@RenkeSiems@openbiblio.socialIch bin ja in der Welt des Cellos nicht zu Hause, aber das ist immer noch die beeindruckendste Performance, die mir bislang untergekommen ist (Solo ab Min. 3:33).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8fe4hfmiUo&pp=ygUbbG91IHJlZWQgdmVudXMgaW4gZnVycyBsaX…
@tante@tldr.nettime.orgThis article about a liberal reporter dating MAGA men really shows some of the core of what's breaking this world right now. And it's not just the US. Men are not okay. Like at all.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/love-sex/rela…
@tiotasram@kolektiva.socialDay 30: Elizabeth Moon
This last spot (somehow 32 days after my last post, but oh well) was a tough decision, but Moon brings us full circle back to fantasy/sci-fi, and also back to books I enjoyed as a teenager. Her politics don't really match up to Le Guin or Jemisin, but her military experience make for books that are much more interesting than standard fantasy fare in terms of their battles & outcomes (something "A Song of Ice and Fire" achieved by cribbing from history but couldn't extrapolate nearly as well). I liked (and still mostly like) her (unironically) strong female protagonists, even if her (especially more recent) forays into "good king" territory leave something to be desired. Still, in Paksenarion the way we get to see the world from a foot-soldier's perspective before transitioning into something more is pretty special and very rare in fantasy (I love the elven ruins scene as Paks travels over the mountains as an inflection point). Battles are won or lost on tactics, shifting politics, and logistics moreso than some epic magical gimmick, which is a wonderful departure from the fantasy norm.
Her work does come with a content warning for rape, although she addresses it with more nuance and respect than any male SF/F author of her generation. Ex-evangelicals might also find her stuff hard to read, as while she's against conservative Christianity, she's very much still a Christian and that makes its way into her writing. Even if her (not bad but not radical enough) politics lead her writing into less-satisfying places at times, part of my respect for her comes from following her on Twitter for a while, where she was a pretty decent human being...
Overall, Paksenarrion is my favorite of her works, although I've enjoyed some of her sci-fi too and read the follow-up series. While it inherits some of Tolkien's baggage, Moon's ability to deeply humanize her hero and depict a believable balance between magic being real but not the answer to all problems is great.
I've reached 30 at this point, and while I've got more authors on my shortlist, I think I'll end things out tomorrow with a dump of also-rans rather than continuing to write up one per day. I may even include a man or two in that group (probably with at least non-{white cishet} perspective). Honestly, doing this challenge I first thought that sexism might have made it difficult, but here at the end I'm realizing that ironically, the misogyny that holds non-man authors to a higher standard means that (given plenty have still made it through) it's hard to think of male authors who compare with this group.
Looking back on the mostly-male authors of SF/F in my teenage years, for example, I'm now struggling to think of a single one whose work I'd recommend to my kids (having cheated and checked one of my old lists, Pratchett, Jaques, and Asimov qualify but they're outnumbered by those I'm now actively ashamed to admit I enjoyed). If I were given a choice between reading only non-men or non-woman authors for the rest of my life (yes I'm giving myself enby authors as a freebie; they're generally great) I'd very easily choose non-men. I think the only place where (to my knowledge) not enough non-men authors have been allowed through to outshine the fields of male mediocrity yet is in videogames sadly. I have a very long list of beloved games and did include some game designers here, but I'm hard-pressed to think of many other non-man game designers I'd include in the genuinely respect column (I'll include at least two tomorrow but might cheat a bit).
TL;DR: this was fun and you should do it too.
#30AuthorsNoMen
@hex@kolektiva.socialI've been working on a bit of a larger project. It is still very much a work in progress. It's an attempt to combine blog and mastodon posts with other things I've written in the past, along with some original analysis, into a zine. I'm probably about 2/3 of the way through.
It's primarily focused on political theory and critique, which, I think, deviates a bit from how a lot of other folks view the world. It's pretty explicitly anarchist, though I don't think I've actually put the word "anarchism" or referenced the ideology anywhere so explicitly.
I'd love feedback (especially around editing and flow) if anyone would be willing to put eyes on it and tell me what they think:
https://anarchoccultism.org/building-zion/
@digitalnaiv@mastodon.socialJunge Zielgruppen informieren sich zunehmend über Kurzvideos auf Plattformen wie TikTok oder Instagram. Um demokratische und journalistische Inhalte dort sichtbar zu machen, teste ich im #60Sekunden-Experiment das KI-Tool CapCut (ByteDance). Ziel: In 20 Minuten ein Video erstellen, das komplexe Themen zugänglich macht. Technische Macken wie falsche Texteinblendungen kann ich verschmerzen.
@jswright61@ruby.socialI love this App!
These people are too classy to even hint at this but if you like them and what they do - consider leaving a 5 star review in both the Mac & iOS app stores, and if you have positive things to say, write a quick 2 paragraph review - the buzz helps.
https://iconfactory.world/@Iconfactory
@UP8@mastodon.social🤑 Zohran Mamdani says Fifa putting profit before fans with World Cup dynamic pricing
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/sep/10/zohran-mamdani-interview-fifa-petition-dynamic-pricing-football-weekly
@midtsveen@social.linux.pizzaIn short: I’ve spent over 500 hours watching the Moomins, and it’s still my favorite series of all time.
I truly love the world of the Moomins from the 90s. It is not only a way for me to escape today's shit. but a place that feels alive inside me, where friends cook together, wander through the woods, and make each other laugh in the sunshine. It gives me a sense of direction whenever the outside world feels too shit and broken.
I love it because life in the valley shows tha…
@mela@zusammenkunft.netEs gibt aktuell ein Martha Wells-Humble Bundle, das die Murderbot-Bücher enthält und ein paar mehr. Wer Murderbot über Apple kennengelernt hat und nun gerne alle Bücher hätte, hier findet ihr sie: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/martha-wells-murderbot-and-more-tor-…
@luana@wetdry.worldI fucking love NixOS. My SSD corrupted (in the weirdest way ever???) but it’s no worries because after copying my personal files to my NAS I can just format it and reinstall NixOS with exactly the same programs and configurations I had before
@cdarwin@c.imParents sending their kids to live without them for the first time grapple with the question:
Does love mean buying a $469 mattress topper?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/08/19/luxury-dorm-decorating/
@bobmueller@mastodon.worldI love it when kids get told "no" and plow ahead anyway. #Iowa #bannedbooks #libraries
@grumpybozo@toad.socialI love this shot: it's raining cherries!
(There's a tree-shaker out of view.)
From Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michigans-cherry-country-federal-safety-net-is-fraying-2025-08-16/
@fanf@mendeddrum.orgthe punchline on this video about the dissolution of the monasteries made me laugh out loud https://youtu.be/_H7mvlZ022o
cambridge and oxford are unusual in that the colleges escaped dissolution so they are more like pre-reformation cities than anywhere else in england
some of the post-Henr…
@davidaugust@mastodon.onlinetrump asked russia, in public, to get involved in 2016 election on his behalf.
We all saw it.
So miss me with this nonsense Obama made up trump colluding with russia: we can see him ask them for help.
https://youtu.be/OsvWg2FBnts
And, trump, your name is all over the Epstein files, rig…
@toxi@mastodon.thi.ngInstant goosebumps on each listen:
Antonio Ruscito - Alodrone (original, no beats, 2020)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtRGiE-DnXM
Another version in this stunning 1h45m joint performance with Luigi Tozzi (timestamped link):
@tiotasram@kolektiva.socialDay 18: Mark Oshiro
Having just learned that Oshiro is nonbinary, they're an instant include on this list. In veering extremely heavily towards YA, and losing a spot that would have gone to an absolutely legendary mangaka, anime writer, or feminist philosopher, but "Anger is A Gift" and "Each of us a Desert" are just that good, and I'm trying to steer a bit towards towards lesser-known authors I respect.
I already mentioned "Anger is a Gift" above, but to recap, it's a painful, vivid, and beautifully honest story of queer love, loss, and protest against an oppressive system. CW for racist police murder, intergenerational trauma, and police brutality against highschool students. It's a book a lot of Americans could benefit from reading right now, and while it's fiction, it's not fantasy or sci-fi. Besides the themes and politics, the writing is just really solid, with delicate characterization and tight-plotted developments that are beautifully paced.
To me "Each of us a Desert" is maybe even more beautiful, and Oshiro leaps into a magnificent fantasy world that's richly original in its desolation, dark history, lonely characters, and mythical magic. Particularly the clearly-not-just-superscription but ambiguously-important/powerful magical elements of Oshiro's worldbuilding are a rare contrast to the usual magic-is-real-here's-how-it-works fare, and pulling that off a all as they do is a testament to their craft. The prose is wonderful, probably especially so if you speak Spanish, but I enjoyed it immensely despite only knowing a few words here and there. The rich interiority of the characters, their conflicts both with each other and within themselves, and the juxtaposition of all that against origins in cult-like ignorance allows for the delivery of a lot of wisdom and complex truths.
Between these two books, so different and yet each so powerful, Oshiro has demonstrated incredible craft and also a wide range of styles, so I'm definitely excited to read more of their work and to recommend them to others.
I'm also glad to have finally put a nonbinary author on this list; the others I had in mind won't make it at this point because there's too much genre overlap, although I'll include them in my didn't-make-it list at the end. I've now got just 2 slots left and have counted up 14 more authors that absolutely need to be mentioned, so we'll see what happens.
#20AuthorsNoMen
@brian_gettler@mas.toFriends make friends laugh, sometimes by sending cultural flotsam (thanks!). I laughed out loud, despite needing to hear an Oasis song like I need a hole in the head.
https://youtu.be/z3_3th1WybM
@benny@norden.socialIn Zeiten von Fake News und Klimawandel-Leugnern kann man nur froh sein, dass es noch aufrechte Wissenschaftler gibt, die sich nicht mundtot machen lassen.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7-h0zKgJkBk&si=rbXw3ad8twO7jUQO
@pre@boing.worldVoting in the UK Green party elections is half over. Too late to join the party and vote, and sounds like Zack is very likely to win.
Which is good. I voted for him.
I think the job-share rule is important and that any job should be possible to share between workers. But in the case of the "leader", which is literally the face of the party, having two faces is difficult in the public hive mind. Even with a united front, it's litterally two faced.
But mostly my vote was just for Zack, and would have likely voted for him in a job-share too.
He's very personable and seems to know how to talk to the public and express not just environmental issues but other green issues like inequality and war and how your enemy is not a boat of refugees but the concentration of power in the hands of maniacs both political and corporate.
I confess I gave up trying to read anything about the candidates and cast a vote about half way down all the other jobs being elected. I'm just adding noise. I dunno who any of these people are or even what the job entails most of the time and there's too many all at once. Should stagger them weekly or something.
Anyway here's Zack on Mark Steel's sweary podcast being brilliant on the issues and how to explain them better than I can.
I love Mark Steel too. Miss the sketches things it used to have in the newish revised entirely-an-interview format.
🤞
In two parts
#podcast #green #uk #ZackPolanski #listening
@Tuxramus@social.linux.pizzaA trip around the Bay in 35 minutes. #coosbay #northbend #oregon
Around The Bay In 35 Minutes
@roland@devdilettante.com#SoulIISoulCaronWheelerForEvah Soul II Soul - Keep On Movin' (1Xtra Live Lounge)
@bobmueller@mastodon.worldWhat do kids want these days?
https://www.freerangekids.com/want-kids-to-spend-less-time-in-the-virtual-world-give-them-back-the-real-one/
@iam_jfnklstrm@social.linux.pizzaIn the speaker right now - Boy Harshers Fate... skön elektronika
#music
@brian_gettler@mas.toThey're on the beach,
I can see it in her eyes.
I only had a Corona -
5-cent deposit.
Minutemen, "Corona" (1984)
#TuneTuesday
@iam_jfnklstrm@social.linux.pizzaI work best with music - when reading I can not listen to music where someone sings as it is distracting. So I have found cyberpunk playlists on YT - this one in one of my favorites when I read/write and automate things. https://youtu.be/WjTXny7-Kxc?si=-R0XN-eR74JBIPms
