Good afternoon asymmetric information battlespace!

Smartphones, Dumbphones, and Delusions of Platform-Building “I don’t actually need my smartphone to write, but do I need it in order to be seen as a writer?”

This week on Scratch, we have an essay by @maggiemertens.bsky.social about how her itch for a dumbphone is largely burnout from the need to constantly self-promote one's writing or risk professional oblivion.

This is a five-alarm fire and should be covered as such by the media.

Just wrote a new blogpost trying to summarize my thoughts on the question of how and whether to use AI for research in psychology and cognitive science: babieslearninglanguage.blogspot.com/2026/04/usin...

More people should adopt this schedule. Be the information environment you desire

*have a place I can go

reminds me how two characters in The Peripheral shift from language to language when speaking in order to evade surveillance; they might even be conlangs constructed in the moment on the fly

an agentic AI system for creating conlangs with LLMs according to custom linguistic parameters

pub.sakana.ai/IASC/

An Interview with John Emil Vincent Could you give a summary of your background in publishing and as a writer?  Absolutely. So yeah. So out of undergrad, I went to my MFA at Warner Wilson College, which was in North Carolina. [I…

“I think, like, if you have 2 people or 3 people who give a shit what you’re writing about, you win. So if you can expand that circle, that’s great, but those 2 or 3 people who give a shit, that’s the goal.”

soliloquies.org/2024/09/17/a...

At Long Last, InfoWars Is Ours By Bryce P. Tetraeder, CEO, Global Tetrahedron

We have a deal. theonion.com/at-long-last...

also about language

why sovereignty is everywhere

thesovereignage.netlify.app

How hidden contributions power modern research The people who work behind the scenes to keep research moving say that there should be more recognition for their roles.

“We still have to convince decision makers at the top of scientific institutions that our work is critical.”

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey.

A graphic for an article on the MIT Press Reader featuring an assortment of 60s-era sketches above a headline that reads "The 1960s Art School Experiment That Redefined Creativity" and a subheading of "A groundbreaking study revealed taht the most compelling artists seek to find problems, not solve them. Under that, the author's name (Keith Sawyer).

A graphic for an article on the MIT Press Reader featuring a field of crabapple trees above a headline that reads "What the Crabapples Are Telling Us" and a subheading of "In Ohio, a familiar spring ritual is arriving earlier — and with it, quiet signs of a changing climate.". Under that, the author's name (Theresa Crimmins).

We're launching a new series today! "Footnotes" asks authors to reflect on a person, study, or curiosity that shaped their thinking or never quite made it into their work. This week: Keith Sawyer on creativity research & Theresa Crimmins on shifting seasons: thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/footnotes/

Africa has 2,000 languages. AI content moderation covers fewer than 20 The data-labelling industry relies heavily on workers in Kenya and Nigeria to annotate what AI systems learn. Those same workers rarely see their languages reflected in the systems they help train.

The data-labelling industry relies heavily on workers in Kenya and Nigeria to annotate what AI systems learn. Those same workers rarely see their languages reflected in the systems they help train.

Support this vital work: globalvoices.org/donate

globalvoices.org/2026/04/20/a...

"this text contains AI-generated language that makes no sense" is the new "please get a native speaker to review your text"

Encounters with someone else's imaginary of political danger and safety:

The other day, a white Dutch man with permanent residency Asian country told me that "if I have to escape the EU, at least I place I can go," which is...very different from my imaginary

Working on a research project that would benefit from feedback before you present it at a conference? Looking for a collaborative, low-stakes venue to talk about your and others’ research? Check out the new American Dialect Society Research Incubator! americandialect.org/research-inc...

So Elizabeth Warren is at war with Chuck Schumer?

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Lithic Pilgrims!!!” Loud explosions, fireworks jet from the side of the stage, through the billowing smoke step four figures, a wailing wall of guitar crashes down

in my feed today: english, spanish, dutch.

No byline, so probably AI produced. Still, the kicker is true: the last words aren’t profound, but they have profound effects

Woman’s husband of 25 years dies unexpectedly - chills at his last 3 words Matisa Wilbon told Newsweek husband Lawrence used to joke about how bad her memory was, but she remembers every detail that day.

My research mentioned in Newsweek, that‘s going on the ol CV. www.newsweek.com/womans-husba...

Racket theory explains everything

This week's other bad news:
bsky.app/profile/sust...

my point remains: Duolingo won’t get you there

All precarity is a bitch and I always try to give advice remembering how it felt

Goal for today: grow in feck