Even the dumbest mule would stop running headlong into brick walls after two or three attempts

Artemis, the Moon and the case for utopia Optimism about the future should not be a preserve of the past

In this week's New Statesman column I find that, for all my blackhearted pessimism, I am incapable of being cynical about space travel.

www.newstatesman.com/science-tech...

Media from the Moon Armstrong's first words from the moon couldn't have reached 600 million people without communication pros. As Artemis 2 launches, how do Australian science agencies communicate today?

Armstrong's words from the moon reached 600M people because someone insisted on the infrastructure to carry them: frequency.ghost.io/media-from-t...

Wild how inflation charts are presented. You'd think prices by July 2025 are up 2.8% from 2021 instead of compounding annually.

The Great Rebalancing in Australian Media Australian media isn't dying because social media stole its audience. It's dying because a whole new class of intermediaries is better at capturing value than publishers ever were.

Australian media isn't dying because social media stole its audience.

It's dying because a whole new class of intermediaries is better at capturing value than publishers ever were.

frequency.ghost.io/the-great-re...

how did the PM have this to release?

Child’s Play, by Sam Kriss Tech’s new generation and the end of thinking

This is a hell of a piece of writing by Sam Kriss

I have discovered a planet. It is not far. There's a creature there resembling a sheep, except for its heroic legs. What a good place.

(edited) screenshot of a Claude.AI error page that says: "Claude will return in Avengers: Doomsday" followed by a smaller line referring to a temporary error.

They have discovered a planet. It is out past the stars. A large mountain sits amidst the unlawful plains. We could find happiness there, perhaps.

WTF is happening in rural news? In my decade-long tenure as a media academic at "Australia's leading regional university" (🙄), I was regularly asked to comment on shifts and changes in regional broadcasting and news. It was a diffi...

The news deserts are spreading frequency.ghost.io/wtf-is-happe...

Anti-Olympics protest in Milan turns violent as Italy investigates suspected railway sabotage | CNN Anti-Olympic protesters marched peacefully through Milan on Saturday afternoon, holding signs, marching arm-in-arm, singing and dancing. But when night fell, the demonstration turned violent as some p...

The Italian government links sabotage associated with the winter Olympics to "anarchists" even though similar efforts around Paris 2024 were suspected to be Russian edition.cnn.com/2026/02/07/e...

The Washington Post Is No Longer Useful to Jeff Bezos In a kleptocracy, there is no reason for a billionaire to own an adversarial news outlet.

There is zero reason for a billionaire to own an adversarial news outlet in a kleptocracy. And so billionaires are gutting the media companies they own, reorienting them to better align with the regime, and spending money on bribes rather than journalists

www.404media.co/the-washingt...

I realise there's a difference, in time and orientation, when travelling vs at home, but I am 4 hours into a cross-country Norweigian train and boy does it put the Australian rail network to shame.

Look! A planet! A mule-like animal lives there and crawls across the dust. Would you like to dance there?

What was the last good year? 1996?

A group of media scholars go to pub trivia. Their team name? The McLuhans

one of the great, pernicious myths perpetrated about higher ed—which media, higher ed administrators, politicians, and a number of faculty are complicit in spreading—is that humanities departments close due to some combination of cratering student demand and unjustifiable cost. It’s not true

I am submitting a AUD$500 bid for Warner Bros.

Another example of how AI - a supposedly productivity-enhancing technology - is creating more work for others and overwhelming/polluting communal goods.

AANZCA 2025 | Snurblog — Axel Bruns Australia Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association conference, Sunshine Coast, 26-28 Nov. 2025

Wheee, a very fast-paced session (mostly) on conspiracy theories to end #AANZCA25, also featuring my @qutdmrc.bsky.social colleague @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social presenting our audit of how GenAI chatbots respond to conspiracy theory-curious questions.

Final liveblog here:

Live recording of Fossils and Fiction at Suburban Brew (Adelaide) on November 29. Palaeontologists Aiden Couzens and Matt Herne join our panel to talk about Australia's oddest fossils. The show begins with Professor Flint's Palaeojam followed by Fossils live! www.eventbrite.com.au/e/1964100016...

Learn all about Wellington Caves in the newest episode of Fossils and Fiction now in your favourite podcast player

Understanding Boutique News Media as a Novel Form of Journalism | Snurblog — Axel Bruns For my last conference of the year, I’ve made the short trip up to the Sunshine Coast to attend t

A great keynote by @karinwahlj.bsky.social on the rise of boutique news media to start off the #AANZCA25 conference on the Sunshine Coast. Liveblog is up:

"we would like to assure you that the guided missiles currently converging with your ship are part of a special service we extend to all of our most enthusiastic clients, and the fully armed nuclear warheads are of course merely a courtesy detail."

The robot mower at my work just ran over a sprinkler and I think they're both stuffed now. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

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Episode 53: The deals with seals

Episode 53: The deals with seals