Recently, FamilySearch digitized and uploaded tons of microfilmed records, including many from 18th-century Massachsuetts. They're using some sort of AI to transcribe/summarize the handwritten documents. I've noticed that the AI strips out references to race and enslavement in 18thc documents.

This bit absolutely gutted me. Tennessee is going to execute Tony Carruthers in two days. He has no idea why he's on death row, and has asked his lawyers to help him shop for the car he plans to buy with the millions in damages he's confident he'll get any day now ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

I thought it was fairly clear she hadn’t used it to write, though since other people clearly didn’t it’s good she clarified. This is still of course very embarrassing but seems unfortunately characteristic of this age group, sorry to say… they’re bamboozled by the machine

For a @motherjones.com piece, looking to talk to a few people who purchased health insurance through the marketplace who have dealt with higher deductibles this year and how that's impacted you. Please reach out to [email protected] and appreciate reposts.

The whole AI-to-make-graduation- efficient is bizarre. The most efficient way to award diplomas is by mail; there’s no logical need for ceremonies. The whole reason they exist is for the human touch & so people can celebrate each other. AI for “efficiency” here is nonsensical (& doesn’t even work🫠)

Not a metaphor or an exaggeration, this is literally true

Every administrator at every college needs to be shitcanned, I swear to god

It’s bullshit for the Washington Post to call this looting of the Treasury a “deal“ and an “agreement.” The Trump regime is self-dealing to create an agreement between Trump and Trump, with no judge allowed to weigh in. It’s a dictator stealing from the people.

Look, if you wanted your student loans, healthcare, or retirement paid for by the government I suppose you should have stormed the Capitol on January 6th.

the president of the united states sued his own government for ten billion dollars and “settled” it by directing that government to use taxpayer money for a nearly two billion dollar slush fund to distribute to his political allies at will typing it out barely feels real

just heard about this and I am beside myself

Second this, I bought SILKWOOD on Blu-ray to watch years ago bc it’s so impossible to find. If you have TCM record or watch tonight.

Guess what, Middlemarch is fun. Everyone who reads it is shocked it contains a bit tropey romance! And it’s funny!

Okay I’m reading the first ACOTAR in a quest to educate myself about romantasy as a Books Professional and I can’t believe none of you told me the evil land in this series is just… Ireland. I mean.

Usually the play is to go away for awhile, keep your head down, and then return for a rehabilitation tour, but I guess this is another way to go.

It’s a cliche at this point but seriously: the cruelty is the point.

It’s absolutely no substitute but this kind of thing is a lot of what motivates me to volunteer with teenagers. The kids who need intervention most won’t get it bc of their parents but you can still make a big impact by introducing kids to art and ideas their teachers aren’t able to.

🐑 fan tourism 🐑

Of all the characters in the canon to get het up about… um…

There is a considerable effort made to memory hole this. Whenever I mention the rollback of protections, testing sites, the quarantine period, I get responses that say “yeah, fuck trump!” And yes, but that wasn’t him.

This is terrible. ICE separated a single mother from her son, and deported her without him, leaving him in the care of her sister’s abusive ex. Who murdered him.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Guardian's 100 book list, but given the apparent lack of consideration to novels from South America, Asia, and Africa, I wish they had just gone ahead and just called it the 100 best novels of the Western tradition.

I think the best way to enjoy this list, which contains lots of predictable choices (made as it was by committee), is to find a book you like, click to see who voted for it, and then look at the voters' other top 10 choices. You might find something else you like that you haven't read.

47/100 but the only thing that matters here is that Middlemarch is rightly number one. www.theguardian.com/p/x4f9v5

I loved working on this. These booksellers are amazing, please take a look and consider buying your books from these stores! #booksky

The fact that a New York mayor marked Nakba Day is historic

1) Literally all of us in the CC community already knew this, but I guess I'm glad it's getting formally studied 2) Yet another reason that poverty is a public health hazard, environmental justice is health justice, racial justice is health justice, etc.

the whole plot of the odyssey is like “the weather is very bad because odysseus blinded poseidon’s son”

Anyway, here's an article about Maeve Boothby O'Neill, who died of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (previously called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) at the age of 27 www.theguardian.com/society/arti...

If these people had been paying attention to anything Nolan’s done in the last 10+ years they’d know what his deal is but instead, endless ways to be outraged that the most popular white guy macho filmmaker isn’t on their side

My mentee just read WUTHERING HEIGHTS and she is so outraged at the movie and it did not even occur to her that the book was anything other than completely fucked up and twisted. The kids… they’re all right!

This is not a "controversy" or a "dispute" about casting. It's a racist position being echoed and amplified by other racists. Journalists need to learn to use the word "racist" much more freely; right now, too many publications treat it as unprovable unless self-reported.

“Also, Middlemarch is better than Moby-Dick,” the Pope stated, conclusively resolving the debate.

For The Sewanee Review, I interviewed Miriam Toews about her career, why she writes, writing about her sister and her father in the wake of their suicides, and more. This was a year in the making and I'm so proud it's finally done. Miriam is an incredible, incredible interview subject.

DINOs

Listening to the Critical Darlings ep (great podcast!) on this and… 1. The new plot for the film sounds incredibly dumb, 2. They read out the blurb for the second book and are like oh this sounds bad… this whole situation is going to radicalize me to be an even bigger killjoy than I already am

Yes great bookshop

Long Covid and #MECFS is a workers rights issue. People catch this on the job. Then all they have strength to do is their job, nothing else. Then they get sicker and lose their job anyway. Then SSD is denied. #MillionsMissing

sublime

This piece is SO GOOD. @soila.bsky.social & editor @lincodega.com worked magic to bring this final product together. As I was editing the audio version, I kept finding myself nodding at particularly sharp points, e.g., how only English gets to be the language of "play." Please read and share widely!

Per Deirdre, Harvard University currently has NO Assistant Professors of English on its faculty. (An “assistant professor” is typically the entry level for a position that might lead to tenure, though as noted in the thread Harvard has some quirks In this regard.)

This is actually true, imo. And also, COVID reminded people of their own vulnerability, the porosity of their own skins and bodies, their mortality and they HATED it. They still hate it. Thats why they scream about masks, about COVID and any reminder of that vulnerability.

I love to have security in my life thank u Academy thank u Conan

People with ME/CFS & LC desperately need a “medically frail” categorization. Please sign & repost this. We will lose our healthcare because physical & cognitive activity cause crashes/flares that last days, weeks, months. No way we can work.

It is kind of a tell when they're like "we're trying to reduce your access to SSRIs and family-planning medications and also food and the vote"

This collection is absolutely brilliant, one of the best books I've read this year so far.

Hard to imagine anything that would cause more social chaos and misery so of course he wants to do this. I am on a very high dose of Lexapro because I enjoy not being plagued by constant intrusive suicidal thoughts, an experience I’d love to transfer to Bobby while he’s considering this.

I was also told this by a doctor when I had Covid symptoms in March 2020 because I didn’t have a fever. Great profession

including just a different newsletter website, like come on folks it’s not that difficult

Great thread and a GREAT long list of book recs from people here if you’re looking for stuff to read. 💜