Anne McKnight
@annekmck.bsky.social
bibliophile, minimalist, literary historian of proto-subcultures (science, ero-guro, first-person selves). UCR prof, J->E translator. Opinions belong to me or someone I ventriloquize. Coming in 2025 ~Long Take: Kurosawa Akira as World Cinéphile (Minnesota)
Lene Lovich sings "I Think We're Alone Now" in...Japanese...it's pretty good! www.radiorethink.com/tuner/share/...
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Lene Lovich sings "I Think We're Alone Now" in...Japanese...it's pretty good! www.radiorethink.com/tuner/share/...
premodern Japanese lit job in Hawai'i!
Assistant Professor (Japanese Pre-Modern Literature)
Title: Assistant Professor (Japanese Pre-Modern Literature)Hiring Unit: East Asian Languages and Literatures/College of Arts, Languages & LettersLocation: ManoaDate Posted: September 24, 2025Closing D...
urldefense.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:24 PM
premodern Japanese lit job in Hawai'i!
can't wait for all the bio-hacker dudes to start learning Spanish or Chinese (or any non-English language other than their own self-expression for that matter)!!!
A multilingual guide to slowing aging - Nature Aging
People who speak two or more languages may experience a later onset of dementia symptoms, yet whether multilingualism promotes healthy aging in a generalizable or even actionable manner remains unclea...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
can't wait for all the bio-hacker dudes to start learning Spanish or Chinese (or any non-English language other than their own self-expression for that matter)!!!
I just Chatted up my own book again, and despite the lawsuit, it was still giving info you could only know from crunching the entire contents.
I often think about how the government hounded Aaron Swartz to death for scraping Jstor, yet all these AI companies scraped almost literally all of human knowledge (and continue to do so even when they're told to stop) and have had no criminal consequences.
November 8, 2025 at 11:47 PM
I just Chatted up my own book again, and despite the lawsuit, it was still giving info you could only know from crunching the entire contents.
I've been waiting for a good English-teacher-in-Japan novel, and looky here at the National Book Award list! love the Edward Hopper meets vending machine look. Grace Ting's review, below~
‘Palaver’: A queer story set in Tokyo searches for a home for the heart
A finalist for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction in the U.S., Bryan Washington’s “Palaver” is a gentle exploration of leaving and arriving.
www.japantimes.co.jp
November 8, 2025 at 6:08 PM
I've been waiting for a good English-teacher-in-Japan novel, and looky here at the National Book Award list! love the Edward Hopper meets vending machine look. Grace Ting's review, below~
Reposted by Anne McKnight
The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond
Reposted by Anne McKnight
Elected Democrats spending more time today praising Dick Cheney than Zohran Mamdani is a great case study in abject fucking moral failure.
November 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Elected Democrats spending more time today praising Dick Cheney than Zohran Mamdani is a great case study in abject fucking moral failure.
interesting mash-up...
Chloé Zhao & Nicolas Gonda Launch Kodansha Studios To Create Live-Action Adaptations From Manga Library
Two-time Oscar winner Chloé Zhao and Nicolas Gonda have just opened the doors to Kodansha Studios, a new global studio dedicated to creating premium, live-action movies and television series based on ...
deadline.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
interesting mash-up...
Repeat nester in the manzanita tree!!
November 4, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Repeat nester in the manzanita tree!!
I ran a search for someone we wanted to hire. Who got snapped up by Harvard, then by another great program. These are top top sought- after people who could go anywhere and chose the UC system. Gahhhhh~~~make it make sense!!!
UC Provost Katherine Newman has announced plans to defund this program, a preemptive capitulation with the feds that has not been ordered and should not occur. Newman has done this with zero consultation with campus-level leadership and none with any faculty — mentors or former fellows included.
November 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I ran a search for someone we wanted to hire. Who got snapped up by Harvard, then by another great program. These are top top sought- after people who could go anywhere and chose the UC system. Gahhhhh~~~make it make sense!!!
Mundane / under the radar Halloween costumes best in show, one of my fave holiday traditions.
Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back!
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary.
Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest!
#MundaneHalloween
November 2, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Mundane / under the radar Halloween costumes best in show, one of my fave holiday traditions.
a good one-stop-shop article [op-ed] in the LAT today, on why it is ludicrous that the proposed "contract" with UCLA has zero to do with antisemitism, and a lot to do with control, punishment as an ideal, & a lot more (inc. stamping out a love of learning, queer and educational joy and achievement).
‘In the Trump administration’s war on American universities, fighting antisemitism, while worthy, is just a pretext. Don’t be fooled.’
Via @rabcarian.bsky.social
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Via @rabcarian.bsky.social
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...
Column: Proposed settlement between feds and UCLA is a master class in extortion
Trump's administration accused the university of antisemitism and wants to dismantle anything related to DEI.
www.latimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:13 PM
a good one-stop-shop article [op-ed] in the LAT today, on why it is ludicrous that the proposed "contract" with UCLA has zero to do with antisemitism, and a lot to do with control, punishment as an ideal, & a lot more (inc. stamping out a love of learning, queer and educational joy and achievement).
next up on Zillow gone wild...
Apart from anything else, the "Lincoln bathroom" wasn't Lincoln's bathroom. It was Lincoln's office and cabinet room.
It wasn't renovated in the 1940s, it was installed in the 1940s.
It wasn't renovated in the 1940s, it was installed in the 1940s.
October 31, 2025 at 9:07 PM
next up on Zillow gone wild...
Reposted by Anne McKnight
You know what we donate to the local food pantries? We donate MONEY. Because they can turn that money into what those they serve need the most. I do not know what those folks need better than the food pantry does. So I give them my dollars and they turn them into something useful.
Sweet Jesus, do not donate seeds to your food bank in October. Honestly, don’t donate seeds to your food bank unless you are specifically asked to, and even then I would think REALLY HARD about whether that’s regionally appropriate.
When I needed food donations, I was in student housing.
When I needed food donations, I was in student housing.
October 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
You know what we donate to the local food pantries? We donate MONEY. Because they can turn that money into what those they serve need the most. I do not know what those folks need better than the food pantry does. So I give them my dollars and they turn them into something useful.
good news for small/nonprofit/university presses, I hope, and definitely my favorite Mellon of the week!
Coalition Launches Historic $50 Million Initiative to Bolster Nonprofit Literary Arts
New fund is dedicated to strengthening the field, advancing support for creative writers and ensuring their contributions to American literature for generations to come.
www.mellon.org
October 28, 2025 at 9:56 PM
good news for small/nonprofit/university presses, I hope, and definitely my favorite Mellon of the week!
Reposted by Anne McKnight
Can't think of a clearer example of taking resources and infrastructure for education and diverting them to mass deportation efforts.
www.404media.co/ice-is-using...
www.404media.co/ice-is-using...
ICE Is Using a University Building as a Deportation Office and the University Says It Can't Do Anything About It
The Milwaukee School of Engineering is largely powerless to kick ICE out of a building it wanted to turn into a new academic center, according to audio of a meeting obtained by 404 Media.
www.404media.co
October 28, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Can't think of a clearer example of taking resources and infrastructure for education and diverting them to mass deportation efforts.
www.404media.co/ice-is-using...
www.404media.co/ice-is-using...
Reposted by Anne McKnight
If you haven't read this yet and study education, I would strongly recommend that you do. The treatment of students is appalling and I need to see these test scores (and information on the sample that took them) before I believe any of their claims.
www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...
www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...
Parents Fell in Love With Alpha School’s Promise. Then They Wanted Out
In Brownsville, Texas, some families found a buzzy new school’s methods—surveillance of kids, software in lieu of teachers—to be an education in and of itself.
www.wired.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:32 PM
If you haven't read this yet and study education, I would strongly recommend that you do. The treatment of students is appalling and I need to see these test scores (and information on the sample that took them) before I believe any of their claims.
www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...
www.wired.com/story/ai-tea...
Do tell, who were these "state officials?" "Cal State’s A.I. initiative was driven in part by state officials who had heard concern from leading tech companies that local students lacked the A.I. skills the companies needed." Only 1 CA faculty member is quoted here. Hello, faculty governance, NYT?
Big Tech Makes Cal State Its A.I. Training Ground
www.nytimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Do tell, who were these "state officials?" "Cal State’s A.I. initiative was driven in part by state officials who had heard concern from leading tech companies that local students lacked the A.I. skills the companies needed." Only 1 CA faculty member is quoted here. Hello, faculty governance, NYT?
it's bumming me out that the evening before SNAP won't be renewed on Nov 1, due to the govt "shutdown," will be Halloween, and the tradition is to give candy to kids, which is fun, but maybe tradition needs to update this year...and that ballroom is just extra-nauseating.
October 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
it's bumming me out that the evening before SNAP won't be renewed on Nov 1, due to the govt "shutdown," will be Halloween, and the tradition is to give candy to kids, which is fun, but maybe tradition needs to update this year...and that ballroom is just extra-nauseating.
every time I read one of these "tech mogul as sociologist" pieces, I think of Sam Altman's weird olive oil cooking video (in the Financial Times), and realize he is one of those "what is a broccoli" people and has minions for all the basic activities of daily life he never encounters.
Sam Altman Says If Jobs Gets Wiped Out, Maybe They Weren’t Even “Real Work” to Start With
So that's where we're at.
www.yahoo.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
every time I read one of these "tech mogul as sociologist" pieces, I think of Sam Altman's weird olive oil cooking video (in the Financial Times), and realize he is one of those "what is a broccoli" people and has minions for all the basic activities of daily life he never encounters.
one day I should do a conference paper, or an essay, on The Fine Art of Translating Trash-talk. I've run across some doozies! It really takes a lot of traction on vernaculars, some of which are almost period instruments at this point--and is a lot of fun.
October 25, 2025 at 4:56 AM
one day I should do a conference paper, or an essay, on The Fine Art of Translating Trash-talk. I've run across some doozies! It really takes a lot of traction on vernaculars, some of which are almost period instruments at this point--and is a lot of fun.
Reposted by Anne McKnight
everything bad that happens to the dodgers is because they went to the white house in april. this will be true for at least the next decade
October 25, 2025 at 2:48 AM
everything bad that happens to the dodgers is because they went to the white house in april. this will be true for at least the next decade
Reposted by Anne McKnight
Please understand that the only reason this has been released is because of the UCLA faculty association who filed a request and challenged the refusal in court. If you are a UC faculty member, join your FA!
BREAKING: The California Supreme Court has DENIED the University of California's request that it block the release of a 28-page, $1.2-billion fine Trump administration UCLA settlement offer. UC is required to give a faculty group the document today. www.latimes.com/california/s...
UC must publicly release Trump administration's $1.2-billion settlement proposal
The California Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from the University of California to block the release of a roughly $1.2-billion Trump UCLA settlement. UCLA is required to share the document...
www.latimes.com
October 25, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Please understand that the only reason this has been released is because of the UCLA faculty association who filed a request and challenged the refusal in court. If you are a UC faculty member, join your FA!
Very curious to see who or what is ratted out in the context of some pre-existing conversation... can't think of any other reason the admin AND Regents would drag their feet on this...I mean, it's a public university! The public should know what's in this letter...
UC asks California Supreme court to block release of Trump's UCLA settlement offer
UC on Thursday asked the California Supreme Court to block the release of a UCLA settlement proposal sent by the Trump administration in August. It outlines a $1.2-billion fine and vast campus changes...
www.latimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Very curious to see who or what is ratted out in the context of some pre-existing conversation... can't think of any other reason the admin AND Regents would drag their feet on this...I mean, it's a public university! The public should know what's in this letter...