Michelle Burnham

What percentage of unhinged literary opinions are, I wonder, indeed correct?

In 1900, Black librarian Daniel Murray began a bibliography of works by Black Americans, his goal “to secure every book and pamphlet in existence, by a Negro Author”, exhibit them at the 1900 Paris Exposition, and then archive them at @LibraryCongress: publicdomainreview.org/collection/d...

Give In or Fight Back? Colleges Are Torn on How to Respond to Trump.

If you attend, work for, once went to, or plan to send your kids to a University of California school, write to the presidents and board of regents and demand UC stand up to Trump's attempts to bribe and cower the greatest public unvierstiy system in the world: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/u...

Million-year-old skull rewrites human evolution, say scientists New analysis suggests our species began to emerge at least half a million years earlier than we thought

Wow:

“A million-year-old human skull found in China suggests that our species, Homo sapiens, began to emerge at least half a million years earlier than we thought… It also shows that we co-existed with other sister species, including Neanderthals, for much longer than we've come to believe…”

Censorship Is the Authoritarian’s Dream The right to free expression must include the right to say horrible and evil things.

"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

The “Battle of the Sexes” Sparked 50 Years of Sports Progress Billie Jean King's 1973 victory over Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome capped off a summer of momentous change led by the tennis great.

Today is the 52nd anniv of the Battle of the Sexes. And while that event was seismic, I think the entirety of Billie Jean King’s 1973 year was a model of athlete activism that culminated on Sept 20. Here’s my piece for @texasmonthly.bsky.social from 2 years ago: www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

Advisory to Academic Workers In a moment when it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the consequences of our online speech and choices, the AAUP and Faculty First Responders are issuing guidance to AAUP members and othe...

The @aaup.org just shared guidance for academic workers on how to protect themselves online www.aaup.org/news/advisor...

Does your teaching touch upon the Black Death? Then don't miss the one and only Dr. Monica Green's open-access, introductory teaching module for the History for the 21st Century (H21) project! www.history21.com/owit-module/... #earlymodern #histmed #medhumanities #medieval #worldhistory

Stanford University Press is still accepting applications for our Marketing Assistant position. Apply via the link below - but some tips before you do (general suggestions, not just for this job, but for any, especially entry level or early career positions):

What’s Up With Peter Thiel’s Obsession With the Antichrist? The tech mogul is amping up his apocalyptic rhetoric—and adding a dangerous dose of extremism into the already-fraught culture war.

What’s up with Peter Thiel’s secret Antichrist lectures?

Let us pierce the veil.

For the @newrepublic.com I studied his past Antichrist speeches to decode his message—a chilling fusion of Nazi political theory and scripture.

Consider this an urgent warning:

newrepublic.com/article/2004...

This is why they’re deleting studies

Loyola Marymount University claims religious exemption with the NLRB, claws back recognition of NTT faculty union The sudden decision of the LMU Board of Trustees has left many NTT faculty in shock; the union plans a response.

Loyola Marymount University claims religious exemption with the NLRB, claws back recognition of NTT faculty union

The sudden decision of the LMU Board of Trustees has left many NTT faculty in shock; the union plans a response.

I wrote about the groypers and the Fuentes-Kirk fight years ago, in Hate in the Homeland. Cautioning here that there is still a lot to know about the shooter’s motivation, I’m sharing these two paragraphs here to set the history of this fight in context:

Quote card. Background image is a detail of Mikuláš Galanda's woodblock print "Crying Women." Quote is from Joseph Wilson's article "Never Forget Attica Day": "Those who led the Attica uprising wanted humane treatment. Their bravery resulted in meaningful improvements to prison regulations. Those gains have largely been eroded. We want them back. We must remember Attica again."

This week, Inquest remembers Attica—Tuesday will be the 54th anniversary of the uprising's start—and reports on the hope- and health-crushing burden of carceral medical debt. Get the full recap here: mailchi.mp/inquest.o...

YOU GUYS. DAVID BOWIE WAS WRITING AN 18thc MUSICAL CALLED THE SPECTATOR WHEN HE DIED.

Between this and Hilary Mantel’s unfinished rewriting of Pride & Prejudice… I cannot.

David Bowie’s secret final project discovered locked in his study www.bbc.com/news/article...

Something I teach my students is that reading is a rhythm. They need to build a space-time where the rhythm of longer form reading is available to them. Generally this begins by having them inventory the various kinds of noise (cellphones, screens, work/care/social commitments) in their lives.

A digital flyer for the More Than Words book event at the Mark Twain House and Museum.

📢 FREE EVENT! Join us in-person or via livestream on September 19, 7PM (ET) for MORE THAN WORDS: HOW TO THINK ABOUT WRITING IN THE AGE OF AI.

#AI #AuthorEvent #MarkTwainHouse #Literature #Connecticut #Hartford #ArtificialIntelligence @erinbartram.bsky.social

Chris Evert’s relentless and painful hyper-criticism is ruining this tennis match for me, as always. Please please find better commentators. Please. #usopen #tennis

Wages of unionized workers are 13% higher than their nonunion counterparts.

But unions also set a higher pay standard that all workers enjoy.

In high-union-density states, median household income is $12,000 higher than in low-union-density states.

This is why unions are vital.

Graphics for all.

One of the most interesting trends emerging from the 1st two discussions in "Writing with Robots" is that the majority of students—mostly English students, so a specific sample—are stridently anti-AI, intellectually—they know & espouse the most important critiques—but they also use it, quite a lot+

College students are bombarded by misinformation, so this professor taught them fact-checking 101 − here’s what happened Just 2½ hours of online instruction made students a lot better at identifying misinformation on YouTube and TikTok.

Adding just six hours of media literacy training to an American Government course significantly improved students’ ability to identify credible sources and boosted their confidence in evaluating where information comes from.
theconversation.com/college-stud...

AAUP President Denounces Planned Cuts at the University of Oregon The AAUP stands with the United Academics of the University of Oregon in protesting the administration's plan to slash multiple departments and programs and fire faculty.

“The specific cuts [at University of Oregon] reflect a misunderstanding of the essential reasons for the existence of the university. Cuts in teaching & research should always be a last resort, after budgets for administration, athletics, & other nonacademic programs.” www.aaup.org/news/aaup-pr...

My name is Josh Turek. I'm a two-time Paralympic gold medalist. I'm a proud State Legislator from Council Bluffs who represents the reddest seat held by a Democrat in Iowa.

And I'm the guy who's going to beat Joni Ernst. Repost this, give us a follow, and let’s win together.

“productivity and efficiency are not educational values” 👏🏼

Wow

an image of a fluorescent cat pin staring at you next to the cover of my new novel WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU

ok so if you preorder my new novel you will get this pin, which will mark you as a member of the *~chaos collective~* that runs the streets and is exempt from the rule of law. participating indie bookstore locations here! sites.prh.com/will-there-e...

I curate the history series at public media's journal Current. We're looking for pieces on the history of NPR & PBS, educational, community, and affiliate stations. We accept academic articles repurposed for wide readership. Plus, we pay. Please circulate! current.org/series/rewind/

Bookstore owners/bookseller friends, tell me how your store came to be, please.