Somehow I spoke to more anthropologists for my silly little podcast than Yuval Harari did for his bestselling book

Really enjoyed chatting with @michaelhobbes.bsky.social for this episode! In addition to being a delight to talk to, Michael was _extremely_ committed to getting the facts right & engaged very earnestly with our feedback. A scientist's dream.

B L M F Literary Saloon, Pine Books, and Left Bank Books in Seattle now have signed copies of my novels. And, of course, Third Place in Forest Park. Really loved all three, but BLMF is a particularly live wire, eccentric, cool.

Episode 46: Sapiens It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.

Remember that time when Ireland rerouted an entire highway to avoid pissing off the fairies that truly nobody believes in but we’ll just in case

If you're posting tributes to Alice Wong but aren't wearing a well fitted respirator indoors when sharing air with people outside your household AND outdoors when it's crowded than I think you misunderstood the assignment. You care about others? Prove it. Wear a mask.

When you've read too many posts

A real loss. Rest in power, Alice Wong.

Not me watching Alien: Earth and thinking, "I'd love to be a hybrid."

Love to bike to work through the middle of the vehicular manslaughter arms race

If you ever wonder why your artist friend is so pissed off whenever they see AI slop used instead of real, human-created art, it's exactly what you think:

I didn’t think we’d see anything, but early this evening we got lucky❤️

yes yes we all know about the Edmund Fitzgerald, rest her soul, but did you know about the ship laden with explosives that sank in the mouth of the Thames in 1944 and could explode at any minute and which attempts to disarm keep failing

my patience has increased but I will say, it is ok to have trouble reading, it is not ok to scream at people for things you imagined they said because you can't read what they actually said

Saw this article in my feed earlier. Saw Dr. Loftus's name in it, which I recall from grad school. You can't trust "recovered memories" only experienced while on psychedelics, which make memories malleable and may be more akin to dreams. The body DOES keep score, but not all trauma is CSA. 🧵

My first publication was a letter to the editor when I was six or seven. What a thrill, to be heard and valued.

He: You spent money on an AIR PURIFIER? Me: [erupting into a 15-minute talk on air pollution in cancer and dementia, confidently citing studies I once skimmed] He: You really should be in sales. Me: That's half my job, using vague recollections of science to convince people to fund more science.

*whispers* It is a faithful adaptation of an early 1800s novel by a woman about an arrogant self centered man Why are people

"Oh, I've got a consistent moral compass, how fucking bizarre." But, truly, my inability to just quietly accept injustice - even in the short term, just to get through the day - is absolutely maladaptive. It's not great for my mental health, in a world with so little fairness.

This entire piece is very, very good and well worth your time to read — but this bit had me rolling lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...

This person would likely label themselves a progressive. They volunteered, they cared about their causes, they could talk circles around others on so many topics But they lost all humanity when faced with something they couldn't understand, they hadn't had to do, that their family didn't live

New from me: I went deep on the way that generative AI and chatbots act as wormholes, pushing us deeper into our own minds. They threaten to compound the problems of algorithmic targeting that have festered unaddressed for years and years—what comes next may be even more alienating and isolating (🎁)

running out of ways to say they keep making him sound cool

Your art isn’t bad just because it’s not selling right now. We’re in a recession and people don’t know when they’re gonna eat next, nobody can afford fun things because the economy is crumbling. It’s going to be hard a while.

I really love this Vincent Van Gogh quote: "To do good work one must eat well, be well housed, have one's fling from time to time, smoke one's pipe, and drink one's coffee in peace." No romanticizing the starving artist. Van Gogh said UBI all the way.

Because some of my mutuals still follow the AltNPS account, please watch this video, it outlines how they're grifters who distract from real activism. Put your attention and money elsewhere.

Food pantries also really can use MONEY. This lets them buy food they get at a discount and, for some, it lets them have fresh food to offer. And if you want to donate food items, elementary school teachers frequently need healthy classroom snacks. You can just call the school to ask what's best.

Oh jees, oh f**k, I shouldn't have looked into the maws of AltNPS on Facebook. It's so much worse there. I've been following @katmabu.bsky.social's indictment, so I know what happened, and they just lied! The incident that started the indictment and the video they stated are not the same ones!

Donate to your local food pantries and shelters. We still have no idea whether the emergency funds will be released and they’re not enough to cover full costs. Build mutual aid. The only way we get out of this mess is to reinvigorate our sense of interconnectedness.

This new climate solution rocks!

If you have mental health vulnerabilities (or even if you don't), please stay away from chatbots. FTC complaints allege that "ChatGPT had caused people to experience incidents that included severe delusions, paranoia, and spiritual crises." 🔹️One complaint... 1/7 www.wired.com/story/ftc-co...

It's not just SNAP. The social safety net as a whole is rapidly fraying and it scares the shit out of me.

Wrote this yesterday chanda.bearblog.dev/knowledge-is...

I don't think many people realize yet how damaging Trump's suspension of SNAP payments will be to millions of Americans, doubly so because huge cuts are simultaneously hitting food banks and charities. Help your neighbors any way you can.

E g. The food bank here in San Diego buys bulk quantities of rice for a fraction of supermarket costs and re-packages it themselves in consumer-sized packages for distribution. Your money there goes much, much further than an in-kind donation. (In kind donations and volunteering are still good tho!)

Hi just so I'm clear. I wrote "donate to food banks" and do "food runs for mutual aid" because they are different things! Food banks want your money! they can do more with your money than with stuff. Mutual aid groups often want stuff! Mine has a food fridge!

Scolding me for donating menstrual supplies to my local mutual aid instead of money when they literally write on their website that they are always desperately in need of menstrual supplies... is the most fucking bluesky thing on the planet.

"I don't trust anyone who's never had a restaurant job." 100% agree Most correct SubwayTakes I've ever seen

i see you're doing something online that you have effortlessly done 100,000 times. would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? would you like to use this ai tool? w

pleased to announce that there seems to be a passive-aggressive conflict roiling the august pages of Cooks Illustrated, Fall Harvest recipes edition. allow me to explain:

On the one hand I see where he’s coming from. On the other hand, literally every single bit of commentary I’ve seen on this has been “woo, heist!”

oh hello, just me here to tell you I made a weekly calendar for 2026!that’s 53 illustrations of silly creatures, plus some bonus pages for notes. it’s currently available for preorder (you help me out and get some extra goodies in return), go check it out: www.stellabialek.com/product-page...

Interesting commentary on Sora from Wired today. www.wired.com/story/the-bl...

Define your music taste in eight artists: *Pink Floyd *Kate Bush *REM *Billie Eilish *Modest Mouse *Nirvana *The Cranberries *Royal & the Serpent I need a longer list, for Billie Holiday, Neil Young, Eurythmics, Daughter, Aaryan Shah, Sigur Ros, Yo-Yo ma Cello Suites, Beethoven, etc.😂

You should sever any relationship, including a close friendship, with someone who is rude to waitstaff.

People continue to call COVID advocates’ pleas for masking “unreasonable”. Yet people who’ve already been disabled by COVID have no choice but to live with the “unreasonable” burdens of constant COVID safety. My latest: substack.com/home/post/p-...

someone else just posted in the bug listserve "maybe you could use AI!" to answer someone's question. I will pour ants on you

Blessed Nightweaver protect us.🙏 Spotted Orbweaver, Neoscona crucifer. #Arachtober #Spiders #MacroPhotography #NaturePhotography #SheWhoProtectsInTheDark

In this disinformation age, anything that hooks you, that makes you feel like you're so, so right about the world... paradoxically, those are the stories you should question the most, and always be inclined to double-check You absolutely can be gamed

This made me so happy