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Joy Brennan

@joybrennan.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.3K following 1K posts

Reading and writing Buddhist philosophy, esp Yogacara & Zen. Teaching religion and philosophy at Kenyon College, leading Kokosing Zen Center (www.kokosingzencenter.org), raising my daughter, learning the native trees & plants of central Ohio

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Reposted by Joy Brennan
David DeWitt @daviddewitt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Commentary- The Ohio gas tax holiday is a last-ditch effort by Republicans to get Ohioans to forget why they face an affordability crisis, why gas prices are so high and who got us here by showering the rich with money and bringing pain to working families ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/30/w...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
Commentary: Will gas tax gimmick make Ohioans forget why we are in this mess and who got us here? • Ohio Capital Journal
The Ohio gas tax holiday is a last-ditch effort by Ohio Republicans to get Ohioans to forget why they face an affordability crisis, why gas prices are so high, and who got us here with policies that…
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Save Ohio Parks @saveohioparks.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
@saveohioparks.bsky.social' Melinda Zemper says $11 M federal lease payment to frack Wayne National Forest "miniscule" compared to public health costs, environmental damage likely to occur. Liv Jacobs The Post: bit.ly/4yZavHN @ehnewsroom.bsky.social @ccbecker271.bsky.social @altnps.bsky.social
bit.ly
Over 2,000 acres of Wayne National Forest leased for fracking
Nearly 3,000 acres in Wayne National Forest have been leased for the development of oil and gas companies. These leases have drawn both support for the economic benefits and sparked debate over forest...
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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 24/09/2026
In the latest development among anti-trans wings of the Democratic Party, the Ohio Democratic Party is now deleting criticism from caucus members of Kaptur's anti-trans ad calling transgender people an "ideology." It appears any dissent over the ad is practically banned on caucus social media.
erininthemorning.com
The Ohio Democratic Party Is Silencing Its Pride Caucus Over Criticism Of Kaptur's "Transgender Ideology" Ad
The Ohio Democratic Party suppressed dissent from within its own Pride Caucus, activists said.
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Ohio Capital Journal @ohiocapitaljournal.com · 25/09/2026
Commentary: Forget about the disastrous war nobody wanted, or your wallet drained by crippling expenses. Instead, be afraid of a small, defenseless community politicians are scapegoating, and reject any candidate who dares acknowledge their humanity 🙄 ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/09/24/p...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
Commentary: Politicians continue campaign of dehumanizing trans people as affordability crisis crushes families • Ohio Capital Journal
Forget about the disastrous war nobody wanted, or your wallet drained by crippling expenses. Instead, be afraid of a small, defenseless community the GOP has scapegoated and reject as extremist any…
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Ohio Citizen Action @ohiocitizen.org · 15/09/2026
New book examines how Ohio's redistricting commission drew maps behind closed doors, maps the state Supreme Court rejected multiple times before they took effect anyway. Author traces how it connects to a wider national push to redraw districts. bit.ly/4d5MLJJ
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Also, as I'm sure @amyactonoh.bsky.social's ppl have noticed, taking the bait and ceding ground doesn't help you win. They are still casting you as a "trans-loving commie." That's what they're gonna do. So why cede ground?
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I want to loop @amyactonoh.bsky.social's ppl into this. Acton took the bait on the MAGA culture war against trans ppl. Why? It makes Dems lose ground on the issues that affect ppl. This is how you dont take the bait. Call them out on it: can't defend their own record, so they raise divisive stuff.
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Reposted by Joy Brennan
Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
In the reconstruction papers, I grabbed with how to improve affordability and control costs without crushing universities. What Third Way wants to do in is to impove affordability and control costs but is ok with crusing universities. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-reconstr...
liberalcurrents.com
The Reconstruction Papers
The Reconstruction Papers is ready to order in the US. US Readers Order Here For nearly a century, the conservative movement's white whale was the government the New Deal and the Great So...
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Evan Thompson @evanthompson.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Evan Thompson has written that very rare book that subjects scientific claims about life and death to the critical scrutiny of human experience itself.... A must-read as a thinking person's meditation on a mortal life with hope." -- Allan Kellehear cup.columbia.edu/book/when-de...
cup.columbia.edu
When Death Comes | Columbia University Press
We have never known more about the biology of death, but we have never been more removed from the experience of dying. Science on its own cannot illuminate t... | CUP
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Mark Z. Jacobson @mzjacobson.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
World's largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown (30 seats) completes first flight "over upstate New York in 27 minutes, reaching an altitude of 1,100 feet and using just $5 worth of electricity" www.travelpulse.com/news/airline...
travelpulse.com
World's Largest Electric Aircraft Completes First Flight
Heart Aerospace has successfully completed the first flight of its X1 electric aircraft, advancing the development of the ES-30 hybrid-electric regional airliner amid rising jet fuel costs.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The perfect MAGA "self-made man." Mom helped him lie to investors about a drug, giving patients false hope. He cashed out for $260m, and then the stock dropped like a rock. One teacher's union retirement fund lost $1 million. Dude made his fortune on the backs of Alzheimer patients and teachers.
oligarchwatch.substack.com
How Vivek Ramaswamy’s mom manipulated Alzheimer’s data and made her son rich
Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire and the Republican nominee in Ohio’s gubernatorial race, served as the frontman for a dubious pharmaceutical company and then cashed out weeks before its dramatic crash.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I did not know this!
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I spent three years working between undergrad and grad school. One of those jobs was so dispiriting that I decided the vision of my desk and the wall in front of me at that job would serve as the "mental shrine" that would get me through grad school.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
In the future I want an academic discipline, and maybe also a religion, devoted to understanding and correcting whatever delusion we've sustained that allows so many to believe that because a computer program can churn out some complex prose, it must have cognition, subjectivity, & agency.
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Ohio Capital Journal @ohiocapitaljournal.com · 10/08/2026
Each of the candidates for Ohio governor now wants to restrict the data center boom, all proposing some form of moratorium unless certain guidelines are met. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/10/a...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
All candidates for Ohio governor have now called for restrictions on data center boom • Ohio Capital Journal
Each of the candidates for Ohio governor now wants to restrict the data center boom, all proposing some form of moratorium unless certain guidelines are met.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I had a colleague tell me I must not trust my students, in response to me saying that I have (mostly) given up on having them write essays outside of class and moved to in-class essay writing. 1/?
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Matt McManus @mattpolprof.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
My review of Patrick Deneen's new book on The Odyssey jacobin.com/2026/08/dene...
jacobin.com
Postliberal Conservatism Can’t Build a Real Community
Patrick Deneen’s new book American Odyssey offers a compelling diagnosis of American dislocation. But its prescription mistakes nostalgia for the shared material commitments that make real community p...
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 09/08/2026
"But there is no honour for the humanities in regaining their standing through the attention of AI companies, if they engage only on the technology industry’s terms. In that case, they will have become important in exactly the wrong way." www.ft.com/content/bdb3...
ft.com
Why this philosopher turned down Anthropic
The AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"The class atmosphere became tense as more students pushed back against this required use of generative AI. They wanted to know what their classmates thought rather than what a large language model produced in response to prompting; they wanted to wrestle with difficult readings and complex ideas"
insidehighered.com
Students as Conscientious Objectors to Gen AI (opinion)
We should listen to them—and treat their objections with respect.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Latest essay: Cynicism and Naïveté in the Summer of a Thousand Fires
To refuse to participate in the shaping of our future is to give it up. Do not be misled into passivity either by false security (“They don’t mean me”) or by despair (“There’s nothing we can do”). Each of us must find our work and do it.
--Audre Lorde
Some people like to strike worldly and cynical postures, perhaps because they don't realize that worldly and cynical are only too often in conflict with each other. Those striking the posture often assume that the more you know about something the darker and grimmer it will get, and therefore, having not really bothered to learn more, they can set themselves up as worldly by waxing cynical. Often they're wrong in assuming that any positive view is the result of – well the favorite word is naïveté – when often the opposite is true. There is naive cynicism, bitter naïveté, confident assumptions that things are worse than they actually are.
One arena in which this is startlingly true is climate. I have been around the climate movement for more than fifteen years. Everyone who's up to their neck in climate politics, economics, and science knows the situation is serious, alarming, dismaying – but not doomed, and so they keep doing what they can do. Their valor, generosity of spirit, dedication is so profoundly beautiful that being around these people one of the rewards for doing climate work (though our main purpose trying to protect the miraculous, gorgeous, astonishing planet and all its elegantly orchestrated systems of life and the support systems of that life).
But outside that world of informed people who are doing the work are people who throw up their hands and give up.  rest at link in next comment
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David DeWitt @daviddewitt.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Commentary: The hatred and racism toward working Haitian families in Ohio is mindless, pathetic, and weak, putting all Black and Brown-skinned people in danger. This frenzy of mindless cruelty must end. From Springfield to Miami, humanity must trump hate. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/05/h...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
Hate and racism toward Haitians in Ohio is mindless, pathetic, and weak • Ohio Capital Journal
The hatred and racism toward working Haitian families in Ohio is mindless, pathetic, and weak, putting all Black and Brown-skinned people in danger. This frenzy of mindless cruelty must end. From…
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Reposted by Joy Brennan
jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
An aircraft passenger oxygen mask: a drop down passenger mask with air bag and yellow plastic mouth and nose cover, oxygen tube has been cut; Demonstration model used by flight attendant crew for passenger instruction. Has text on the side indicating that it's non-functional.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
There are a lot of important things going on. Maybe this isn’t a top twenty concern. But, this is actually workplace harassment, the kind that can get people killed.
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Save Ohio Parks @saveohioparks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Why does BLM want to frack Ohio's only national forest-- the Wayne-- when renewable energy is cheaper, reliable and planet-friendly? Submit snail mail comments only by Aug. 3: bit.ly/4yOsIbO @altnps.bsky.social @altblmatinterior.bsky.social @peopleoverpetro.bsky.social @ohiocitizen.org
bit.ly
Submit a comment to protest fracking Wayne National Forest
The BLM is moving forward with fracking 41 parcels in the Marietta Unit of Wayne National Forest in Washington and Monroe counties, with bidding on these leases scheduled for September 15.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Also true of the Buddhist philosophical concept of no self! As recounted by many, it sounds like we are supposed to accept no self (aka that the self is constructed) then 'transcend' our individual particularities like preferring coffee black or loving bluegrass music or whatever.
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David DeWitt @daviddewitt.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Ohio has made $100 million available for new energy projects through the JobsOhio Energy Opportunity Initiative, but critics are pushing back on the decision to bar renewable energy projects from accessing the funds — and on the lack of transparency. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/07/28/a...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
A $100M Ohio energy fund lacks transparency — and excludes renewables • Ohio Capital Journal
This story was originally published by Canary Media. Ohio has made $100 million available for new energy projects in the state, but critics are pushing back on the decision to bar renewable energy…
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Reposted by Joy Brennan
Emily Atkin @emorwee.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Most people—even many Republican voters!—understand that climate change is worsening wildfires. And yet, we cannot do anything about it, because fossil fuel money is choking both Republican and Democratic politicians, preventing them from even having a *conversation* about solutions.
heated.world
The fossil fuel money behind the GOP’s wildfire blame game
As smoke from Canadian wildfires chokes the United States, Republicans are blaming everyone but the industry heating the planet. Guess why?
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"If someone is basing their votes on which candidate most hates trans people, Democrats will never ever win these people over and it's simply delusional to think they can." @amyactonoh.bsky.social, you listening? This isn't helping you, only hurting you.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
41 Ways to Free Somebody: www.fwd.us/an-everyday-...
fwd.us
An Everyday Guide to Freedom
Learn how to protect your community from incarceration and detention.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 21/07/2026
Billionaire Trump backer Jeffery Hildebrand’s Hilcorp runs old, low-producing “stripper wells,” and is one of the country’s largest emitters of methane, a greenhouse gas that can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. (Published June)
propublica.org
Trump Plans to Protect Methane-Leaking Stripper Wells. This Billionaire Donor Will Benefit.
Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand gave millions to Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign. He is set to reap a financial windfall as the EPA moves to weaken restrictions on wells like his that produce very...
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I try not to lose my sh*t on social media and mostly succeed, but today's reporting from @erininthemorning.com about @amyactonoh.bsky.social deciding to embrace trans-phobia really sent me. Another numbskull Democrat banking on trading away some minority's human rights. And for what?
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This is for @amyactonoh.bsky.social. Here is the correct answer about trans kids in sports. You ready? It goes like this: "Why is my Republican opponent so obsessed with schoolchildren's genitals? I think that's weird and creepy. I support the right of all kids to play sports. Next question."
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
I was excited about @amyactonoh.bsky.social's candidacy here in Ohio until about 15 minutes ago when I read this whole thread and the associated Toledo Blade article. Donated $100 to her just a few weeks ago. Please @amyactonoh.bsky.social earn my vote back by finding your moral compass.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Deeply disappointing to read this about Dem. gubernatorial candidate here in Ohio, @amyactonoh.bsky.social
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Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
It's worth repeating, because every day is a new day, and every fire and flood is a new pressure: the task is to leave coal oil and gas in the ground and to take care of each as we adjust.
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Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
When all of this is over and we're figuring out how to rebuild society, we're gonna need to commission a fleet of Gender Studies departments
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Save Ohio Parks @saveohioparks.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Ohio Power Siting Board hearing on SoftBank's first 2 GW of Piketon data center complex set for July 30. bit.ly/3SSNK8P Largest AI project globally will create pollution equal to NYC. How can @brickergraydon.bsky.social defend this project? Where are ITS ethics? @jasonsalley.bsky.social
bit.ly
Request Rejected
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Trip Kirkpatrick @triplingual.myatproto.social · 15/07/2026
Fellow white people trying to do and be better, there are models. (gift 🎁 link) www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/u...
nytimes.com
Ed King, 89, Scarred Veteran of Mississippi’s Civil Rights Struggle, Dies (Gift Article)
A minister disfigured in an attack on his life, he became what one historian called “the most visible white activist in the Mississippi movement.”
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Rachel Coyle Ohio @rachelcoyle.wtf · 14/07/2026
Join CAIR Ohio on 7/23/26 to learn how a bill becomes a law in #Ohio and how YOU can impact state laws & policies! REGISTRATION LINK: bit.ly/caircareshowthingswork @howthingsworkoh.bsky.social
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Marcy Kaptur @repmarcykaptur.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
ACA cuts caused the nation's largest loss in coverage in Ohio—with enrollment down 32.4%. The GOP cut your care and gave massive tax breaks to Billionaires. Hardworking families deserve and need access to affordable healthcare, not tax cuts doled out to the most well off.
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Save Ohio Parks @saveohioparks.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Ohio coulda been a contender in the 21st century energy grid buildout. @zhirji.bsky.social @financialpost.com: bit.ly/4goifNi Ohio GOP quashed 5.3 GW of wind and solar over the last 12 years. Is it ignorant, or corrupt? And why didn't @jobsohio.bsky.social see this? @kentksmith.bsky.social
bit.ly
US Residential Solar Installations Set to Stall for Years
While most of the country is experiencing a decline, two states are bucking the trend: California and Florida.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
When people ask me what the phrase "artificial intelligence" means, my short answer is, it means "venture capitalists, give me some money". But OUP asked me for a longer answer, given here and summarized in the section headings: doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Screencap of page for linked article, reading: 

Contents
Introduction
AI Is a Research Field
AI Is an Approach to Cognitive Science
AI Is a Parlor Trick
AI Is an Ideology
AI Is a Way to Hide and Devalue Human Labor
AI Is a Way to Shift Accountability
AI Is a Way to Centralize Power
Conclusion
Notes
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Voices for Vaccines @voices4vaccines.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Disney's 'Dog with a Blog' ended in 2015. Voices for Vaccines' dog with a blog starts TODAY! www.voicesforvaccines.org/heres-what-i...
voicesforvaccines.org
Here’s What I Know About Vaccines. Trust Me. I’m a Goldendoodle.
My name’s Harvey! Here’s the story of how one of my friends wasn’t vaccinated and got kennel cough.
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Rep. Joyce Beatty @repbeatty.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Republican health care cuts caused Ohio’s ACA enrollment to drop by over 32%—the highest decline in the country. Ohio families are losing health coverage while Trump demands $350 billion for his War Department.
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Joy Brennan @joybrennan.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Any of these people could have chosen to use their minds and energy to work at reducing the suffering of sentient beings. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/b...
nytimes.com
The Revenge of the Philosophy Majors
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Co-signed. Also, every time you see that framing, note how it zeroes in on what the specific "AI" system is allegedly doing and takes a similarly narrow view of how such tasks show up in people's work. >>
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Haymarket Books @haymarketbooks.org · 02/07/2026
Minneapolis! Join @jwashing.bsky.social for launch of his new book HOW TO CLOSE A CAMP: Dispatches from the Fight Against Immigrant Detention at @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social, in conversation with Kira Kelley and Fatima Insolucion Saturday, July 25th at 4:00 pm RSVP to attend:
moonpalacebooks.com
Book Launch: How to Close a Camp | Moon Palace Books
Your neighborhood independent bookstore located in south Minneapolis. Selling new and used books since 2012.
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Association for Asian Studies @asianstudies.org · 02/07/2026
In "Folklore, Popular Culture, and Hometown Yōkai in the Twenty-First Century," Michael Dylan Foster introduces readers to distinct local yōkai that reflect specific features of a given community and landscape. Read it now in the Spring 2026 issue of EAA!
educationaboutasia.org
Folklore, Popular Culture, and Hometown Yōkai in the Twenty-First Century
Within the folklore of Japan, the word yōkai generally refers to all matter of supernatural creatures, monstrous beings, spirits, and strange phenomena. This article explores what I call “hometown yōkai”—distinct local yōkai that reflect specific features of a given community and landscape. On a small island off the coast of Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern tip of Kyūshū island, for example, a murderous creature known as gamishiro once haunted the bay—and children were often warned to be careful about where they went swimming. In Tokushima Prefecture, on the eastern end of Shikoku...
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Bryan Lowe @bryandaniellowe.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Check out the StoryMap I made about Kenneth Ch'en, one of the founding figures of Buddhist Studies in North America, who also led a fascinating life: arcg.is/1uaGG51
arcg.is
Kenneth Ch'en (1907–1993)
A Life of the Move
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