iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

One thing is that even if you pick a great "diverse" school, that's let's say 50% black. Now you gotta learn about within school segregation. i.e., who gets to be in those accelerated classes.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I've been replaying my prior decision in light of the NHJ piece. I did rule out some places that would have made my kid an "only". I guess one advantage of the DC area is that there are a lot of places not like that.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

People *loved* talking about the local schools. Which ones were "good" or "bad". That kind of became my main hobby for a while. you could definitely write a very funny half serious book that is just "conversations with white parents about the local schools."

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

more on school selections... when I got offered my job in the DMV the question of where my kid (2 yo at the time) would go to school came up almost immediately. Not just pre-school but the whole K-12. Before we even moved there.

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Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 25/09/2026

Tell the world how you feel about AI. Original watercolors, hand-painted and unique. They don't scale. They don't make "economic sense." Whatever artologica.etsy.com

purple watercolor with salt effect
NO AI ONLY BRAIN in black text

blue watercolor with brain image
NO AI ONLY BRAIN in black text

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Wisconsin finally got beat. shout out to old school photoshopping.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

the algorithm really got me with these NHJ reaction videos.

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MapQuest @mapquest.com · 21/09/2026

Not leaving.

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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Don’t forget, this is how the Kennedy center dismantling started. The folks at your institution doing equity work might be the first targeted, but the institutions themselves are always the target. Hope folks have learned this now.

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ᴢᴇɴ sɪᴍᴍᴏɴs @killlthehype.blacksky.app · 21/09/2026

Good morning everyone 🌞. Today is the 21st of September.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

These school decisions are tough. In particular for black folks with a few resources & options. My parents talked about it constantly. They made a particular choice with me, I've done things a little differently with my kids. Tough to judge. either way, we are checking our kids' math homework.😂

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Semi regular reminder that when (white) men declare the end of humanity they usually mean the end of their dominance.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

or at least check on them. 😬

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I've got 57 lectures on this topic from my mom embedded in my memory. It's a lot to sort through. I just know she is gonna eat this article up though.

static.klipy.com

Woman in Sunglasses Blowing Kiss and Gesturing

ALT: Woman in Sunglasses Blowing Kiss and Gesturing

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Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026

Americans: oh, look, a systemic issue. I will solve it individually

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Lisa Diedrich @lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

UVA alum Carrington Epperson: “I recommend anyone to take an African American studies course because you will never understand how much you weren’t taught about it before.”

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I see what we are doing today.

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The Language of Mathematics by Raúl Rojas is a wide-ranging & beautifully illustrated collection of short, colorful histories of the most commonly used symbols in #mathematics. Now in #paperback! Check out a free preview: buff.ly/gHscx7J #Math #History

The Language of Mathematics: The Stories behind the Symbolsby Raúl Rojas. A marvelous compendium of mathematical symbols and their fascinating histories.

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Paul Poast @profpaulpoast.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

In the modern world of GPS, does the appearance of physical maps matter? Yes, because they play a crucial role in shaping how we (including policy makers) think about the world. I explain why in my latest for @wpr.bsky.social www.worldpoliticsreview.com/maps-geopoli...

worldpoliticsreview.com

Can a New Map Change the World?

African nations are pushing to abandon the antiquated Mercator projection, drawing attention to the historical and geostrategic significance of maps.

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Bryan Toporek @btoporek.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

They don't call Mina the GOAT for nothing

Mina Kimes in WIRED on why Bluesky is great and Twitter sucks shit:

"Favorite social network: Bluesky
I post everywhere to try and get my work out there and get it seen and read. But I would say the one that I use the most is Bluesky. While it has its flaws, there's definitely the occasional sports ball person in my mentions. I’ve found the interactions on there are the most like interactions I have with people in the real world, which is a rarity on the social internet these days.

Least favorite social network: Twitter
Everyone says Twitter, right? Which is a bummer because it used to be really fun and essential for news. When breaking news was happening, it was a place you'd go to get on-the-ground impressions. You could meet friends, you could find new writers and comedians, and all of that feels lost just because Elon completely killed the vibe. And I say that because obviously he's done things far more serious in terms of poisoning the discourse, and the place is a cesspool for racism and misogyny and misinformation, but it's also just, like, a terrible fucking hang. Everyone either seems miserable or is determined to make other people miserable.

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The National Institutes of Health, the premier funder of biomedical research in the world, insisted most research should include female subjects. Circa 2016.

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Andrea Lathrop @cabernet.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This is exactly the original use case and whole raison d'être for computational models of minds and brains, and if that is what it all circles back to, I will be extremely happy.

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bobo tucci @no-flashlight.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Average MLB player Wikipedia page

Wikipedia sections:

Early life
Baseball
Racially insensitive comments
Personal life and family

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

One thing I wanted to say at the time but couldn’t find the strength: regular people have no idea how academics publish books. We rarely have editorial or fact-checking support or services. Academic stars — overwhelming white men — get those resources but we almost never do.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

is this black lanterns show just about a long interview for a job he probably won't get?

static.klipy.com

Ive Done That Been There

Alt: Ive Done That Been There

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Berna Devezer @devezer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Maybe, sometimes, it's also possible to read the work of people who actually have been studying the countless reasons why stuff can fail to replicate or to understand that replication is not the only method we have to learn or to verify? Idk. Just saying. But sure go ahead and ask AI why won't you.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 27/08/2026

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com Dolly Parton “didn’t see herself as a saint,” our columnist, Tressie McMillan Cottom, writes. “She identified as something we needed even more: a writer.”

nyti.ms

Opinion | Loving Dolly Parton Was Easy. Understanding Her Was Hard.

She didn’t see herself as a saint; she identified as something we needed even more: a writer.

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HALLOWEENTime, M.D.🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈 @saigontimemd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Incredible; a machine that does a person's job but slower and it requires 1-2 other people to walk near it and make sure it doesn't mess up. Truly a marvel of innovation.

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Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi @roywoodjr.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Swung by Delaware State University earlier this year to cover their baseball program. Maybe I'm a little late to the party, but it's my first time seeing a robot paint the field. What say you, baseball purists?

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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Another reminder that, amidst the myriad challenges facing academia, researchers also have to re-imagine the political economy of publishing. The biggest academic publishers (Wiley, Springer, Elsevier, etc) are also among the most restrictive and rapacious.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

we have pseudo-intellectual professors at home. 😂

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

though my worst "I need to ask more questions about these invitations" situation was grad school in the midwest. Had to skedaddle!

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

as a black alum of a fancy southern prep school I of course have a million thoughts and stories related to this incident. I do remember once going to a lake house but refusing to go out on the lake itself. Maybe I thought that was a good compromise. 😬

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Stanford Black Academic Development (BAD) Lab @stanfordbadlab.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Many thanks to @marciegeffner.bsky.social for her thoughtful review of our new book! We're grateful for the opportunity to have the book's insights on Black faculty experiences in academia highlighted and shared. Read the review: marciegeffner.substack.com/p/book-revie...

marciegeffner.substack.com

Book Review: ‘Lifting As We Climb: How Black Faculty Make Professional and Linguistic Choices to Thrive in Higher Education’ by Kendra Calhoun, et. al.

How Black language scholars survive and thrive in academia

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

For when you're trying to explain that AI is pattern recognition that doesn't actually understand anything.

A list of top 90s Black movies that includes Meet Joe Black

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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Call your reps -- blue, red, purple, it doesn't matter -- about the proposed OMB science funding rule. The house can stop this. Let them know it matters for your district.

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Richard. @pratherlab.bsky.social · 04/06/2026