Jo DS
@jodowlingsoka.bsky.social
PhD in Mediterranean History. Trans Woman. Intersectional Feminist. Neuroqueer. Hobbies include music, dance, historical swordplay, and LARP. From East Tennessee, now lives in Sydney, Australia.
I gave a talk at University of Newcastle last week about my PhD Thesis. It's a forty minutes talk that assumes no background knowledge of the subject :)
m.youtube.com/watch?v=GjHZ...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=GjHZ...
Jo DowlingSoka (Macquarie & Newcastle), The Miracles of 626CE: Memorialisation in Aftermath of War
YouTube video by History@Newcastle
m.youtube.com
March 30, 2025 at 6:16 AM
I gave a talk at University of Newcastle last week about my PhD Thesis. It's a forty minutes talk that assumes no background knowledge of the subject :)
m.youtube.com/watch?v=GjHZ...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=GjHZ...
We really are on the Chaotic Stupid timeline. Aren't we?
March 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
We really are on the Chaotic Stupid timeline. Aren't we?
From what I can tell, as I read about where people are being sent in El Salvador, we need to stop letting people use the word deportation when describing what's happening and start talking about unlawful imprisonment and enslavement.
March 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
From what I can tell, as I read about where people are being sent in El Salvador, we need to stop letting people use the word deportation when describing what's happening and start talking about unlawful imprisonment and enslavement.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Relaxing rules of war is... um... not a surprise, but also terrifying. What's not said here, but seems likely to me, is that these new JAGs are likely also going to be instructed to tell military it's acceptable to deploy against protests.
Relaxing rules of war is... um... not a surprise, but also terrifying. What's not said here, but seems likely to me, is that these new JAGs are likely also going to be instructed to tell military it's acceptable to deploy against protests.
First Thing: Hegseth to overhaul US military lawyers in effort to relax rules of war
System overhaul announced as new judge advocate generals being nominated after purge of predecessors. Plus, study finds marriage triples obesity risk in men – but not women
www.theguardian.com
March 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Relaxing rules of war is... um... not a surprise, but also terrifying. What's not said here, but seems likely to me, is that these new JAGs are likely also going to be instructed to tell military it's acceptable to deploy against protests.
Relaxing rules of war is... um... not a surprise, but also terrifying. What's not said here, but seems likely to me, is that these new JAGs are likely also going to be instructed to tell military it's acceptable to deploy against protests.
I see no outs that aren't violent. The only non violent recourse I see is the Constitutional convention clause, and it seems out of reach. I don't know how anyone can have hope right now. And just... I dunno, I feel so trapped, even as the lucky expat PhD
March 6, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I see no outs that aren't violent. The only non violent recourse I see is the Constitutional convention clause, and it seems out of reach. I don't know how anyone can have hope right now. And just... I dunno, I feel so trapped, even as the lucky expat PhD
Last night, I listened to the entire audience at the Sydney Opera house singing Bella Ciao at the close of a concert. Which was lovely, but also kind of chilling anti-facist symbolism. It feels like the world is about to explode. I'm terrified, y'all. I'm having feelings of guilt that I live here.
March 5, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Last night, I listened to the entire audience at the Sydney Opera house singing Bella Ciao at the close of a concert. Which was lovely, but also kind of chilling anti-facist symbolism. It feels like the world is about to explode. I'm terrified, y'all. I'm having feelings of guilt that I live here.
Reposted by Jo DS
In cutthroat cultures, people kiss up and kick down. They protect themselves by currying favor with people in power and exploiting those without it.
In supportive cultures, people speak up and shield down. They protect others who lack power by raising problems to those who have it.
In supportive cultures, people speak up and shield down. They protect others who lack power by raising problems to those who have it.
March 4, 2025 at 5:05 PM
In cutthroat cultures, people kiss up and kick down. They protect themselves by currying favor with people in power and exploiting those without it.
In supportive cultures, people speak up and shield down. They protect others who lack power by raising problems to those who have it.
In supportive cultures, people speak up and shield down. They protect others who lack power by raising problems to those who have it.
www.nps.gov/features/was...
"The four-year war that eventually descended on the nation seemed impossible only months before it began."
This seems relevant right now. For those of you still in the US, please try and be safe and find ways to build communities of safety around you.
"The four-year war that eventually descended on the nation seemed impossible only months before it began."
This seems relevant right now. For those of you still in the US, please try and be safe and find ways to build communities of safety around you.
The Eve of War - The Civil War: 150 Years - The National Park Service
The Civil War: 150 Years. National Park Service Sesquicentennial Commemoration.
www.nps.gov
March 5, 2025 at 5:05 AM
www.nps.gov/features/was...
"The four-year war that eventually descended on the nation seemed impossible only months before it began."
This seems relevant right now. For those of you still in the US, please try and be safe and find ways to build communities of safety around you.
"The four-year war that eventually descended on the nation seemed impossible only months before it began."
This seems relevant right now. For those of you still in the US, please try and be safe and find ways to build communities of safety around you.
I've been keeping quiet for own mental health. But this focus on the Military is... bad. The refusal of the military to support Trump's illegal play to maintain power was a major reason he didn't succeed in taking over permanently last time. He seems to have clearly learned from that.
February 28, 2025 at 4:55 AM
I've been keeping quiet for own mental health. But this focus on the Military is... bad. The refusal of the military to support Trump's illegal play to maintain power was a major reason he didn't succeed in taking over permanently last time. He seems to have clearly learned from that.
I think this is right. Building caring and supportive communities around us may be the most powerful thing we can do.
Today marks one month since the second inauguration of Donald Trump. We can no longer rely on narrative logic in which good is rewarded and evil is punished, or tell ourselves that history will have a happy ending.
In a world on fire, caring for each other is the best resistance | Xtra Magazine
ANALYSIS: It’s a dire time to be trans. Here’s what we can learn from the past about how to survive the moment and despair itself
xtramagazine.com
February 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I think this is right. Building caring and supportive communities around us may be the most powerful thing we can do.
This. The military is recruited from a wildly diverse group of people and my conversations with soldiers have always been fascinating, usually in a good way.
the military is more in touch with values and reality than a lot of us give em credit for
I owe a debt to HEMA (swordfighting world) for introducing me to a bunch of folks who serve, it’s been eye opening
I owe a debt to HEMA (swordfighting world) for introducing me to a bunch of folks who serve, it’s been eye opening
📌I was the managing editor at Stars and Stripes and can tell you that Pete Hegseth is the first SecDef I am aware of to be openly booed by military families on a military base.
📌This is the most significant pushback I have seen to this administration's racist, hostile initiatives.
📌This is the most significant pushback I have seen to this administration's racist, hostile initiatives.
February 13, 2025 at 4:41 AM
This. The military is recruited from a wildly diverse group of people and my conversations with soldiers have always been fascinating, usually in a good way.
This is resonating with me right now. I'm finding myself more and more drawn to liberationist religious music as a way to articulate my outrage at the world.
Stay on the Battlefield
Sweet Honey In The Rock · Sacred Ground · Song · 1995
open.spotify.com
February 11, 2025 at 4:54 AM
This is resonating with me right now. I'm finding myself more and more drawn to liberationist religious music as a way to articulate my outrage at the world.
As an American who did in fact immigrate to Australia in part because of Trump, the immigration system here is often difficult to navigate and expensive. I agree with a lot of the sentiment here, but only quite well positioned Americans have options like this.
While Trump is moving fast and breaking things, Americans wanting to escape should come to Australia | Julianne Schultz
There is a talent pool of brilliant Americans who should be invited to study here, to work in our hospitals, construction sites and research labs
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2025 at 10:08 PM
As an American who did in fact immigrate to Australia in part because of Trump, the immigration system here is often difficult to navigate and expensive. I agree with a lot of the sentiment here, but only quite well positioned Americans have options like this.
Distracting myself from world by reading Ivanowski's New Cavalry Fencing System from 1834. It's... interesting.
February 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Distracting myself from world by reading Ivanowski's New Cavalry Fencing System from 1834. It's... interesting.
I'm not going to be posting much for a while. I can't engage with events back in US. As a trans woman it's existentially terrifying on this gutteral level. And the only thing I can do is keep self safe, support people I care about, and build supportive communities. It doesn't feel like enough.
February 5, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I'm not going to be posting much for a while. I can't engage with events back in US. As a trans woman it's existentially terrifying on this gutteral level. And the only thing I can do is keep self safe, support people I care about, and build supportive communities. It doesn't feel like enough.
Doggies are being cute tonight
January 30, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Doggies are being cute tonight
This is an interesting article. At first read it matches my lived experience of #aphantasia
Mind blindness decoded: people who can’t see with their ‘mind’s eye’ still activate their visual cortex, study finds
People with aphantasia still have a blueprint for mental imagery, even if they can’t consciously ‘see’ it.
www.unsw.edu.au
January 27, 2025 at 8:40 AM
This is an interesting article. At first read it matches my lived experience of #aphantasia
Reposted by Jo DS
As a historian of fascism, I sure wish anybody were hiring.
Archivists, historians, scribes: your time is now. Yours is among the most urgent work needed.
January 26, 2025 at 3:50 AM
As a historian of fascism, I sure wish anybody were hiring.
Reposted by Jo DS
No but I resonate so much with this tho. With this entire essay about rage and survival.
It didn’t matter how much I was abused or raped, because no amount of coercive violence would make me actively participate in manhood.
Doesn’t mean I was a woman as a kid- I just.,, wasn’t much of anything.
It didn’t matter how much I was abused or raped, because no amount of coercive violence would make me actively participate in manhood.
Doesn’t mean I was a woman as a kid- I just.,, wasn’t much of anything.
January 24, 2025 at 6:46 PM
No but I resonate so much with this tho. With this entire essay about rage and survival.
It didn’t matter how much I was abused or raped, because no amount of coercive violence would make me actively participate in manhood.
Doesn’t mean I was a woman as a kid- I just.,, wasn’t much of anything.
It didn’t matter how much I was abused or raped, because no amount of coercive violence would make me actively participate in manhood.
Doesn’t mean I was a woman as a kid- I just.,, wasn’t much of anything.
So... I think about this a lot, and being me I have a serious answer. Swords are elegant while still being societally coded as masculine. That's... a powerful combination for a girl who society thinks is a boy. You can like swords and it's not going to cause alarm bells for the gender essentialists
Damn I wonder why tgirls like writing books about lesbians with swords…..
I’m pretty sure the mixup came from this post, which talks about Salmonson (who IS trans and is also on my TBR), and somehow I got the two mixed up (Dragonsword vs The Swordswoman, there’s also @dianahignutt.bsky.social’s Moonsword, lots of sword books) and managed to NOT get Salmonson for a year 😭
January 24, 2025 at 1:29 PM
So... I think about this a lot, and being me I have a serious answer. Swords are elegant while still being societally coded as masculine. That's... a powerful combination for a girl who society thinks is a boy. You can like swords and it's not going to cause alarm bells for the gender essentialists
Reposted by Jo DS
This is, too:
Kameron Hurley: There Have Always Been Times Like These
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site pay…
locusmag.com
January 24, 2025 at 5:59 AM
This is, too:
Reposted by Jo DS
Truly excellent
Thread unrolled here www.kameronhurley.com/adrift-on-th...
Adrift on the Sea of History: Hope for Realists - Kameron Hurley
I’ve found comfort the last 10 years in looking back at historical comparisons of the last few hundred years in our history. The liklihood that I’ll survive a prolonged disruption of supply chains and...
www.kameronhurley.com
January 24, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Truly excellent
Italian historical fencing has a concept called 'tempo', it's not the modern idea how fast something is, but instead is more like a window of opportunity in which you need to act. I use this when thinking about issues in life. Finding the right tempos is one of the hardest things as an AuDHD woman.
A2: Something I think is super common that I don't see talked about a lot, is issues with timing.
#AutChat
#AutChat
Q2: Some autistic traits are widely shared by autistic people. For example, stimming is common even though not every autistic person stims, or stims in the same way.
What are some common traits you’ve seen among autistic people? #AutChat
What are some common traits you’ve seen among autistic people? #AutChat
January 20, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Italian historical fencing has a concept called 'tempo', it's not the modern idea how fast something is, but instead is more like a window of opportunity in which you need to act. I use this when thinking about issues in life. Finding the right tempos is one of the hardest things as an AuDHD woman.
This. I run into an issue where I end up having a very uneven skillset that doesn't align well with people's ideas of beginner/intermediate/advanced.
It results in very strange, often aggressive, reactions, where people seem to go into an almost prosecutorial find the fraud mode.
It results in very strange, often aggressive, reactions, where people seem to go into an almost prosecutorial find the fraud mode.
Furthermore, the NT tends to assume that if you can do the "difficult" things, then you can also do the "easy" things.
Firstly, that is not true.
Secondly, it seems common that autistics have trouble convincing NTs in our lives that this is happening.
#AutChat A2
Firstly, that is not true.
Secondly, it seems common that autistics have trouble convincing NTs in our lives that this is happening.
#AutChat A2
January 19, 2025 at 10:15 PM
This. I run into an issue where I end up having a very uneven skillset that doesn't align well with people's ideas of beginner/intermediate/advanced.
It results in very strange, often aggressive, reactions, where people seem to go into an almost prosecutorial find the fraud mode.
It results in very strange, often aggressive, reactions, where people seem to go into an almost prosecutorial find the fraud mode.
