Sign in

Rebecca Scales

@rebeccapscales.bsky.social
1.7K followers 521 following 1.7K posts

Historian; Rutgers Ph.D.; thinking about radio, listening, & sound; empire; tech, medicine, & disability; now writing about #polio in France. Baker & dog parent. Often exasperated. Tired of sitting still.

PostsRepliesMedia
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Medicine on social media these days
000
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Unless Congress reclaims its power, this will just become the new normal. A good first step would be to impeach Vought. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
8830751176
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
These days I feel like I wake up every morning wondering how bad American academe can get before ??? and the answer is, I know, much much worse
030
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"The U.S. and Russian teams also removed a provision requiring that humans review military targets developed by AI before a strike..." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
U.S., Russia stripped human oversight from global AI weapons pact
The two nations weakened a range of safeguards in a landmark U.N. effort to try to regulate the use of lethal autonomous weaponry. The global negotiations earlier this month marked the furthest progre...
116954571
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I've heard that there are a bunch of new surveillance cameras my own campus too but they don't appear related to surveying AI usage
010
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I mean ...
110
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
and it's only Tuesday!
130
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This seems like a good story for Mainers to read today: www.propublica.org/article/fbi-...
propublica.org
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way
After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini...
000
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The provost of Dartmouth, at which I teach, has been using AI to write both academic papers & national op-eds, according to brave reporting by @thedartmouth.bsky.social. Many students are already bitter about AI. This leaves us as faculty no ground to stand on. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
thedartmouth.com
Op-eds, academic articles by Provost Santiago Schnell flagged as ‘AI-written’ by ‘near-zero error’ AI detector Pangram
Schnell said he used artificial intelligence for “making writing processes more efficient,” but that AI was not a “substitute” for his own “intellectual judgment or authorship.”
701480490
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The despair emanating from pretty much everyone I know in higher education right now is ....
150
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A reminder to check your titers if you were vaccinated in the 70s/80s. www.wxxinews.org/2026-09-17/m...
wxxinews.org
Measles spreads as state begins new vaccination effort; new research shows a way to target efforts
With 51 measles cases reported as of Sept. 12, New York surpasses 2025 totals. New Cornell research reveals hidden outbreak risks in school vaccine data.
010
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Europeans don't have this problem, someone *on here* once tried to tell me
030
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
How is it possible to be this tired in week 4?
120
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Also this whole thread
092
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This entire thread ...
010
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Teaching is learning. Last week, students told me what a "meat proxy" is. This week, a student said "my chemistry prof calls ChatGPT his girlfriend." Adults, I hate to tell you but you are not impressing the youth. #StuffmystudentssayaboutAI
1132
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How is this the world we are living in right now?
100
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When you're just catching up to this news 😱
010
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Charlotte Meijer @chrmeijer.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
"AI flattens the historical record by relying on the most popular sources, eliminating minority voices" www.hnn.us/article/ai-i...
hnn.us
AI Is an Anti-Primary Source Machine
Real voices from the past are threatened by chatbots designed to amplify — and ultimately become — the loudest voices in the room.
02416
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Rochesterians: my colleague Tamar Carroll has organized a 2-day symposium at @eastmanmuseum.bsky.social on LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality featuring a terrific line-up of speakers. On also display: her curated exhibit about Kodak's Lambda network. www.eastman.org/event/free-a...
eastman.org
LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality Symposium | George Eastman Museum
Join us for two days of talks and discussions about LGBTQ workplace rights, queer photography, and museum education, in conversation with the exhibition Picturing Equality: The Lambda Network at Kodak...
121
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is the company some folks think it's okay to give their personal information to ... or to use to "triage" and respond to their emails prospect.org/2026/09/09/a...
prospect.org
Anthropic Is Building a Predictive Surveillance System to Monitor Activists - The American Prospect
New hires and comments in interviews show that the AI giant is using its capabilities against dissenters.
000
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
AI in the academy is 100% a labor problem and it's the one that no one will do anything about.
0359
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
My student introduced me to some new vocabulary today:
Meat proxy: a person who forwards AI-generated text, code, or other output without reading, understanding, or validating it. The person acts only as a relay between the AI system and the intended recipient.
04811
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Got out of class and spent over an hour in my office talking to my favorite students about how much they all hate A.I., including the Comp Sci major who just switched degree programs to our vaguely digital humanities program. Listen to the kids.
030
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
When slimming down curricula is used for ideological ends: www.statesman.com/news/educati...
statesman.com
UT proposes cutting more than 100 'narrow' courses from core this spring
UT courses on slavery, race, sexuality and environmental history are among those that could stop counting toward UT's core.
000
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
JUST IN: A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration's lawsuit against Rochester, NY over its sanctuary city policies, saying they don't improperly impede federal immigration enforcement. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
151287370
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
🚨EMERGENCY EPISODE: A bombshell whistleblower complaint, submitted to Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office, reveals that the U.S. Postal Service allegedly kept building a new system to restrict mail-in ballots even after federal courts ordered it to stop it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySb4...
youtube.com
BREAKING: Whistleblower Exposes Trump's Secret USPS Plan to Reject Thousands of Ballots at Once
YouTube video by Democracy Docket
14427971452
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Seems problematic
010
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Beth Macy (!!) is running for office! How lucky would southwest VA be to get her elected as their congressional rep! Read her books if you don't know who she is! www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
This Appalachian memoir author is running as a Democratic contrast to JD Vance
Beth Macy is challenging Rep. Ben Cline in a bright-red Virginia district, hoping her own story and the stories she told about the region will win back rural and working-class White voters.
140
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Ronan Farrow @ronanfarrow.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Georgia audited its own data center tax breaks and found that the state gave up $474 million in sales taxes in one year—and got back just $41 million from the industry. At least 38 states have deals like this. #AI #News #US
311431672
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I hope someone studies how Claude talks to you like the dude in your grad seminar that you just wanted to shut up
031
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The uni is in a budget crisis, don't you know, but the radiator in my office (which I can't control) is hot, which might explain why it's so hot despite the AC being on. But we have no money for anything, you know.
020
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Legitimately one of the best podcasts I've listened to: radiolab.org/podcast/radi...
radiolab.org
Radiolab Presents: Dolly Parton's America
We enter the Dollyverse.
000
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
happy first day of school! teaching college does not get easier. below are some resources for solidarity, courage, inspiration, collaboration first: assignment ideas, syllabus language, memes and more for the pro-learning classroom against-a-i.com
against-a-i.com
AGAINST AI -
522880
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
At "Rally for Democracy" protest in Mount Kisco New York, Aug 22 2026:
7248371037
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
What are some of the elite schools doing? As opposed to the third-tier ones who talk a good game? chicagomaroon.com/53262/news/s...
chicagomaroon.com
Sosc Core to Institute AI Ban, Technology-Free Classrooms This Fall
All social science Core classes will transition to an “analog” approach for the upcoming academic year, restricting in-classroom technology use and banning AI-assisted writing and grading for students...
030
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Political scientists need to read more history
2538
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
so apparently these days you have to fill out a credit application to get a new phone, as if you were buying a mortgage?
100
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Lemme guess, it's all going to be covered in gold leaf?
000
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
Connor Ewing @cmewing.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
University leadership: We stand ready to support our faculty as they confront the disruptions & uncertainty caused by AI. Faculty: Great! We'll need smaller class sizes, especially for incoming students and— University leadership: Lol, no. We meant like subscriptions to Claude.
6477135
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
This 100% tracks with the convos I had with students last year. 1st & 2nd year students insisting that AI had already ruined a lot of their learning in high school and they want something different and better.
160
Reposted by Rebecca Scales
John Aerni-Flessner @lesothojohn.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This is an absolute travesty. Northwestern has, probably, the 2nd best library collection for African History/Studies in the USA (behind Yale and ahead of MSU, UCLA, etc). A self-inflicted wound that is absolutely, 100% unnecessary given the massive wealth of Northwestern--north of $15 billion.
thepurplewire.beehiiv.com
SCOOP: Northwestern moves to close Program of African Studies
471937806
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Today in national stereotypes (or rather, 1951): "The American stereotype of a Frenchman is a being who bubbles like a bottle of champagne when the cork flies out. The true Frenchman, by contrast, is apt to be mentally stolid and leery of enthusiasm."
100
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Aug 8. I have not finished anything I wanted to do this summer and am in a total state of denial.
170
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
For your AI needs: chiengpt.netlify.app
chiengpt.netlify.app
ChienGPT
Un système d’IA conversationnel encore mieux que ChatGPT. Éventuellement, ça peut vous pousser à réfléchir. Ou pas.
042
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Listen to young people news.gallup.com/poll/708224/...
news.gallup.com
Gen Z's AI Adoption Steady, but Skepticism Climbs
Gen Zers' use of AI is steady, but their excitement and hopefulness about it have declined over the past year, while anger has increased.
000
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
All I wanted out of the second half of my summer was to write during the day and use my Little Theater membership at night. Why are there no movies to see? I have no interest in The Odyssey, films with Olivia Wilde, or one about a girl becoming a hobby horse enthusiast. What gives?
000
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Finally got my hands on Tirailleurs to consider for my WWI/Film course this fall. Didn't love the film, but thought it raised some interesting historical questions to debate/discuss. Curious whether anyone else has taught it to undergrads. How did they react? What reading(s) did you pair it with?
A poster for the French-language film Tirailluers
352
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I mean, yes, Claude, I have read that book, and maybe your summary doesn't acknowledge its historiographical holes or archival failures. Or bad thinking. Which you are just replicating in the most patronizing language possible.
030
Rebecca Scales @rebeccapscales.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I realized today that is not just that I find using AI unethical. It's that these AI tools (Claude, anyone?) talk to you like the biggest mansplainer from your graduate school seminar, who thinks you can't do your own research or think. The condescending tone is obnoxious. It's sooo gendered.
020