Sir Ian
@sir-ian.bsky.social
Onetime English/radio prof, now policy guy. Media, fiction, Indigenous rights and reconciliation. Here for bad takes & worse jokes. Writing the Radio War, the Edinburgh Companion to Modernism & Technology, & DUBLINERS out now. www.ianwhittington.com
Why, yes, your email did indeed find me well, unusually well, in fact, because you see I have recently come into possession of a very fine cask of amontillado wine. If you would kindly reserve your place on the outlook calendar to come and view it in my unorthodox cellar arrangement…
“I welcome Al to replace all the idiots who are into nothing but repeating, repeating, repeating until it's ad nauseam. When it's ad nauseam, please, please, please let AI step in and do the job.” —Werner Fucking Herzog
andy™@andylevy.net · 6d agowerner herzog on AI filmmaking (from here www.indiewire.com/features/int...)
![Q: A couple years ago at IDFA, I saw this movie "About a Hero," which is this partly Al-generated hybrid documentary that tries to recreate the atmosphere of your films.
A: The intention of this young filmmaker was never to remake any [of my films], but making something in the spirit. And I immediately said, "You will fail. It is such a stupid idea. It's phenomenally, abysmally stupid. I will not take part in it." He wanted me to explain things and have my voice in it.
I said, "You are alone. There's such a thing as free speech, which I respect. So go ahead and fail." And it is a failure, period.
It's so standardized that Al can step in because there's not real storytelling. It's mimicry of something that has happened before. And I welcome Al to replace all the idiots who are into nothing but repeating, repeating, repeating until it's ad nauseam.
When it's ad nauseam, please, please, please let Al step in and do the job.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:v5vphilwcf6nunioeyrpxw6g/bafkreibeadpx66jtqlttglhgbgkew6g65haxqngz5yt6p3ybwyi5zney54)
My new book, HEAVY SUGAR (out 1/5/27), reviewed at First Clue Reviews. firstcluereviews.com?p=5681&utm
Heavy Sugar
Hey Hollywood, scoop this one up now! The book takes place over one day, the day before Thanksgiving 1991. We meet Georgie Quinlan and his cousin Scags, one short of Three Stooges, about to up their p...
firstcluereviews.com
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
channel4news.substack.com
RIP to a real one. Love how Dolly’s fingerpicking skills and heart shine through in equal measure on this duet with Chet Atkins, “Do I ever cross your mind?”. youtu.be/g3hJrAChpPM
Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
YouTube video by Chet Atkins - Topic
youtu.be
📣 We’re hiring in Russian Studies at McGill! ✨ Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Russian Literature and Culture. Join our vibrant, multilingual community in Montréal. Bonus ⭐ I’ll be your department chair for at least your first year Please share widely mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/McGill_Caree...
Assistant Professor
Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...
mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Report: Trump admin demanded Canada execute Bonhomme
Report: Trump admin demanded Canada execute Bonhomme
OTTAWA - Reports from the Canada-U.S. trade talks indicates that the Trump Administration made a last-minute demand for the public execution of beloved Québécois celebrity Bonhomme Carnaval.
thebeaverton.com
Carney says the US tried to restrict Canada's ability to make trade deals with other countries as a requirement for negotiation. Sources tell CBC this included making Canada impose new tariffs on other non-US trade partners in compliance with the United States www.cbc.ca/news/world/l...
U.S. tried to restrict Canada's ability to get new trade deals - Carney says U.S. 'asked too much and offered too little' after trade talks fall apart
In the final hours of negotiations, the U.S. tried to include restrictions on Canada's ability to strike trade deals with other countries, Carney said. "Unacceptable," the prime minister said flatly.....
cbc.ca
This evening’s impulse auction purchase should liven up the garage
If you were King Solomon And I was a lady Would you marry me anyway Would you halve my baby
This response by Chief Ron Sam of Songhees First Nation to recent fearmongering about treaties and Aboriginal title in BC is excellent. “A treaty is not charity from the Crown. It is the lawful resolution of a debt this province has carried, unpaid, for generations’”. cheknews.ca/opinion-trea...
Opinion: Treaties with First Nations are not secret ‘giveaways’
Caroline Elliott looks at the Modern Treaty our Nation is negotiating with British Columbia and Canada and sees loss, so let me offer a different starting point, and a richer story than the one Ms. El...
cheknews.ca
The map is now set up in the office ready to start 'mapping' sound heritage survey responses 🤩 If you haven't completed the survey please do. I'd be particularly grateful for responses representing sounds outside of Europe tinyurl.com/2twuzpfd
Builders: here’s a chance to make something new from a massive public archive. Internet Archive Canada @internetarchiveca.bsky.social is offering a $5,000 fellowship to build new tools using 22M+ pages of open Canadian government publications. Applications close Aug. 21 → bc-ai.ca/fellowship
Beginning of the formatting. Marxology deck of cards incoming. Hand-carved first because AI is embarrassing.
"Today is August 4, 2026,” said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of Allendale, California.” Happy “There Will Come Soft Rains” day, all.
Jordan S. Carroll 🌹@jordanscarroll.bsky.social · last mo.happy "There Will Come Soft Rains" day to all who celebrate
A few months ago, I started writing an essay I thought would be about reading non-fiction in translation, and landed somewhere else entirely (here’s to crying in public)
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · last mo.“Mariana Enriquez’s fiction is crowded with characters hovering between the living and the dead.”
I’ve been writing a counter narrative of shutdowns that has me revisiting media from that time. And let me tell you, the only other option was everybody die. So yeah.
Peter@notalawyer.bsky.social · last mo.it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people remember that COVID lockdowns were unpleasant and from there just extrapolate that they were therefore bad policy
As someone who used to work in academia, and now gets 3 weeks of vacation a year (only one of which I’m taking this summer), I get to feel both sides: the end-of-summer panic still sits bone-deep, but is now layered over with Working Stiff Resentment™️
Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman.bsky.social · last mo.Because the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
“I had this notion of what I called a democratic way of looking around, that nothing was more or less important.” William Eggleston, born 27 July 1939.
This note gets it just right. You apologise for eating the plums, express sympathy for their owner and explain your motivation for eating them. Just one note: consider offering to replace the plums. This small gesture could do a lot to smooth things over