I hate Religious Studies department Halloween. What do you mean, you're the world religions paradigm

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I hate Religious Studies department Halloween. What do you mean, you're the world religions paradigm

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Nature @nature.com · 06/10/2026

As AI wearables become discreet, cheap and mainstream, they risk normalizing non-consensual recording in everyday spaces, says Joy Buolamwini go.nature.com/3UaLDOr

go.nature.com

Why smart glasses are about to create a major privacy crisis

As AI wearables become discreet, cheap and mainstream, they risk normalizing non-consensual recording in everyday spaces.

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Reposted by Donovan Schaefer

Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

So much of the "quit wasting time and money on humanities programs" comes from dudes with humanities degrees from the Ivies. They get to have a broad, liberal, meaningful education, but it's narrow, lifeless career prep for the rest of y'all.

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's giving "Well plants have feelings, too, you know"

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Megan Goodwin @mpgphd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

the AGGRESSION will not stand.

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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

When the bad man finally drops dead we can all move on. We'll still be sharing a country with countless people who gleefully aided and abetted his crimes but they probably won't do it again

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Donovan Schaefer @feelingtheory.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Fuck we could have used this for our exhibition of Foucault/Philly crossover books last month

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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

vile, disgusting, irredeemable people

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 05/10/2026

Stop giving people shit for comparing them to Nazis and that's a message for the "but we have local examples" crowd as well as the "Nazis were worse" crowd www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

advocate.com

Pete Hegseth’s Air Force Academy speech backdrop draws scrutiny: ‘Accidental Nazi is just not a thing’

An angular eagle behind the defense secretary departed from the Pentagon’s established branding. Critics saw echoes of the Third Reich.

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