V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
@vincent.northsky.social
Associate Professor, History of Religion. Migrant. Bad at gender, worse at writing bios, absolutely incapable of refraining from profanity. I do stuff involving religion and literature and genocide, usually all at once.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Being a US expat is like trying to get away from your ex after a bad breakup. Except your ex is a celebrity who's on the cover of every newspaper and also they have your entire family tied up in their basement.
March 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Being a US expat is like trying to get away from your ex after a bad breakup. Except your ex is a celebrity who's on the cover of every newspaper and also they have your entire family tied up in their basement.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Hey, academics! Have you signed a book contract lately?
You should report your royalty/advance rate anonymously on this spreadsheet.
Are you negotiating, or about to be negotiating, a book contract? You should take a look at the spreadsheet.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
You should report your royalty/advance rate anonymously on this spreadsheet.
Are you negotiating, or about to be negotiating, a book contract? You should take a look at the spreadsheet.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Academic publishing rates sharing
docs.google.com
April 22, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Hey, academics! Have you signed a book contract lately?
You should report your royalty/advance rate anonymously on this spreadsheet.
Are you negotiating, or about to be negotiating, a book contract? You should take a look at the spreadsheet.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
You should report your royalty/advance rate anonymously on this spreadsheet.
Are you negotiating, or about to be negotiating, a book contract? You should take a look at the spreadsheet.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
The thing about this whole argument is that emotional calibration is highly individual. What one person (or a person on one day) perceives as defeatism another (or the same person on a different day) might take as inspiration (in the vein of "nothing left to lose").
A few people in the responses view this as defeatist rather than a call to remain diligent. These people are weird.
He doesn't need to actually cancel the elections in order to effectively cancel the elections. This is how competitive Authoritarianism works.
Just imagine what is happening now in Minneapolis happening in a just a few key urban districts, but during elections season.
Just imagine what is happening now in Minneapolis happening in a just a few key urban districts, but during elections season.
January 17, 2026 at 10:22 PM
The thing about this whole argument is that emotional calibration is highly individual. What one person (or a person on one day) perceives as defeatism another (or the same person on a different day) might take as inspiration (in the vein of "nothing left to lose").
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Thread as Hugo candidate for short story. (content warning: bleak)
By now, asteroid 2026 Dreadstone has impacted the Indian Ocean, sparking a firestorm not seen on this planet since the K–Pg Extinction Event. Most people just want to be with their families. Here are three ways effective business leaders can leverage targeted KPIs to turn tragedy 😔 into triumph 💪
January 17, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Thread as Hugo candidate for short story. (content warning: bleak)
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
ESPECIALLY if interdisciplinary, theoretical, and/or continental approaches to TRS are your jam and you don't fancy a trip to the US in November, you should check out the full CFP. Obviously I'd love to see everyone in the RS panel, but there are many others!
www.isrlc.org/isrlc-confer...
www.isrlc.org/isrlc-confer...
January 12, 2026 at 4:24 PM
ESPECIALLY if interdisciplinary, theoretical, and/or continental approaches to TRS are your jam and you don't fancy a trip to the US in November, you should check out the full CFP. Obviously I'd love to see everyone in the RS panel, but there are many others!
www.isrlc.org/isrlc-confer...
www.isrlc.org/isrlc-confer...
The Mandalorian serving breakfast in bed:
This is the tray.
This is the tray.
The Mandalorian giving a tour of a farm:
This is the hay.
This is the hay.
The Mandalorian giving a tour of the waterfront:
This is the bay.
This is the bay.
January 17, 2026 at 7:24 PM
The Mandalorian serving breakfast in bed:
This is the tray.
This is the tray.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Do you study disinformation or want to start working in that area?
Come to the DSI June 15-18th with @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, @rcalo.bsky.social, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and many more.
disinfoinstitute.org
Come to the DSI June 15-18th with @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, @rcalo.bsky.social, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and many more.
disinfoinstitute.org
Disinformation Summer Institute (DSI) - Disinformation Summer Institute
Disinformation Disinformation is false or misleading information created and spread to advance policy, political, economic or ideological goals. It is sometimes used by industries, governments, and ot...
disinfoinstitute.org
January 17, 2026 at 11:47 AM
Do you study disinformation or want to start working in that area?
Come to the DSI June 15-18th with @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, @rcalo.bsky.social, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and many more.
disinfoinstitute.org
Come to the DSI June 15-18th with @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @katestarbird.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, @rcalo.bsky.social, @naomioreskes.bsky.social, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and many more.
disinfoinstitute.org
Ruin a band by changing a letter
Hush
Hush
Ruin a band by changing a letter
Counting Craws
Mounting Crows 😳
Counting Craws
Mounting Crows 😳
Ruin a band by changing one letter.
Counting Brows
Counting Brows
January 17, 2026 at 7:40 AM
Ruin a band by changing a letter
Hush
Hush
How does Twitch streaming work and is it possible for me to go live for an 8 hour session of me frowning at a blank Word document, occasionally typing and then deleting the word "The"?
January 16, 2026 at 10:39 PM
How does Twitch streaming work and is it possible for me to go live for an 8 hour session of me frowning at a blank Word document, occasionally typing and then deleting the word "The"?
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Boarding up the Overton Window to keep more zombie ideas from crawling through
January 16, 2026 at 10:07 PM
Boarding up the Overton Window to keep more zombie ideas from crawling through
ICQ status messages.
Okay, let's get nostalgic
What was the VERY FIRST online platform that you became addicted to posting on?????
What was the VERY FIRST online platform that you became addicted to posting on?????
January 16, 2026 at 10:05 PM
ICQ status messages.
Airport food that makes me actively look forward to layovers:
Best Old Fashioned? One Flew South, ATL Concourse E
Best Chicken Soup? Shan Shui, Heathrow Terminal 3
Best Old Fashioned? One Flew South, ATL Concourse E
Best Chicken Soup? Shan Shui, Heathrow Terminal 3
Here’s a topic outside the news.
What’s the most unlikely place you’ve ever had the best particular food or drink you’ve ever had?
Like, not the best steak at the world’s top steakhouse. Something weirder.
Best burger I’ve ever had? Fresno airport.
Best cup of coffee? Crater Lake Lodge.
What’s the most unlikely place you’ve ever had the best particular food or drink you’ve ever had?
Like, not the best steak at the world’s top steakhouse. Something weirder.
Best burger I’ve ever had? Fresno airport.
Best cup of coffee? Crater Lake Lodge.
January 16, 2026 at 6:51 AM
Airport food that makes me actively look forward to layovers:
Best Old Fashioned? One Flew South, ATL Concourse E
Best Chicken Soup? Shan Shui, Heathrow Terminal 3
Best Old Fashioned? One Flew South, ATL Concourse E
Best Chicken Soup? Shan Shui, Heathrow Terminal 3
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Finally, a note to the many professors in my networks: One other specific, small thing you can do from outside of Minneapolis is reach out to colleagues who are heavily affected (because of their own or their family's risk, or because they're very busy protecting neighbors) and offer a guest lecture
January 15, 2026 at 7:43 PM
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
The new winter tourism campaign goes hard.
January 15, 2026 at 10:01 AM
The new winter tourism campaign goes hard.
I spend ten years writing about memorialization as a process of forgetting and @older.bsky.social gets it in a tight paragraph.
January 14, 2026 at 9:22 PM
I spend ten years writing about memorialization as a process of forgetting and @older.bsky.social gets it in a tight paragraph.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
reposting then best syllabus tool ever
huge shoutout to whoever at Rice who made this syllabus generator that calculates when all the dates of your classes are going to be
additional shoutout to my supervisor who sent it to us with a list of the holidays and important dates pre-made
saved me an hour
wcaleb.rice.edu/syllabusmake...
additional shoutout to my supervisor who sent it to us with a list of the holidays and important dates pre-made
saved me an hour
wcaleb.rice.edu/syllabusmake...
Generic Syllabus Maker
wcaleb.rice.edu
January 14, 2026 at 5:53 PM
reposting then best syllabus tool ever
I am very, very tired and have been task switching all day AND have an evening meeting and it is my next door neighbour's normal piano practice time and while she plays beautifully (retired piano teacher) the cheerfully repetitive etude she's working on is making me twitch.
January 14, 2026 at 5:52 PM
I am very, very tired and have been task switching all day AND have an evening meeting and it is my next door neighbour's normal piano practice time and while she plays beautifully (retired piano teacher) the cheerfully repetitive etude she's working on is making me twitch.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
In this @forward.com piece, @louiskeene.bsky.social & I explore the trope, "the synagogue of satan," which the Beth Israel arson suspect used to describe the synagogue. Originating from the Book of Revelation, the phrase has featured in antisemitic tropes ranging from Billy Graham to Candace Owens.
What the 'synagogue of Satan' slur tells us about Christian antisemitism
Billy Graham’s use of the phrase underscored a connection between Christianity and antisemitism seen in the 2026 Mississippi synagogue fire.
forward.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:56 PM
shoutout to outlook for repeatedly autocorrecting “midcareer” to “miscarried”
January 14, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Super excited to announce that I'm running another online trans theology conference, this time with @cdjtheology.bsky.social !
We're looking to connect theology with contemporary research in trans studies.
20th-21st Aug, with US-friendly timings
londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com/events/wevpt...
We're looking to connect theology with contemporary research in trans studies.
20th-21st Aug, with US-friendly timings
londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com/events/wevpt...
Theology4Trans Studies (online conference): (20-Aug-2026)
Conference overviewOver the past few years, Christian theology has begun to take more interest in transness. Transness is recognised as an element within our contemporary metaphysical, ethical and pol...
londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Super excited to announce that I'm running another online trans theology conference, this time with @cdjtheology.bsky.social !
We're looking to connect theology with contemporary research in trans studies.
20th-21st Aug, with US-friendly timings
londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com/events/wevpt...
We're looking to connect theology with contemporary research in trans studies.
20th-21st Aug, with US-friendly timings
londonjesuitcentre.churchsuite.com/events/wevpt...
3 postdoc positions available in the Democratic Vistas programme at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Goethe Universität.
January 14, 2026 at 11:32 AM
3 postdoc positions available in the Democratic Vistas programme at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Goethe Universität.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
do you need to collect that data?
January 14, 2026 at 7:48 AM
do you need to collect that data?
There were two comics in the local paper that purported to present "adult life": Dilbert and Cathy.
Dilbert at least had some recognition that management existed on a spectrum from evil to incompetent; Cathy's boyfriends and mother were just facts of her life from which she couldn't imagine escape.
Dilbert at least had some recognition that management existed on a spectrum from evil to incompetent; Cathy's boyfriends and mother were just facts of her life from which she couldn't imagine escape.
rather than talk about Scott Adams I want to talk about something weirder (me). Who else was really into Dilbert when you were 12. Who else was like, boy, I can't wait to work a cubicle job
January 14, 2026 at 5:59 AM
There were two comics in the local paper that purported to present "adult life": Dilbert and Cathy.
Dilbert at least had some recognition that management existed on a spectrum from evil to incompetent; Cathy's boyfriends and mother were just facts of her life from which she couldn't imagine escape.
Dilbert at least had some recognition that management existed on a spectrum from evil to incompetent; Cathy's boyfriends and mother were just facts of her life from which she couldn't imagine escape.
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
very good thread:
I’m seeing lots of people on here misunderstand the purpose of ICE watch.
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 6:25 PM
very good thread:
Reposted by V is for תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Great question!
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
January 13, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Great question!
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.
It’s not just about whether or not the gyre is widening – its that the falcon cannot hear the Falconer. In today’s blood-dimmed world, it’s a game-changer that many don’t consider.
The kicker? A beast that is rough, slouching, and born.