"Within the small world of people who care about literature and art, the culture is as moralistic as it has ever been in my lifetime..." – @garthgreenwell.bsky.social on the continuing moral importance of Philip Roth
yalereview.org/article/gart...
In fact I think it's fair to say that if your taste doesn't outstrip your talent, you won't improve, even if you keep writing.
Voters have just today left to register to vote for the local elections taking place across England on 7 May. Anyone who wants to take part must register before 11.59pm tonight.
Registering takes minutes at gov.uk/register-to-vote. Just need name, address & National Insurance number. Pass it on.
This is lowkey one of the most important things happening in the Middle East rn and very few people are paying attention to it
There was literally a pangolin that flew combat sorties with the CIA in a dirty war in Laos that then died after drinking too much gin, so there’s at least one pangolin whose record is morally ambiguous
NYT headline: Vance Says the Pope Should Be More Careful When Talking About Theology The vice president, who is Catholic, took issue with Pope Leo XIV’s statement that disciples of Christ are “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
This is stunning.
This is absolutely pathetic. A cultural sector colluding in state censorship because it can’t afford to do its printing in a democratic country.
If you don’t know this series it’s some of the best (and weirdest) big picture SF around.
today is a sad day, with the news that Hampshire College -- founded as a modern-day utopian educational project with lofty ideals and its feet and pedagogical practice very much rooted in the real world, and animated by a rock-solid faith in student autonomy and freedom -- is closing its doors
I would agree, but mainly I come at it from the other point of view: what is out there that is neglected by Anglophone speculative fiction publishers? Why the genre narrower in the Anglophone world? (Or are these books viewed as literary in their own countries and only seen as 'spec' by Locus?)
What strikes me is how much more literary the translated novel list is... there's no one like Solvej Balle, Olga Ravn, Sayaka Murata in the main SF/fantasy novel lists.
Fascinating thread with stats
Japanese sci-fi: two robots in space, yearning
American sci-fi: man gets the author's beliefs on polygamy confirmed by the aliens of ramalama IV
french sci-fi: two horny bounty hunters visit the Galaxy of Breasts
British sci-fi: nuclear war. Everyone dead. America's fault
Think I got the timing wrong... anyway the accident is coming. Try to be surprised when it happens.
A lot of 60ish former ravers out there now. Expect more of this
I was thinking this morning how both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan would have been delighted to see a Westward-looking, centre-right party defeat a pro-Russian autocrat in a former Eastern Bloc country.
This is really worth reading. If I c&p'd every quote here that landed deeply with me, I'd be copying the whole essay.
mohusseini.substack.com/p/i-am-beggi...
Poetry by a Jewish legal clerk, inspired by American trial transcripts from 1885-1915. Will be published for the first time in the UK in 2027 by @cbeditions.bsky.social. brickmag.com/the-review-t...
Having Artemis II withdrawal symptoms? This is the 56th anniversary of Apollo 13 and you can listen "live." The accident will happen less than 12 hours from now... late evening US time, early morning UK time. apolloinrealtime.org/13/
Mayor Zohran Mamdani behind the counter of a bodega in The Bronx, flanked by various people. A journalist with a microphone labeled “Shop Cats” is standing in front of the sales counter, and holding the mic up to a black and white cat sitting on the counter next to bananas. The cat has an expression like in the famous “Sir, are you aware that you are a cat” meme
“Sir, are you aware that you are a cat, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani is standing right behind you?”
This is the culmination of SIXTEEN YEARS of dogged work by everyday Hungarians.
You think that felt hopeless sometimes? I'm sure it did.
👏 Don't 👏 give 👏 up 👏
Look forward to a one-sentence novella about the experience
galaxy brain meme, Reform Party style
Very fluffy, very contorted cat with blue eyes
Cat by MC Escher
Hungary’s turnout is BRUTAL: 37.98% by 11am (2022: 22.77%), pointing to 75–80% or more overall. In such a scenario, Orbán’s chances look slim, and it’s unlikely any party beyond Fidesz and Péter Magyar’s Tisza clears the 5% threshold.
Follow me for more #HungaryElection updates.
Really interesting thread about wage compression
Being an Anglophile is a fairly common American trait! In my case I seem to have had it passed down from my great-grandfather who was a Greek immigrant
The Space Shuttle program did a good job of pretending that it could be routine – and returning to Earth as simple as landing a plane – but at the price of major disillusionment when it turned out this actually wasn't true.
A fair point that sociocultural difficulties can have as much impact as technological ones!