Michael Muller (he/him)

So very sorry

Ursula K. Le Guin on power, freedom, and how storytelling expands our scope of the possible www.themarginalian.org/2016/05/06/u...

Reviewed the excellent “Erased” by @whitproject.bsky.social together with Geertje Bol @whpt.bsky.social in the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social #HistIR lareviewofbooks.org/article/an-a...

It’s legit full in here on a beautiful gosh dang Tuesday but shhh it is imperative people continue to write her off.

From WOUND:

[Pls repost] Hi folks, do you have any templates for reasonable accommodations letters written by your provider/doc for Long Covid?

I'm collecting samples to help the broader community, esp those who are underserved.

If you feel comfortable sharing, it will help a lot of people.

DMs open.

Opinion | A.I. Is Not a 21st-Century Enlightenment

“We formulate the questions, drive the inquiry … and we search … for answers that reinforce what we already think we know. ChatGPT has often responded, with patently insincere flattery: ‘That’s a great question.’ It has never responded: ‘That’s the wrong question.’” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/o...

Meditations in an Emergency Essays and analyses by Rebecca Solnit

Sad a bunch of you didn't know that I had this newsletter! I have been posting the individual pieces all along.... Glad you know now. meditationsinanemergency.com

You Can’t Have It All “…but there is this.”

You can't have it all...
but you can have August, and abundantly so.

One of the greatest poems ever written: www.themarginalian.org/2019/02/07/y...

Israel’s most famous novelist says his country is committing genocide. David Grossman, widely considered to be Israel’s most prominent novelist, has described his country’s campaign in Gaza as a genocide. Speaking to Italian daily La Repubblica, in an inte…

David Grossman: “But now I can’t help myself—not after what I’ve read in the papers, not after the images I’ve seen, not after speaking with people who’ve been there.”

The fight to get AI right in Bangladesh, the world’s eighth-most populous country  - Khoury College of Computer Sciences When Khoury College Assistant Professor Upol Ehsan sat for an AI-focused interview with Channel24, one of the largest TV channels in his native Bangladesh, he did not anticipate what would […]

Backstory: “AI in Bangladesh is a side quest,” they dismissed. I disagreed. 170 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁.

Glad to see Northeastern University spotlighting our work on Majority-World #AI governance and why we must act now"

#academicsky #RAI

www.khoury.northeastern.edu/the-fight-to...

An overview of the work “Research Borderlands: Analysing Writing Across Research Cultures” by Shaily Bhatt, Tal August, and Maria Antoniak. The overview describes that We survey and interview interdisciplinary researchers (§3) to develop a framework of writing norms that vary across research cultures (§4) and operationalise them using computational metrics (§5). We then use this evaluation suite for two large-scale quantitative analyses: (a) surfacing variations in writing across 11 communities (§6); (b) evaluating the cultural competence of LLMs when adapting writing from one community to another (§7).

🖋️ Curious how writing differs across (research) cultures?
🚩 Tired of “cultural” evals that don't consult people?

We engaged with interdisciplinary researchers to identify & measure ✨cultural norms✨in scientific writing, and show that❗LLMs flatten them❗

📜 arxiv.org/abs/2506.00784

[1/11]

📣 Exceptional resource alert from
@ucblaborcenter.bsky.social: a database of U.S. union bargaining provisions related to workplace tech. laborcenter.berkeley.edu/negotiating-...

Workers need a voice in how tech is utilized in the workplace— and here are 175 blueprints for what that looks like

What Andrea Gibson Understood About Very Simple Poetry Gibson, who died this week, valued live performance and emotionally resonant language.

The poet Andrea Gibson, who died recently, asked listeners to have an experience with them, and valued the way speaking poetry aloud can amplify its power, Emma Sarappo writes in the “Books Briefing” newsletter:

Andrea Gibson, Colorado’s poet laureate who attracted praise and a large following by writing about social issues and queer identity, died Sunday of ovarian cancer at age 49. www.instagram.com/p/DMGo2skM1Ve/

The Chainsaw International - Boston Review From Trump to Milei, the far right is betting that spectacles of revenge will compensate for steep economic sacrifice.

Insightful account of the ‘Chainsaw international’ ans which offers a much needed corrective to the narrative that Milei’s reforms have stabilised the Argentinian economy (such narratives forget to mention that poverty now hits 53% of Argentina’s population).
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...

American Dachau: Trump Takes the Next Step Six months.

Alligator Alcatraz is the American Dachau. The first concentration camp. The Nazis initially portrayed Dachau as a proper prison with proper treatment.
Trump prefers to promote the cruelty and barbarism.
This is my latest on where this goes next.

charlieangus.substack.com/p/american-d...

The Chainsaw International - Boston Review From Trump to Milei, the far right is betting that spectacles of revenge will compensate for steep economic sacrifice.

“The wager of the resurgent right is that these spectacles of revenge—trolling the zurdos, owning the libs—can mask or even compensate for material dispossession.“

Photos: Family, Historians Reflect on Life of Medgar Evers The City of Jackson hosted a week of events to commemorate the life and legacy of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

People from around the country traveled to the City of Jackson, Mississippi, over the past two weeks for multiple events celebrating the life and legacy of civil and voting rights activist Medgar Wiley Evers.

buff.ly/0rCrRLz

A tweet from Kathy Hochul that reads “I don't care if you're the President of the United States, if you threaten to unlawfully go after one of our neighbors, you're picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers — starting with me.” Quote tweeting a video of Trump threatening to arrest Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani

has any sitting Dem politician Locked In as much over the last 6 months as Kathy Hochul?

These women have zero sense of linked fate with other women. They believe they've succeeded entirely on their own merits, when they've actually been picked because of their willingness to support the patriarchy. And so, they can be easily persuaded that what's best for men is also best for them.

How to Be a Living Poem: Lucille Clifton on the Balance of Intellect and Intuition in Creative Work and the Healing Power of Connection “I didn’t graduate from college, which isn’t necessary to be a poet. It is only necessary to be interested in humans and to be in touch with yourself as a human.”

“I didn’t graduate from college, which isn’t necessary to be a poet. It is only necessary to be interested in humans and to be in touch with yourself as a human.”

Lucille Clifton, who would have been 89 today, on how to be a living poem www.themarginalian.org/2023/10/21/l...

University of Toronto agrees to host Harvard students facing Trump visa restrictions Pact will help international students finish their studies amid Harvard’s legal battle with Trump administration

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

A Military-Ethics Professor Resigns in Protest Over the course of several months, Pauline Shanks Kaurin concluded that she no longer had the academic freedom necessary for doing her job.

A Military-Ethics Professor Resigns in Protest

Tom Nichols' article about Pauline Shanks Kaurin's courageous decision

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

BRB changing my party affiliation to The Onion

A banner promoting the 2nd Annual Democracy in Action Convening on June 26-29, 2025, a powerful gathering of activists, leaders, and community members advancing democracy and social justice.

Join us as we celebrate Medgar Evers' 100th birthday at the Second Annual Democracy in Action Convening, taking place June 26–29, 2025, in Jackson, MS, a powerful gathering to unite activists, leaders, and community members who are advancing democracy and social justice.

eversinstitute.org/diac/

See you next week Anchorage! 🤗 🗃️

Mahmoud Khalil Must Be Released on Bail, Federal Judge Orders

I am glad that Mahmoud Khalil will be released and finally meet his son, but he never should have been taken in the first place.

Our Constitution guarantees the right to due process to everyone. We will continue fighting to defend that right.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/n...

Ketanji Brown Jackson Wants to Save the Supreme Court From Itself A fiery dissent from the newest justice warns that the Supreme Court is doing grievous reputational harm to itself by playing favorites with “moneyed interests.”

A fiery dissent from the newest justice warns that the Supreme Court is doing grievous reputational harm to itself by playing favorites with “moneyed interests.” https://trib.al/7VHdb4G

AOC files articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on the floor the justices' refusal to recuse themselves from certain prominent cases “represents an abuse of power and threat to our democracy."

AOC files articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...