Andrew Erickson

Life Finds an Investor | Los Angeles Review of Books Karoline Huber discusses the phenomenon of “de-extinction” in SF and popular culture.

Some folks are learning entirely the wrong lessons from science fiction’s cautionary tales

+ shoutout to my colleague and friend, Karoline, for research that meets its moment (!)

lareviewofbooks.org/article/life...

Social card for the event: Surveillance Capitalism, Power, and our Democratic Future Speakers and Presenters Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and architect of the "Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights."; Cathy O'Neil, Data Scientist and Author of Weapons of Math Destruction; Mathias Risse, Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights; Shoshana Zuboff, Charles Edward Wilson Professor Emeritus and Co-Director of the Human Rights and Technology Fellowship Date and Location October 16, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET Starr Auditorium

Looking forward to joining Shoshana Zuboff and Cathy O'Neil this week at the Harvard Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights for a conversation on democratic resilience in the age of AI and tech power concentration.

Join us October 16, 5-6pm ET. You can register here: www.hks.harvard.edu/events/surve...

It’s like they looked into my soul

Join our team! Offene Stellen in der AG Ethik und Kritische Theorien der KI In meiner Forschungsgruppe gibt es in der nächsten Zeit neue Stellen auf allen Leveln (Professurvertretung, Postdoc, Ph.D., stud. Mitarbeitende).

✨ Join our team!
In meiner Forschungsgruppe "Ethik und kritische Theorien der KI" gibt es bald neue Stellen: Professurvertretung, Postdoc, Ph.D., SHKs.

Themen: #KI-Ethik, #Datenschutz, #Demokratieresilienz, KI & Schule.
Infos: rainermuehlhoff.de/join-our-team/

#AI #Philosophie #STS #Bildung

Europäischer Depressionstag: Dauerkrisen und Belastung führen in die Erkrankung – Deutsches Ärzteblatt

Depression ist eine weit verbreitete Krankheit. Genauso weit verbreitet ist nach wie vor ihre Stigmatisierung. Menschen mit Depression haben oft mit gesellschaftlicher Abwertung zu kämpfen.

Der 5. Oktober ist Tag der Depression. Ein Hinweis, besser mit dieser (oft tödlichen) Krankheit umzugehen.

Germany’s anti-diversity backlash isn’t fatigue – it’s strategy masquerading as neutrality | Fatma Aydemir Neither Trump’s US nor the rise of the AfD explains it all. Self-styled progressives in the arts must take a hard look at themselves too, says Guardian Europe columnist Fatma Aydemir

Centering a diversity of perspectives remains essential to knowledge and truth

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

@annleckie.com

One is reminded that trains exist (and in Germany will be delayed until the management bros, who are definitely already working on how to use this cyber attack as an excuse to keep fucking up, are all fired and replaced with competent humans) :winkyface
@deutschebahn.com

Monday mood: “this having meetings so we can plan to have meetings business is bullshit. I want to talk about ancillaries."
—Ann Leckie, _Ancillary Mercy_

Reading remains an act of protest

Don’t sugarcoat this: Starmer’s government is weak and may perish. Here are my five steps to recovery | John McDonnell After so many avoidable mistakes, of course people are angry. But with the far right looming, we need action not despair, says MP and former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell

Agreed. Give us a Labour Party in which to believe.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

SF futures modeling continues to offer essential knowledge about human being and becoming

London-Berlin: competition hots up for cross-Channel rail links Firms vie with Eurostar to provide direct services from Britain to mainland Europe as they spy growth in market

Yeah, but will the German ones be on time?

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Here there be bots

I swear to god I don’t know what he’s taking about

Reactionary Futurism 2025 | Los Angeles Review of Books Jordan S. Carroll reviews recent scholarship on the alt-right.

Dystopian SF imaginaries are real:

"only a belief system as flamboyantly science-fictional as reactionary futurism can project a potential world extravagant enough to justify the techno-fascists’ disregard for actual human life"

lareviewofbooks.org/article/reac...

I know I’m late to the (literal) game, but mine was stolen (separate story) in 2022 (a rough year—again a separate story). Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m chuffed that magical apostrophes are the “secret power” in Tears of the Kingdom. Grammatical wins are always deeply satisfying.

This Ohio Farm Community Is a Mecca for the ‘MAHA Mom’

Do you think they’ve heard of Stepford Wives? It’s weird to see the worst historical SF ideas centered in contemporary rightwing fantasies.

This Ohio Farm Community Is a Mecca for the ‘MAHA Mom’ www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/u...

Is it just me, or are these all the same guy?

@alenacicholewski.bsky.social missed you there!

SFRA in Rochester fed me intellectually and spiritually. Good research and great friends make this work worthwhile.

Scientists reportedly hiding AI text prompts in academic papers to receive positive peer reviews Research papers found carrying hidden white text giving instructions not to highlight negatives as concern grows over use of large language models for peer review

Yeah, but is LLM Reviewer 2 an asshole?

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Jep.

Is uteri the correct plural of uterus? Asking for a friend.

Friday briefing: The myth of the fleeing super-rich – and the real tax debate In today’s newsletter: Headlines claim wealthy individuals are leaving the UK over tax fears – but the data tells a different story. We look at what’s driving the narrative

Henley & Partners forges unhealthy relationship with bunkum: a report

Also…tax the rich.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Serious question: why do so many struggle to get the right its / it’s? Like, the dog ate its own poo, but it’s not that weird, right?

Spot. On.

My check from VG Wort came in last week. I am reminded that many good things are happening in public research in Germany, and it’s nice to be paid something to be part of that. Y’all liegen mir am Herzen.

Ray Bradbury wrote in the afterword to Fahrenheit 451 that “you don't have to burn books, do you, if the world starts to fill up with non-readers, non-learners, non-knowers?” (225)

That guy had seen the future—our present.

It really is a shame that RBG couldn’t live forever.