Ayşe E.
@heyayse.bsky.social
Editor (&c). Art monster. Poetry devourer. Lover *and* fighter. Give peace a chance, FFS.
She/her. Durham, NC.
Ayşe is pronounced I-sheh. 🇹🇷
I do desire we may be better strangers. — Wm Shakespeare
She/her. Durham, NC.
Ayşe is pronounced I-sheh. 🇹🇷
I do desire we may be better strangers. — Wm Shakespeare
Pinned
Ayşe E.
@heyayse.bsky.social
· Nov 15
I cannot abide having that guy at the top of my feed so here is a cloud drawn by Louise Bourgeois*.
Is there a #cloudsky? Where are the cloud lovers?
*Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 1968, Watercolor on paper, 48.3 x 62.9 cm, Photo: Christopher Burke, © The Easton Foundation.
Is there a #cloudsky? Where are the cloud lovers?
*Louise Bourgeois, Untitled, 1968, Watercolor on paper, 48.3 x 62.9 cm, Photo: Christopher Burke, © The Easton Foundation.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
I can’t believe how stupid everything is
November 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
I can’t believe how stupid everything is
Reposted by Ayşe E.
please donate to these local orgs that got us all organized well in the first place:
secure.actblue.com/donate/siemb...
secure.actblue.com/donate/carol...
secure.actblue.com/donate/siemb...
secure.actblue.com/donate/carol...
November 20, 2025 at 6:19 PM
please donate to these local orgs that got us all organized well in the first place:
secure.actblue.com/donate/siemb...
secure.actblue.com/donate/carol...
secure.actblue.com/donate/siemb...
secure.actblue.com/donate/carol...
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Gustave Courbet, L’immensité, 1869
November 16, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Gustave Courbet, L’immensité, 1869
Reposted by Ayşe E.
share.inquirer.com/reWm4W?utm_s...
GIFT ARTICLE
The Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com, a public benefit corporation, and the largest American newspaper owned by a nonprofit, is an alternative to WAPO and NYT.
This article by Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social is a fine example.
GIFT ARTICLE
The Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com, a public benefit corporation, and the largest American newspaper owned by a nonprofit, is an alternative to WAPO and NYT.
This article by Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social is a fine example.
Epstein’s emails are the end of America as they ruined it
If the evil banality of the world's most powerful people exposed in the Epstein emails doesn't cause a revolution, nothing will.
share.inquirer.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:16 PM
share.inquirer.com/reWm4W?utm_s...
GIFT ARTICLE
The Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com, a public benefit corporation, and the largest American newspaper owned by a nonprofit, is an alternative to WAPO and NYT.
This article by Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social is a fine example.
GIFT ARTICLE
The Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com, a public benefit corporation, and the largest American newspaper owned by a nonprofit, is an alternative to WAPO and NYT.
This article by Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social is a fine example.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
#Gerrymandered and fired up? Fight back—run for office, even when the map is rigged. Can’t Win Victory Fund helps “can’tidates” in impossible districts make noise, grow the vote for up-ballot races and push for fair maps—and yes, we make it fun.
Apply to run: cantwinvictoryfund.com/run
Apply to run: cantwinvictoryfund.com/run
November 4, 2025 at 7:06 PM
#Gerrymandered and fired up? Fight back—run for office, even when the map is rigged. Can’t Win Victory Fund helps “can’tidates” in impossible districts make noise, grow the vote for up-ballot races and push for fair maps—and yes, we make it fun.
Apply to run: cantwinvictoryfund.com/run
Apply to run: cantwinvictoryfund.com/run
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Good things are possible and we don’t have to settle.
November 5, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Good things are possible and we don’t have to settle.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
October 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The richest man on earth owns X.
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
The second richest man on earth is about to acquire TikTok and his family could soon own both Paramount and Warner Bros.
The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.
See the problem here?
Reposted by Ayşe E.
honestly amazing how much damage, violence, and sustained mistreatment the world can endure without in any way dimming its inexhaustible impulse towards repair. To quote George Eliot, these things are a parable
‘“A hundred and fifteen years that they haven’t been here, and they still have that GPS unit inside of them,” said the visibly giddy Klamath Tribal Chair William Ray, Jr. “It’s truly an awesome feat if you think about the gauntlet they had to go through.”’
Salmon clear last Klamath dams, reaching Williamson and Sprague rivers
Just a year after four dams were removed, a group of fall Chinook have migrated nearly 300 miles into the Upper Klamath Basin.
www.opb.org
October 19, 2025 at 12:21 PM
honestly amazing how much damage, violence, and sustained mistreatment the world can endure without in any way dimming its inexhaustible impulse towards repair. To quote George Eliot, these things are a parable
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
We must stand resolutely against political assassination and political violence of all kinds, and just as resolutely against everyone who exploits acts of violence as the pretext or excuse for political repression of political opponents.
Very, very bad stuff coming from leading right-wingers
September 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
We must stand resolutely against political assassination and political violence of all kinds, and just as resolutely against everyone who exploits acts of violence as the pretext or excuse for political repression of political opponents.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Someone asked me what victory against the forces seeking to occupy Chicago looks like. Obviously, those forces being repelled is the goal, but there are layers to what success looks like in these deteriorating conditions. The first is to successfully resist the normalization of military occupation.
September 3, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Someone asked me what victory against the forces seeking to occupy Chicago looks like. Obviously, those forces being repelled is the goal, but there are layers to what success looks like in these deteriorating conditions. The first is to successfully resist the normalization of military occupation.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
In a vacuum, that might sound good and noble. But these self-anointed guardians of bipartisanship and “unity” are radically failing the moment because they can’t or won’t grapple with the fact that “normalcy” politics is simply not an adequate response to an acute democratic emergency.
September 2, 2025 at 9:30 PM
In a vacuum, that might sound good and noble. But these self-anointed guardians of bipartisanship and “unity” are radically failing the moment because they can’t or won’t grapple with the fact that “normalcy” politics is simply not an adequate response to an acute democratic emergency.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
to call this a crime against humanity is true but inadequate — it’s a crime against all creation
The Trump administration said that it would open up 58 million acres of back country in national forests to road construction and development, removing protections that had been in place for a quarter century.
Trump Administration to End Protections for 58 Million Acres of National Forests
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the Clinton-era rule barring road construction and logging was outdated and “absurd.”
trib.al
June 24, 2025 at 3:03 AM
to call this a crime against humanity is true but inadequate — it’s a crime against all creation
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Other countries get high-speed rail and health insurance. We get this, which won't happen.
EXCLUSIVE: Sean Duffy will announce expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon, his first major action as interim NASA administrator.
Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon
This is the first major agency effort by the interim NASA administrator, who is also the Transportation secretary and a former Fox News host.
www.politico.com
August 4, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Other countries get high-speed rail and health insurance. We get this, which won't happen.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Democracy Americana is back!
After a hiatus far too long, I wrote about how to situate our Trumpist moment in U.S. history – and why we need to start from the realization that division has been the historical norm, and we are experiencing the latest iteration of a very old struggle.
After a hiatus far too long, I wrote about how to situate our Trumpist moment in U.S. history – and why we need to start from the realization that division has been the historical norm, and we are experiencing the latest iteration of a very old struggle.
What Is America, and for Whom?
A white Christian ethno-state with strict hierarchies or a pluralistic democracy with egalitarian aspirations? American society has always been divided over what this country should strive to be.
New piece:
A white Christian ethno-state with strict hierarchies or a pluralistic democracy with egalitarian aspirations? American society has always been divided over what this country should strive to be.
New piece:
What Is America, and for Whom?
A white Christian ethno-state with strict hierarchies or a pluralistic democracy with egalitarian aspirations? American society has always been divided over what this country should strive to be
thomaszimmer.substack.com
July 26, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Democracy Americana is back!
After a hiatus far too long, I wrote about how to situate our Trumpist moment in U.S. history – and why we need to start from the realization that division has been the historical norm, and we are experiencing the latest iteration of a very old struggle.
After a hiatus far too long, I wrote about how to situate our Trumpist moment in U.S. history – and why we need to start from the realization that division has been the historical norm, and we are experiencing the latest iteration of a very old struggle.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
Every so often someone must wake up and realize that they voted to make a pedophile rapist the most powerful person in the world and he is using that power to steal everything he can and crush every decent person who opposes him. Maybe that’s just too hard to accept so they pretend not to understand
July 23, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Every so often someone must wake up and realize that they voted to make a pedophile rapist the most powerful person in the world and he is using that power to steal everything he can and crush every decent person who opposes him. Maybe that’s just too hard to accept so they pretend not to understand
Reposted by Ayşe E.
What a perfect response & terrific recommendations for reading! My admiration for Ann Patchett grows. #booksky
It’s Friday, and if you haven’t read this towering stack of great literature, it’s new to you! This week, Ann mixes it up a bit and responds to an op-ed by David Brooks in the NYT. Is the novel really dead? Read the article, watch Ann’s take, and let us know what you think.
New to You: Literature Isn’t Dead
YouTube video by Parnassus Books
youtu.be
July 22, 2025 at 1:13 PM
What a perfect response & terrific recommendations for reading! My admiration for Ann Patchett grows. #booksky
🗣️
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
ROI for NIH and NSF for local economies is conservatively 4x, often close to 10x
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
May 19, 2025 at 4:18 AM
🗣️
.
There is a false dichotomy drawn between "the ivory tower" and "the real world," and I'm here to report that in a post-industrial society, your real-world economy absolutely hinges on the university.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
University towns are factory towns. Universities drive economic activity, not the other way around.
A must read
May 19, 2025 at 4:09 AM
.
Another beautiful day. #stetwalk #stetdrive?
May 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Another beautiful day. #stetwalk #stetdrive?
Reposted by Ayşe E.
The Trevor Project has a 24/7 Suicide Hotline for LGBTQ+ Youth. Please support them if you can, and please promote them.
www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
April 22, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The Trevor Project has a 24/7 Suicide Hotline for LGBTQ+ Youth. Please support them if you can, and please promote them.
www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help/
Yes.
Actually. How the US benefitted from outsourcing its research interests to experts in universities.
April 21, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Yes.
Reposted by Ayşe E.
whomst amongst us doesn’t have a signal group chat with our wife, brother and personal lawyer
April 20, 2025 at 9:18 PM
whomst amongst us doesn’t have a signal group chat with our wife, brother and personal lawyer
👇🏽
Right-wingers really really want you to forget this distinction. They want you to join them in separating the good people (who deserve rights) from the bad people (who don't).
They are incapable of imagining moral universalism. They regret the Enlightenment.
They are this country's worst people.
They are incapable of imagining moral universalism. They regret the Enlightenment.
They are this country's worst people.
Van Hollen on Fox News Sunday: "I'm not vouching for the man. I'm vouching for the man's rights. His constitutional rights to due process."
April 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
👇🏽