Sign in

Matthew McMullen

@mcmullen.bsky.social
1.8K followers 749 following 928 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.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
The Onion @theonion.com · 8h
From The Archive: DOJ To Bring Back Firing Squad As Means Of Entertainment
theonion.com
DOJ To Bring Back Firing Squad As Means Of Entertainment
WASHINGTON—In an effort to provide some joy to the nation and boost overall well-being, Justice Department officials announced plans Monday to bring back firing squads as a means of entertainment. “Fo...
732248583
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
petition requesting the Ministry of Education recognize part time lectures as academic faculty. Part-time lectures 非常勤講師 are underpaid and receive no benefits. They are not even given titles, and, as those of you who work in Japan know, title is everything. Sign the petition.
change.org
あなたの声がチカラになります
「非常勤講師」にも職名を!大学教員としての承認を求めるための署名 Count Us in University Faculty! *English ver. included
032
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
“We don’t respect ICE” was a good line.
000
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
My sense as an editor is that APA social sciences style citations ARE just references to book titles and summaries. I want to see the precise page numbers for this information.
010
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 07/10/2026
Joined @arimelber.bsky.social on MSNOW talk about the AI bubble, Treasuries and the growing cost of AI data center debt, and how Oracle and Paramount’s debt threatens Larry Ellison’s future.
2158185
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It’s annoying but convenient for putting all of the data in one place.
010
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I take screenshots of pdfs or photos of passages in books and insert them in my notes in Obsidian.
110
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I once lived in a basement apartment in Hawaii. The cockroaches were the size of sparrows. Locals called them B52s because they will bomb you in the dark.
000
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I teach a course ostensibly about Football but we primarily discuss American nationalism, concepts of masculinity, and capitalism. By far the class I most enjoy teaching.
021
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Soccer Player Hits Post, Then Himself
ALT: Soccer Player Hits Post, Then Himself
000
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Bryan Lowe @bryandaniellowe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Tonight! You can still sign up.
032
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Curiously this is how university admin works today.
000
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.
000
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Seems like Apple’s solution for storing AI data is to use their customers hard drives.
010
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.
011
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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.
12841236
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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 $131.5M.
340250584784
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
If we had a functioning government and the mainstream media were as diligent as ProPublica, a substantial portion of congress would probably be revealed to have made similar deals.
000
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
He probably assumed she was talking about the amazing ballroom she was building. What else would the leader of a country have to talk about.
020
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
UKABS - UK Association of Buddhist Studies @ukabs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Latest issue of Buddhist Studies Review (Vol. 46 Issue 1 2026) is now available: journal.equinoxpub.com/BSR/index #buddhiststudies #buddhistpublications
journal.equinoxpub.com
Buddhist Studies Review
Buddhist Studies Review is published by Equinox on behalf of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies.The journal seeks to publish quality articles on any aspect of Buddhism.
022
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Barbecuing in the rain to honor the ancestors on higan.
020
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A literal own goal
000
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Joseph Fasano @josephfasano.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I'm teaching an online class on "Being Human Together in a Time of AI," starting tomorrow (9/20). Registration closes today, 9/19, at 5:00 PM Eastern. Join us to discuss what it means to be human, how we arrived at the AI crisis, and what we can do. For details, email Joseph.Fasano@gmail.com.
0206
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Society for the Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties Studies @ssycds.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Job alert: The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in either middle period China (Six Dynasties to Yuan) or modern China (late Qing to present). Link in comments.
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
225
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
181140946478
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
As an academic in the humanities, my midlife crisis consisted of finding a job.
010
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Finally a sunny day. Seems like complaining about the weather works.
110
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.
0211
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I’m used to a week or so of rain in 梅雨, but this is ridiculous for September.
020
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Yes
000
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.
280
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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.
051
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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...
023
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.
070
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
Jane @jane.meangirls.online · 13/09/2026
You’d think differently if there were democrats running on the Genocide for Insufferable Dorks platform.
412211
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.
0112
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
We had 10 minutes of sunshine in Nagoya yesterday, and I felt like cicada emerging from a wet hole in the ground. Raining again today, of course.
010
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Turned into a good game
100
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I hope they both lose somehow.
110
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Or, they are preparing a threat for when the bubble bursts: bail us out or our AI will kill everyone.
010
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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
003
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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
001
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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
002
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.
010
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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.
149107961820
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
That works!
010
Matthew McMullen @mcmullen.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Will definitely check these out. But the provided link is not working
110
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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...
001
Reposted by Matthew McMullen
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
11813