AI is a very useful tool

Tomorrow is today. Please give it a listen. The hidden inspirational powers of square dancing, LM Montgomery’s darkness, and why cell phones ruin horror stories.

Nathan Whitlock@nathanwhitlock.bsky.social · 3d ago

Spoiler for tomorrow’s episode. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT is presented by @thewalrus.ca #canlit Find it at all the podcast places. thewalrus.ca/podcasts/wha...

I have lived long enough to see Faith No More's keyboard player endorsing books/authors I love. This is a good timeline, after all. #books

Rewatched with my 11 year old last night. As soon as it was over, he proposed The World’s End as tonight’s rewatch.

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3d ago

My 15-year-old son just quoted this scene in conversation and I've never felt prouder as a father

Spoiler for tomorrow’s episode. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT is presented by @thewalrus.ca #canlit Find it at all the podcast places. thewalrus.ca/podcasts/wha...

Being able to thoughtfully explain our creative choices is what will save writers from AI slop? Shit, we're doomed.

Thomas Ha@thomasha.bsky.social · 5d ago

i think people advising that authors are going to be ok because they can explain their creative choices better than a slopper are coming from a good place (and prob mostly right!). but boy do i hate the presumption that writers have to rationally talk through the minutiae of their creative choices.

This just popped up in a giant "Party Tunes" playlist I made years ago. Written & performed by one of my favourite songwriters, who also happens to be one of my best friends. I looped a few seconds of it for my podcast. ideefixerecords.bandcamp.com/track/simple...

Simple-Hearted Thing, by Alex Lukashevsky

from the album Too Late Blues

ideefixerecords.bandcamp.com

TLC: "A scrub is a guy that thinks he's fly." ME: "That seems pretty straightforward." TLC: "And is also known as a busta." ME [looking for a pen]: "We're already doing synonyms?!"

Hey, I bought, read, and enjoyed a book on the longlist for a major prize, before it landed on said list. This is big for me.

The Booker Prizes@thebookerprizes.com · 6d ago

The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley is a novel of enduring friendships and small mercies, and which leaves us – somehow – with a curious sense of possibility. Find out more about this Booker Prize 2026-longlisted book: thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l... @picadorbooks.bsky.social

ME, AS OBAMA IS WHISKED PAST BY SECURITY: "Revolution: album or single version?!"

Can cocaine pull it off? Thanks to stimulant fatigue, a lack of small mirrors, and heroin, success might look different for your dealer's big gamble.

Vulture@vulture.com · 6d ago

Can ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ pull it off? Thanks to superhero fatigue, a lack of Imax screens, and ‘Dune 3,’ success might look different for Marvel’s big gamble.

"Thanks for the million percent sales bump. Btw your movie sucked." I am in awe of this level of no-fucks-given by translator Emily Wilson.

Endorse. (And I own that version.)

Multiple people left the theatre during this scene when I saw it yesterday. (Because it's so visceral and upsetting.) Morton could have eaten the scenery like pig stew, but went with something a lot more calm and disturbing.

All The Right Movies@alltherightmovies.com · 2w ago

Christopher Nolan said he's only seen the crew applaud an actor on set twice in his career. This first was Heath Ledger as the Joker, the second was Samantha Morton as Circe in THE ODYSSEY.

really skeptical of all this "tackling" that fiction is apparently doing

#hamont folks: you don't need a two-octave range to sing live karaoke with The Approximators (for example, this coming Saturday night), but if you do have such a range, you ought to show it off.

It Happened Next podcast: @nathanwhitlock.bsky.social interviews Hemo Sapiens author @emilyweedon.bsky.social #CanLit open.spotify.com/episode/51Qv...

Emily Weedon

What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books · Episode

open.spotify.com

Overlook Hotel July 4th Ball 1921

Local plumbers two steps ahead of every university administrator in america 👏

Metin Seven (Moon Child's dad 🌝)@seven.eurosky.social · 2w ago

Well, this will be fun in a few minutes

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4w ago

Trump: "Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore, by the way. I'd like to cut it off. Spain is a terrible partner in NATO. Cut off all trade with Spain, please. Including visits. We don't want anything to do. They're hopeless. Bad people."

Soccer such a low-scoring game that even when you score a goal, you don’t.

Did Trump visit the French team?

England is an offensive force! Hopefully they can tap into that the rest of the tournament.

Young woman running for the GO Train, missing it by seconds. Her T-shirt has one word on it, in bright pink letters: "UGH." We wear our thought balloons.

I think one reason data center outrage is so pronounced is people spent decades recycling and composting and otherwise scrimping to offset energy use and protect clean water, and the second we hit an inflection point for cheap electricity the banking industry said we’re taking all of it, fuck you

Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley

Elderly lady hopped off the GO Train while we were waiting to get going in #hamont. Smoked a quick dart on the platform, despite the fact that the air is already 25% smoke. Hamilton lungs are suckers for punishment.

Found my first tattoo.