Please read my @theflytrapmedia.com piece today about my lifelong fear of death and the afterlife and the futile pursuit and heroic rejection of immortality. www.theflytrapmedia.com/the-futile-p...

The Futile Pursuit (and Heroic Rejection) of Immortality

There are few things more human than fearing the sudden non-existence of death.

theflytrapmedia.com

We’re also funding death squads but what’s really offensive is that somewhere out there a poor person might be able to eat

USA TODAY Opinion@usatodayopinion.usatoday.com · 2d ago

Opinion: Mamdani's idea may sound appealing, but it's NYC taxpayers who will take the hit, subsidizing discounts they may never even use.

Media Literacy In 2025

What if instead of starting substacks in twenty-fucking-twenty-six people learned to give one iota of a fuck about whether they want to associate themselves with nazis.

My experience is of every American COVID-19 mitigation effort being obviously insufficient, and ended far too soon. To see people now argue that they somehow were too much, going too far? Not anti-vax or MAGA people, but folks just out here on Bluesky? It staggers me.

Finally settling in to read @mollycrabapple.bsky.social's "Here Where We Live is Our Country" on a rainy afternoon. The art is, unsurprisingly, beautiful, with words to match.

Anyway, your problem isn‘t finding the time to take notes. The problem is that taking notes is thinking and thinking has to be done by someone. women have been doing a lot of metacognition that looks like a task when it’s really thinking.

I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works. Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them

Jennifer Romig @jennifermromig.bsky.social · 4d ago

Notetaking in meetings is tiny case in point - used to be some predictable social assumptions who would do it; now anyone can offer to do ”notetaking” by turning on the AI listener. Further interesting scenario is human recollection / notes (taken by habit by a person) conflict with AI summary

This is why we don't need genAI. Just keep drawing, one day you're gonna kill it.

Leona Florianova@lost-fool.bsky.social · last wk.

my drawing of Geralt of Rivia from around 2008 and redraw from 2026 #art #thewitcher

In case you missed it, this very personal project and also the largest I've ever worked on is out into the world!

s. e. smith@sesmith.lol · last wk.

ALL MY DEAD CATS AND OTHER LOSSES, my book about grief; who is allowed to mourn and how; and why people want to pathologize the experiences that make us human, is available now in print, ebook, and audiobook formats, wherever fine books are sold (or loaned, shoutout to libraries).

Nope nope nope. What we’re not going to do is pretend the abandonment of the vulnerable to Covid was a given fact or an inevitability. The US government could have continued to prioritize safety measures to protect the vulnerable until better treatments were found. You do You was a policy choice.

Batdog@jeffreyschmeffrey.bsky.social · 5d ago

He's simply stating a fact

I had so much fun working on all of the little details and easter eggs for this @theflytrapmedia.com illustration! Go read @sesmith.lol's amazing piece about the wild world of special edition books! 💖

The Flytrap@theflytrapmedia.com · 6d ago

This week, @sesmith.lol wrote about how some books get deluxe multiple special edition treatment and what that says about publisher priorities. Art by @meowwwls.bsky.social!

You should get this amazing bandana and support a fun cause.

The Flytrap@theflytrapmedia.com · 2w ago

Did you know we have a fly as hell bandana designed by art director rommy torrico with sale proceeds donated to charity? Right now, they're going to @katelynburns.com's nominee, the Homeless World Cup Foundation.

Catch me in an interview with @prismreports.org talking capitalism, grief, and more!

The final ‘furwell’: pet loss, grief, and loss under capitalism

Journalist s.e. smith discusses how pet loss is the “gateway drug” for their debut memoir “All My Dead Cats and Other Losses”

prismreports.org

the most annoying thing about these people is they're demanding that you be half-informed and fairly useless at everything. the way we win is specialization. find your things. get SMART about them. get GOOD at fighting for them. someone else's thing doesn't need you to barge in knowing nothing!

Joseph Brassey@josephbrassey.bsky.social · 2w ago

There’s a cottage industry of online grifters whose whole schtick is getting you to flagellate yourself for not investing yourself equally in every important thing happening in the world, when humans simply have limited time and capacity. You’ve gotta get your head above that stuff.

We keep getting glimpses of a world where better things are possible. It's just overshadowed by tech bro bullshit galloping to make everything worse and man I'm tired of that.

Ada Palmer@adapalmer.bsky.social · 2w ago

A Chilean salmon farm now draws about 57% of its power from panels laid over the water, cutting roughly 136,000 litres of diesel a year and silencing the generators. With the noise gone, thousands of salmon have gathered in the shade beneath the arrays. Ecoportal buff.ly/CwczkbP #ShareGoodNewsToo

I know intellectually that there are apparently people in this country who can go through an entire day without being stressed out about money, but it still baffles me that they actually exist, no matter what the Charts Say, because I don't feel like I know any personally.

"Athletes put their bodies on the line in ways that can have permanent consequences. They push themselves to physical and mental limits that can result in impact far after a game or practice ends. All of these things are also facets of the BDSM world." www.theflytrapmedia.com/pushing-thro...

Pushing Through The Pain

What the sports world can learn from the kink community

theflytrapmedia.com

I told someone recently that anyone doing accessibility work in America has been punished by our government. And I’ve gotten some “idk about that” But the thing is they banned the word accessibility and then they defunded and laid off people doing this work. Now accessibility has to be hidden

Sarah T Roberts, PhD@ubiquity75.xyz · 2w ago

A reminder that UC _faculty_ and Faculty Associations — not the universities themselves nor their administrators — are waging this battle in court, demonstrating great bravery and moral clarity.

I have been WAITING for a story talking about how the current war on immigrants affects immigrant caregivers, rather than the people who work for. Really appreciate this breakdown on the personal, social, financial, political precarity of care work because it is so undervalued and disrespected.

The Crisis of Care Work - The American Prospect

The end of Temporary Protected Status and Trump’s budget cuts make a bad situation worse.

prospect.org

I’ve spent six years working on it, and next week, my book on grief, American culture, who is allowed to mourn and how, and whether we can take up grief as a collective project will be unleashed on the world! Do yourself (and me) a favor and preorder now.

All My Dead Cats and Other Losses: Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning

"Both a grief book that doesn't read like a clinician's notes and a memoir wrapped around a bigger subject, All My Dead Cats takes grief from the taboo to the universal." — BooklistHave you suffered a...

bookshop.org

This is like when I had a breakup in early 2020 and vowed to get out more and meet new people

Matt Tobey@mtobey.bsky.social · 3w ago

I’m finally going to listen to my doctor and eat more vegetables and get more fresh air

A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities whose parents or relatives receive SNAP benefits. (Published April)

The Trump Administration Aims to Penalize Disabled Adults Who Live With Their Families

A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who...

propublica.org

Substack is 100% doing another round of big cash payouts for reputation laundering. A fair number of people accepting that money aren't hurting for it so I'm not clear on why they're doing it. BTW, if you're still on Substack, why, but also, here's a resource to get off: leavesubstack.com

Karl Bode@karlbode.com · 3w ago

I wrote about Naomi Klein joining Substack and why writers of conscience shouldn't launch new media ventures on platforms that court white supremacy for clicks.

NEW ASK THE FLYTRAP JUST DROPPED! Flytrap cofounder @andreagrimes.com is bringing back Bad Advisor (IYKYK) to fulfill a very special request. Is EVERYTHING annoying you? You will enjoy this one.

Ask The Flytrap: I Desperately Need Some Sense Sassed Into Me

Little things are starting to really, REALLY grind my gears.

theflytrapmedia.com

"Quite simply, the solution to combatting AI is humans exchanging with other humans. These exchanges take time, and they are not optimized for maximum profit. In fact, the promise of optimization is inherently at odds with humanity." Beautiful piece by @nicolefroio.bsky.social

Screenwriters Hate AI, and Who Can Blame Them?

The creative process is challenging for a reason—it makes stories better, and more human.

theflytrapmedia.com

My book on grief in our capitalist hellscape comes out in two weeks so if you wanted a signed bookplate and other goodies, order from my friends @bookpeople.com ASAP.

All My Dead Cats and Other Losses: Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning

Have you suffered a loss? How was your life changed by the grief you experienced? Did you feel like your grief was properly acknowledged? Mourning is a personal experience and shouldn't be judged. The...

bookpeople.com

"Your horror has been stolen from you" really defines the conditions we're in

unraveled@unraveledpress.com · 3w ago

You can and should point out that police killing people daily is the "norm" in America. But that doesn't mean you *accept* the normalization of this violence and the way some people rush to smugly point these things out contributes to collective fatigue. Your horror has been stolen from you.

The fact that J.K. Rowling successfully bullied Amnesty International into taking down a report that accurately called out her attack on trans people, especially trans women, is so repulsive and such a display of the power of her money, and her choice to put her vast fortune behind persecution.

Amnesty removes report that called JK Rowling's centre 'anti-rights'

Amnesty International UK has removed a report which labelled JK Rowling's sexual abuse crisis centre Beira's Place as "anti-rights".

thepinknews.com

Truly: fuck the algorithm

The Flytrap@theflytrapmedia.com · 3w ago

To be clear, "algorithmic pricing" is something The Flytrap will NEVER force upon our community of wonderful subscribers. You pay your subscription, you get access to our whole back catalogue, no hidden price gauging based on your data. Get it here: www.theflytrapmedia.com