Tobias S. Buckell

Wole Talabi @wtalabi.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 00:43 UTC

Hi everyone, kindly consider supporting the Kickstarter for Spacefunk! A collection of science fiction stories and poems by authors of African/African Diaspora Descent. Edited by Milton Davis

Space is the place.

#BlackScifi

www.kickstarter.com/projects/mvm...

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 20:30 UTC

Calliope: “Holmes and Watson sit around making up those crazy names for their cases” Me “?” Calliope: “think about it, they have all these cool names for their cases that they use in conversation. And they know what each case name refers to. They have to have sat around coming up with that” Me: !

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:52 UTC

To be honest, if I were a strategist, I'd take the NYT moment as an opportunity to work the ref hard. I'd suggest every Dem politician get on a show to talk about this, and talk about how much this access journalism instead of talking about real things done for Americans hurts us. Work it!

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:51 UTC

He only holds a grudge if access is more important to him than anything else, so understanding why he would hold a grudge that big, even to hurt the country, is helped if one understands the mechanism of why the grudge would be sparked. So exactly, yeah, it's all about access journalism.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:46 UTC

In that regard, the 4th estate, at places like NYT, now look like royal courts where the org is basically, like royal scribes, trying to get access to the king, or the nobles, so they can 'report' on what the king or nobles are planning or thinking about what they've done.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:45 UTC

Add to that the leaders of these orgs aren't even often journalists, but just MBA types, and we have all the failures of biz school, all the pressures of quarterly numbers that need made, creating a chasing clicks environ where reporters get access to the leadership and tell us what they're thinking

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:44 UTC

This is also why it feels tilted against. It's not that the Times's people are deeply Republican, it's that they have been trained in journalism schools and by quarterly profit capitalism at ivy leagues that access IS the game, and that access is how you report.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:42 UTC

Again, as long as you understand the Time's leadership will choose access over country, access over anything really, even when it came to Hitler in late '39. They will never learn. They will never change. They haven't in 100 years. They are not the 4th estate, they think access = journalism.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:40 UTC

So "how could the NYT turn against Biden" and run 4 articles about why he needs to step down? Democrats will give access to any reporter b/c they believe in a free press. Attack a Dem, you look 'fair' to Republican politicians and get access to them. And thus they have total access. Great job!

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:37 UTC

"Herr Hitler at home in the clouds" by the NYT in *late* 1939 is just such vile, amoral access journalism it should be the first day of every journalism class ever.

www.nytimes.com/1939/08/20/a...

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:35 UTC

Think I'm being mean?

"But the Times had no intention of doing anything about Enderis. In fact, it valued his close connections to the Nazi government, as it had throughout the 1930s"

"valued close connections" is the moral north of NYT's compass. That's it.

www.tabletmag.com/sections/his...

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 16:30 UTC

I see the NYT has changed little since its fawning reports on Hitler. No really. Their ability to toady up toward fascism is buried deep, deep within the organization's predilections.

They have amazing individual reporters, but the fish has always rotted from the head:

www.vox.com/2015/2/11/80...

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 22:50 UTC

I think that's for sure the same hammock, though it smelled a little moldy and I had to toss it in the wash pile and grab the spare. Which was made in Guatemala and is beautiful, but clearly made for people who are way shorter than me

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 20:29 UTC

Home again after teaching at Stonecoast. Today’s office:

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 05:01 UTC

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 05:00 UTC

He looks computer generated on a small screen. I mean, he looks like Max Headroom if you squint, it’s not just me?

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 04:59 UTC

I legit assumed you were, even with photo.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 23:56 UTC

Yep

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 18:59 UTC

Did that 7 times on my second book. It was the right call, but I don't think I have it in me to do that again

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 18:57 UTC

Sigh.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 18:56 UTC

So many women. He was a menace.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 17:51 UTC

That was the editor who was handing out his business cards to hopeful new writers and, as I approached, said "why do you think you're important enough for my business card?" "I don't want your card, I'm here for my friend." Ended with him throwing a card at me as I walked away.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 17:49 UTC

That was the editor that asked me to send my first novel to him *behind my agent's back* because "hey, he doesn't have to know" and got flustered and argued with me because I said "actually, no, I think he does."

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 17:46 UTC

Oh the stories. Yeah, my all-time weirdest convention story comes from the time he picked me up at the airport for my very first GoH gig and... yeah... And that's just one of my 3 bar stories about him and my experiences with him in the first years of my career. A walking potential lawsuit.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 17:42 UTC

There was a great video, Ted talk kinda thing, where a comedian does that, uses self help hustle culture vocabulary but as you keep listening to his advice on how to become rich like him, the advice is buying lottery tickets. Great tongue in cheek piece, I can't remember where I saw it

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 17:39 UTC

yeah

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 16:17 UTC

Something I am always telling my students: look into who’s giving you the advice. It can often provide context

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 16:16 UTC

Immensely, I’d imagine.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 15:20 UTC

Look up the IMDB entries for the movies the author of that wrote, then it's easy to make a call if one sees their goal as lining up with the scripts he wrote :)

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:56 UTC

Oh how cool. I love learning new things!

xkcd.com/1053/

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:55 UTC

I'm sorry to hear that

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:55 UTC

nice

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:38 UTC

NOTA voting if it has a good win mechanism, like a citizen's nomination process for a replacement to vote on? Not sure about NOTA with appointments...

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:36 UTC

FPTP is another problem. I'm encouraged by seeing some ranked choice appearing in the US. May it spread.

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Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social [ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 14:35 UTC

I paused when I was going through a period of trying to get rid of my misanthropic frame of seeing other people in my teens and 20s. I wanted to be a more kind and open person to the world than my bitter, bitter younger self who saw only potential darkness in people. A lot of that work is undone...

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