Lars Döpking

This is not just cursed, its monstrous. The digital resurrection of a historian who died in January of this year, all so Grammarly can get some more clicks and engagement from students and/or scholars and/or others.

It feels so wrong on so many levels, these ghosts enslaved to AI forever

Influencer*innen werden mit Bundeswehrmaschinen aus Dubai gerettet, dafür zahlt man doch gerne Steuern

The idea that X is a proxy for the public sphere at large is a distortion effect produced by journalists, academics, and politicians themselves. It’s nowhere close to being even the most-used platform in the US—any argument that one needs to “fight for it” is absurd. 5x Bluesky and you’re at X.

Has Trump already imposed tariffs on the Supreme Court?

Yesterday, those who teach Intro to Sociology at Florida colleges (as opposed to universities) received a ready-made curriculum from the state and were ordered to teach it.

Yes, you read that correctly. The *state* is enforcing a curriculum on college profs, complete w/ the following restrictions:

Für die Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie durfte ich Mischa Suters "Geld an der Grenze. Souveränität und Wertmaßstäbe im Zeitalter des Imperialismus" rezensieren:

rdcu.be/e4Mas

Da es einige Fehlinterpretationen mancher Medien gab, hier sehr klar und deutlich: ich halte eine Erhöhung der #Mehrwertsteuer für eine der schlechtesten Optionen, um zusätzliche Steuereinnahmen zu generieren.

1/n

Henrike Naumanns frühzeitiger Tod hat die Villa Massimo mit tiefer Trauer hinterlassen. 2025 durften wir zwei glückliche Monate mit ihr, ihrem Partner @clemensvillinger.bsky.social und der Tochter Nina verbringen. Unsere Gedanken gehen an ihre Familie und alle, die sie unermüdlich begleitet haben.

Weil das alles so kompliziert ist, mit der distributed Familenversorgung auf Steuerzahlerkosten der #AfD, hat die Mitteldeutsche Zeitung Euch ein Bild gemalt:

👉 Karl Mannheim in Paris 🇫🇷

Starting tomorrow: a french/german series @sorbonne-universite.fr on Mannheim - Weimar crisis, political sociology, neo-Kantianism.

1st speaker: @stephanmoebius.bsky.social

📍 Maison de la Recherche
🗓 Feb.–May 2026

#WeimarRepublic #Sociology #IntellectualHistory

a 3x3 grid meme featuring pics of warning signs, organized by categories: "I have questions," "Disturbingly specific," and "Vivid" along the top, and "Done with this shit," "Ominous," and "Do not test the gods" down the side. Each square shows a different sign: Top left ("I have questions" + "Done with this shit"): A sign reading, "YOUR GPS IS WRONG TURN AROUND" nailed to a tree. Top middle ("Disturbingly specific" + "Done with this shit"): A sign stating, "128 Persons Have Drowned In This Lake: 2 Wearing A Life Jacket, 126 Not Wearing A Life Jacket,". Top right ("Vivid" + "Done with this shit"): A sign reading, "DANGER NOT ONLY WILL THIS KILL YOU IT WILL HURT THE WHOLE TIME YOU’RE DYING,". Middle left ("I have questions" + "Ominous"): A sign that reads, "IF YOU CAN READ THIS YOU'RE IN RANGE,". Middle center ("Disturbingly specific" + "Ominous"): A sign saying, "WARNING! Evacuate the island if you hear 8 short blasts," . Middle right ("Vivid" + "Ominous"): A sign showing a family running from what appears to be a falling coconut tree, labeled "BEWARE Falling Coconuts," with images of coconuts falling dangerously close to people. Bottom left ("I have questions" + "Do not test the gods"): A sign inside an elevator instructing, "IF ELEVATOR DOES NOT MOVE DO A SMALL JUMP IT SHOULD MOVE AFTER,". Bottom center ("Disturbingly specific" + "Do not test the gods"): A sign warning, "ROAD MAY BE SUBJECT TO SUDDEN CATASTROPHIC SINKHOLE COLLAPSE,". Bottom right ("Vivid" + "Do not test the gods"): A fallen and dented "FALLING ROCK" sign surrounded by rocks, ironically showing the sign's warning coming to life as rocks lie scattered around it. **descriptive alt text partially generated by AI and then edited by human**

if bsky is to have the juice it is gonna need Content. in this thread i will be dripfeeding the 1500+ pics from my meme folder:

Nearly 3 in 10 Conservative and Reform supporters now back reducing taxes and spending Support to cutting taxes and spending, % • Conservatives or UKIP/Reform • Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Green

‘This 19 percentage points gap is much larger than the 5 percentage point difference in 2022 and the 3 percentage point gap in 2010.’

Bücher am HIS @his-hamburg.bsky.social Till Kössler über "FRANCO 1936-1975" am 17. Febr 2026 um 19Uhr. @unicologne.bsky.social @chbeckliteratur.bsky.social Auf Grundlage der aktuellen Forschung unternimmt T. Kössler eine Neuvermessung des Diktators. Im Gespräch mit Philipp Müller www.his-online.de

Oh boy, here we go.

We can expect retaliation from the US government.

Looking for a postdoc opportunity outside the UK/US? I'm happy to support up to two JSPS postdoc applicants for the coming round for two-year posts starting from Sep./Oct. 2026 onwards at UTokyo. The application to be submitted before the end of March. 1/n

what do we talk about when we talk about energy? my answer features (among many others) adorno, bogdanov, and the austrian communist wilhelm frank, who experimented with national exergy balances in the 1950s. out april 2026.

Is OpenAI dead yet? Tracking the demise of OpenAI. Is it dead yet? Check here to find out.

one can hope
isopenaideadyet.com

Am 12. Januar 2026 ist Matthias Koenig gestorben. In einem Nachruf würdigt Monika Wohlrab-Sahr den Soziologen als integeren Menschen und akribischen Wissenschaftler, der hochgradig normative Fragen mit Herzblut und analytischer Distanz zu behandeln verstand.

www.soziopolis.de/matthias-koe...

Another angle. Guy in gray approaches from right of screen with nothing in hands, searches the victim on the ground, comes away with gun.

Gray searches the victim's waist, up the back, and then, presumably, a holster, comes away w gun, then shot fired.

h/t @dropsitenews.com

The director of the FBI: "I don't read."

His staff (paraphrased): "he doesn’t like meetings in office settings. What he wants is social events."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I know we're all seeing 87 unhinged things per day, but "guys if our multi billion dollar product doesn't start being useful for something, literally anything, the people might not appreciate us wrecking the planet over it anymore" is a truly bananapants thing to say out loud

„Es ist peinlich!“ Kaliforniens Gouverneur Gavin Newsom über das Duckmäusertum der Europäer.

"Kommunikativ entsteht so ein 'Zurechenbarkeitsdilemma', denn die“ Verantwortlichen vor Ort „haben sich dagegen […] immunisiert. [...] Das Unternehmen scheint von einem aufgeklärten Kund:innentypus auszugehen, der sich entweder durch die Durchsagen besänftigen oder in der Misere unterhalten lässt."

#CfA Our institute journal #QFIAB covers a wide range of historical periods, from #medievalstudies to #ContemporaryHistory.
#ItalianHistory, #MusicHistory
Deadline for the next volume 106 (2026), is 31 January 2026 - more information: dhi-roma.it/index.php?id....
#skytorians @rmidura.bsky.social

YouTube video by Federal Reserve Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

Screenshot der Website hinter dem Link, Titel der Rezension "Demokratie und Staatsfinanzen bei Max Weber".

In „Der andere Ökonom“ fragt Sebastian @huhnholz.bsky.social, welche Zusammenhänge Max Weber zwischen Herrschaftsordnung und Finanzpolitik herstellt – und betont die Relevanz seines Denkens für die Analyse moderner Demokratien. Die Rezension von Gangolf Hübinger:

www.soziopolis.de/demokratie-u...

Excellent news! At the Dept. of Politics & IR of @uni-goettingen.de we greatly look forward to welcoming Prof. Daxecker to Göttingen and to future possibilities for cooperation!

THREAD: I'll fact-check all the viral misinformation about the US military operation in Venezuela in this thread

This image, purporting to show the US military arresting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, is AI-generated.

According to Google's SynthID detector, it was created using Google AI.

Imagine being the person brave enough to leak this in the hopes that media attention could stop it and then the media just……buries it.

Mascha Kalekó, Portrait, schwarz weiß Foto.

Nekrolog auf ein Jahr 

Nun starb das Jahr. 
Auch dieses ging daneben.
Längst trat es seinen Lebensabend an.
Es lohnt sich kaum, der Trauer hinzugeben,
Weil man sich ja ein neues leisten kann.

Mascha Kaléko