Doug Merrill 🌻
@bagatsen.bsky.social
Writer, editor, translator, project manager, reformed bookseller. Now Berlin previously Moscow, Tbilisi, Munich, DC, Warsaw, Budapest. Hoya Saxa! YSR! (he/him) Book reviews and oddments at https://thefrumiousconsortium.net
Joy and steel, just look at that smile.
Turn the volume up, Mayor Mamdani!
Turn the volume up, Mayor Mamdani!
“Can’t believe NYC elected a Muslim as mayor.”
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
In truth—a Black American Christian woman swearing in a Ugandan American Muslim of South Asian ethnicity as his Syrian American wife holds the Qurans he swears in on, all while standing on the steps of a subway station—is the most NYC thing imaginable.
January 1, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Joy and steel, just look at that smile.
Turn the volume up, Mayor Mamdani!
Turn the volume up, Mayor Mamdani!
The Issa Valley by Czeslaw Milosz would not do well in an elevator pitch. Nor could it be easily described as “Book A meets Book B,” much less “Movie C meets Movie D.” The first sentence — “I should begin with the Land of Lakes, the place where Thomas lived.” — is not a grabber.
1/
1/
January 1, 2026 at 7:42 PM
The Issa Valley by Czeslaw Milosz would not do well in an elevator pitch. Nor could it be easily described as “Book A meets Book B,” much less “Movie C meets Movie D.” The first sentence — “I should begin with the Land of Lakes, the place where Thomas lived.” — is not a grabber.
1/
1/
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
December 31, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Every bit of this 🧵.
Recently saw a high-end lingerie store's products described as "laundry" because that's what the machine spat out for "Wäsche."
Even one lost sale is more than it would have cost for a human to have done it right.
Recently saw a high-end lingerie store's products described as "laundry" because that's what the machine spat out for "Wäsche."
Even one lost sale is more than it would have cost for a human to have done it right.
AND ANOTHER THING, WHILE I'M AT IT:
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
ENOUGH WITH THESE BULLSHIT CLAIMS THAT AI CAN REPLACE HUMAN TRANSLATORS!!!
Translation is *not* the science of finding the perfect definition of a word from a foreign language and putting that definition into the text.
Translators translate, of course. But!
December 28, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Every bit of this 🧵.
Recently saw a high-end lingerie store's products described as "laundry" because that's what the machine spat out for "Wäsche."
Even one lost sale is more than it would have cost for a human to have done it right.
Recently saw a high-end lingerie store's products described as "laundry" because that's what the machine spat out for "Wäsche."
Even one lost sale is more than it would have cost for a human to have done it right.
Let's go!
A spiral galaxy, observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in the GEMS survey.
It is at redshift 0.14 (lookback time 1.84 billion years) with coordinates (53.22807, -27.57266).
123 volunteers classified this galaxy in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble.
It is at redshift 0.14 (lookback time 1.84 billion years) with coordinates (53.22807, -27.57266).
123 volunteers classified this galaxy in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble.
December 26, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Let's go!
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
This is just a note to say
that I have eaten the falcon
in a widening gyre
and that you were probably saving for anarchy
Forgive me
it was delicious
so rough
and full of passionate intensity
that I have eaten the falcon
in a widening gyre
and that you were probably saving for anarchy
Forgive me
it was delicious
so rough
and full of passionate intensity
December 22, 2025 at 8:11 PM
This is just a note to say
that I have eaten the falcon
in a widening gyre
and that you were probably saving for anarchy
Forgive me
it was delicious
so rough
and full of passionate intensity
that I have eaten the falcon
in a widening gyre
and that you were probably saving for anarchy
Forgive me
it was delicious
so rough
and full of passionate intensity
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
Miklós Bánffy's Transylvanian Trilogy is one of the most engrossing novel series of the early 20th century, a saga of Hungarian society before WWI. Jan Morris wrote that "it is gloriously, addictively, compulsively readable.”
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
December 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Miklós Bánffy's Transylvanian Trilogy is one of the most engrossing novel series of the early 20th century, a saga of Hungarian society before WWI. Jan Morris wrote that "it is gloriously, addictively, compulsively readable.”
neglectedbooks.com/?...
neglectedbooks.com/?...
Trump 2.0 is the Project for a Post-American Century.
December 19, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Trump 2.0 is the Project for a Post-American Century.
Apropos to this, German universities led the world until 1933, especially in the natural sciences. Indeed, US research institutions were built on the German model.
But Germany never regained what it threw away in the years immediately after 1933.
But Germany never regained what it threw away in the years immediately after 1933.
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
December 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Apropos to this, German universities led the world until 1933, especially in the natural sciences. Indeed, US research institutions were built on the German model.
But Germany never regained what it threw away in the years immediately after 1933.
But Germany never regained what it threw away in the years immediately after 1933.
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de
December 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
This marvelous thread doesn't quite mention the huge tracts of land.
Absolutely nobody asked for this BUT
English Anglican cathedrals that have burned down, fallen over, and sank into the swamp: a thread.
English Anglican cathedrals that have burned down, fallen over, and sank into the swamp: a thread.
December 18, 2025 at 10:21 PM
This marvelous thread doesn't quite mention the huge tracts of land.
This.
Also, are there no more shoe-throwers?
Also, are there no more shoe-throwers?
December 16, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This.
Also, are there no more shoe-throwers?
Also, are there no more shoe-throwers?
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
ok so apparently I have to give some backstory to this event.
(this is why a lot of my childhood stories are things like "And then the Patriarch of Constantinople poked his head round the door and said "Boys! Would you like a lift back to the city on my yacht?")
December 13, 2025 at 6:40 AM
ok so apparently I have to give some backstory to this event.
Be sure to read through to the second part!
zomg
zomg
One time the local Staples (office supply store) went out of business and had a liquidation sale and my sister’s boyfriend and a couple of his friends went and bought about a thousand boxes of post it notes for 10 bucks total and six months later they did this to my dads office
December 8, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Be sure to read through to the second part!
zomg
zomg
This is the way, and a Good Thing.
if you are among the few staff critics reviewing books, films, music, art, &c, it is your professional duty to take a chance on things. Attend a random screening, pick up a self-published book, follow whims and offer full-throated generous praise for anything that makes an impression on a shoestring
December 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
This is the way, and a Good Thing.
brb gotta write an alt-history novel ... The Old Pretenderski
The latest edition of Lithuanian Historical Studies is out, featuring an article by Mindaugas Šapoka on the question of how close the Stuarts came to moving to Poland-Lithuania brill.com/view/journal...
December 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM
brb gotta write an alt-history novel ... The Old Pretenderski
Today I finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Before that —
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Before that —
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
December 3, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Today I finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Before that —
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Before that —
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
BLAM!
December 3, 2025 at 6:57 AM
BLAM!
Look back at a time before the Earth existed.
A clumpy galaxy, possibly merging, observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in the COSMOS survey.
It is at redshift 0.57 (lookback time 5.70 billion years) with coordinates (150.60907, 2.13674).
45 volunteers classified this galaxy in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble.
It is at redshift 0.57 (lookback time 5.70 billion years) with coordinates (150.60907, 2.13674).
45 volunteers classified this galaxy in Galaxy Zoo: Hubble.
November 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Look back at a time before the Earth existed.
This is a lovely thread for your #Caturday eve.
THREAD.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
3 years ago, with no warning, a brilliant orange farm cat wandered over from the draughty barn where he had been living, in rural Cornwall, and decided he wanted to live with us instead.
We decided to call him Jim.
This is the first photo I took of him, on that night: December 1st, 2022.
November 28, 2025 at 10:05 AM
This is a lovely thread for your #Caturday eve.
Reposted by Doug Merrill 🌻
She looked at me
Seriously,
Said, "Scientists have managed
To calculate the weight
Of rainbows."
I frown, and think..
And she says...
"They are pretty light"
And I know I have passed
Into my daughter
To live through another generation
Seriously,
Said, "Scientists have managed
To calculate the weight
Of rainbows."
I frown, and think..
And she says...
"They are pretty light"
And I know I have passed
Into my daughter
To live through another generation
November 27, 2025 at 5:21 AM
She looked at me
Seriously,
Said, "Scientists have managed
To calculate the weight
Of rainbows."
I frown, and think..
And she says...
"They are pretty light"
And I know I have passed
Into my daughter
To live through another generation
Seriously,
Said, "Scientists have managed
To calculate the weight
Of rainbows."
I frown, and think..
And she says...
"They are pretty light"
And I know I have passed
Into my daughter
To live through another generation
Today I finished reading The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith.
Before that —
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher @tkingfisher.com
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Before that —
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher @tkingfisher.com
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
November 26, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Today I finished reading The Great Hippopotamus Hotel by Alexander McCall Smith.
Before that —
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher @tkingfisher.com
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Before that —
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social
A Mountain to the North ... by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher @tkingfisher.com
Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
Happy World Linguistics Day from Berlin, Germany!
Happy World Linguistics Day from Montreal, Canada!
(I wonder how many different places we can get world linguistics day wishes from this year!)
(I wonder how many different places we can get world linguistics day wishes from this year!)
Happy World Linguistics Day from Melbourne, Australia!
November 26, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Happy World Linguistics Day from Berlin, Germany!
"TikTok is less a social media engine than it is Adobe Premiere repackaged as a video editing app that an 8 year old can understand."
This was super interesting!
toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-...
This was super interesting!
toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-...
Tone Glow 200: Negativland
An interview with plunderphonic legends Negativland about copyright, fair use, the rise of AI, and yes, that thing with U2
toneglow.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:49 AM
"TikTok is less a social media engine than it is Adobe Premiere repackaged as a video editing app that an 8 year old can understand."
This was super interesting!
toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-...
This was super interesting!
toneglow.substack.com/p/tone-glow-...
BLAM!
November 24, 2025 at 7:34 AM
BLAM!