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MassAppeal74

@matthewpehl.bsky.social
176 followers 117 following 81 posts

Historian, filmmaker, and Boston Celtics affectioniado

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Reposted by MassAppeal74
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
After years of championing "free speech," Texas lawmakers have enabled a dramatic rise of censorship in Texas universities, banning concepts, canceling courses and closing departments seen as "woke," and even using AI bots as censors. All in the name of freedom. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...
In other professors’ syllabi, the bot flagged the Pulitzer Prize–winning play Angels in America by Tony Kushner, essays by the Mexican American MacArthur genius grant recipient Sandra Cisneros, and materials related to a class about the Holocaust (that professor was told to drop material regarding Nazi persecution of LGBTQ people).

Putting aside the ideological slant of the new rules, the bot, like many large language models, seems to “hallucinate,” or make mistakes. The AAUP lawsuit lists texts banned for their “sex-based ecofeminist framework” and “gendered ecofeminist frameworks.” These phrases might sound persuasively like academese, but the academics behind the lawsuit had never heard of them; these concepts “do not exist,” the complaint says. Matthew Pehl, a history professor at Tech, told me that he knew several people who’d received reports from the system that were “plainly written by an AI that had hallucinated content or confused content from one class to another.”
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The Empire Strikes Back to the Future
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Marty Taylor @realmartyt7.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Ken Paxton took nearly 1,000 trips with state-funded security detail costing millions of dollars www.texastribune.org/2026/10/09/k... #USDemocracy #ProudBlue Another day another Paxton scandal exposed Corrupt Ken took 1000 trips to 19 countries Paxton is a fucking MAGA grifter and always will be
texastribune.org
Ken Paxton took nearly 1,000 trips with state-funded security - The Texas Tribune
The Texas attorney general’s use of a taxpayer-funded travel security detail stands out when compared with his predecessor and other state officials, our analysis found.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 08/10/2026
The Trump administration wants to lift sanctions on a Russian company to benefit mostly Middle Eastern investors (who also happen to be Trump family business partners) www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/w...
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
www.keranews.org/texas-news/2... Interesting….
keranews.org
Texas Tech leaders face questions over their role in Ken Paxton U.S. Senate race fundraiser
Chancellor Brandon Creighton and Cody Campbell, who chairs Tech’s Board of Regents, are identified by their official university titles on the invitation to the Sept. 29 fundraiser. Lubbock County Demo...
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Just say out loud, “courses about the lives and experiences of women should not be core to a general knowledge of an educated person.” What an unbelievably stupid and bigoted proposition!
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Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This Day in Labor History: September 19, 1945. 24 fired female employees of the Lindstrom Tool and Toy Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut picketed outside the factory in protest of their firing to replace with returning men. Let's tell the often untold story of women workers in World War II!
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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 18/09/2026
"Patrick has said he’ll work to penalize school districts that fail to remove questionable books and then released a list of over 2,000 titles… The list includes Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, Elie Wiesel’s Night, and Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner."
liberalcurrents.com
The Future of the Republican Party After Trump Is in Texas
The white male supremacists of the Texas GOP embody what the national party has become.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“For 16 months, UT Rio Grande Valley prof Clyde Barrow has been getting paid not to teach. On May 15, 2025 the school told him he was suspended. To this day, he cannot access his campus office, + the university has given him no clear indication of when-or whether-he will return to the classroom.” 😡
fire.org
Texas university keeps professor on suspension for over a year with no end in sight
UTRGV has kept a tenured professor off campus for 16 months — no hearing, no resolution, and no answer about whether he'll ever teach again.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Here's a gift link to my 9/11 essay in the NYT. Civil libertarians long warned that before giving government new powers, we should consider how an administration with authoritarian ambition might abuse them. We were told that America was too exceptional to elect such a person. Well here we are.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Civil Libertarians Knew This Would Happen. We Should Have Listened. (Gift Article)
The civil libertarians’ warnings have come true.
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Dr. Liz: Life in the Aftertimes @lgkatzphd.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
If Hitchcock made films today.
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Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
In case you missed it, administrators in Texas destroying their own universities are being paid millions of dollars for the privilege. Texas A&M and Texas Tech were #1 & #3 in 2025: www.chronicle.com/article/pres... #academicfreedom #censorship
chronicle.com
How Much Are Public-College Presidents Paid?
Explore our updated dataset of base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 172 chief executives at public doctoral universities and systems in 2025.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 28/08/2026
this seems…insane? and on the face of it, a good example of how not to do historical thinking?
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
higheredadvocate.substack.com/p/censored-u... This essay offers an excellent dissection of the Orwellian phraseology used by politicians seeking to gut higher education.
higheredadvocate.substack.com
Censored Universities Cannot Offer Degrees of Value
What determines whether a college degree is worth it?
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The Death of Open Government in Texas - Texas Monthly This is some critical reporting.
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Be a mensch! Such a wise movie
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Broken lines, broken strings Broken threads, broken springs Broken idols, broken heads People sleepin' in broken beds Ain't no use jivin' Ain't no use jokin' Everything is broken
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Solidarity 👊
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Only the content isn’t “left-leaning.” It’s scholarly. Adjudged by scholarly debate. Often scientific, using empirical evidence (around biological sex, for instance). Really idiotic framing.
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
My friend Lucy Schiller wrote this gorgeous, brilliant, crushingly moving piece. It tells the truth. Please read it! oxfordamerican.org/magazine/iss...
oxfordamerican.org
The Snake Underneath the Chair
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
For personal reasons? 😆
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Good news for polygamy and human sacrifice!
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AAUP @aaup.org · 10/08/2026
You don’t say.
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noam @noamchompers.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
many professors are calling it 'the least surprising result of all time'
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Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 07/08/2026
If you are a lawyer barred in Minnesota, I will personally sponsor your admission to the District Minnesota (you need one other person as well) and teach you how to do habeas cases. It's going to be all hands on deck.
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Stanford AAUP @stanfordaaup.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Universities need to stop half-assing their response to the all-out assault on science (and higher education more broadly) if we are to have a hope of surviving. We should know that a concept of a plan is not going to work. Universities need to coordinate and take bold action or we're cooked.
science.org
University science in the US needs a coherent plan
The Trump administration continues to degrade America’s scientific establishment, causing widespread harm to the country’s broader interests and well-being. Last week, the Association of American Univ...
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migas7.bsky.social @migas7.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
In nearly 12 years as governor, through three elections, Greg Abbott has never faced a poll this close. Nearly 4 in 10 Texans say inflation is the top issue on their minds — and after 12 years of Greg Abbott, they're done waiting around for things to get better. Support Gina Hinojosa.
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
My favorite REM album. Desert island worthy.
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
TX history prof here. We are in a real bind. Obviously, we welcome the scorn and reputational devastation brought on by the far right—it’s very well earned! In the meantime we are still teaching history at as a high a level as possible. But what will be left when this ordeal finally passes?
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 04/08/2026
While this is a HUGE WIN, there's more work to do. It's time to DOUBLE DOWN in pressuring Congress. They need to revoke the OMB Proposal. Members of Congress who fail to stop the Proposal will be out of a job January 3rd, 2027, we will make sure of it. 🧵
The graphic displays a photo of Russell Vought and a news clipping from Politico reading: "Senate finalizes funding patch that would block Trump's grant overhaul. Language is included to delay the president's move to put political appointees in charge of grant approval." The graphic reads:
"WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DELAYED VOUGHT'S OMB GRANT PROPOSAL"
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Can’t recommend this piece enough! Deena brings something legitimately new and insightful to understanding what’s happening in Texas higher education.
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Mar-a-Lago
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Anticipatory obedience will 👏 not👏work👏. Extremists attacking higher education in Texas will not be pacified. ⬇️⬇️ www.texasobserver.org/university-o...
texasobserver.org
University of Houston Nixed Its Gender and Sexuality Classes. That Won’t Stop Texas’ Crusade Against Higher Ed
College administrators wrongly hope that anticipatory obedience will satisfy a GOP-run Texas Legislature that is increasingly hostile toward education.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
“The American Association of University Professors is joined in the Texas A&M lawsuit by four faculty plaintiffs, each of whom says the policy prompted their course to be canceled or not offered.” www.chronicle.com/article/what...
chronicle.com
‘What Are We Even Doing Here?': New Lawsuit Challenges Ban on Race and Gender Topics at Texas A&M
Plaintiffs included four faculty members whose courses were canceled or not offered.
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Steffen Rayburn-Maarup @rayburnmaarup.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I don't think people are ready for this kind of joke yet.
A town sign seen through a train window.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Antonio Ingram, Senior Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund “unelected Chancelors + Board of Regents are implementing a vision for higher education not mandated by Senate Bill 37…we are here to call out the harms professors + students are experiencing under the guise of SB 37 implementation.” 👏
aaup-texas.org
SB37 Never Required Classroom Censorship
CONTACT: Troi Barnes, media@naacpldf.org
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
⭐️”At a competing press conference held by the American Association of University Professors, students and faculty presented a different view. They said their universities are acting beyond the law’s bounds and curtailing politically unpopular courses, degree programs and departments.” ⬇️
statesman.com
Texas lawmakers call SB 37 a success. Professors say it limits teaching.
Texas lawmakers say SB 37 is working. Professors argue some universities are going beyond what the law requires.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 26/07/2026
A gift link to an @theatlantic.com article on the warning signs the White House wants to erect outside one of the most beloved museums in America, warning people away www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
Trump’s Trigger Warnings
The president is ordering new signs outside the Smithsonian to warn Americans about history.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
⭐️⭐️Open Letter Concerning the Tenure Denial of Dr. Iván Chaar López⭐️⭐️ “The future of academic freedom depends upon institutions demonstrating that difficult scholarship will be evaluated on its merits and that faculty governance remains a meaningful safeguard against arbitrary decision making.”
actionnetwork.org
Open Letter Concerning the Tenure Denial of Dr. Iván Chaar López
The denial of tenure to Dr. Chaar López has become a national concern because it raises questions that extend far beyond one faculty member or one institution. Scholars across disciplines depend upon ...
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
“Two courses for the fall of 2026 were canceled outright, while several more had to alter their syllabi to comply. Professors teaching those courses told The Chronicle they weren’t provided with any rationale for why their “exception requests” were partially or fully denied.”
chronicle.com
What Texas A&M Will — and Won’t — Let You Teach
Newly obtained records reveal that two courses for the fall were canceled outright, while administrators demanded changes to others. Instructors say the deliberative process is a black box.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
“It’s not like they were directly censored,” Schrader said of UNT. “There were no politicians that directly came and said, ‘You cannot have this show.’” Schrader said that’s where the real story is. apple.news/AI6xwRwp_QWm...
apple.news
An artist brought 'I.C.E. pops' to a Texas campus. The show was shut down in days — NPR
The Trump administration's executive orders have meant that administrators are questioning what art can — and can't — be seen on campus.
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Kevin Gannon (now a Moo Deng fan account) @thetattooedprof.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
As bad as you thought it was at Texas Tech, it's actually worse.
chronicle.com
A Bombshell Lawsuit Points to an ‘Extraordinary System of Censorship’ at Texas Tech
An 84-page complaint offers a glimpse into how the system’s curricular-review process has operated behind closed doors.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
www.statesman.com/news/educati...
statesman.com
Professors' union sues Texas Tech over LGBTQ, race teaching restrictions
The professors' union says Texas Tech University System policies restricting instruction on LGBTQ identity, race and gender violate the Constitution.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
⭐️⭐️ PRESS RELEASE: Today, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) + its Texas affiliate, Texas AAUP-AFT, sued Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton and members of the Board of Regents over two system memoranda issued in the past eight months. 1/2
aaup-texas.org
AAUP, Texas AAUP-AFT file lawsuit against Texas Tech System
Social: Bluesky @texasaaup.bsky.social
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
lambdalegal.org/newsroom/aau...
lambdalegal.org
Legal Advocates Sue Texas Tech University System Over Censorship Policies Targeting Course Content on Race, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity
A new lawsuit says Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the Texas Tech Board of Regents built a system to police what professors can teach, and that it violates the First Amendment and discriminates again...
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c... Super excited that my submission made the cut!
podcasts.apple.com
An American Playlist
Podcast Episode · Critics at Large | The New Yorker · July 2 · 58m
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MassAppeal74 @matthewpehl.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Trump hijacked US’s 250 anniversary to serve ‘political ideology and pet projects’, congressional report says - The Guardian Good at least to see that one part of Congress has documented this for posterity.
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Robert Downen @robertdownen.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Here’s a member of the Texas State Board of Education openly bragging that they excluded “false religions” when they k-12 overhauled curricula last week.
On Twitter, SBOE board writes that “this is exactly” what they did last week. He is responding to another tweet calling for the Bible to be taught to “the exclusion of all other false religions”
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I Am Not A Lawyer™. (Though I spent a year studying law) Neither is @joshtpm.bsky.social But we both know something about US history (him w PhD), including about anti-Asian immigrant wave of late 1800s. And agree w him 100% here. That this was 5-4 is a relief. That it was not 9-0 is an emergency.
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Sara Spector @miriam2626.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Gina Hinojosa in a fearless speech accepting the Texas Democratic nomination for Governor. Texans are fed up with Greg Abbott pillaging the middle class to give to the mega rich and Gina will make working families her priority.
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