Kathleen Battles
@katbat67.bsky.social
Media Studier - history, theory, gender, sexuality, sound, surveillance, technology. Professor, Dept. Chair, and procrastinator.
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
“Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?” is the defining quote of the Trump era
September 29, 2025 at 1:00 PM
“Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening?” is the defining quote of the Trump era
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
Harvard sociologist/polisci Theda Skocpol explains how the vast expansion of ICE in BBB may be Trump's secret weapon to overcome the barriers of federalism and complete his autocratic takeover of the American state. (History from Germany & Hungary in 20s/30s.) talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/criti...
Critical Read About the BBB, Federalism and the Future of American Democracy
TPM Reader TS (Harvard sociologist/political scientist Theda Skocpol) and I often compared...
talkingpointsmemo.com
July 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Harvard sociologist/polisci Theda Skocpol explains how the vast expansion of ICE in BBB may be Trump's secret weapon to overcome the barriers of federalism and complete his autocratic takeover of the American state. (History from Germany & Hungary in 20s/30s.) talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/criti...
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.
June 10, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The disparity btwn what’s actually happening in Los Angeles and the way it’s being mischaracterized is one of the biggest stress tests of modern media in recent memory. Botted socials, AI, old clips, declining literacy—it’s like seeing a broken emergency response system hit by a storm.
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
Boom.
"What trillion-dollar problem is AI trying to solve?"
Wages. They're trying to use it to solve having to pay wages.
Wages. They're trying to use it to solve having to pay wages.
May 7, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Boom.
There is no fiercer advocate
for saving both the past and future of public media. Plus. A good reading for any media studies course.
for saving both the past and future of public media. Plus. A good reading for any media studies course.
Wrote a historical piece that defends funding for NPR and PBS. Whatever their problems, we cannot let Fox News become our default "public sphere." There needs to be alternatives, including imperfect yet aspirational ones.
Trump and many GOP lawmakers want to end all funding for NPR and PBS − unraveling a US public media system that took a century to build
The precursors of today’s public media programs consisted of professors giving lectures about history and finance.
theconversation.com
May 2, 2025 at 5:08 PM
There is no fiercer advocate
for saving both the past and future of public media. Plus. A good reading for any media studies course.
for saving both the past and future of public media. Plus. A good reading for any media studies course.
I met Mallory McMorrow when she was first running for state senate. Her energy, intelligence, caring, and can-do-sensibility led me to do those things I hate the most: canvassing and phone banking. I’m *thrilled* to see her enter the race for US Senate.
April 3, 2025 at 12:18 AM
I met Mallory McMorrow when she was first running for state senate. Her energy, intelligence, caring, and can-do-sensibility led me to do those things I hate the most: canvassing and phone banking. I’m *thrilled* to see her enter the race for US Senate.
The line at my local Walgreens suggests everyone got the warning message this morning - pick up ur prescription before 4 today or it will vaporize into a wispy powder of nothing. (Okay; to be fair - they just said it would be returned to the stock)
March 16, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The line at my local Walgreens suggests everyone got the warning message this morning - pick up ur prescription before 4 today or it will vaporize into a wispy powder of nothing. (Okay; to be fair - they just said it would be returned to the stock)
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
DOGE recommends cuts to the FAA.
Hundreds of workers get fired, including those tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps.
Now Starlink is reportedly in line to take over a $2 billion contract to upgrade the nation's air traffic control systems.
See how this works?
Hundreds of workers get fired, including those tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps.
Now Starlink is reportedly in line to take over a $2 billion contract to upgrade the nation's air traffic control systems.
See how this works?
February 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
DOGE recommends cuts to the FAA.
Hundreds of workers get fired, including those tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps.
Now Starlink is reportedly in line to take over a $2 billion contract to upgrade the nation's air traffic control systems.
See how this works?
Hundreds of workers get fired, including those tasked with producing air traffic navigation maps.
Now Starlink is reportedly in line to take over a $2 billion contract to upgrade the nation's air traffic control systems.
See how this works?
For no particular reason, I googled childless couples. And this is what it’s AI produced for an answer:
February 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
For no particular reason, I googled childless couples. And this is what it’s AI produced for an answer:
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
That’s more like it.
February 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
That’s more like it.
This is a way better metaphor.
Make your calls. Go to your town halls. Ask your state and local officials what they are doing under state and local law. Rest. Hydrate. Make soup for the hungry. Don’t let people tell you that you’re doing it wrong. Not a sprint. Not a marathon. A relay. Find your team. Thank you.
February 15, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This is a way better metaphor.
W. T. F?
RFK Jr said he wants to send folks who are taking antidepressants and ADHD medications to "wellness farms" in rural America where they will be forced to labor by growing organic food to "cure their addictions."
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
RFK Jr. wants to send people addicted to antidepressants to government "wellness farms"
The farms will "reparent" them.
www.motherjones.com
February 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
W. T. F?
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
Breaking: The basket of deplorables has been upgraded in status to bucket of abominables.
February 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Breaking: The basket of deplorables has been upgraded in status to bucket of abominables.
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
A clear overview of where we are and could be headed on the coup scale.
www.liberalcurrents.com/is-it-a-coup/
www.liberalcurrents.com/is-it-a-coup/
Is It a Coup?
It is bad, it is illegal, and it is a self-coup.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 13, 2025 at 10:20 PM
A clear overview of where we are and could be headed on the coup scale.
www.liberalcurrents.com/is-it-a-coup/
www.liberalcurrents.com/is-it-a-coup/
Cliff notes on gender/sexuality: If you need a set of laws/orders determined by executive fiat to compel enforcement of an ostensibly “natural” gender binary, was it really natural in the first place?
February 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Cliff notes on gender/sexuality: If you need a set of laws/orders determined by executive fiat to compel enforcement of an ostensibly “natural” gender binary, was it really natural in the first place?
Yep
Also, no, AI can't predict crime before it happens.
But tech bros are writing press releases that promise this crap because venture capitalists are dumb enough to believe it.
But tech bros are writing press releases that promise this crap because venture capitalists are dumb enough to believe it.
We literally have science fiction on why this is a bad idea.
February 11, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Yep
Posted something about maybe using die ins as a form of protest. My brother (2 years younger than me) reached out immediately thinking I’d gone off the deep end, and my father posted “what is this”. And. We all lived in the same house when this was happening.
February 11, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Posted something about maybe using die ins as a form of protest. My brother (2 years younger than me) reached out immediately thinking I’d gone off the deep end, and my father posted “what is this”. And. We all lived in the same house when this was happening.
Yep. It’s devastating.
February 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Yep. It’s devastating.
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic.
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
How a Canadian scientist and a venomous lizard helped pave the way for Ozempic - National | Globalnews.ca
In 1984, Dr. Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist from the University of Toronto, discovered a hormone that helped pave the way for popular diabetes drugs such as Ozempic.
globalnews.ca
February 9, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic.
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
globalnews.ca/news/9793403...
Let’s call it like it is. There has been a massive data breach and everyday Americans are in danger from that.
February 5, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Let’s call it like it is. There has been a massive data breach and everyday Americans are in danger from that.
Reposted by Kathleen Battles
In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server.
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
February 4, 2025 at 1:51 PM
In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server.
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
I’m not a cartoonist - but here are a list of images I need:
1. A graphic of a demented drug addled certain tech bro playing with his president you-know-who bobble head doll.
2. A Who’s the Boss graphic with above said tech bro in an apron sweeping out the above said prez who is wearing a dress.
1. A graphic of a demented drug addled certain tech bro playing with his president you-know-who bobble head doll.
2. A Who’s the Boss graphic with above said tech bro in an apron sweeping out the above said prez who is wearing a dress.
February 4, 2025 at 12:56 PM
I’m not a cartoonist - but here are a list of images I need:
1. A graphic of a demented drug addled certain tech bro playing with his president you-know-who bobble head doll.
2. A Who’s the Boss graphic with above said tech bro in an apron sweeping out the above said prez who is wearing a dress.
1. A graphic of a demented drug addled certain tech bro playing with his president you-know-who bobble head doll.
2. A Who’s the Boss graphic with above said tech bro in an apron sweeping out the above said prez who is wearing a dress.
This is a super easy thing to say if you are at an elite institution. I work at an under resourced regional public that provides education to many first gen kids and others who for financial, personal, or other reasons want to stay close to home. We educate a solid portion our regions workforce.
Universities should stand strong against government bullying by saying “we won’t do XYZ that you demand and you can cut off our funding all you want.” Otherwise, the demands get crazier each day (eg, “ban all Muslims, or else…”). It’s just like how paying ransom to a criminal is logically futile.
February 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
This is a super easy thing to say if you are at an elite institution. I work at an under resourced regional public that provides education to many first gen kids and others who for financial, personal, or other reasons want to stay close to home. We educate a solid portion our regions workforce.