"I find that LLMs produce sentences that are smooth, glib, poreless, smiling, somewhat like a beluga whale. But every busted sentence written by a human is busted in its own way. Each of these sentences is unwittingly an act of resistance against the onrushing techno-homogenization of language."

"Nobody seems to have the cilantro gene in Mexico" yeah because they genetically selected away from it. Because it's a weakness

The marvelous @sarajbenincasa.bsky.social, talking about the magical 90's #LosAngeles of YA novel *Weetzie Bat*, made possible by punk queer kids. It's a revelation! (Shoutout to @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social and Canter's Deli, among others!) #booksky

Sixty years ago today, Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law - securing health care for millions and saving countless lives. As GOP politicians try to tear them down, it's up to us to protect and expand these programs for Americans who rely on them today and for future generations.

1st meeting with a cohort of doctors today & when I asked them to share something that had brought them joy lately, several shared books they were currently reading...& OTHER PEOPLE WROTE THEM DOWN This is why I ask this question Also: respect to the MD who said "Buying 3 burgers at Five Guys"

When you think of Paulo Coelho's award-winning, best-selling novel The Alchemist, do you groan or clap? Up now on the podcast: creator/educator/coach Marq Mervin on how it changed his life. #booksky #books #reading #alchemist open.spotify.com/episode/1vk2...

im so obsessed with these German editions for The Infernal Devices i mean just look at them 😮‍💨 #booksky

A Room of Her Own: Women Artist-Activists in Britain, 1875–1945 is on at The Clark through Sept 14. Read about it on here: British Women Artist-Activists at The Clark Art Institute artherstory.net/british-wome... Pictured: Cyclamen & Primula, 1923, by Winifred Nicholson; @kettlesyard.bsky.social

can we please just have more book reviews instead of these weird pieces about whether or not straight white men can still read or publish novels

Same.

I am grieving the barbarism that is going to unfurl from all this. People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy. I see every day up close how different it is from the first time around. There are no guardrails. A disaster. I’m sorry we have to live through this.

Marines and mission creep:

Thankfully, I learned this juuust under the wire. #monsoonwedding

Up now on the pod: stewarding the practices of joy, especially in doom times. A chat about the brilliance of #rossgay 's Inciting Joy, with @leeleewilma.bsky.social. #booksky #joy open.spotify.com/episode/7uGw...

Who doesn't have time to take a 5 minute survey about reading? Go help an Irish writer out! @1adoyle.bsky.social #booksky

(•_•) <) )╯Publique fundinge / \ \(•_•) ( (> of the artes and humanityes / \ (•_•) <) )> doth benefit everyone! / \

> Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment: “I can’t even describe how good it feels to know that someone who was trying to obliterate me and all the other women that he harmed did not succeed… His path to victory was to destroy all of us… and it didn’t work.” More below:

The U.S. Senate is currently considering a budget reconciliation bill that quietly includes language that could devastate our public lands. It would: - Make over 250 million acres of public land eligible for sale - Mandate the sale of at least 2 million acres of Forest Service and BLM land

"This Book Made Me treat my words like an art object," says Emmy-nominated Sesame Street writer @jencapra.bsky.social. In this Pride Month episode, we fan-girl over Jeanette Winterson's luminous novel Written on the Body. #booksky open.spotify.com/episode/2tRw...

My friend in LA says the city is in chaos. No one knows how to park in the Trader Joe's parking lot

LAPD fired rubber bullets at Australian journalist @laurentomasi.bsky.social

HAPPENING NOW: Aerial coverage of a MASSIVE crowd peacefully protesting and marching in LA to protest ongoing ICE raid operations and Trump’s federalization of the National Guard 📍Los Angeles, CA

Hello. I live in Los Angeles. The president is lying.

The most striking thing about the LA protests is how many people just dropped everything to show up and yell at federal agents. There are people in suits, and carrying dogs, and wearing flip flops or bike helmets. These are not people who planned to do this today. But there they are.

It's still #AAPI heritage month, and do we have an interview for you: it's @thaoworra.bsky.social , talking about the woefully under-recognized graphic novel Why I Hate Saturn. open.spotify.com/episode/0dOz...

In honor of National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, may I present to you these two goobers, who make our lives better every single day (and also posed for this very awkward prom pic).

“And I’m like, what do you mean, you ‘do your own research’? You running a double-blind study in your living room, dawg?” - A guy walking ahead of me with his friends on a NYC sidewalk in 2021, also my favorite overheard dialogue of the entire pandemic

PLEASE don’t buy into Amazon’s booksale this week. They are intentionally trying to eat into profits from Indie Bookstore Day this weekend, a really important annual event for our important community institutions. Check out your local fave or bookshop.org.

I've been trying out "easter baking" jokes all day to honor this fortuitous religious/stoner holiday overlap, but nothing is going to be better than this.

Up now on the podcast: humor and hope from a suprising 18th century source: How Voltaire's Candide helps us cope in impossible times. #booksky #reading open.spotify.com/episode/1B75...

Anthony Bourdain began his writing career on our pages, with this essay, in 1999. #NewYorkerArchive

Sunday protocol: get up, drink coffee, do the @latimes.com crossword, and read @patguy.bsky.social weekly Sunday Scaries, and find a new favorite. www.ghoulishdelights.com/2024/12/29/e...

Gotta love the imagery of this poster by designer Soe Lin Post for my upcoming public talk April 22 at Wellesley College. It visually links the ICE kidnappings and deportations with our graphic novel “We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration.”

We could use a thermodynamic miracle right about now.

Big crowd in LA. Families, twenty something’s and this special person “older than Pharaoh.” #handsoff2025 #handsoff #handsoffdtla #handsoffLA #handsoffLosAngeles

Hooooo boy.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the 127th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, United States v Wong Kim Ark. Much has been discussed about Wong Kim Ark’s legal case, but we know so little about his life. Even after winning his case, he was forced to re-prove his citizenship again and again. ⬇️

Bibliotherapy is the ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect. Today, it takes many forms, from literature courses run for prison inmates to reading circles for elderly people suffering from dementia.

Up now at This Book Made Me Podcast: #booksky #reading #helendewitt open.spotify.com/episode/71yG...

Job alert: @propublica.org is looking for an engagement and tips coordinator who can help us triage, vet and distribute tips to journalists across our newsroom. It's an important role with huge implications for our investigative journalism. Check it out: boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...

Zoom auto-updated and automatically enabled its fucking "AI Companion." Could not find a way to disable it through the app - eventually discovered you have to log into Zoom on the WEB and go to Settings to disable it. There are a million little buttons you have to disable there. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

Incredible story of the hidden apartments above NYC's Carnegie libraries, the families that occupied them (to stoke the coal furnaces), and the children who grew up with a city library downstairs. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/r...

English professors, coming in clutch with the advanced linguistic panache we're all searching for.

Isabella Rosselini - wearing her softly crushed blue velvet, at the Oscars 38 years later. An elegant & timeless tribute to longtime friend, David Lynch.