Jolyon Thomas
@jolyonbt.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof of Religious Studies. Author, Drawing on Tradition (2012), Faking Liberties (2019); co-editor, New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions (2025); co-author, Animating Action (coming Dec 2026). Web: jolyon.thomasresearch.org
“Just following orders.” share.inquirer.com/QpbN8X
The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push
President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S. to be reviewed and potentially removed.
share.inquirer.com
January 23, 2026 at 12:47 AM
“Just following orders.” share.inquirer.com/QpbN8X
I learned so much from reading this paper! It complicates a commonplace claim about unique zones of vulnerability to hazards while still offering an alternative vision of justice and care. Recommended for people thinking about environmental harms, environmental justice, and disability.
“Sacrifice zone” has become a powerful label for naming unequal burdens of toxic contamination, too often located in and near marginalized communities. The problem is that naming polluted places as “zones” implies toxic containment when PFAS, dioxins, etc easily move thru air, water, and soil.
Respatializing Toxic Harm: The Case Against Sacrifice Zones
Describing heavily polluted areas as “sacrifice zones” has become commonplace in recent decades, as diverse groups resist their unwitting exposure to destructive and toxic industrial, municipal, and ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:05 PM
I learned so much from reading this paper! It complicates a commonplace claim about unique zones of vulnerability to hazards while still offering an alternative vision of justice and care. Recommended for people thinking about environmental harms, environmental justice, and disability.
Starting the year off with an ab workout thanks to LOLing at this string of zingers. Just ruthless.
Yeah, man, the only difference between your career and Mark Rufallo’s career is the political stuff.
January 1, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Starting the year off with an ab workout thanks to LOLing at this string of zingers. Just ruthless.
This story was both exactly what I thought it was based on the title and nothing like what I expected. Recommended! www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-b...
A Brief History of AI Psychosis - Boston Review
A short story.
www.bostonreview.net
December 31, 2025 at 1:39 PM
This story was both exactly what I thought it was based on the title and nothing like what I expected. Recommended! www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-b...
A pleasure to talk about our edited volume with Raditya for this recent podcast!
I recorded a podcast with @jolyonbt.bsky.social a couple weeks ago for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social hosted by @radityanuradi.bsky.social about The New Nanzan Guide. Listen here:
Jolyon Baraka Thomas and Matthew D. McMullen, "The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions" (U Hawaii Press, 2024) - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
December 29, 2025 at 2:20 PM
A pleasure to talk about our edited volume with Raditya for this recent podcast!
Not to pick on the author of this piece, who did important journalistic work with a range of relevant parties, but the assumption that doctrine is anterior to political stances is so flawed. 1/? www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...
The dangerous rise of Buddhist extremism: ‘Attaining nirvana can wait’
The long read: Still largely viewed as a peaceful philosophy, across much of south-east Asia, the religion has been weaponised to serve nationalist goals
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Not to pick on the author of this piece, who did important journalistic work with a range of relevant parties, but the assumption that doctrine is anterior to political stances is so flawed. 1/? www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
My favorite piece of content today.
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My favorite piece of content today.
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
I love that type of energy that's like, "Every now & then I just gotta pop back out & remind y'all I'm one of the baddest people walking."
This Erykah Badu did that.
This Erykah Badu did that.
Erykah Badu - ...& On (LIVE) | Spotify Anniversary
YouTube video by Erykah Badu
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I love that type of energy that's like, "Every now & then I just gotta pop back out & remind y'all I'm one of the baddest people walking."
This Erykah Badu did that.
This Erykah Badu did that.
It was a privilege to contribute to this forum in Religious Studies Review on Leslie Ribovich's book _Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools_. Exciting conversations in the field of religion and education are afoot! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17480922...
November 19, 2025 at 4:21 PM
It was a privilege to contribute to this forum in Religious Studies Review on Leslie Ribovich's book _Without a Prayer: Religion and Race in New York City Public Schools_. Exciting conversations in the field of religion and education are afoot! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17480922...
Great write-up about Kirby Sokolow's research on Buddhist programs in US prisons. omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/prison...
Buddhism Behind Bars
Kirby Sokolow, a seventh-year PhD candidate in the Religious Studies Department, wants to challenge stereotypes around incarceration and religion.
omnia.sas.upenn.edu
November 18, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Great write-up about Kirby Sokolow's research on Buddhist programs in US prisons. omnia.sas.upenn.edu/story/prison...
Public lecture on "The Religion of Anime" Coming up on Wednesday! Still time to register for those who are interested. usjetaa.wildapricot.org/event-6396204
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Public lecture on "The Religion of Anime" Coming up on Wednesday! Still time to register for those who are interested. usjetaa.wildapricot.org/event-6396204
ICYMI
I'm delivering a public lecture and leading a roundtable discussion on the religion of anime on Nov. 12 at 7:00 PM ET. Flyer with registration information below. This is hosted by the US JET Alumni Association, but is open to the public for a small fee. usjetaa.wildapricot.org/event-6396204
November 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
ICYMI
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been all about DIY Halloween costumes that are both dark and goofy. This year I went as the space shuttle Challenger, in a tip of the hat to one of the more horrifying public memory events of my childhood. 🎃
November 1, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been all about DIY Halloween costumes that are both dark and goofy. This year I went as the space shuttle Challenger, in a tip of the hat to one of the more horrifying public memory events of my childhood. 🎃
I'm delivering a public lecture and leading a roundtable discussion on the religion of anime on Nov. 12 at 7:00 PM ET. Flyer with registration information below. This is hosted by the US JET Alumni Association, but is open to the public for a small fee. usjetaa.wildapricot.org/event-6396204
October 27, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I'm delivering a public lecture and leading a roundtable discussion on the religion of anime on Nov. 12 at 7:00 PM ET. Flyer with registration information below. This is hosted by the US JET Alumni Association, but is open to the public for a small fee. usjetaa.wildapricot.org/event-6396204
I’m somewhat skeptical of the area studies enterprise because there is no central question, but I love seeing attempts to rethink the area studies project via other disciplines. (And despite my skepticism, I think the deep knowledge area studies provides is indispensable/irreplaceable.)
One casualty in the Trump administration’s war on higher education is federal funding for area studies. This harms students, scholars, and U.S. national security.
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
It also comes at a time in which political science and area studies are more compatible than ever before. Read on for new research!
1/
Comparative Politics Needs Area Studies, and Area Studies Needs Comparative Politics
If you were a graduate student in political science between 1990 and 2010 or so, you probably experienced some heated debates about the future of area studies and its role in the discipline. This w…
tompepinsky.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I’m somewhat skeptical of the area studies enterprise because there is no central question, but I love seeing attempts to rethink the area studies project via other disciplines. (And despite my skepticism, I think the deep knowledge area studies provides is indispensable/irreplaceable.)
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
the vibe since this was announced
October 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
the vibe since this was announced
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
We now enter the most dangerous phase, but also the one with the greatest opportunity. The U.S. has thousands of colleges, some run by red state governments, so it's too much to hope that NONE sign up for this federal takeover.
But it matters WHO signs up. The administration is taking a risk.
But it matters WHO signs up. The administration is taking a risk.
After getting zero firm commitments to this point from the first nine invitees, the Trump administration is extending its proposed compact to all colleges. Expect some red-state publics to say yes.
Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT
The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in re...
www.bloomberg.com
October 14, 2025 at 4:59 AM
We now enter the most dangerous phase, but also the one with the greatest opportunity. The U.S. has thousands of colleges, some run by red state governments, so it's too much to hope that NONE sign up for this federal takeover.
But it matters WHO signs up. The administration is taking a risk.
But it matters WHO signs up. The administration is taking a risk.
Excellent summary of the big politics news out of Japan today.
Japan, ostensibly one of the least religious countries in the world, had its political order upended by the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai. That is THE story about Friday's epochal shift in Japanese politics (thread follows):
October 10, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Excellent summary of the big politics news out of Japan today.
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
www.propublica.org/article/educ...
www.propublica.org/article/educ...
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...
www.propublica.org
October 8, 2025 at 9:07 AM
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
www.propublica.org/article/educ...
www.propublica.org/article/educ...
Very proud of Kirby’s work in this open-access article. It marks a novel intervention in the prison religion literature and a unique angle on the “Buddhism in America” lit.
PhD candidate Kirby Sokolow's latest article, "Buddhist Exceptionalism Behind Bars," has just been published in the journal Pacific World as part of a special section on American Buddhism, Race, and Power.
Congratulations, Kirby!
pwj.shin-ibs.edu/2025/7191
Congratulations, Kirby!
pwj.shin-ibs.edu/2025/7191
Buddhist Exceptionalism behind Bars
Part of a special section on American Buddhism, Race, and Power. Many Buddhist programs in US prisons focus on reforming incarcerated people. Often the leaders of these programs celebrate their inc…
pwj.shin-ibs.edu
October 7, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Very proud of Kirby’s work in this open-access article. It marks a novel intervention in the prison religion literature and a unique angle on the “Buddhism in America” lit.
This is great. “And so all universities have to do now is do nothing—no accepting the compact, no counter-offers, nothing—and the government will be left with no more power to coerce and control the First Amendment-protected activities of major American universities than it has today.”
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
It's especially for journalists covering this story!
Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
October 5, 2025 at 12:48 PM
This is great. “And so all universities have to do now is do nothing—no accepting the compact, no counter-offers, nothing—and the government will be left with no more power to coerce and control the First Amendment-protected activities of major American universities than it has today.”
Reposted by Jolyon Thomas
I wrote about why the regrettable conclusions of Ezra Klein pissed me off so badly in the last couple weeks.
On moral cowardice in an era that calls for clarity, and a popular political instinct to try to solve divisions of abuse by ignoring causes. www.the-reframe.com/eventually-y...
On moral cowardice in an era that calls for clarity, and a popular political instinct to try to solve divisions of abuse by ignoring causes. www.the-reframe.com/eventually-y...
Eventually You're Going to Have to Stand for Something
On accepting the fascist offer and being better than Ezra.
www.the-reframe.com
October 5, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I wrote about why the regrettable conclusions of Ezra Klein pissed me off so badly in the last couple weeks.
On moral cowardice in an era that calls for clarity, and a popular political instinct to try to solve divisions of abuse by ignoring causes. www.the-reframe.com/eventually-y...
On moral cowardice in an era that calls for clarity, and a popular political instinct to try to solve divisions of abuse by ignoring causes. www.the-reframe.com/eventually-y...
