This is my reading list so far for the year, with my absolute favorites starred. What should I read next?
Vauhini Vara
@vauhinivara.bsky.social
author of SEARCHES, THIS IS SALVAGED, & THE IMMORTAL KING RAO. pulitzer finalist. journalist. mentor at the lighthouse writers workshop's book project. contact me: dm, signal (@vauhinivara.82), or my website (vauhinivara.com).
Doing this made me learn that “water park” didn’t exist before my birth year?! people aged, say, 50 and up: what in the world did you call water parks before they were water parks?!
Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 5d agoFind the 5 words from your birth year that perfectly describe YOUR vibe ⬇️ www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/
I can't help but wonder how responses to the presence of AI in the writing process might be different if students had internalized and were rewarded for the notion that writing is to express their unique intelligences, rather than an exercise in demonstrating writing "proficiency."
I love this essay and the hilarious conceit of sharing two openings of a book that’s been published and asking readers to vote on them. the comments are also excellent: readers chiming in to be like, “I hate both,” or “Here’s my edit!”
Is a Novel Ever Finished? Many Writers Say No.
After finishing his latest book, Karan Mahajan couldn’t decide which opening passage was best. Vote below for the one you prefer.
nytimes.com
i'm happy there's a story collection on here, but obama's reading consultant — is this a thing? i'd like to believe it is? — needs to give him more books from independent presses & international authors! see: @deepvellum.bsky.social, @transitbooks.bsky.social & @archipelagobooks.bsky.social.
Barack Obama@barackobama.bsky.social · 7d agoIt’s that time of year again: here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed this summer. If you’ve read any good ones, let me know!
The biggest difference between the scandal over Shy Girl being partly AI-generated and the new allegations over Daggermouth seems to be that the Shy Girl author acknowledged AI involvement (tho blamed someone else) while the Daggermouth author denies it. So now what? Nice @willoremus.com piece.
Is This What Comes After AI Slop?
Daggermouth could be the first best-selling novel partly written by a chatbot.
theatlantic.com
Here are 10 must-reads about AI from CBC, including SEARCHES!
10 essential reads to understand the impact of AI | CBC Books
As conversations around AI use continue to grow, it can be challenging to stay informed about the impact AI is having on society and our role as consumers. CBC Books has compiled a list of books from ...
cbc.ca
WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHALES??? JOIN US!!!!!!!! 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋
Orion Presents The Deep Dive: Our History and Future with the World’s Largest Mammals - Orion Magazine
Join Orion magazine to celebrate the launch of our Summer 2026 issue, The Deep Dive: Our History and Future with the World’s Largest Mammals.
orionmagazine.org
Vauhini Vara@vauhinivara.bsky.social · last mo.in 2020, i visited baja to report on a mysterious die-off of grey whales. people were only sort of worried then: this happened, sometimes. Seven years later, though, the whales keep dying — their entire population has nearly halved. And now we know why. my latest, for @orionmagazine.bsky.social. 🐋
in 2020, i visited baja to report on a mysterious die-off of grey whales. people were only sort of worried then: this happened, sometimes. Seven years later, though, the whales keep dying — their entire population has nearly halved. And now we know why. my latest, for @orionmagazine.bsky.social. 🐋
Unusual Mortality Event - Orion Magazine
The mysterious die-off of eastern North Pacific gray whales
orionmagazine.org
Another @willoremus.com banger: an interview with Jamir Nazir, the winner of the Commonwealth Prize — published in Granta — accused of using AI. 🤯
Thoughts on AI, From a Prizewinning Writer Accused of Using AI
Jamir Nazir, the controversial winner of a prestigious literary award, tells his side of the story.
theatlantic.com
I’m helping my son with math. Without using AI, can someone explain why we say “1 quart = 4 cups,” but algebraically it needs to be “4q = 1c” (so that if you solve for q = 1, then c = 4)?
I've reported on Musk for around 8 years. I've co-authored a book on him. I don't think folks understand the rate of his wealth accumulation. Shortly after he helped elect Donald Trump in Nov 2024, his net worth was around $350 billion. That net worth has nearly tripled in less than two years.
A really interesting article about my essay "Ghosts"—as an entry point for considering the relationship between AI and communication—from @tahneeroksman.bsky.social. Sharing it particularly for those who teach "Ghosts" and might find this useful to pair with it.
static1.squarespace.com
Who are the literary agents with insight into all those new Christian-oriented imprints and presses that are cropping up?
I thought I was writing an essay explaining a decision to stop using the em dash — or least use it way less — because of how AI chatbots have appropriated it. Instead, I found myself arguing passionately in favor of it. 😑
Humans vs. Bots — Who Does the Em Dash Better?
nytimes.com
Had a great time speaking with @bcmerchant.bsky.social and @vauhinivara.bsky.social about the current state of AI –– how Anthropic convinced the media that it's the industry's "ethical" leader, and how AI writing is creeping into journalism and literature: www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...
How Anthropic Became Holier Than Thou | On the Media | WNYC Studios
This week, Anthropic filed for an IPO following a valuation of nearly $1 trillion, which would make it one of the largest IPOs in history. On this week’s On the Media, the company’s m...
wnycstudios.org
Come for @bcmerchant.bsky.social's take on how Anthropic infiltrated the Vatican (and subscribe to his Substack to read about it, while you're at it), and stay to hear me talk about AI turning up in books and magazines!
On the Media@onthemedia.bsky.social · 2mo ago📻 Show’s up! Featuring @bcmerchant.bsky.social, @vauhinivara.bsky.social, and David Garrett on-the-media.visitlink.me/mMfPo1
“Some people have interpreted the pontiff's letter as grounds for religious objections to using AI in the workplace.”
She won an exemption from using AI at her tech job. The Pope's remarks could fuel similar appeals.
Legal experts say employers must take AI-related religious objections seriously, as a 2023 ruling raised the bar for denying such accommodations.
businessinsider.com
I think it could be even more insidious still than deleted material. Here’s what happened when I wrote critically about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and asked OpenAI product ChatGPT to suggest edits. (The full transcript is in SEARCHES & gets even more dystopian.)
Jason Koebler@jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 2mo agogoogle has injected its gemini AI bullshit into our google docs and i just highlighted an article i wrote and told it to "refine" to see what it would do and it deleted the entire thing
🥳🥳🥳 meet THE BRIDGE: an ambitious & exciting project from Look2Justice, which supports incarcerated writers & is led by currently & formerly incarcerated people. i'll be directing their book fellowship, supporting three accomplished authors! www.look2justice.org/the-bridge
Ok I fell behind on the AI slop discourse but this one is really clear-eyed and good
Will Oremus@willoremus.com · 2mo agoGift link to my story today on how the rise of AI-assisted writing is blurring the lines between human authorship and slop — and leading some writers to feel pressure to overrely on tools that still have serious, albeit increasingly subtle, flaws. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
I’m sorry what??? Great reporting from @knibbs.bsky.social on the author who used AI to write his book about AI and the future of truth. 🤯 www.wired.com/story/future...
Because this country likes to forget what it’s capable of, I take it as a duty to remind us. We sit at the brink of the largest decimation of Black political power since the fall of Reconstruction — a Second Redemption. And the end of Black political power means the end of democracy itself.
The Civil Rights Era Is Collapsing Before Our Eyes
nytimes.com
This is a really ingenious analysis and (interactive) visualization. If AI use can’t be definitively shown in a given case, little bits of apparent plagiarism can.
Tuhin Chakrabarty@tuhinchakr.bsky.social · 3mo agoRan some 🧪 to 🔬 why the Granta short story was certainly 🤖 generated. A lot of bad writing happens because AI hasn’t learned aesthetics. It has simply memorized the whole internet and called it a day. So sure, maybe you don't trust AI detectors. But you can trust your own eyes. #AISlop
hey @johnmcusick.bsky.social my 11-year-old is a big dimension why series fan & neeeeds a #3!!! What happens after the cliffhanger????
Want to read an excellent and twisted short story about Halle Berry and also about all of us? You’re welcome.
Halle Berry
The third time his father said it, Darren couldn’t stop himself. Truly, he knew nothing good could come of his opening his own mouth – or rather, any good would be abstract, principled, maybe...
storyquarterly.org
One of the winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize got lots attention over AI suspicions, but there were two others accused. One works in communications and once wrote, “I envision a future where decision-making is a seamless synergy between human expertise and artificial intelligence."
Vauhini Vara@vauhinivara.bsky.social · 3mo agoI talked to the head of the Commonwealth Foundation and to one of the accused writers in the Granta AI scandal — & also had the past 15 years of the prize run through Pangram, which flagged only four stories as containing AI: all from this year and last. [gift link!]