@itsandrewrusso
I read, I write, and I learn. I left Academia to pursue those three things. I believe important discussions shouldn't stay locked behind pay-walls. I write over at The Professor (https://lecternmedia.substack.com), bake gluten free bread, and cycle.
The best classes I ever taught, and enjoyed teaching in were me sitting with students and talking. Case studies, in depth discussion, and sharing experiences and lessons were the best. I am with you 100% and will die on this hill.
We have perfected this method...and hate it. We have sworn off the duvet and will return to copious amounts of blankets in the near future.
Spreading awareness.
Oil field set ablaze by a retreating Iraqi Army in the 1991 gulf war.
35 years ago, oil fields burned as an Iraqi Army retreated. Now, the same catastrophe in the name of military tactics. I am without words strong enough in the English language to decry the intersection of power, immorality, and ignorance that lead us to repeat this destruction. #environment
Reagan's FEMA had credentials and no capacity. Professionalization without resources is just credentialism. Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 proved the gap between the two. That lesson did not stick. I'm afraid we're entering the same world.
medium.com/@johnadamsnl...
I've long held that creative food/beverage trades like wine, cooking, brewing, coffee, are ripe with the exploitation of people who have genuine love for a craft. Great reporting here on it's power in fine dining, too
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/d...
"This is not a Pipe!: Financial Red Flags and Where to Spot Them" I try to sneak things into unrelated topics too ;-)
My favorite classes to teach were ones that involved Foucault as well!
When neoliberalism is deemed natural it no longer needs defending, just enforcing. Monbiot put it plainly: we no longer recognize it as an ideology. We see it as a kind of natural law or an immutable fact, a non-negotiable reality.
lecternmedia.substack.com/p/understand...
Time for a re-introduction! I'm a former professor & researcher turned independent writer/teacher. After burnout and a demanding academic grind, I’ve stepped away to create content and teach on my own terms. I prize student impact, personal balance, and authentic learning without paywalls.
"Resilience" is a political word. You see it deployed in times of economic austerity, disaster, and war. When governments shift their language from "we will protect you" to "you need to be resilient," that's a transfer of liability to you. Whether you can afford that, or not.
@centeanes.bsky.social Thanks for the support and reposts! I hope you're finding my writing and thoughts helpful and informative.
I ditched my earlier drafts and focused on something else for today's essay. Covering War, Hubris, and Wealth, I look to Carrhae in 53 B.C.E and the man that lead an empire there - Marcus Licinius Crassus. open.substack.com/pub/lecternm...
However, I'm excited that my little experiment @lecternmedia.org is gaining readers, and I hope to keep writing on the environment, democracy, and academia without institutional credentials. Maybe this is also the chance to finally pursue that pop-up Celiac-safe bakery in my new home! (3/3)
My experience mirrors a lot of early career scholars right now: shrinking funding, brutal competition, and exploitation that shows up as stolen work, unattributed ideas, unpaid hours, and promises that quietly disappear. It's a structural problem and warrants more action. (2/3)
After 10 years pursuing academic work, I'm following my partner's dream and I'm moving to Canada. This chapter taught me a lot about research, about institutions, and about what I actually need from work and life. It's not this. #academicsky (1/3)
Seeing all of these professors at elite institutions across the US and UK getting a slap on the wrist, at most, for their depravity is deplorable. #academicsky #epsteinfiles
Lovely time away. So right back into writing. Please read, and consider sharing, a wonderful essay in response to my latest writing over at the Professor. #art #writing #academicsky
lecternmedia.substack.com/p/must-art-o...
I'm divesting from social media for awhile - if you care to keep in touch via alternative means, like ye olde email, DM me.
Today, I revisit Ken Burn's Masterpiece and encourage you to view it now. 30 years later, it still has plenty to teach us. @pbs.org #democracy #history #edusky
open.substack.com/pub/lecternm...
Boy. My archive visit was a roller coaster of emotions. Joy, neutrality, frantic panic and fear, all experienced through rhw notes, letters, and news clippings of an environmental project coordinator turned environmental/human rights advocate. #edusky
OK. I know this is not quite on topic, but, "skull flavor" is going into my D&D session on Thursday. I'm not sure how, but I will shoe horn it if necessary.
I'm going to an archive to review post #disaster response findings and interviews for the Disaster Narratives Project. Other things on the docket:
1. Updated website
2. Preliminary toolkit for practitioners coming soon.
3. Qual data request being handled by FEMA.
4. Requests for records to Brussels
My latest over @lecternmedia.org covers a brief history of US emergency management from a critical perspective. Using sources from in and outside academia, I document the evolutions, devolutions, and offer a stern call-to-action/warning. #edusky #disasters
open.substack.com/pub/lecternm...
And...almost there.
As the Disaster Narratives Project chugs along, I'd like to point out that I a signatory of the Disaster Studies Manifesto (www.radixonline.org/manifesto-ac...) which reflects my commitment to ethical, collaborative, and impactful disaster research. Check it out and consider signing too!
Yes. Love that band! I play music to start my classes and "and we thought nation states were a bad idea" playing as I had 'Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle’ by Henri-Paul Motte on the big screen behind me made an impact :-)
Writing a new article on the history of emergency management in the US. Reflecting on how we define resilience and why continued individualization of disaster risk isn't a good thing. My #music for this process? The Casualties (youtu.be/j0VusKsFZYs?...) & Propagandhi propagandhi.com
Alas, foiled again. My library has 0 copies.
The more I go through life, the more a job just copying texts and making witty drawings all day alone appeals to me.
Moving that book to the front of my list as I need to out the fascism research down for a minute or two.