Joy Brennan
@joybrennan.bsky.social
Reading and writing Buddhist philosophy, esp Yogacara & Zen. Teaching religion and philosophy at Kenyon College, leading Kokosing Zen Center (https://www.kokosingzencenter.org/), raising my daughter, learning the native trees & plants of central Ohio
Reposted by Joy Brennan
“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren says of the deal. “People want us to stand and fight for health care, and that's what I believe.” (via Igor Bobic, HuffPo) x.com/igorbobic/st...
November 10, 2025 at 12:42 AM
“I think it’s a terrible mistake,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren says of the deal. “People want us to stand and fight for health care, and that's what I believe.” (via Igor Bobic, HuffPo) x.com/igorbobic/st...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Note from my notebook (2018). Still relevant.
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Note from my notebook (2018). Still relevant.
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Charles Godfrey Leland, Fusang, or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century (London: Trübner, 1875):
books.google.de/books?id=_ZT...
books.google.de/books?id=_ZT...
Fusang, Or, The Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century
"Each September, up to 5,000 of the most amazing pieces of British architecture, engineering and heritage are opened up to the public. The main event and the focus of the series is the London Open Hou...
books.google.de
November 6, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Charles Godfrey Leland, Fusang, or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century (London: Trübner, 1875):
books.google.de/books?id=_ZT...
books.google.de/books?id=_ZT...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
This is an all hands on deck moment to save health care.
If you got a notice this month that your health insurance premium is going up by $500 or maybe even $1,000, send me your story: www.warren.senate.gov/health-care-...
If you got a notice this month that your health insurance premium is going up by $500 or maybe even $1,000, send me your story: www.warren.senate.gov/health-care-...
Is Your Health Care Premium Going Up? Share Your Story | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
The Official U.S. Senate website of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
www.warren.senate.gov
November 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM
This is an all hands on deck moment to save health care.
If you got a notice this month that your health insurance premium is going up by $500 or maybe even $1,000, send me your story: www.warren.senate.gov/health-care-...
If you got a notice this month that your health insurance premium is going up by $500 or maybe even $1,000, send me your story: www.warren.senate.gov/health-care-...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Saturday, Nov. 8, is Dorothy Day’s birthday. Day, with the title “Servant of God,” is currently in the first formal stage in the canonization process.
religionnews.com/2025/11/07/o...
religionnews.com/2025/11/07/o...
On Dorothy Day’s birthday, the life and work of the last living Catholic Worker who knew her
NEW YORK (RNS) — Jane Sammon is the only Catholic Worker still living in one of the original Houses of Hospitality who worked with Dorothy Day, now a candidate for sainthood.
religionnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, Nov. 8, is Dorothy Day’s birthday. Day, with the title “Servant of God,” is currently in the first formal stage in the canonization process.
religionnews.com/2025/11/07/o...
religionnews.com/2025/11/07/o...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Karma Yonten Gyatso concludes his excellent series on Buddhist publishing in our modern age, bringing it all back home...
"The Dharma is not the sole refuge. You need the Buddha, represented by the teacher, and the sangha, your community of spiritual friends."
www.buddhistdoor.net/features/so-...
"The Dharma is not the sole refuge. You need the Buddha, represented by the teacher, and the sangha, your community of spiritual friends."
www.buddhistdoor.net/features/so-...
So, You Want to Be a Buddhist Author, Eh? Part Six: Bringing It All Back Home - Buddhistdoor Global
What happens when the Dharma meets AI? In the final installment of his series on Buddhist publishing, John Negru explores the irreplaceable role of living teachers in transmitting wisdom beyond words
www.buddhistdoor.net
November 5, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Karma Yonten Gyatso concludes his excellent series on Buddhist publishing in our modern age, bringing it all back home...
"The Dharma is not the sole refuge. You need the Buddha, represented by the teacher, and the sangha, your community of spiritual friends."
www.buddhistdoor.net/features/so-...
"The Dharma is not the sole refuge. You need the Buddha, represented by the teacher, and the sangha, your community of spiritual friends."
www.buddhistdoor.net/features/so-...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.
November 5, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I knew it would take less than a day for a tiktok dj to make something.
"Questions the company hoped the seminars would answer for the fellows included: What is the West? What are its challenges and how do we think through them? And, perhaps most important, is the West worth defending?—which Palantir sought to answer in the affirmative."
It's indoctrination...
It's indoctrination...
November 2, 2025 at 2:02 PM
"Questions the company hoped the seminars would answer for the fellows included: What is the West? What are its challenges and how do we think through them? And, perhaps most important, is the West worth defending?—which Palantir sought to answer in the affirmative."
It's indoctrination...
It's indoctrination...
Smart words from my colleague:
It’s amazing to me how many people who have never taught think LLMs will replace professors/teachers. Even if they didn’t get basic stuff wrong regularly, at least half of teaching is building relationships, human connections.
October 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Smart words from my colleague:
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Are you thinking about running for office in #Ohio?
Apply for this FREE @leadohio.bsky.social campaign academy!
www.leadohio.org/campaignacad...
Apply for this FREE @leadohio.bsky.social campaign academy!
www.leadohio.org/campaignacad...
October 23, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Are you thinking about running for office in #Ohio?
Apply for this FREE @leadohio.bsky.social campaign academy!
www.leadohio.org/campaignacad...
Apply for this FREE @leadohio.bsky.social campaign academy!
www.leadohio.org/campaignacad...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
CAIL = prerequisite knowledge for a critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims. For example, the idea that human-like systems are a sensible or possible goal is the result of circular reasoning and anthropomorphism. olivia.science/ai
🧵
🧵
October 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
CAIL = prerequisite knowledge for a critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims. For example, the idea that human-like systems are a sensible or possible goal is the result of circular reasoning and anthropomorphism. olivia.science/ai
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Joy Brennan
UnitedHealth is the nation’s largest health insurance conglomerate. We obtained what is effectively the company’s internal playbook for limiting and cutting therapy costs.
(Published Nov. 2024)
(Published Nov. 2024)
How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk
United used an algorithm system to identify patients who it determined were getting too much therapy and then limited coverage. It was deemed illegal in three states, but similar practices persist due...
www.propublica.org
October 23, 2025 at 12:00 AM
UnitedHealth is the nation’s largest health insurance conglomerate. We obtained what is effectively the company’s internal playbook for limiting and cutting therapy costs.
(Published Nov. 2024)
(Published Nov. 2024)
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Excellent 4 part series by @pbs.org looking at how global cities are coming to grips with the real-time effects of rising seas and extreme weather.
Episodes linked in the following 🧵
#ClimateEmergency
Episodes linked in the following 🧵
#ClimateEmergency
Sinking Cities | Official Preview | PBS
YouTube video by PBS
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Excellent 4 part series by @pbs.org looking at how global cities are coming to grips with the real-time effects of rising seas and extreme weather.
Episodes linked in the following 🧵
#ClimateEmergency
Episodes linked in the following 🧵
#ClimateEmergency
Reposted by Joy Brennan
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
October 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
this rocks. when indiana edu killed the student newspaper, Purdue stepped up, printed the forbidden issue, drove it to Bloomington and stocked the boxes.
Reposted by Joy Brennan
A 3,000-pound ice sculpture spelling out the word “DEMOCRACY” was seen melting on the National Mall within view of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
October 16, 2025 at 8:17 AM
A 3,000-pound ice sculpture spelling out the word “DEMOCRACY” was seen melting on the National Mall within view of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Reposted by Joy Brennan
LLMs have convincingly demonstrated that coding is the easiest activity, maths is medium hard, and having taste is the hardest
October 15, 2025 at 6:10 AM
LLMs have convincingly demonstrated that coding is the easiest activity, maths is medium hard, and having taste is the hardest
Me too
My vote in the 2028 D primary for POTUS will hinge almost entirely on the % of this Administration they promise to imprison
October 15, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Me too
Reposted by Joy Brennan
"The great rebalancing of area studies is underway. The question is not whether this shift will continue — it will — but whether Western institutions can adapt quickly enough to remain relevant in an increasingly multipolar academic landscape." eastasiaforum.org/2025/10/11/t...
The great rebalancing of area studies
Western cuts and China’s expansion are shifting area studies eastward, reshaping global knowledge production.
eastasiaforum.org
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
"The great rebalancing of area studies is underway. The question is not whether this shift will continue — it will — but whether Western institutions can adapt quickly enough to remain relevant in an increasingly multipolar academic landscape." eastasiaforum.org/2025/10/11/t...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
"Since 2022, 30,000 #Ohio children have lost health insurance because of cost concerns, while the state has provided billions to the wealthy in tax cuts and billions to private schools"
This is Ohio with a Republican supermajority. Your kids deserve so much better.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/09...
This is Ohio with a Republican supermajority. Your kids deserve so much better.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/09...
October 12, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"Since 2022, 30,000 #Ohio children have lost health insurance because of cost concerns, while the state has provided billions to the wealthy in tax cuts and billions to private schools"
This is Ohio with a Republican supermajority. Your kids deserve so much better.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/09...
This is Ohio with a Republican supermajority. Your kids deserve so much better.
www.cleveland.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
So, the religious left (broadly speaking) got a lot of attention this week.
If you’re curious to know more about the modern religious left — the iterations that have emerged in the last 10-20 years — I, uh, wrote a book about it. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062...
If you’re curious to know more about the modern religious left — the iterations that have emerged in the last 10-20 years — I, uh, wrote a book about it. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062...
American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country
Amazon.com: American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country: 9780062935991: Jenkins, Jack: Libros
www.amazon.com
October 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
So, the religious left (broadly speaking) got a lot of attention this week.
If you’re curious to know more about the modern religious left — the iterations that have emerged in the last 10-20 years — I, uh, wrote a book about it. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062...
If you’re curious to know more about the modern religious left — the iterations that have emerged in the last 10-20 years — I, uh, wrote a book about it. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0062...
Reposted by Joy Brennan
We’re looking for anonymized photos of prescription bottles to help us determine where those drugs were made.
Here’s a quick guide to sending in your label securely ⤵️
Here’s a quick guide to sending in your label securely ⤵️
October 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
We’re looking for anonymized photos of prescription bottles to help us determine where those drugs were made.
Here’s a quick guide to sending in your label securely ⤵️
Here’s a quick guide to sending in your label securely ⤵️
Reposted by Joy Brennan
My publisher’s been very patient. I’m not doing everything I said I’d do to promote this book (out in a few weeks) because I’m an organizer in a city under federal attack. My days are full and emotionally exhausting. Any help getting the word out means a lot. It's a book people need right now.
Read This When Things Fall Apart by Kelly Hayes | Pilsen Community Books
A bundle of letters to activists and organizers on the frontlines in catastrophic times from Let This Radicalize You co-author Kelly Hayes In social movements, some heartbreaks are all but inevitable.
www.pilsencommunitybooks.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:59 PM
My publisher’s been very patient. I’m not doing everything I said I’d do to promote this book (out in a few weeks) because I’m an organizer in a city under federal attack. My days are full and emotionally exhausting. Any help getting the word out means a lot. It's a book people need right now.
As an educator, I agree with all of this.
I actually don't really care if AI is useful/interesting/good for some things in education actually - it is besides these things clearly a big problem already that maybe need listing yet again:
October 11, 2025 at 10:42 PM
As an educator, I agree with all of this.
Reposted by Joy Brennan
Tired of letting algorithms divine who you are, define what you see, and distract you with ads? Try the Marginalian newsletter—an oasis of undistracted inspiration and illumination, free, ad-free, algorithm-free, fully human since 2006: themarginalian.org/newsletter
October 10, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Tired of letting algorithms divine who you are, define what you see, and distract you with ads? Try the Marginalian newsletter—an oasis of undistracted inspiration and illumination, free, ad-free, algorithm-free, fully human since 2006: themarginalian.org/newsletter