Zeb Larson

Jesus fuck, that is a good way to be haunted by Orson Welles

Elon Musk: “We do not go to the Moon because it is easy, but because going to Mars is hard.”

on the lookout for a new labor columnist. feel free to message me or drop a comment if you know of any local writers who might be a good fit.

I don’t have many small-c conservative beliefs but an inherent and technocratic contempt for the “old” in favor of whatever is new is not really a healthy way to go through life, the workforce, or politics.

A Guide to Meaningful Action Against ICE ICE actions have produced thousands of first-time activists — and it’s easier than ever to resist locally.

Really handy primer on getting involved in ICE resistance, with some quotes from @jamilahammami.bsky.social and a shoutout to the podcast we’re a part of, @resistantcommpod.bsky.social.

www.truthdig.com/articles/a-g...

His whole raison d’etre seems to be “I want to do as little as possible with the power I have” which is frustrating at so many levels, not least that he’s in an incredibly safe position and could actually fight for something.

No, we are. I loudly criticize my own government for this shit, I’m not going to give a pass to the Kippers and Baked Beans version of it.

Such an incredible defeat to see people rallying around Starmer for being ~20% less right wing than Thatcher on some issues, as if that doesn’t signal how far Labour has fallen.

How does this Mr. Bean dork have any kind of political career? What the fuck is wrong with this many Britons?

I have an op-ed I want to write on exactly this, and in turn how we wound up with DOGE from precisely this.

Whether it’s my toddler or the people in power around me, my life is increasingly dominated by other people’s big feelings and their own inability to understand them.

(Obviously my toddler’s off the hook for this one)

but yeah it's remarkable how incurious software people tend to be about why things are the way they are, and contemptuous they tend to be about old things just because they're old

(which is of course arbitrary; there are plenty of old things they take for granted and/or don't even notice)

Yeah I spent most of my life as really permissive re: gambling, but the ability to place a bet on Malaysian Women's Badminton Doubles at 3 AM and toss in 4 prop bets all with a prompt from a smartphone is...not good.

He said he didn’t mind but I could tell he kind of minds but I did it anyway

Not doing that one at work for reasons; I think it was “ooh, you’re a legend Dave” from Prettiest Girl that was met with a lot of blank stares

I was told that I looked like a llama

Dropping Flight of the Conchords quotes has taught me it’s not quite a universal cultural touchstone

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: “.. In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it.”

hbr.org/2026/02/ai-d...

This is first in our 4-part series on the polycrisis we’re living through.

Next installment publishing on the Wednesday, written by @zeblarson.bsky.social

Look I understand the impulse at least to dunk on the New York Times or The Atlantic when they post a terrible piece, but reposting some Francoist reactionary or whatever that you found on Substack is only doing them a favor.

America’s Polycrisis Has Arrived - Dame Magazine Whenever the daily outrage, crisis, or violation of basic norms emerges from the Trump administration, senior Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakee...

Instead of declaring that everything that isn’t directly related to your greatest fear for the future is a “distraction,” why not recognize that we’re running headlong into a polycrisis?

@brynntannehill.bsky.social brings the 50,000-foot view into focus for @damemagazine.bsky.social.

The New Washington Post Leadership Is a Disaster for Democracy - Dame Magazine In the weeks leading up to a presidential election, the quality of a media outlet’s coverage can swing an entire country from calm prosperity to complete chaos. It sounds hyperbolic, but political rac...

@allisonhantschel.com ’s 2024 column on the Washington Post hiring of Will Lewis. Bringing it back up in light of his resignation.

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The No ICE in Minnesota Charity Bundle has officially LAUNCHED!

There are 1,439 games to discover for a $10+ donation to Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota!

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And they aren't all crowing about it on social media, so let's not assume that all the people in hats and buttons passing out whistles are doing nothing else. People - "wine moms," "knitters," who else do you think has ready access to breast milk? - are working behind the scenes for good.

Said as somebody who's a hilariously incompetent skater AND has very little interest in most sports -- it's actually mesmerizing. I'd travel back in time to college-age Zeb and tell him to just try watching figure skating while stoned, it would blow his mind.

Ooh, looking forward to reading this

Great @zeblarson.bsky.social piece - much more from me coming soon on big tech greenwashing

When I have time I will properly put together my notes and work on the bluewashing / minimisation of water impacts being spun by effective altruists on data centres too - wild how much cut-through it has had

This is really the critical point: Firefox is packing its browser with AI slop functions by default; relying on a user actively choosing to turn it off.

That isn't neutral - that is a political and ideological statement that they want more reliance on these tools

And I posed this elsewhere: if there's any monetary value in spitting out novels, AI companies are not going to let readers or authors do it cheaply.

Something that confuses me about this, is if a reader is content with slop, why would they buy it instead of just generating it on their own? What value is the fake author adding?