Karen Leick

Multidisciplinary team secures $3.6M grant to investigate health risks from flooding Funding from the National Science Foundation will enable researchers across many disciplines at Washington University in St. Louis to advance ongoing research into the damaging health effects of repea...

Grants for climate change research got yanked, but one point of hope I've seen at @washu.edu is climate scientists and environmental engineers embracing regional networks of environmental protection. With an EPA/CDC leadership void, locals are banding together. 🧪 source.washu.edu/2025/09/mult...

The Payback: A Novel A Novel

Bookshop has free shipping today, in case you’re looking to pick up the hottest (and also only?) student loan industry heist novel of the year.

No War on Chicago; No War Anywhere! “The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to ga...

No War on Chicago
No War Anywhere

Aimee Mann is so great.

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...

I love this paragraph:

“One of the chants that has become ubiquitous at these protests at Broadview is, ‘Love your neighbor, love your God, save your soul and quit your job,’” said Black, who pastors at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. “Everybody chants that.”

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

Boxes also work on bobcats

“… the data out of Montgomery County, Maryland makes one thing unmistakably clear: this crusade is not a mass movement. It’s the obsession of a vanishingly small minority …”

supposed to be 81 degrees tomorrow, better lay out clothes

@raygunsite.com ❤️🇺🇸

The Campus Crisis Toolkit

Good news! The full table of contents for THE CAMPUS CRISIS TOOLKIT, edited by @thetattooedprof.bsky.social and Lisa Di Bartolommeo, is now available on the @sunypress.bsky.social website: sunypress.edu/Books/T/The-.... Follow the link or see next post for screenshots. 🤗

Tawny owl

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is Now Playing at the Music Box, presented in 70MM!

Showtimes & Tickets: musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-ev...

Trump Canceled 94 Million Pounds of Food Aid. Here’s What Never Arrived. ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the administration’s cut...

NEW: ProPublica obtained records from the Department of Agriculture that detail the millions of pounds of food, down to the number of eggs, that never reached food banks because of the Trump administration’s cuts to an aid program.

Jane Goodall Recalls Chicago's Role In Her Life Of Activism The renowned ethologist said she switched from "scientist" to "activist" after a 1986 visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo. She returned to the zoo for some special appearances over the weekend.

Her last appearance was only a few weeks ago—diligent and persevering to the last. You were a real one, Jane Goodall 1934-2025

blockclubchicago.org/2025/09/15/j...

Large Language Muddle | The Editors The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

YES! THIS on GenAI!

Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins:

"An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."

Ezra Klein is Wrong About Abortion Abortion *is* a big tent issue

@jessicavalenti.bsky.social is very right that Ezra Klein is very wrong, both morally and strategically, with this argument that throwing half the population under the bus (the half that already leans more Democratic).

Letter from the Portland War Front (humor about something deadly serious) My dearest wife, It is week two of the Siege of Portland, and still these barbarians will not yield to our troops. We have severed the cords of their latte machines but they are making cowboy coffee ...

My dearest wife,

It is week two of the Siege of Portland, and still these barbarians will not yield to our troops. We have severed the cords of their latte machines but they are making cowboy coffee in their camps, where loud ukulele songs of resistance even now drift in on the breeze.

Couldn't take Chicago, so he's going after Portland. Like a high school bully that got bodied by a wrestler so he tries to take it out on a theater kid. Pathetic.

All my best to this FEMA employee, and may they succeed in their mission:

Dave Matthews has the opportunity to do the funniest thing.

To read the university’s triumphant all-campus email about restored NIH funding, you’d think UC administrators made it happen. But that’s not true. In fact the UC *Faculty Association* organized the lawsuit; administrators kept their heads down and hoped it’d go away.

Singer sewing machine. It was one of my parents' wedding gifts (1962).

Position Summary The Department of English/Program for Writers at the University of Illinois-Chicago seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Creative Writing (prose fiction). PhD is preferred, though MFA with suitable experience will be considered; degree must be conferred by time of appointment. At least one book published or under contract is expected, as is a demonstrated record of teaching and mentoring. UIC faculty are expected to carry out their responsibilities in person and onsite as part of a vibrant and collegial on-campus community. Our new colleague will teach courses unless otherwise specified in the fields of Creative Writing and American Literature and will engage in ongoing research in an area of expertise. Responsibilities include: teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels (2-2 load); mentoring and advising students; providing service to the university; and actively contributing to the intellectual life of the department and the broader campus.

Job posting! Assistant Professor in Creative Writing – English Department, University of Illinois - Chicago.

To apply, submit an online application including cover letter, CV, letters of recommendation and a 20-page writing sample by November 1, 2025.

jobs.uic.edu

JA Westenberg @Daojoan@mastodon.social My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.” Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner Kiddo: that’s AI Sep 24, 2025, 07:36 AM

They've lost the 9yos

America’s top companies keep talking about AI — but can’t explain the upsides FT analysis of hundreds of filings suggest the S&P 500 businesses are clearer about the risks than benefits

“The biggest US-listed companies keep talking about artificial intelligence. But other than the ‘fear of missing out,’ few appear to be able to describe how the technology is changing their businesses for the better.”

Chicagohenge Classic. Captured on this day a decade ago, the Autumnal Equinox on Weekend Rewind.

Starting on November 3, 2025, we'll also use data from members in your region to improve the content-generating Al that enhances your experience and better connects our members to opportunities. This can help hirers find and reach you more easily, and assist members in creating content such as profile updates, messages, and posts. This could include data like details from your profile and public content you create on LinkedIn; it does not include your private messages. You can opt out anytime in your settings if you'd prefer not to have your data used in this way. If you've already submitted the Data Processing Objection Form, please check your settings to make sure your choice to opt out is shown.

I know we all hate to log into LinkedIn, but you might wanna do to opt out of this 😘

Taking political positions that'll make it more likely to win Senate seats in Kansas and Ohio and Missouri. Trying to open your coalition to people you didn't want it open to before. Running pro-life Democrats.

Constitutional Amendment 3 November 5, 2024 Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative Choice Yes X No Results Votes 1,538,659 1,443,022 % 51.60% 48.40%

Issue 1 November 7, 2023 Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety(1] Results Choice Votes % & Yes 2,227,384 56.78% No 1,695,480 43.22% Total votes 3,922,864 100.00%

2022 Kansas abortion referendum KANSAS August 2, 2022 Should there be no Kansas constitutional right to abortion or to require the government funding of abortion, and reserve to the people of Kansas, through their elected state legislators, the right to pass laws to regulate abortion, including, but not limited to, in circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, or when necessary to save the life of the mother? Results Choice Votes % • Yes 385,014 40.84% X No 557,837 59.16% Total votes 942,851 100.00% Registered voters turnout 1,929,972 48.85%

I genuinely cannot believe that Ezra Klein said we should run pro-life candidates in Kansas, Ohio, and Missouri; three states that recently held abortion referendums where the pro-choice side won!

moments ago, ice agents again came out of the broadview detention/“professing” facility to escort a silver suv out of the lot.

one of the agents picked up and threw congressional candidate kat abughazaleh to the ground.