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Matthew McMullen

@mcmullen.bsky.social
1.8K followers 748 following 923 posts

Research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture and editor of the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. Follow @jjrs-nirc.bsky.social for journal and institute updates.

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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Soccer Player Hits Post, Then Himself
ALT: Soccer Player Hits Post, Then Himself
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Bryan Lowe @bryandaniellowe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Tonight! You can still sign up.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
More on apple's new AI by force OS. byteiota.com/apple-intell...
byteiota.com
Apple Intelligence macOS 27: The Off Switch Is Gone
Apple removed the master disable toggle for Apple Intelligence in macOS 27. Your previous opt-out doesn't carry over. Here's what changed and what you can still do.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Seems like Apple’s solution for storing AI data is to use their customers hard drives.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Yeah, this sucks. I’ve been turning off this bull shit for years, and now they’re made that impossible. Tahoe is bad enough. Gonna pass on this one.
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 24/09/2026
This may end up being the most consequential story I’ve written, or one of them. “How many AI data centers are actually functional” is the most obvious question of the bubble - and the most important answer to understand what’s going on - yet answering it with any specificity has taken years.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 22/09/2026
DoorDash has ripped off more than 260,000 NYC delivery workers. We’re making them pay $131.5 million — the largest worker settlement in City history. This is New York, where hard work pays and greed will cost you.
DoorDash messed up.
They repeatedly left more than 260,000 NYC delivery workers underpaid or paid late, causing them immense stress and financial difficulty.
That's unacceptable.
We've secured a $131.5M settlement from
DoorDash - the largest worker settlement in NYC history and largest delivery worker settlement in
American municipal history.
Every worker will be paid what they are owed, and every company will be forced to abide by the laws of this city.

LOGOS:
The OFFICE of the MAYOR of NYC
NYC Consumer and Worker Protection Mayor Mamdani and Deliveristas representatives stand behind a podium.Mayor Mamdani signs a giant check.Three delivery workers holding a giant fake check for $131.5M.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If we had a functioning government and the mainstream media were as diligent as ProPublica, a substantial portion of congress would probably be revealed to have made similar deals.
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UKABS - UK Association of Buddhist Studies @ukabs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Latest issue of Buddhist Studies Review (Vol. 46 Issue 1 2026) is now available: journal.equinoxpub.com/BSR/index #buddhiststudies #buddhistpublications
journal.equinoxpub.com
Buddhist Studies Review
Buddhist Studies Review is published by Equinox on behalf of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies.The journal seeks to publish quality articles on any aspect of Buddhism.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Barbecuing in the rain to honor the ancestors on higan.
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Joseph Fasano @josephfasano.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'm teaching an online class on "Being Human Together in a Time of AI," starting tomorrow (9/20). Registration closes today, 9/19, at 5:00 PM Eastern. Join us to discuss what it means to be human, how we arrived at the AI crisis, and what we can do. For details, email Joseph.Fasano@gmail.com.
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Society for the Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties Studies @ssycds.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Job alert: The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in either middle period China (Six Dynasties to Yuan) or modern China (late Qing to present). Link in comments.
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As an academic in the humanities, my midlife crisis consisted of finding a job.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Finally a sunny day. Seems like complaining about the weather works.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The notion of “AI competency” is absurd. The entire point of the software is to replace human competency with digital automation. It’s like spending millions of dollars on a program to teach babies the proper way to shit in a diaper.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This is the third straight week of rain and we are expecting a typhoon next week. I’m not going to lie, it’s starting to affect my mental health.
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Jolyon Thomas @jolyonbt.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Very excited for this talk by a leading ethnographer of contemporary Japanese Buddhism at Penn on Thursday! Population decline, waste, material religion, and more! In-person and online options.
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Contemporary Japan @cj-jrnl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
#OpenAccess Was it just social pressure? @paul-jokr.bsky.social @gabrielevogt.bsky.social & James Farrer examine how subsidies and community ties shaped restaurants’ #COVID-19 self-restraint in Japan, challenging accounts emphasizing peer pressure. #FoodStudies #自粛 doi.org/10.1080/1869...
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Are universities unethical for not hiring much needed faculty and instead paying minimum wages to adjuncts? No, it’s the PhDs who are wrong for getting a PhD!
Principal Skinner meme with no text.
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Jane @jane.meangirls.online · 13/09/2026
You’d think differently if there were democrats running on the Genocide for Insufferable Dorks platform.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The policy is even more risky for PhD students because if the past decades tell us anything it’s that dems will do little to reverse it if they regain power. Probably just means test the tax rate. So the chances that you’ll be kicked out of the country or charged a tax to stay is rather high.
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H-Net Job Guide @h-net-job-guide.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
New job: History of Modern China University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70356
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H-Net Job Guide @h-net-job-guide.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
New job: Assistant Professor of Art History Wesleyan University (Connecticut, USA) jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70357
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H-Net Job Guide @h-net-job-guide.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
New job: Professor of Japanese (Assistant/Associate/Full) Furman University jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70358
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Fellow academics, this is what they (admin) took from us. I bet there were some amazing faculty parties at this house.
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Ed Markey @edmarkey.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
In Massachusetts, we have a responsibility to protect the vulnerable and stand up for those who need it. We don’t throw trans kids under the bus for political points. We protect them—and all of our neighbors—because trans rights are human rights.
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Contemporary Japan @cj-jrnl.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When the party ends: Ahead of #Okinawa 's Sept 13 election, read Xiaoyu Wang’s analysis of occupied desire, colonial complicity & illusory recognition in Ōshiro Tatsuhiro’s “The Cocktail Party” — through a lens on Okinawa’s complex ties with the mainland & US #大城立裕 #カクテルパーティー doi.org/10.1080/1869...
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Japan Past & Present @jppinfo.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Online registration is now open for Japan Past & Present’s symposium, "Rural Medieval: Tabihikitsuke & Sixteenth-century Japan," to be held at UCLA with virtual streaming from October 2–3, 2026. japanpastandpresent.org/en/jpp-event...
A poster with a white background overlaid with close-ups from a medieval Japanese map, showing foliage, roads, and a small structure. The title of the symposium is displayed with logos for the Yanai Initiative and Japan Past & Present. The titles read: Rural Medieval: Tabihikitsuke & Sixteenth-century Japan 中世の村──『旅引付』と16世紀の日本
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I hope in Season 5 Reacher goes after the SOBs who added commercials to prime videos.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“They’re brash and messy on social media and dress like a cultural studies faculty meeting at Brown.”
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Pau Pitarch @paupitarch.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Open access book _Modern Japanese Literary Studies_ (University of Michigan Press, 2026) Edited by Seth Jacobowitz and Jonathan E. Abel
fulcrum.org
Modern Japanese Literary Studies
<P><I>Modern Japanese Literary Studies</I> brings together a broad range of interdisciplinary and institutional perspectives on the state of the field and presses for overdue recognition that Japanese...
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Taught my first 100 % analog class last term. I even brought an analog clock to keep time. By far the funniest class I have had in a long time.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Minority Report Looking
Alt: Scene from Minority Report
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“Road congestion ahead due to water submersion” was a first from Navi. I finally feel like I’m living on an island.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This would be the equivalent of 243 yen per liter in Japan. When it got close to 200, Takaichi was handing out fuel subsidies like they were Halloween candy.
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
She was designing weapons for the US military while her husband was the head of the Philippines during Japanese occupation. I feel like there’s a really good biopic in this story.
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Nicolete Burbach @nicoleteburbach.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Seeing as this is going around, I figure it's actually worth commenting on as a trans Catholic theologian. 🧵
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Seems that Disney Plus in Japan finally has access to Espn. After years of battling with VPNs, this is like an early Christmas present.
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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Rough Draft vs Final Draft
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H-Net Job Guide @h-net-job-guide.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
New job: Postdoctoral Fellowships at the European University Institute European University Institute jobs.h-net.org/jobs/70289
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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 03/09/2026
“Taking from students the analytical tools to recognize the often invisible or unarticulated ways that religion influences their lives is tantamount to rendering them unable to recognize the forces that are working across societies around the world” www.liberalcurrents.com/religion-hum...
liberalcurrents.com
Religion, Humanities, and the Public Good
The right wing's assault on Religion and Humanities programs is an assault on our ability to understand the world, from Hindutva abroad to Christian Nationalism at home.
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JJRS + NIRC @jjrs-nirc.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
reposting with alt text
Author and editor discuss the timeline for publication. Editor informs author that they need to properly format their manuscript. Author refuses, throws chair at editor, and demands the journal change its style to accommodate their preferences.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 02/09/2026
Human beings are *too valuable* to be priced. We have an entire, *sui generis* way of balancing the conflicting interests of human rights. 21/
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 02/09/2026
The fact that your mother is your mother "belongs" to both you and her, as well as your grandparents, your father, your siblings and your kids. 15/
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Contemporary Japan @cj-jrnl.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Meet CJ's Managing Editor Isaac Gagne at the #EAJS2026 @eajs.eu roundtable 'International Journal Publishing in Japan', alongside @mcmullen.bsky.social, Edward Boyle, Ellen Van Goethem, and Sebastian Maslow @ssjj-jrnl.bsky.social to discuss publishing opportunities 📅Sun 30 August, 14-15:30, Rm 4.11
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Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Yet another reason to join a union.
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Top-tip: if anyone wants to give you the kind of "mentorship" that you being unionised would prevent, get a new mentor fast.
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