Audrey Williams

460 Killed in Horrific Massacre in Sudan Hospital, WHO Says, Amid RSF Takeover RSF forces stormed the hospital and killed everyone inside, Sudan Doctors Network said.

Approximately 460 patients and their companions were killed in a horrific massacre at a hospital in el-Fasher, Sudan, on Tuesday, the UN reports, amid a takeover of the North Darfur capital by Rapid Security Forces this week.

Completely unhinged from reality, eager to consolidate his authority into more power, and with the world’s largest military at his command—this should terrify people.

The republic could be saved with only 4 House Republicans and 20 Senate Republicans (+all Dems) to end Donald Trump’s rule.

Feeling overwhelmed? Despair? Unending urgency?

My friends feeling this… a few things...🧵
1/6

The Third Reich had an agency called the Reichskulturkammer, "Reich Culture Chamber". All singers, writers, musicians, journalists, and actors had to apply for membership and were ideologically vetted. Expulsion or failure to gain admission resulted in an occupational ban. Jews were not admitted.

This remains one of my favorite posts on the internet, from back when Twitter was funny.

Of course, even if this reference has traveled very far from where the song started, this very violent moment is now part of the song’s story. It’s an uncomfortable truth for those who understand the song differently, but also a reminder to resist its collapse into a simple, one-note meaning.

I want to emphasize that, as far as I've read, it is by no means certain that he learned the song from Far Cry 6, but given how the other references he made are steeped in video game culture, this example illustrates that broader context.

More on that: www.seattletimes.com/nation-world...

The first stanza of this version starts somewhat in the vein of the Italian resistance song (an earlier version is about workers’ rights), but then they devolve into something much more violent.

The OG Italian lyrics (w/ English translation) are here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bella_c...

Bella Ciao de Libertad "La Bella Ciao de Libertad" is a revolutionary rebel song oposing the tyrannical regime of Yara's supreme dictator, Anton Castillo in the Far Cry 6 universe.This USB Sticks (USB Songs) are collectible...

It’s looking possible that Robinson’s use of “bella ciao” comes by way of video game culture, rather than a historical study into the song. There’s a version in Far Cry 6 that is used as a rebel song against a fictional dictator of a fictional country.

farcry.fandom.com/wiki/Bella_C...

YouTube video by Mario Marc Ribot - Bella Ciao [Goodbye Beautiful] (feat. Tom Waits)

A good example is the version by Marc Ribot & Tom Waits, which has been circulated quite a bit. It is slow, & there's more pain in Tom Waits’s voice than there is a sense of victory against fascism (the way I hear it, which is far from the only way to interpret it).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qyk...

How the Italian anthem 'Bella Ciao' is connected to Charlie Kirk's killing From its association with workers' rights in the 19th century to its inclusion in a video game, the famous old Italian song "Bella Ciao" has an evolving legacy.

I was curious how the sound of its many (recorded) interpretations can shape a listener’s meaning-making experience. E.g. this article describes it as a “jaunty, earwormy tune composed in the major key,” yet there are many interpretations that don’t fit that description.

www.npr.org/2025/09/12/n...

As a music/conflict researcher, a few years ago, I did a deep dive into “Bella Ciao,” because it is a good example of how a song can have a fairly stable “meaning” (i.e. anti-fascism) and yet travel so far from that core meaning as well.

tntlab.carterschool.gmu.edu/discover/rab...

I was already thinking about doing a "Realism–vibe or not?" activity with my students. Any worries I had about that being too unserious are now gone.

(And yes, this is going into the slides, because it is infinitely better than whatever I could have put together.)

I'm going over offensive realism with my intro to conflict resolution students today, and I decided to put together a "Who is John Mearsheimer?" slide.

So, I went to his website, and then I saw his actual bio page...and let me tell you, the scream I scrumpt -->

Also, that’s a fantastic playlist!

Thanks for reading, and glad it introduced a few new versions! There’s such a dizzying array.

And yet, over and over we see the reverse, with quant methods held above qual methods, and qual researchers expected to develop at least some quant expertise (but rarely the other way around).

It’s a fundamentally incurious position, one that reduces our ability to test and generate new knowledge.

You would be hard-pressed to find a transdisciplinary research opportunity requiring “strong qualitative skills” (and thus closing the door on anyone who specializes in quant instead).

Such an advertisement would quickly be identified as violating the spirit of transdisciplinarity.

Many social science researchers also use qualitative methods in their work, as opposed to quantitative.

Why?

Because they are the methods best suited to answer certain research questions (just as quant methods are best suited to other types of inquiry).

Wrt this postdoc, it is simply not possible to run a truly transdisciplinary program if only one set of research methods is supported. It baffles me why you would seek out humanities scholars in cases like these, only to shut out the types of inquiry that the humanities require.

…when I went to look at the requirements, I was surprised to see “strong quantitative and computational skills” at the top.

Such skills are ofc well-suited to many types of research, and in some fields, they are *the* methods you use. But not all fields—ESPECIALLY not the humanities—require them.

I recently came across a postdoctoral fellowship marketed as a unique chance for scholars to do innovative work across disciplines, from STEM to the social sciences to the humanities.

As someone whose research is in a transdisciplinary field (Peace Studies), it was an exciting opp to see.

But…

Swedish Defence University advertises two postdoc positions focused on narrative geopolitics, or how emotional and widely circulated narratives shape international security, great power relations & geostrategic rivalry.

fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Deadline: 31 Aug

Does Chaos Theory Hold the Key to Our Power? - Dame Magazine On July 2, 2025, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to a $16 million settlement of Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit in which he claimed he suffered “mental anguish” following then-VP Kam...

It's difficult to find logic amid the illogical. But, mathematician @katelovesmath.bsky.social offers a unique proposal that could help us survive the lawlessness and pandemonium of the second Trump administration.

AAUP President: DOJ investigation at George Mason an attack on Academic Freedom On July 25, the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division sent a letter launching an investigation into the George Mason University Faculty Senate—because faculty members dared to show support fo...

www.aaup.org/news/aaup-pr...

“Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner.

But none of us remember witnessing colleagues die of hunger"

No Kings protest at the Minnesota State Capitol

No Kings protest at the Minnesota State Capitol

No Kings protest at the Minnesota State Capitol

No Kings protest at the Minnesota State Capitol

Despite warnings from the law enforcement not to attend today’s No Kings rally after this mornings shooting of Minnesota lawmakers with the killer on the lose, the No Kings Rally is happening at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

BREAKING: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release our client Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student unlawfully detained for advocating for Palestinian human rights.

This is the first order mandating the release of a student arrested by Trump in retaliation for their speech.

Despite knowing the people on the search warrant weren't there, the ICE arrest team STILL took this family's phones, laptops, and life savings — and refused to leave a BUSINESS CARD so they could ask to get it back!

This stuff is sadly not unique to ICE; it happens with regular police raids too.