I found a metaphor about AI that I like, and I'm going to stick with: AI is like mercury or lead or plutonium. Yeah, it has some practical uses, but those practical uses are vastly outweighed by the fact that they are actively toxic, destroying both our brains and the environment.

Here's an example of the type of person who tries to appropriate Tolkien to push their queerphobic/xenophobic message. That's Rohan/Meduseld in the GenAI images. Turns out the call was coming from inside the house....

This is the biggest full circle connection in my career. Over two years ago a designer with Random House (thank you Nicole Block!!) working on a Dungeons&Dragons and Stranger Things tie-in contacted me about the old D&D art she had see me share online from my youth...

Honestly there is no surer sign that politicians like Mamdani actually have a shot at reversing the massive and growing plague of income inequality than the way the billionaire class is absolutely shitting its pants right now. Their fear gives me hope change is actually possible! More Mamdanis now!

Trump is now going against his own administration's plan to partially fund SNAP. He's demanding Democrats end the shutdown and let health insurance costs skyrocket for millions of people, otherwise food assistance won't be released for millions of hungry people ahead of the holidays. Hello?

This is so bleak. Xania Monet is not a real person. This is an entirely ai generated artist with AI generated music that has millions of monthly listeners and music getting actual radio play and millions of listens. It's digital blackface.

Today is Election Day. There are statewide and local elections happening in Georgia so get out and vote!

Schumer is such a loser. Anyway, something something "blue no matter who," right?

The song of the day:

Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo! I know how hard you worked for this.

Some of us on the academic side have been trying to tell yall what is coming for so long. We were not being hyperbolic then and we absolutely are not being hyperbolic or doomers now.

Musk and the DHS have used “The Lord of the Rings” references to push anti-immigration messaging, seemingly positioning themselves as underdogs to justify oppression. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

Great quotes here from Janet Croft, our most recent podcast guest, as well as past guest Robin Reid. In short, get fucked, fascists. Tolkien doesn't belong to you, and he sure as fuck wouldn't be advocating for ICE's gestapo tactics. www.removepaywall.com/search?url=h...

So apparently, the US Gov, in their most recent series of dog whistles, are pulling LOTR references and are outright saying that their fascist reign of terror is akin to protecting the Shire. Absolutely fucking not. The comparison is a straightforward dogwhistle, don't let them confuse you.

"Helmets Deep" is definitely the name of a Rohirric porn parody.

Why are far right tech and military moguls obsessed with Lord of the Rings, when Tolkien's messaging runs totally counter to what they believe in. Peter Thiel has even called Greta THUNBERG the anti-Christ...??

October 25 is the date of the Council of Elrond and, therefore, the date on which Frodo utters one of my favorite lines in all of literature. “I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way.” That’s all we can ever do, I think: decide what to do with the time that is given us.

Posting for a deep-read later. White nationalist influencers seem to be adopting fundamentalist demonization to build a bridge into ultra-nationalism. www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon...

I’ve been listening to Sisters of the Shire podcast, hosted by two women, and I’m struck by how they immediately set off the 🚨 for Aredhel and Eöl’s relationship. One of the hosts was coming to the store for the first time and was still like 🚩🚩🚩

Y'all need to see this Bilbo and Gandalf from the Portuguese version of The Hobbit. Illustrated by António Quadros

Me wasting good wine on my wife. 😅

Just get all up in the face of the First Order officers in Inflatable Frog Suit.

If you’re not signed up yet, don’t forget to register for the @tolkiensociety.org seminar on October 18! It’s free and online! www.tolkiensociety.org/events/semin...

New issue of Mythlore is up: dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol...

New Tolkien Society publication! Releasing on 25 November, "Númenor, the Mighty and Frail" includes 10 articles relating to Númenor, and its legacy. Edited by @willsherwood.bsky.social and published by @lunapress.bsky.social, it's now available to pre-order. www.tolkiensociety.org/2025/10/new-...

Dear every single fucking application I have on both my laptop and my phone: No I do not want to use your AI anything, leave me the fuck alone. I especially do not want AI to summarize anything!!! This is literally the skill I spent nearly two decades honing as a scholar! go away!

If you’re working on any area of fantasy and the fantastic, come and join us at Glasgow in June 2026 and do consider presenting or running a workshop! All the info you need and the full CFP is here: fantasy.glasgow.ac.uk/index.php/20... @uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Oh hey, it me!

The River-daughter 🩵💚💛 #TolkienTrewsday: Rivers #art #Tolkien

An abundance of mushrooms on my walk today. Very hobbity 🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫

*Any new LOTR thing is announced* Me: Ok but does it involve complex interpersonal relationships that break down masculine stereotypes

A family portrait for the House of Finwë Portrait includes the spouses of Finwë and his sons but not the grandchildren. I’ll post a monochrome photograph version below (couldn’t help myself) along with a name list but it’s totally up to you to decide who is who when in doubt +

Discussions about the Catholic fandom arose at ALEP.

My book Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc is released into the wild today! Here's a quick peek at a few more pages, artwork here by Győző Vida, Yassen Panov, Alexander Korotich and Sergei Iukhimov #Tolkien www.bloomsbury.com/uk/illustrat...

New episode alert! zencastr.com/z/_gLEDrCs We have a special treat with you this episode... a discussion about "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" with the film's credited "Tolkien Expert" (and a Lodger herself), Janet Brennan Croft!

Democrats need to seriously consider an impeachment inquiry into now-Judge Emil Bove if/when they take back the House. He led the brazenly corrupt Eric Adams quid pro quo. He facilitated the Tom Homan bribery cover-up. And there’s probably more! He was Trump’s hatchet man at DOJ for months!

this charlie kirk deification is some of the weirdest shit i have ever seen

Q: "Should coverage you don't like be grounds for losing a broadcast license?" Trump: "I think when a network is dishonest, certainly. If they are dishonest because they give you 97% bad publicity or whatever it is, some ridiculous number—ya, I would say that would be grounds."

WATCH: Constituent who has lost 50+ family members in the genocide in Gaza confronts @bera.house.gov for selling out to the Israel lobby. "You choose profit over people CONSTANTLY!" #CA06

I don’t know how many of you are following this, but the new H1B stuff is absolutely insane. Tech, medicine and science professions all attract many people to the US. There are around 750,000 H1B holders in the US right now. Trump has said the companies that bring them in have to pay $100k a year.

Most people don't know what fascism is, & millions are drawn to its mobilizing passions. Sadly, that makes the term a poor tool of persuasion. Study it, learn how to fight it, but don't expect shouting "fascist" to do more than alienate radical moderates & drive conservatives further right.

October 14 will NOT be a holiday for me. And I will continue to NOT send any money to the DCCC, DNC, and the DSCC...🙄😠

So instead of writing anything about my thesis research, which was the hope, I wrote a blog post about history behind the weirdest thing people have done on the internet in a while. CW this is a possibly traumatic read, I'm traumatized knowing it. open.substack.com/pub/anditsfo...

We're witnessing the culminating rot of shareholder capitalism in real time. Some of the most powerful corporations in America have sided with an authoritarian regime in order to protect their short term profits — the fundamental rights of everyone else be damned.

"Parma Eldalamberon 18: Tengwesta Qenderinwa and Pre-Fëanorian Alphabets, Part 2" is available again on demand at: The Great British Bookshop: www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk/products/par... and at Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com/s/parma%20el...

Fuck you, ABC. 🖕 Put @jimmykimmel.com back on the air, and maybe I'll consider renewing.

Tolkien tried to have a still installed in their house, which Edith objected to because it made the house smell like a brewery. [2/2]