Paula Harper
@pch9857.bsky.social
Musicologist researching music + sound + the internet
Assistant prof @ UChicago
She/her
Assistant prof @ UChicago
She/her
Reposted by Paula Harper
It's a snitch app
BREAKING: Now that TikTok is under US-based ownership, the social media app potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:28 PM
It's a snitch app
Reposted by Paula Harper
happening at the same time
January 23, 2026 at 5:50 PM
happening at the same time
Reposted by Paula Harper
Reposted by Paula Harper
ICE kidnapped a 5-year-old and sent him alone to a facility in Texas. Hell isn't hot enough.
January 21, 2026 at 11:14 PM
ICE kidnapped a 5-year-old and sent him alone to a facility in Texas. Hell isn't hot enough.
Reposted by Paula Harper
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
January 21, 2026 at 10:00 PM
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
"Music and sound are to the 2020’s social media ecosystem what hashtags were to the 2010s — clickable portals into the swirl of what’s happening now."
That's the takeaway, I think. (Thanks to the Globe folks for getting me to put it in writing!)
That's the takeaway, I think. (Thanks to the Globe folks for getting me to put it in writing!)
January 21, 2026 at 8:52 PM
"Music and sound are to the 2020’s social media ecosystem what hashtags were to the 2010s — clickable portals into the swirl of what’s happening now."
That's the takeaway, I think. (Thanks to the Globe folks for getting me to put it in writing!)
That's the takeaway, I think. (Thanks to the Globe folks for getting me to put it in writing!)
Had an Idea about music in meme politics www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/21/o...
When a ridiculous online ditty leads to the capture of the Venezuelan president - The Boston Globe
Musical memes are infiltrating politics.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Had an Idea about music in meme politics www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/21/o...
Reposted by Paula Harper
how many of us are forming brand new sentences today like "i knew the duck before they were kidnapped and then turned into discourse"
Where were you when @musicologyduck.bsky.social was kidnapped?
January 20, 2026 at 7:21 PM
how many of us are forming brand new sentences today like "i knew the duck before they were kidnapped and then turned into discourse"
Reposted by Paula Harper
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
Reposted by Paula Harper
Bluesky is owned by musicology now, I don’t make the rules
January 20, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Bluesky is owned by musicology now, I don’t make the rules
keep getting jumpscared by people mentioning @musicologyduck.bsky.social FAR afield of musicology. thoughts and prayers for your bus shenanigans but also for being today's main character.
January 20, 2026 at 7:24 PM
keep getting jumpscared by people mentioning @musicologyduck.bsky.social FAR afield of musicology. thoughts and prayers for your bus shenanigans but also for being today's main character.
Reposted by Paula Harper
Our researchers found at least 450 posts on Telegram dating back to 2020 that shared the song mentioned in this reporting.
Nearly all the posts we found were from explicitly neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels. And a review of our datasets found it hasn't circulated much outside those circles.
Nearly all the posts we found were from explicitly neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels. And a review of our datasets found it hasn't circulated much outside those circles.
January 14, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Our researchers found at least 450 posts on Telegram dating back to 2020 that shared the song mentioned in this reporting.
Nearly all the posts we found were from explicitly neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels. And a review of our datasets found it hasn't circulated much outside those circles.
Nearly all the posts we found were from explicitly neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels. And a review of our datasets found it hasn't circulated much outside those circles.
Reposted by Paula Harper
Now that’s a fucking start
The Congressional Progressive Caucus, a group of nearly 100 House Democrats, will announce later today that it's formally endorsing legislation to strip $175 billion from ICE and put it toward affordable housing. www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-fe...
Progressive Caucus Backs Bill To Redirect ICE Money To Affordable Housing
www.huffpost.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Now that’s a fucking start
Reposted by Paula Harper
Wow it really looks like she cared a great deal for the safety and wellbeing of everyone in her son’s school and its community
The woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week served on the board of her son’s school, which linked to documents encouraging parents to monitor ICE and directing them to training. https://cnn.it/49yoNEa
January 14, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Wow it really looks like she cared a great deal for the safety and wellbeing of everyone in her son’s school and its community
Reposted by Paula Harper
This should be a national shutdown
Unions and community orgs are calling for a Minnesota-wide shutdown in 10 days to protest the ferocious assault by federal immigration agents. They're saying on Jan 23, no work, no school, no shopping. SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, & others are supporting, w/ more to join. By me, Amie Stager
“We Are Facing a Tsunami of Hate”: Amid ICE Crackdown, Unions and Community Groups Call for Minnesota Shutdown in 10 Days
Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and an assault on the state by federal immigration forces, a labor-community coalition is calling for residents to refuse to work, shop or go to school on Januar...
inthesetimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:00 AM
This should be a national shutdown
Reposted by Paula Harper
It would have been very funny if we had sentenced the host of the apprentice to the death penalty
SEOUL, Jan 13 (Reuters) - South Korea's special prosecutor on Tuesday requested the death penalty for former president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of insurrection over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.
January 13, 2026 at 8:36 PM
It would have been very funny if we had sentenced the host of the apprentice to the death penalty
Reposted by Paula Harper
Condé Nast forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet and so a group of journalists grabbed it and are relaunching the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op. Love it. [gourmetmagazine.net]
Gourmet Magazine
Gourmet is a worker-owned publication about food and the people who make and consume it.
gourmetmagazine.net
January 13, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Condé Nast forgot to renew the trademark for Gourmet and so a group of journalists grabbed it and are relaunching the food magazine as a worker-owned co-op. Love it. [gourmetmagazine.net]
Reposted by Paula Harper
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
January 9, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Best TikTok thing going is the two dudes trying food from every country without leaving NYC. If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s incredible. My favorite so far is last week’s. Legit got me emotional.
Reposted by Paula Harper
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 4:12 PM
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Reposted by Paula Harper
well this systematic exclusion of women from public life and dignity is no match for all that prompt engineering we are now required to teach students
One example of how Grok is being used to target women. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch being sexualised, degraded, and humiliated step-by-step by Grok. All the images accurately reflect the prompts provided.
January 5, 2026 at 5:49 PM
well this systematic exclusion of women from public life and dignity is no match for all that prompt engineering we are now required to teach students
Reposted by Paula Harper
One of the rhetorical tics for people opposed to defunding the police was that the demand betrayed a fundamental belief in the ability to reform and improve government but somehow this particular reform repeatedly proven to be effective never gained their support.
They said ending money bond would cause "the end of days".
What we actually saw during the second year of implementation in Chicago:
- 35% decrease in shootings.
- 36% decrease in robberies
- The fewest killings since 1965.
chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...
What we actually saw during the second year of implementation in Chicago:
- 35% decrease in shootings.
- 36% decrease in robberies
- The fewest killings since 1965.
chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...
Chicago records fewest killings since 1965, despite Trump's campaign against city
Overall crime continued to drop as the number of murders in Chicago decreased from 587 in 2024 to 416 last year, when scores of federal immigration agents flooded the city and President Trump repeated...
chicago.suntimes.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:05 PM
One of the rhetorical tics for people opposed to defunding the police was that the demand betrayed a fundamental belief in the ability to reform and improve government but somehow this particular reform repeatedly proven to be effective never gained their support.
"wheres the wlw heated rivalry" look unfortunately a long-form Gaylor fanfic with the serial numbers just barely filed off would indeed fit the brief for this.
January 5, 2026 at 6:16 PM
"wheres the wlw heated rivalry" look unfortunately a long-form Gaylor fanfic with the serial numbers just barely filed off would indeed fit the brief for this.
an editor has returned a piece to me with the cities of publication added back IN to the citations, starting the new year off wrong
January 2, 2026 at 4:18 PM
an editor has returned a piece to me with the cities of publication added back IN to the citations, starting the new year off wrong
Reposted by Paula Harper
Yeah, Lucy Dacus' performance was good, but Sarah Goldstone isn't getting nearly enough love for playing the omnichord in sub-freezing weather without gloves.
Signed, a former woodwind player in a marching band in Alaska.
Signed, a former woodwind player in a marching band in Alaska.
January 2, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Yeah, Lucy Dacus' performance was good, but Sarah Goldstone isn't getting nearly enough love for playing the omnichord in sub-freezing weather without gloves.
Signed, a former woodwind player in a marching band in Alaska.
Signed, a former woodwind player in a marching band in Alaska.
Reposted by Paula Harper
