Erica J. Peters

AI-Powered Drive-Thru Is Actually Run Almost Entirely By Humans Checkers and Carl’s Jr. are among US fast-food chains hailing AI-powered drive-thrus as labor-zapping wizards that speed up service. But a popular provider of these systems recently revealed a cruci...

Companies keep saying “AI” when they really mean “people you can’t see.”

yes. the thing that is worthwhile to engage with is the fact that at the point that antislavery americans start seriously engaging in ordinary politics they are a minority among a minority against a political system and public that is largely stacked against them

I hounded when I couldn't stop myself, but I don't think it helped. The most useful advice I got was to aim to praise my teen at least 4 times as often as I criticized or gave them unsolicited advice.

I guess many (and rightly so!) panegyrical obituaries will be published soon, but I really like this article that encapsulates so well her personality, her unique research interests and her impact in the field: www.universityaffairs.ca/features/fea...
#medievalsky

Beautiful.

Davis's coda:

It’s so important that we carry the lessons of the past through to today. Merely because one group commits atrocities and acts with depravity does not mean vast hundreds of thousands or even millions of others should be lumped together with them and made to suffer.

/4

Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has assembled lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in that calendar year, and we’re doing the same this year for 2023 pu...

It's that time of year again! We're collecting monographs, journal articles, and book chapters published in 2023 by historians working off the tenure track. Lists will be published the week after US Thanksgiving. Use the form to submit your work--or that of a friend! 🗃️

Lovely shots!

They need hundreds of studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of cash as an anti-poverty measure, but tech companies get to experiment with self-driving cars on city streets without any government oversight

Target says it's closing 9 stores due to theft. The crime data tells a different story. On September 26, Target announced it was closing nine stores "because theft and organized retail crime are…contributing to unsustainable business performance." Target said that before making the dec...

Skepticism about whether Target is really closing stores due to shoplifting, or lying like Walgreens:

The Religion of Reproductive Rights Claims: The Jewish Fight to Legalize Abortion — The Revealer Instead of using conservative Christian religious freedom strategies, Jewish groups should draw on their history of reproductive rights activism

Fantastic piece from my friend Michal Raucher in The Revealer:

"Jewish advocates for reproductive justice in America have an opportunity to push back against [anti-choice claims]. But if they remain preoccupied with proving their religious authenticity in conservative terms, they’ll squander it."

Jewelle Gomez: the Black lesbian writer who changed vampire fiction – and the world Her first novel was turned down by several publishers, then embraced by a feminist press. As an author, poet, playwright and activist, she has continued to claim space for queer storytellers

Profile of Jewelle Gomez in The Guardian. Flowers now 🪻🪻🪻🪻🪻 www.theguardian.com/society/2023...

Screenshot of @radleftdad instagram post. Shaggy talking to Scooby Doo. Shaggy making a really intense face with his fingers pointed at his head saying “Like, think Scoob, Think! Why is it every "Monster" we encounter is always like an old Rich Man involved in illicit property fraud. Like the only real monsters are like THE MAN, Man.”

Happy Labor Day.

The Palace-Burner She has been burning palaces. “To see

The "Poem-a-Day" offering today is Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt's 1872 "The Palace-Burner," which deserves to be better known.
A dialogue about a newspaper photo documenting the Paris Commune, it opens w/ the mind-blowing line "She has been burning palaces."
Please read!
poets.org/poem/palace-...

Driverless Taxis Blocked Ambulance in Fatal Accident, San Francisco Fire Dept. Says Two Cruise taxis delayed an ambulance carrying a car accident victim to a hospital, a department report said. The company said it was not at fault.

Not only did two driverless cars block an ambulance from taking a critically injured person to the hospital before he died, but the victim needed to go to the hospital in the first place after being stuck by the driver of a different car.

Kentucky governor won't commit to GOP appointment if McConnell steps down A recent state law directs the governor to select a Senate appointee from a list of three names submitted by the state executive committee of the outgoing senator’s party.

Engaging in blatantly partisan fuckery to install a democratic senator in replacement of mitch mcconnell would be the most honest possible way to honor the legacy of mitch mcconnell. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

Opinion | What the Contradiction of Slavery Tells Us About Abortion Rights When states have radically different laws, American life is unsettled.

okay the other thing i did this weekend was right this column on slavery, federalism and abortion rights that i liked. www.nytimes.com/2023/09/02/o...

To Experience Paris Up Close and Personal, Plunge Into a Public Pool Swimming in Paris is a full-on cultural experience, offering intimate views into the French psyche, which is on near-naked display in the swimming lanes, locker rooms and (mostly coed) showers.

“Paris introduced “mixité” to the showers in 2006 to cut costs and to reflect the city’s liberal attitudes about gender...” The reporter might have mentioned who the targets of such a policy likely were: anyone preferring modesty (eg Muslims who veil). www.nytimes.com/2023/09/03/w...

Black and white photo of Black woman, who stands looking at art in quiet museum, holding a push broom.

Cleaning woman in MOMA, NYC, 1950s
Fritz Henle

On this Labor Day, remember the unions who pushed for 8 hour work days and weekends off in the first place. Those used to not be a thing!

I triple-dog dare you to explain to me how "democracy" in America was healthy and functional in 1923. www.nytimes.com/2023/09/03/o...