Jolene Tan

Episode 1 - Jude the Obscure What better way to start a johnny-come-lately podcast than with a 19th-century novel?

Perhaps inevitably, I experimented with audio rather than written content. Although maybe I ought not to have done it while full of cold. rewording.substack.com/p/episode-1-...

I didn't really like their 2018 outing but the new one from June is really good.

The Pony Collaboration

I watched The Pony Collaboration only once, 17 or 18 years ago, in an audience of maybe four or five, in a pub in Brixton. I still remember their baffled delight when I went up after and bought their album theponycollaboration.bandcamp.com

I had BBC R4 on, they took 7-8 listener remarks on AI x jobs & it was all shockingly credulous. The person who tried to explain that there was a hype bubble going on & the limits of LLMs got cut off. The host referred to generative AI as "the one that can think for itself". Woeful.

What I call Serfdom of the Self is when our identities, attention, and even emotions become dependent on digital systems we don’t control. We hand over more of our inner lives to these systems, and in return they decide the conditions of our existence.

Quick notes on recent reading From Lorrie Moore to Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Some thoughts on books I've read lately rewording.substack.com/p/quick-note...

I'm rereading JUDE THE OBSCURE after some years. I'd forgotten how much flimflamming around Jude & Sue do. Also, he actually spends remarkably little time 'on stage' on either scholarship or religion, although these are posited as his grand thwarted ambitions.

Book recommendation: More Everything Forever Adam Becker describes people who are too invested in bad science fiction ideas, and who unfortunately also have a lot of money.

I read @adambecker.bsky.social 's MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER. It's great for many reasons but I responded to it in part as a science fiction reader. rewording.substack.com/p/book-recom... I also appreciated the They Might Be Giants cameo, though I didn't mention it in this piece

BBC Radio 4 - Uninsurable Planet Felicity Hannah explores how climate change is leaving communities 'uninsurable'.

Exactly - entire communities break down. Also in my doc 🙂

I had a really lovely time chatting with and hearing from readers today. It's been years since I've done this! Grateful to the NLB folks for organising and the readers for showing up.

If you'd like to chat with me about my 2021 novel AFTER THE INQUIRY, join us for this online book club session tomorrow!

After the Inquiry by Jolene Tan | Singapore Literature Book Club About the Programme  Join us at Singapore Literature Book Club as we discuss After The Inquiry

It's been ages since I spoke to readers! Looking forward to this online book club session organised by NLB Singapore www.nlb.gov.sg/main/whats-o...

And globally, public opinion continues to strongly and steadily recognise the need to tackle the climate crisis. Putting off action will only increase the eventual costs to all.

The current political backdrop presents challenges to this, to say the least. But politics cannot outrun the science or the economic fundamentals - notably the enormous physical risks posed to business by climate disruption.

These leaders show what's possible in terms of supply chain action. But they can't move markets on their own. We need a collective solution for a collective problem. And that ultimately calls for strong and internationally aligned regulation.

Business failure to act on deforestation puts everyone at risk Forests are essential to life as we know it. They play a vital role as carbon sinks and climate regulators, they are habitats for a wealth of biodiversity, home to 300 million people and support the livelihoods of over a billion people. Yet forests, and the benefits they bring, are threatened by companies and the banks that finance them.

New data from @globalcanopy.org tells us that of the world's top 500 deforestation powerbrokers, only 16 companies have both strong commitments to tackle deforestation and evidence of implementation.

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

I've been talking around many of these themes for some time - but not with this clarity.

Ultra-Processed Minds: The End of Deep Reading and What It Costs Us A reflection on the reading life. What formed it, what threatens it, and what remains.

Ultra-Processed Minds: The End of Deep Reading and What It Costs Us carlhendrick.substack.com/p/ultra-proc...

An odd inheritance I've never met the people who lived in this house before, but their memory is part of my daily life.

"They moved in when the house was newly built, and we moved in after them: the experience of living in this building is something we have in common with each other but with no one else in the world." rewording.substack.com/p/an-odd-inh...

Halfway through S4 and still bowled over by what an aesthetic and artistic triumph the My Brilliant Friend adaptation is. One of the best things I have ever watched - a lifetime high.

"It's the economy, stupid." Sacrificing nature for wealth destroys both – Global Canopy In 2020 the World Economic Forum published a much quoted report stating over half the world’s GDP, or US$44 trillion, was moderately or highly dependent on

Hit to GDP from nature loss is "larger than the economic disruption caused by the global financial crisis or Covid-19... yet we continue to separate or remove consideration of impacts on nature from corporate and financial decisions... a colossal act of self-harm." globalcanopy.org/insights/ins...

"If using the term hallucination is useful to describe LLM output it is to illustrate the quality of all output. Everything an LLM generates is a hallucination, some just might accidentally be true."

It’s all hallucinations

one of the tricky things as a writer is that "could this be taken the wrong way by a reader acting in good faith" is something you should genuinely think about and consider, whereas constantly worrying about "will this be taken the wrong way by a reader acting in bad faith" will hamstring you.

Donate to Ukraine’s defenders The National Bank of Ukraine has decided to open a special fundraising account to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

You can send donations yourself direct to ukraine here: war.ukraine.ua/donate/ #SlavaUkraïni

This is probably very 2015 or something (I’m constitutionally a late adopter), but there’s one year of Portuguese down!

Eight years ago today, @manchesterreview.bsky.social published my short story 'A Good Visit': www.themanchesterreview.co.uk?p=7081

Apropos of nothing in particular I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the existence and work of @foldablehuman.bsky.social. He is one of the nice things about the internet.

I took up thread painting recently. Please enjoy this chicken.

*used to have with other places