iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

What happens when no #highered institution wants to be the tallest blade of grass? Wesleyan University's @msroth.bsky.social and @ianbassin.bsky.social turn that metaphor into an urgent argument about collective action and the importance of standing together. Watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPKq...

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Love to see Phylicia Rashad returning to Center Theatre Group to close out their final production in August Wilson’s Century Cycle. Her touch with Wilson’s work at the Taper has always been exquisite. 👏

playbill.com

Phylicia Rashad Will Direct August Wilson's Fences in Los Angeles

The Pulitzer-winning play will come to Center Theatre Group in 2027.

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Wesleyan Media Project @wesmediaproject.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"2026 is shaping up to be a banner year" in U.S. political advertising, per @efranklinfowler.bsky.social. Why? 👉 Record TV airings in House & Gov races 👉 Rise of digital ads has not slowed TV ads 👉 Volume of federal TV ads in 2026 congressional contests nearly 2x what it was in 2012

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Wesleyan University’s President @msroth.bsky.social sits down with alumni working in law, journalism, academia, advocacy, and the arts to discuss how the fundamental skills and values of a Wesleyan education can help us navigate this complicated moment. #highered

wesleyan.edu

The World Needs More Wesleyan: Conversations with President Roth

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

WAPO: The architect quit “after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures .. .. ‘I am the code,” Trump said.” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

"President Trump is reportedly looking for a way to stick his name on Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C.—where former President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed in 1865."

newrepublic.com

Trump Aides Have a List of Other Places They Could Put His Name

Trump’s aides reportedly want him to rename Ford’s Theatre, where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 20/09/2026

NEW: ICE shooting in Austin. Scant details at this time.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

And impeachment would be an “inexpensive price to pay” for democracy.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

wesleyan.edu

The World Needs More Wesleyan: Conversations with President Roth

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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I wrote about being Annie Dillard's student at Wesleyan in the spring of my last year in college for Elizabeth Benedict's Mentors and Monsters anthology, and The Morning News: themorningnews.org/annie-dillar...

themorningnews.org

Annie Dillard and the Writing Life - The Morning News

Writers aren’t born, they’re made—from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine. And sometimes tutelage.

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Noah Isenberg @noahisenberg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

During my first teaching stint at Wesleyan, I forged a friendship with #AnnieDillard that was based on a mutual love of off-color jokes and irreverent party talk (she was a teetotaler, but asked me to roll her a joint at the first dinner we hosted with her). #RIP www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...

nytimes.com

Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81

Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.

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Gregg Levine @greggjlevine.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I was fortunate to be an undergrad when Dillard taught at Wesleyan. I’ll always remember her saying the problem with being a writer in academia is that you stop talking to other writers about the books they’ve written & start talking about what writers wrote about other writers’ books.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The performing arts are undoubtedly facing challenges, but only Donald Trump could have inserted himself into the situation, appointing enough lackeys to The Kennedy Center’s board before declaring bankruptcy or closure as the sole options. His ill-fated influence has touched the arts. Shame. Shame.

simsjames.com

The Kennedy Center Is Not a Trump Tower

The MAGA takeover of America’s flagship arts institution drove artists away, sent ticket sales sliding, and revealed a simple truth: culture doesn’t work like real estate.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

simsjames.com

The Kennedy Center Is Not a Trump Tower

The MAGA takeover of America’s flagship arts institution drove artists away, sent ticket sales sliding, and revealed a simple truth: culture doesn’t work like real estate.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/09/2026

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “Today’s students are trying to work out what it means to be decent humans in world growing more heated, hostile and, sometimes, heartless,” Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, writes. “We should cheer them on, for their sake and ours.”

nyti.ms

Opinion | This Is the Real Point of College

It’s all about the practice of freedom.

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 05/09/2026

White supremacy at work.

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New York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 04/09/2026

“Today’s students are trying to work out what it means to be decent humans in world growing more heated, hostile and, sometimes, heartless,” Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, writes. “We should cheer them on, for their sake and ours.”

nyti.ms

Opinion | This Is the Real Point of College

It’s all about the practice of freedom.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Wesleyan University’s @msroth.bsky.social from last week’s @realtimers.bsky.social. #highered

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

“Diversity and democracy are like a tree, they grow not from the top down, but from the bottom up. And they are growing…what you do everyday matters—what you say, what you encourage, what you oppose, what you imagine, what you love with all your hearts.” Gloria Steinem at Wesleyan University in 2022

wesleyan.edu

Steinem: “Hope is a form of planning”

Gloria Steinem, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Wesleyan’s 190th Commencement, called for the Class of 2022 to address the ills of the world with laughter.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

wesleyan.edu

Steinem: “Hope is a form of planning”

Gloria Steinem, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Wesleyan’s 190th Commencement, called for the Class of 2022 to address the ills of the world with laughter.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

“This is not a freedom of expression issue. This is a judgment issue, and I am baffled that anyone saw this as anything other than a terrible idea that would amount to the normalization of antisemitism.”

nytimes.com

John Galliano Bows Out of Met Museum Show After Criticism Mounts

Donors, politicians and Jewish leaders questioned the Met’s decision to honor Galliano, a fashion designer who was found guilty of a hate crime for his antisemitic outbursts.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

A whirlwind trip in and out of Los Angeles was worth it to have Wesleyan University president @msroth.bsky.social bring his defense of higher education to @realbillmaher.bsky.social tonight. 👏 (now for a red eye back to CT) #highered

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Home sweet home, if only for a day 🌴☀️

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

“Trump is putting America in a position that Niccolò Machiavelli warned all princes against: We are hated, but not feared.”

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Pompous Proof of an America in Decline (Gift Article)

Even Machiavelli wouldn’t like Trump’s doings.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Great to have had Wesleyan University's @msroth.bsky.social join Stephen Dubner's new show, "Better in Person," to talk about leading in #highered at such an inflection point for all institutions in America. Full episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnr1...

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

A fine history with unsettling relevance: “The very nature of the German occupation,” ...led many into a “take what you can” form of corruption. As the rule of law receded, as is so often the case under authoritarianism, greed and corruption came to the fore" www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

wsj.com

‘Hotel Exile’ Review: Occupiers and Survivors

The Nazis commandeered the Hotel Lutetia after capturing Paris. The hotel later became a center for those returning from the death camps.

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

New York Public Library’s first-ever Big Summer Book Club will wrap up with a massive celebration at the Delacorte Theater, bringing author N.K. Jemisin to the newly renovated home of Shakespeare in the Park for an evening of readings, performances and bookish conversation. #books

timeout.com

NYC’s first citywide book club is coming to Central Park

The free finale takes over the Delacorte next week

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Michelangelo Signorile @msignorile.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

When thr clueless start to get a clue

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

“A federal judge in Boston on Thursday dismissed the federal government’s antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University, finding the college is not presently violating civil rights law.”

wsj.com

Judge Dismisses Trump Administration’s Antisemitism Case Against Harvard

U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled on Thursday there wasn’t sufficient evidence of ongoing institutionalized racial discrimination at Harvard.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Whatever else was wrong with the United States, we truly did have a higher education system that was the envy of the world. Now we’re lighting it on fire because some people are bored and racist.

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Michael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Read @mashagessen.bsky.social “Fascism works not only by the passage of arbitrary, dehumanizing laws but by the arbitrary, dehumanizing enforcement of the laws.” @nytopinion.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | What’s Happening in Kansas Should Alarm Us All (Gift Article)

Is Kansas just the beginning?

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Thrilled to see Wesleyan University’s new state-of-the-art science building open this fall: “Wesleyan is unusual in that it supports research at the highest level within the close-knit environment of a liberal arts university. Here, science is foundational to a liberal arts education.” #highered

wesleyan.edu

A New Home for Science at Wesleyan

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James Sims @simsjames.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

wesleyan.edu

A New Home for Science at Wesleyan

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