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Mike Duncan

@theophrastean.bsky.social
853 followers 365 following 2.2K posts

Professor in Texas. Rhetoric, tech comm, composition, early Christianity. Author: Rhetoric and the Synoptic Problem. Fiction, too. Dad gamer. badrhetoric.com/about

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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 20h
Excuse me, is this the queue for the Bulterian Jihad?
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I teach a graduate research methods course in a English department, on rhetcomp and tech comm. We read a ton of recent journal issues from ‘26 and ‘25. The sheer amount of ‘We must adjust to AI’ publications is staggering, like taking a census of zombies. There is resistance, but not enough.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
My son is learning about the Bill of Rights and has been asked to draw each right. For the Third Amendment he drew a house with a meanie outside, and a guy inside the house with a small but firm NO bubble. Also, a mailbox with the flag up, so ‘pick up the mail on your way out, redcoat.’
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Control Resonant’s a banger so far.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The hard science fiction novel I wrote over the summer about Sandra Misha is in strong shape; I’ve started querying literary agents. The title: A Closer Orbit. Now I really like the book, but the title is dead on. I went through hundreds of duds to get three perfect words.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Every university needs journalism faculty and a strong, independent student newspaper.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I watched The Empire Strikes Back in a dark theater colder than Hoth in 1980. I hadn’t started kindergarten. Vader was absolutely terrifying. I wasn’t old enough to understand how he was never going to kill Luke. Formative, though, in the sense that repeated failure and tension make a good story.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I read three books today. I think I’ve averaged a book a day since June.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It occurs to me that no one will probably check to see if these fictional moons I’ve got in the novel are within the Hill sphere of the given planet and have plausible masses, orbits, and related phenomena, but someone MIGHT, so those ducks are gonna be a row.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
One must imagine Team Rocket happy.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My recurrent carpal tunnel symptoms fade after solving a Rubik’s cube a few times. Also good for grip strength and endurance on guitar and similar dexterous activities.
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Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.” If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it. @gchalliance.bsky.social @docsforclimate.bsky.social
sammatey.substack.com
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
Take five minutes to not destroy civilization
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Kelly Brack @kellybrack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Batman | Columbo
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I have dissected the latest set of peer reviews I received. I now have a lot of unpleasant things in sealed containers that I don’t want. A few might be useful for my… project.
static.klipy.com
Gene Wilder as Young Frankenstein
ALT: Gene Wilder as Young Frankenstein
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It’s possible to look up how much money you’ve spent on Steam overall. You’re most welcome.
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Dr. SkySkull @drskyskull.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Reminder: Almost time for Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October! (A short blog post) skullsinthestars.com/2026/09/23/r...
skullsinthestars.com
Reminder: Almost time for Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October!
It is a tradition for fans of Roger Zelazny to read his novel A Night in the Lonesome October every spooky season. The book has one chapter for each day of October, making it a fun casual activity …
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“That Green-Blooded SOB: Effects of Hosting A Vulcan Katra on the Human Body” Leonard McCoy, SMJ
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I’ve never written for a specific academic journal. I write to my interests, then look for a place. If I don’t like it and feel confident about quality, why share it? Audience-centric models of communication feel dishonest to me, though they’re not wrong. Chasing an audience just ain’t in me.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
So It’s time for me to start looking for a literary agent for the hard SF novel. This seems to involve a query letter and a synopsis. The letter is straightforward enough, but writing a synopsis is weird. It feels like I’m rewriting the novel as a deathly serious children’s book.
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Donnie Johnson Sackey @donniejsackey.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
CCCC Leadership Response to NCTE’s De-Chartering of CCCC. Please read and sign. theorganizationformerlyknownascccc.com
CCCC Leadership Response to NCTE's De-Chartering of CCCC
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Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Dinnertime! #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmil...
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I was overworked, broke, half-starving, about to drop out of college at 20. Impressed that I’d mated and reproduced and became one of those cranky eccentric professors, but disappointed that I’d let so many creative projects slide, and that I was creating a closed loop time paradox…
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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"She *lived* for her job. "For 40 years. "And now it’s gone." -- Dave Barry, writing about how his wife, longtime Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman, just got laid off by "two corporate guys she did not know, who did not know her." davebarry.substack.com/p/michelle
davebarry.substack.com
Michelle
A tribute.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I am well within the target audience of the Steam Frame, but VR makes me dizzy too quickly. And I got the Machine already…
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Shout out to the student journalists at The Daily Iowan for reporting on the travesty that is Iowa's Center for Intellectual Freedom. With quotes from me dailyiowan.com/2026/09/15/u...
dailyiowan.com
Uncertainty in leadership, curriculum surrounds UI Center for Intellectual Freedom
In the barren walls of his Calvin Hall office, where the Center for Intellectual Freedom resides, interim director and University of Iowa economics professor Luciano de Castro shuffles a stack of pape...
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I cannot believe this, but I solved the title problem with my book. At two in the morning. Been working for weeks on this, like Gandalf tearing his hair out trying to get into Moria, when it was in front of me the whole damned time. Typical overthinking. I’m happy. I also feel like a moron.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Looking at this again and realizing it’s… accurate. The Dakotas are the only lower 48 states I’ve not visited or lived in.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Life sucks at times, but at least I’m not a senatorial handler.
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C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The dumbest thing about the whole Ed Sheeran thing is he identifies as a "culturally Irish" musician, and is seemingly touring with half of Ireland, and yet somehow had no clue that Irish musicians have been the single longest and loudest chorus of voices in Europe about what is happening.
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Una Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Irish musicians, Beoga, who play alongside Ed Sheeran, have withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour. This is the statement they published on Instagram:
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
If I made a reference to The Matrix (1999) to my freshmen students (born 2008) it would be as relevant as a professor referencing El Dorado (1966) to 18-year-old me in 1993. You’re welcome.
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Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“For 16 months, UT Rio Grande Valley prof Clyde Barrow has been getting paid not to teach. On May 15, 2025 the school told him he was suspended. To this day, he cannot access his campus office, + the university has given him no clear indication of when-or whether-he will return to the classroom.” 😡
fire.org
Texas university keeps professor on suspension for over a year with no end in sight
UTRGV has kept a tenured professor off campus for 16 months — no hearing, no resolution, and no answer about whether he'll ever teach again.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Habeas corpus is something. But it’s not a presser.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Being able to change your mind, being able to admit you were wrong, and being able to hold the line when you’re alone are really important skills. They don’t get easier as I’ve gotten older. The university doesn’t foster them, either.
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AAUP @aaup.org · 13/09/2026
“You have people who are furthest from the classroom, curriculum design, and the subject area of a subject saying all students must take this thing. How is that good for students? How does that suggest they will get the best education?” #academicsky
al.com
Protesters speak out against ‘climate of fear’ after Auburn University dissolves faculty senate
Auburn’s decision came after the Alabama Legislature put limits on the powers of faculty senates.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Ok, Zero Company takes place during the Clone Wars, does that mean we’re going to run into… well, at least he’s still in his emo phase.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“Orders of Magnitude” is one best Trek episodes I’ve ever seen. Top ten at least. That was a metric ton of narrative work and done well.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
On 9/11, a friend and I had competing theories of what would happened next, as we watched the towers burn. I saw an opporunity to turn away from nation-states and toward a world government. He thought it meant our civil liberties would disappear. He’s always been smarter.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Another bad peer review experience. Took three times as long as it should have, and the feedback missed the side of the barn. I’ll tale another look at it tomorrow, but the search continues.
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Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
More than any Chronicle of Higher Education profile of a professor who doesn't like academia, I think this interview is the one I'd recommend to understand where higher education is at in the United States www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
insidehighered.com
Architect of Ohio Higher Ed Overhaul on Shared Governance: Garbage
Jerry Cirino, former chair of the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, successfully passed a sweeping, controversial law in his state. He’s an example of state lawmakers getting more invol...
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AAUP @aaup.org · 11/09/2026
“Overall findings indicate about 60% of respondents would not recommend their state as a desirable place to work for colleagues or graduate students. This is a 5% rise compared to the previous year. Almost 20% said they do not plan to stay in academia long term, a slight increase from last year.”
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
After a reader or two, the novel I wrote over the summer feels good. I’m getting down to quibbling little edits. Don’t like the working title, though. I have to settle on one before the next step. The short stories named themselves, but this damned thing is elusive. I need Rex Stout on speed dial.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
5k words down today. Felt like breathing. When you’re hot, you’re hot.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
“You’ve read your last free article.” You poor little fool of a website. I have not yet begun to fight.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
God-dammit. I was only in Florida for two years. mydialect.us
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
THREAD. A while ago my parents' cat Bridget went missing. As the worrying weeks dragged on my dad devised a way to distract himself: he began to paint Bridget's adventures, imagining her travelling through time & inhabiting art's most iconic scenes. What he produced (& how quickly) was phenomenal...
The Girl With The Cat Earring, featuring my mum and dad's cat Bridget.Bridget hangs out with Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Hunters In The Snow
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🇮🇪🇺🇸 Lord Wesley 🧹🎃 @lordwesley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I'll stop sharing 30 year old comic panels when they stop being true.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Apparently Red Bull is not sold on my campus so some enterprising students may have filled lockers with the stuff for no particular reason, certaintly not distribution.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Well, I’m done with being borne ceaselessly back into the bullshit of online textbooks. Can’t print more than 10 pages, every page has a ugly watermark and a screwed header, just to drive in that anyone printing a reading in 2026 is a potential criminal.
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Mike Duncan @theophrastean.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
There was no trigger discipline at all at the Hot Gates, or Greek soldiers not wearing armor. And it was also in Greece.
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