Kenny Linden
@kennylinden
I study animal and environmental history of Mongolia. Ph.D. he/him.
Congrats Tserenchunt bagsh! My Mongolian language teacher throughout my time at IU, without who I would never have gotten anywhere. Very well deserved!
Today at 3, hear me talk about Mongolian wolves at the @folkwise.wisefolk.org conference on Twitch! A great conference so far, and I can't wait to both present and see more! Pic: 19th-early 20th century Oirat Clear Script and Tibetan script amulet of protection against wolves, one of a series.
Bummer. I'd rather more stuff from the star wars ffg but it hasn't come out with anything for years so. Snooze you lose I guess. Maybe they'll come out with some cool adventure or lore books because I doubt I'll adopt the rules.
This Saturday August 1st I will be presenting at the @folkwise.wisefolk.org online conference on Twitch! It starts on Friday and goes all day Saturday. I'll present on Saturday around 3pm on the history of Mongolian wolves, and the need to dispel common academic myths. #tengri #mongolsky #envhist
I decided on a slide to conclude the section of my talk that discusses hunting by leaders and nobles as both a projection of power and a leisure activity in Mongolia. #envhist #tengri #mongolsky
Recently watched Indiana Jones and of course tonight Jurassic Park. The two best films starring academics. But Jurassic Park is the better representation of academia because Alan and Ellie agree to go on the promise of three years more funding for their field research, irresistible to any academic.
I get being desperate for work. I was there after I got my PhD, scraping by on bullshit online tutoring gigs, hoping for a nonexistent faculty job. But there is no excuse betray your discipline and your species. Any job has more dignity than this. Fuck AI, and fuck those who enable it.
I got an email from Linkedin advertising a job for a History PhD to train AI. This is fucking disgusting. It is an affront to history, the humanities, and humanity itself to collaborate with those that are destroying the world with this AI bullshit.
Friday my brother's incomparable band Local Honeymoon will be playing with American Stereo and No Jersey. If you like music give them a listen. www.instagram.com/localhoneymo...
But after the end of socialism and rise of capitalism, diseases, including those once eradicated, came back. The gov't stopped investing in vet care, so most herders can't afford it. (photo by Tsultem Chuluunbat of an abandoned vet lab in Khöwsgöl where his father used to work (/ht Ts. Natsagdorj)
Veterinary science was the most successful aspect of the socialist revolution of herding, though it still suffered from insufficient funding. Vets eradicated some diseases and reduced more. Herd health improved, and vet science proved a potent argument for the efficacy and legitimacy of socialism.
With the reintroduction of screwworm, a deadly cattle parasite once eradicated, to the US due to cut government funding, it seems a good time to reshare my recent article, "Veterinarians, Vaccines, and Hybrids: Veterinary Science in the Mongolian People’s Republic." Link below.
Ahsoka was acting off yesterday and this morning, so I took her to the vet this afternoon. Thankfully all of the exams and tests came back saying she was alright. The vet and technicians said that they couldn't do anything beyond the basic tests because of her "spiciness."
I will be submitting a presentation on the history of Mongolian wolves, its misrepresentation in academic and popular sources, and some musings on why people project inaccurate idealized views onto environmental others. It will be the presentation version of my long overdue blog post on the topic.
More Star Wars and Mongolia! The Ewok language in Return of the Jedi was created by Ben Burtt largely by recording and chopping up recordings of mixes of interview of a Kamlyk Mongolian woman named Kosi Unkov and various Tibetans. Their voices were then mixed in with tiger, chimp, and other sounds.
Note: This picture is NOT Queen Genenpil. She was an unnamed noblewoman published in National Geographic in 1921, 3 years before Genenpil married the Bogda Khan), with the picture taken quite a bit before then of course.
Star Wars has a number of influences and references to Mongolia, from the original trilogy to Andor, and hopefully beyond. I'll be posting some of these. Is this a day late? No! I can talk about Star Wars and Mongolia whenever!
In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Queen Padmé Amidala wears an outfit that is clearly designed after a Khalkha Mongolian married noble woman's costume. The hair horns are of course the most famous, but the red robe and dress is the same as well. #starwars #tengri #mongolsky
This is the third undergrad honors conference I've scheduled and I can easily say it is my favorite event of the year. It is really inspiring to see all these students present really interesting research on a wide array of topics and periods..
The reference to the Mongols everytime other people cause death and destruction, whether in Iran or Ukraine, is gross. And I would argue is rooted in racism. I'd also point out that descendants of the people of the Mongol Empire do indeed still exist and many are being repressed, but whatever.
Very cool WWII era propoganda poster by Hajj Musavvir al-Molki in the style of traditional Persian minatures. It shows Churchill, Stalin, and FDR pursuing Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo. Dated to 1943, see Mussolini fallen from the horse.
Watching 1939's Wizard of Oz. If it was set ten years earlier in the USSR, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry, as a family who owns land and employs three hired hands, would be targeted as kulaks. Here is Auntie Em yelling at Zeke (The Cowardly Lion) after he saves Dorothy from falling. Classic kulak.
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker 50 years ago today, right before filming started on Star Wars in Tunisia.
This is the look of Ahsoka in her crazy mood and she NEEDS attention and will jump and start clawing and gnawing if she doesn't get it RIGHT NOW.
I find myself nostalgic for Bush's War on Terror, when warcrimes and wars in the Middle East were justified by lies and fictions. Bush and co were despicable criminals but they at least tried to hide it. As is often the case, Star Wars: Andor sums it up succinctly.
My sweet Teebo. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 18. She looks nothing like either Teebo (nor was she male) but that didn't stop the Star Wars obsessed 11 year old Kenny. Shortly after getting her I went to the first Star Wars Celebration. Also started anti-depressants. It was quite a year.
It is from the brief flirtation the Mongolian People's Republic had with Latin script, before the mandatory adoption of Cyrillic script. "Do you know how to write?"* *Not a literal translation, but I think it best gets the point across, though I am willing to hear alternative suggestions.