Tim Watson
@timwatson.bsky.social
English professor in Miami. British-American. London > Bishop's Stortford > Brighton > Brooklyn > Miami. Subtropical gardener. Florida Mangos: A Cultural History, forthcoming from U of Florida Press. Posts are my own and do not represent my employer.
"don't become the person whose main artistic/intellectual vision is that you love to have meetings" is pretty good advice in my universe
February 14, 2026 at 1:28 PM
"don't become the person whose main artistic/intellectual vision is that you love to have meetings" is pretty good advice in my universe
Is the NYT print edition the last remaining educational institution (defined in the broadest sense) where Arts (separate section every day) are more highly valued than Science (separate section once a week)?
February 14, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Is the NYT print edition the last remaining educational institution (defined in the broadest sense) where Arts (separate section every day) are more highly valued than Science (separate section once a week)?
One of the best recent PhD students in the humanities at my institution (which is on this list) was an active duty military officer whose tuition was paid by DoD.
You'd think the government would want military leaders to be highly educated, analytic, worldly, thoughtful people?
This is so stupid.
You'd think the government would want military leaders to be highly educated, analytic, worldly, thoughtful people?
This is so stupid.
New: Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the US (list in replies) abruptly off limits for tuition assistance as part of Hegseth’s campaign against schools he describes as being biased against the US military
www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/p...
www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/p...
Pentagon may bar tuition aid for top universities in Hegseth’s crackdown on ‘biased’ schools | CNN Politics
Military officers could soon find dozens of top colleges and universities across the United States abruptly off limits for tuition assistance as part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign again...
www.cnn.com
February 14, 2026 at 2:42 AM
One of the best recent PhD students in the humanities at my institution (which is on this list) was an active duty military officer whose tuition was paid by DoD.
You'd think the government would want military leaders to be highly educated, analytic, worldly, thoughtful people?
This is so stupid.
You'd think the government would want military leaders to be highly educated, analytic, worldly, thoughtful people?
This is so stupid.
showing my age (and thank you for spotting it)
February 13, 2026 at 5:43 PM
showing my age (and thank you for spotting it)
I mean, I'm not an Oasis fan, or a candidate for a byelection in the greater Manchester area, but come on, people (also I now have a Wonderwall earworm)
February 13, 2026 at 4:48 PM
I mean, I'm not an Oasis fan, or a candidate for a byelection in the greater Manchester area, but come on, people (also I now have a Wonderwall earworm)
A friend told me long ago about being down in the tube station one night after England losing in the Euros or World Cup, platforms full of boozy, melancholy, angry people, a febrile atmosphere—then someone sings the first line of Wonderwall, within seconds everyone's joining in, smiles all round.
February 13, 2026 at 4:45 PM
A friend told me long ago about being down in the tube station one night after England losing in the Euros or World Cup, platforms full of boozy, melancholy, angry people, a febrile atmosphere—then someone sings the first line of Wonderwall, within seconds everyone's joining in, smiles all round.
"The bias of human nature to be slow in correspondence triumphs even over the present quickening in the general pace of things."—George Eliot, explaining why you will never achieve inbox zero.
February 12, 2026 at 3:40 AM
"The bias of human nature to be slow in correspondence triumphs even over the present quickening in the general pace of things."—George Eliot, explaining why you will never achieve inbox zero.
Reposted by Tim Watson
how is everything so impossibly stupid
February 11, 2026 at 2:58 PM
how is everything so impossibly stupid
"most politicians, regardless of party, are more impressive close up"—a fundamental difference between the US and UK today. Stephen Bush is one of the very best, most insightful journalists on the UK political scene. Would any close observer of DC say this about most US politicians? Surely not.
Indeed. It’s wild. Obviously our collective bias is going to be to be too positive, we talk to these people every day, and most politicians, regardless of party, are more impressive close up. It’s not going to make us *more* negative than we should be.
February 11, 2026 at 1:28 PM
"most politicians, regardless of party, are more impressive close up"—a fundamental difference between the US and UK today. Stephen Bush is one of the very best, most insightful journalists on the UK political scene. Would any close observer of DC say this about most US politicians? Surely not.
Age verification? (British childhood edition.) Every evening the programmes ended on the telly and the test card appeared.
February 10, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Age verification? (British childhood edition.) Every evening the programmes ended on the telly and the test card appeared.
CALL FOR PITCHES
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.
We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.
Details below!
February 9, 2026 at 9:52 PM
not many eyes on this Caribbean post bc everyone is watching the Caribbean on stage in San Francisco, together we are America
February 9, 2026 at 1:51 AM
not many eyes on this Caribbean post bc everyone is watching the Caribbean on stage in San Francisco, together we are America
those who live in or study the Caribbean region aren't surprised when there's a Caribbean angle to a story, but still:
1917, US buys the Virgin Islands instead of Greenland; 100 years later, "Epstein's island" in USVI takes center stage, as the US bullies Greenland: a bit *too* much Caribbean?
1917, US buys the Virgin Islands instead of Greenland; 100 years later, "Epstein's island" in USVI takes center stage, as the US bullies Greenland: a bit *too* much Caribbean?
February 9, 2026 at 12:24 AM
those who live in or study the Caribbean region aren't surprised when there's a Caribbean angle to a story, but still:
1917, US buys the Virgin Islands instead of Greenland; 100 years later, "Epstein's island" in USVI takes center stage, as the US bullies Greenland: a bit *too* much Caribbean?
1917, US buys the Virgin Islands instead of Greenland; 100 years later, "Epstein's island" in USVI takes center stage, as the US bullies Greenland: a bit *too* much Caribbean?
With McSweeney's ouster today increasing the odds Starmer will resign, the need to state the bleeding obvious is even starker: while Epstein fallout decimates the highest levels of British politics, in the US the Epstein class—literally his best friends and neighbors—remains in full political power.
On the basis that the bleeding obvious sometimes needs to be stated: the grift and carelessness about grifters currently creating a huge crisis in Westminster barely would barely rise to the bar of the "new normal" in Washington.
February 8, 2026 at 2:46 PM
With McSweeney's ouster today increasing the odds Starmer will resign, the need to state the bleeding obvious is even starker: while Epstein fallout decimates the highest levels of British politics, in the US the Epstein class—literally his best friends and neighbors—remains in full political power.
All - after two years of transformation at The Pequod, now is the right time for me to step aside. I want to thank Captain Ahab for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as first mate. The institution could not have a better master.
With gratitude, Starbuck
With gratitude, Starbuck
February 8, 2026 at 2:03 AM
All - after two years of transformation at The Pequod, now is the right time for me to step aside. I want to thank Captain Ahab for his support and leadership throughout my tenure as first mate. The institution could not have a better master.
With gratitude, Starbuck
With gratitude, Starbuck
🎶 This is what we call the MLA 🎶
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 6:57 PM
🎶 This is what we call the MLA 🎶
apparently the DeSantis/Ladapo anti-vaccine proposal is still a step too far even for the Florida GOP, however
Florida Republicans advance bill to weaken vaccine protections for children
But effort fell short of state surgeon general’s promise to end Florida’s immunization mandates altogether
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:31 AM
apparently the DeSantis/Ladapo anti-vaccine proposal is still a step too far even for the Florida GOP, however
measles comes to the University of Florida, the academic employer of the FL surgeon general who says the state should eliminate all childhood vaccine requirements
A reminder for the folks around UF and Gainesville --> Two confirmed measles cases on campus www.gainesville.com/story/news/h...
University of Florida alerts campus after confirmed measles cases
After 15 years without cases, measles returns to Alachua County as UF reports two infections amid rising outbreaks nationwide.
www.gainesville.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:13 AM
measles comes to the University of Florida, the academic employer of the FL surgeon general who says the state should eliminate all childhood vaccine requirements
Reposted by Tim Watson
High school students stage a walkout to protest ICE. Here’s our @nbcmiami.com report.
www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/h...
www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/h...
Hundreds of Pembroke Pines students stage walkout to protest ICE
The national controversy over the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is not confined to adults.
www.nbcmiami.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:27 AM
High school students stage a walkout to protest ICE. Here’s our @nbcmiami.com report.
www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/h...
www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/h...
A highlight of campus life here — still magical to me after 20 years.
February 3, 2026 at 6:06 PM
A highlight of campus life here — still magical to me after 20 years.
Only the waterways that connect directly to the sea, which is where they spend most of their time. But when it's cooler, they come into the canals because the water is warmer there. This is a spot just before a culvert stops them swimming further, so there's a large group of them here.
February 3, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Only the waterways that connect directly to the sea, which is where they spend most of their time. But when it's cooler, they come into the canals because the water is warmer there. This is a spot just before a culvert stops them swimming further, so there's a large group of them here.