Tim McKay
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timmckay.bsky.social
Tim McKay
@timmckay.bsky.social
700 followers 780 following 450 posts
Bird & nature lover; book addict; educator, astronomer, physicist; happiest outdoors. Born at 320 ppm.
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Reposted by Tim McKay
debbiedingell.house.gov
My statement on why I voted no on the Republican bill that will disenfranchise voters.
February 12, 2026 at 1:30 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
mcnees.bsky.social
Conservationist, marine biologist, and science writer Rachel Carson was born #OTD in 1907.

Carson challenged the widespread use of pesticides in her book “Silent Spring,” and testified before Congress on environmental policy and human health. 🧪 👩‍🔬

Image: Alfred Eisenstaedt/LIFE/Getty
A black and white photo of an older woman with dark curly hair standing outside near a creek or small river, wearing a dark jacket over a white blouse. She is holding and examining a jar containing water and other material from the creek.
May 27, 2025 at 2:05 PM
timmckay.bsky.social
This is a great book, the definitive biography of a remarkable leader.
February 11, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
emilymbender.bsky.social
The headline's great, but the article is beyond impressive for how much ground they cover with such fidelity in just a few words.
February 9, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
berondam.bsky.social
I know today is Bad Bunny Bowl, yet I'm also looking forward to tomorrow when I'll be in conversation about When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy with @louiseseamster.bsky.social at @prairielights.com in IowA City.
Event followed by signing start at 7 PM.
Book event flyer with images of author Beronda Montgomery (upper left), conversation partner Louise Seamster (lower left), book cover of When Trees Testify (right) and text that reads: When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy Beronda Montgomery in conversation with Louise Seamster Prairie Lights Books Monday, February 9th, 7-8 pm book signing to follow
February 8, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
everylibrary.bsky.social
More Americans need to learn about the benefits of libraries, so help spread the word.
👉 Like
👉 Follow
👉 Share

#library #libraries #read #reading #book #books #librarylove #author #publiclibrary #literature #lit
February 8, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
radiolento.bsky.social
One day it will be sunny again. In the meantime....
Birdsong in Woodland in May in Beautiful Shropshire
YouTube video by Radio Lento
youtu.be
February 6, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
lalahaenzy.com
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
ismipratima.bsky.social
dof.princeton.edu/news/2026/ka...
Feb 18, looks like!
Kate Manne and Tressie McMillan Cottom in conversation at Princeton Public Lectures
Kate Manne, professor in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University, and Tressie McMillan Cottom, professor in the School of Information and Library Science at University of North Carolina at...
dof.princeton.edu
February 5, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
ecmclaughlin.bsky.social
This is another effort that has taken a HUGE amount of local activism, led by community folks who care.

It CAN be done. Get involved where you live and push back.

www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
New Mexico Senate approves bill to ban ICE detention centers
The New Mexico Legislature approved the Immigration Safety Act. House bill 9 bars the state from allowing ICE detention centers.
www.elpasotimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
katharinehayhoe.com
Most people are worried about climate change - but most don't hear or talk about regularly.

That's why I started my free newsletter Talking Climate. Every week I share good news, not so good news, and what people can do.

If you aren't a reader yet, see below. I have 6 different ways to subscribe!
A global map showing that most people don't talk about or hear about climate change regularly (except in Scandinavia - I believe this is the Greta Effect!). Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. A global map showing that most people are worried about climate change. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
February 4, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
mollycoleman.bsky.social
Axios had a story today about how hard Minnesota’s economy is being hit and how slow the recovery could be. So, I’m going to take this opportunity to say that if you want to support the Twin Cities, you should plan a visit for this summer, spend some money here, & see how amazing it is for yourself.
February 4, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
profsecchi.bsky.social
Posted without comments - absolutely zero, not a single even minuscule one.
Lack of student interest, scheduling issues delays UI Center for Intellectual Freedom
The Center for Intellectual Freedom, newly housed at the University of Iowa, postponed classes set to begin in January to March following issues with staff scheduling and a lack of student participati...
dailyiowan.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
saskajanet.bsky.social
*ducking intensifies*

So much fun watching the Common Goldeneyes doing “The Thing” #birds
Three ducks on the water. Two are black and white with green heads and white cheek patches, one is grey with brown head. All have golden eyes. The male in front is displaying with head pointing straight up. Now the second drake is doing his display, with quack and foot kick and splash.
February 3, 2026 at 1:32 PM
timmckay.bsky.social
A bright moment - the University of Michigan Museum of Art has created a wonderful new art loan program. Students curators help to select art, often from Michigan, for the museum to collect. This is then loaned to students to hand in their dorm rooms. The first 75 works were loaned out last week.
February 2, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
benpatrickwill.bsky.social
"Teaching with AI is not without value; it is a case study in how even well-meaning educators operating in good faith can become inadvertent agents of a pedagogical de-skilling and institutional dehumanization."

This scathing book review really is worth reading.
February 2, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
saskajanet.bsky.social
trundle, trundle, trundle 😍
🌿
A close-up of a porcupine walking right to left across a snowy field.
February 1, 2026 at 11:09 PM
timmckay.bsky.social
For the 100th Black History remembrance. Michelle Adams "The Containment" is a moving and in depth exploration of how the Supreme Court used the Milliken-Bradley case to abandon desegregation. Brown banned separate-but-equal in '54, but two decades later the Supremes said 'never mind'.
February 2, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
virginiaheffernan.bsky.social
Here's to all the intellectuals not in the Epstein files. They're the ones the Epstein class feared. They're the ones who could spell.

virginiaheffernan.substack.com/p/toni-morri...
Toni Morrison Is Not in the Epstein Files
Let's talk about the serious intellectuals, the ones not on the Lolita Express, the ones who could spell.
virginiaheffernan.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
mayor.nyc.gov
I kicked off Black History Month in Corona at the home of Louis Armstrong, who lived in our city for more than 30 years. Walking through his house and hearing how much New York meant to him was a powerful reminder of what this city owes to Black artists and culture.
Mayor Mamdani inside the Louis Armstrong House Museum Mayor Mamdani looking at artwork of Louis Armstrong A trumpet player A signed photo of Louis Armstrong
February 1, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
peiferlabunc.bsky.social
San Francisco standing with Minnesota--my sister-in-law is in the exclamation point
People grouped to spell ABOLISH ICE on Ocean Beach
February 1, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
jocelynanderson.bsky.social
A Black-capped Chickadee showcasing winter fashion by donning a snowflake accessory.
January 31, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
grubstreetwomen.bsky.social
One of my most cherished classes is my 18th century novels course where the primary learning objective is "learn how read long novels." We did a "couch to 5k" approach to attention span and note-taking.
walshbr.bsky.social Brandon Walsh @walshbr.bsky.social · 11d
My hot take about the “students cannot read whole novels / watch whole films / etc.” is that they can learn to do it. None of us are born with attention spans suited for long media. It is a learned skill and can be developed with practice.
January 31, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Tim McKay
charlieconnelly.bsky.social
I love this B.H. Fairchild poem so much.
OFTEN THE DYING ASK FOR A MAP So when Locie, embraced by the great softness of bed #12, her late blizzard of silver hair fanning out beneath head and shoulders, asked for one in plaintive, almost desperate tones, I went out to my car and brought back my old, frayed roadmap of Kansas, and she followed the unfolding as if it in itself were a miracle, and then held it over her head, scanning the red interstates and blue country roads without apparent method or intent but smiling her morphined grand smile of awe and wonder within an air of childhood surprise and overwhelming acceptance. Because here it was—the way there, or here, or out or over or in, and here, sweetie, let me hold it for you, let me hold... and her trembling index finger knows no certain path but wanders through the Flint Hills toward Cottonwood Falls, then darts up toward Ossawatomie, and she can smell the new wheat, its dark green deep as the jade of the necklace her husband brought home from the war in the Pacific. And now as she crosses the Kaw River, she sees a young woman standing beneath the moon in a In Kansas, and wondering, what will I be? Who will I marry? Where will we live? Will I have children? And if, at the end, I am lost, how will I find my way home?
January 31, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Tim McKay
startribune.com
Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.

📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
January 30, 2026 at 9:42 PM