In about three months, this blog will celebrate its 20th birthday. I feel like the world of social media has changed drastically in those 20 years, and it is due to so many factors that I cannot begin to list.
For now, I want to share some interesting items that I have read or watched or listened to recently. I hope some of them resonate with you out there in the wide world.
History lessons
Always a history junkie, I enjoyed listening to this panel discussion with Tad Stoermer about his new book, “A Resistance History of the United States”. I follow Stoermer on Instagram, but not consistently, I confess. (I follow too many interesting people, and try to not be on social media all the time!!) I will be buying Stoermer’s book soon from my favourite independent bookseller. It sounds extremely interesting, but also extremely important and timely. Stoermer calls himself a public historian, which I hadn’t really grasped before this talk. Learn what that means by watching the discussion or reading his website. I have bookmarked this interview of Stoermer by Karen Attiah, which sounds awesome. How do I get time to listen to these long videos? I listen while cooking or cleaning or gardening! Such sessions contain far more mental nutrition than doomscrolling!!
The panel also included Yale historian Vincent Brown, State of Vermont Attorney of Chittenden County, Sarah George, and “widely followed historian and digital educator” Kahlil Greene. The quotes are from the YouTube blurb. Kahlil Greene is definitely one to follow, too. Sooner, rather than later. Start with Green’s website, go straight to his Instagram, or sign up to his newsletters at his History Can’t Hide Substack page. Disclaimer: I am a paid subscriber to his newsletter because I firmly believe in supporting younger voices like his, especially when he does such excellent research and brilliant storytelling to keep history alive and kicking. I know some people hate Substack with a passion and for good reasons (google why yourself), but there are a lot of really good people like Greene on Substack. I feel supporting him there is one way to begin taking back the tech for the people by keeping his and others’ voices alive. PS You might know him as the Gen Z Historian. Go give him a follow, but do consider giving him your support, too. He is doing great work that deserves support.
To end the world, or not to end the world
This post from Cory Doctorow called LLMs are real, AI is fake was reassuring to me. How so? Well, when the story broke about some rogue AI agents escape into the wild, I couldn’t really believe it. Yes, it sounded horrifying, and was SkyNet about to attack us all? I didn’t have the knowledge to articulate what I thought and felt, but I thought somewhere in my human brain, I thought something was off. Doctorow confirmed that my gut feeling was correct. Whew! I am not sure where that gut feeling came from. Perhaps it was inspired by my recent reading of Karen Hao‘s Empire of AI and Brian Merchant‘s Blood in the Machine? (Seriously good books, people!) I learned about Karen Hao through both Brian Merchant and Paris Marx. Merchant has an excellent substack newsletter (Disclaimer: I support it). I have followed it for a long time, except when I get too repulsed by the some of the depressing topics and need a break for my mental sanity! Yes, I highly recommend it, but some current events are so maddening that you do need breaks now and then to stay sane! I also read Marx’s Disconnect blog and his brilliant Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. (Disclaimer: Paid subscriber to both of these because they are so good.)
Keep the hammers up, people! (IYKYK.)
Our Opinions Are Correct
One of my favourite podcasts is on hiatus, but they have a marvelous back catalogue I can enjoy, and so can you!! Our Opinions Are Correct is/was run by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders. They have both written many books, and I have only just started on those. Go to the links on their names because there are too many to list. I can highlight Annalee Newitz’ Automatic Noodle and ditto with Charlie Jane Anders’ Lessons in Magic and Disaster. I loved them both. Now to chill and enjoy episode 138 from October 2023: Battlestar Galactica, 20 Years Later.
PS Star Trek
Speaking of science fiction, I missed a golden opportunity to wish a happy birthday to the Star Trek universe on 8 September. 60 years! Live long and prosper.
Attribution: NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
