Dr. Samantha Landau📚
@broomsticknpen.bsky.social
お化け博士 (Ghost Scholar) based in Tokyo. Gothic in Asia Association co-founder. Variously juggling research on: Emily Dickinson, Shirley Jackson, Jewish folklore, Japanese gothic/folklore, poetry & the gothic. Poet and opera singer. (Opinions mine)
Pinned
brill.com
I'm so excited that my essay "Passionate Women, Vengeful Spirits: Female Ghosts and the Japanese Gothic Mode" has been published in Manusya: Journal of Humanities! Thank you to Kasia Ancuta for editing this special issue👻
It's open source and free to read here:
brill.com/view/journal...
It's open source and free to read here:
brill.com/view/journal...
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
TLDR re. COVID VAXX:
"Prepare for lots of headlines and mixed messages this week. In the meantime, if you’re under 65 and not high risk, *the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right now*—before the FDA label changes. Once it happens, access will be limited immediately (if it isn’t already)."
"Prepare for lots of headlines and mixed messages this week. In the meantime, if you’re under 65 and not high risk, *the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right now*—before the FDA label changes. Once it happens, access will be limited immediately (if it isn’t already)."
Covid-19 vaccine label change, alpha-gal syndrome, leaked MAHA report, mRNA funding cuts, and... where is bird flu?
The Dose (August 18)
yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:39 PM
TLDR re. COVID VAXX:
"Prepare for lots of headlines and mixed messages this week. In the meantime, if you’re under 65 and not high risk, *the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right now*—before the FDA label changes. Once it happens, access will be limited immediately (if it isn’t already)."
"Prepare for lots of headlines and mixed messages this week. In the meantime, if you’re under 65 and not high risk, *the window to get a Covid-19 vaccine is right now*—before the FDA label changes. Once it happens, access will be limited immediately (if it isn’t already)."
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
I need you to understand that if you heard a song you liked in the 80s, you couldn’t Shazam it. You couldn’t Google the lyrics. You had to sing it to the guy at Tower Records.
August 16, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I need you to understand that if you heard a song you liked in the 80s, you couldn’t Shazam it. You couldn’t Google the lyrics. You had to sing it to the guy at Tower Records.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
I interviewed Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) for my newsletter.
We spoke about his approach to writing, the difference between working on a novel and a screenplay, and his favorite Jewish monster.
We spoke about his approach to writing, the difference between working on a novel and a screenplay, and his favorite Jewish monster.
Interview with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket
"The spookiest and most delightful thing in the world"
hebrewhorror.substack.com
August 6, 2025 at 10:51 AM
I interviewed Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) for my newsletter.
We spoke about his approach to writing, the difference between working on a novel and a screenplay, and his favorite Jewish monster.
We spoke about his approach to writing, the difference between working on a novel and a screenplay, and his favorite Jewish monster.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
This made me laugh. And then I sat and thought about it. This is correct.
August 6, 2025 at 3:30 AM
This made me laugh. And then I sat and thought about it. This is correct.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
The phrase "sees but is not seen" signifies that God is omniscient but hidden and anchors a variety of charms, amulets, and recipes for Jewish invisibility magic that confused the eye of the hostile viewer. So "social invisibility" keep our heads down magic. Very relatable :) 1/5
July 31, 2025 at 12:37 PM
The phrase "sees but is not seen" signifies that God is omniscient but hidden and anchors a variety of charms, amulets, and recipes for Jewish invisibility magic that confused the eye of the hostile viewer. So "social invisibility" keep our heads down magic. Very relatable :) 1/5
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
'Now 97, Mr. Ozaki still dreams of those left behind...
“In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.” '
“In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.” '
Last Soldiers of an Imperial Army Have a Warning for Young Generations
www.nytimes.com
July 28, 2025 at 5:24 AM
'Now 97, Mr. Ozaki still dreams of those left behind...
“In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.” '
“In their last breaths, no one shouted for the long life of the Emperor,” said Mr. Ozaki, who lives in Kyoto with his son, also retired. “They called out for their mothers, whom they would never see again.” '
My new as-yet unidentified chronic illness has decided to let me have peace today and lemme just say
It’s AMAZING to not have a migraine!
It’s amazing to be able to see without weird flashing lights in my peripheral vision blinding me!
I’m so happy to be writing again😭😭😭
It’s AMAZING to not have a migraine!
It’s amazing to be able to see without weird flashing lights in my peripheral vision blinding me!
I’m so happy to be writing again😭😭😭
July 26, 2025 at 8:16 AM
My new as-yet unidentified chronic illness has decided to let me have peace today and lemme just say
It’s AMAZING to not have a migraine!
It’s amazing to be able to see without weird flashing lights in my peripheral vision blinding me!
I’m so happy to be writing again😭😭😭
It’s AMAZING to not have a migraine!
It’s amazing to be able to see without weird flashing lights in my peripheral vision blinding me!
I’m so happy to be writing again😭😭😭
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
I don’t want to have to scaffold reading, thinking, conversing, and writing like it’s a teaching see-saw that bops a learning thingamaboob to ride down the logical twisty slide into the goal post of a blue book but here we fucking are.
“AI” is not simply creating a cognitive crisis in learners; it’s also failing to deliver on its own terms (pedagogical “efficiency”) bc it demands that those still committed to educational quality devise nonsensical workarounds, turning our classrooms into bizarre Rube Goldberg learning machines.
Keep shoving this unwanted AI shit on teachers and we’ll go back to fucking quills and inkwells
July 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I don’t want to have to scaffold reading, thinking, conversing, and writing like it’s a teaching see-saw that bops a learning thingamaboob to ride down the logical twisty slide into the goal post of a blue book but here we fucking are.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
While a N95 respirator is better, even a plain mask is better than nothing to stop you coughing germs over others.
July 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
While a N95 respirator is better, even a plain mask is better than nothing to stop you coughing germs over others.
Extremely relevant thread.
I would also add: ignorance is the enemy of good governance. It's also the enemy of mutual understanding within a given community that supports it - what we sometimes call "politics of kindness" (how I'd translate slogans like 優しい政治 or みんなのための政治).
I would also add: ignorance is the enemy of good governance. It's also the enemy of mutual understanding within a given community that supports it - what we sometimes call "politics of kindness" (how I'd translate slogans like 優しい政治 or みんなのための政治).
@broomsticknpen.bsky.social re: benefit of the doubt
July 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Extremely relevant thread.
I would also add: ignorance is the enemy of good governance. It's also the enemy of mutual understanding within a given community that supports it - what we sometimes call "politics of kindness" (how I'd translate slogans like 優しい政治 or みんなのための政治).
I would also add: ignorance is the enemy of good governance. It's also the enemy of mutual understanding within a given community that supports it - what we sometimes call "politics of kindness" (how I'd translate slogans like 優しい政治 or みんなのための政治).
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
The parties that push the MoF conspiracy theory are Reiwa, Sanseito, Kokumin and Hoshuto
They’re what I call “the conspiracy parties” and they’ve all gained seats today
As the article mentions, the MoF theory also intersects with anti-vax and anti-immigration theories, also salient this election
They’re what I call “the conspiracy parties” and they’ve all gained seats today
As the article mentions, the MoF theory also intersects with anti-vax and anti-immigration theories, also salient this election
July 21, 2025 at 12:08 AM
The parties that push the MoF conspiracy theory are Reiwa, Sanseito, Kokumin and Hoshuto
They’re what I call “the conspiracy parties” and they’ve all gained seats today
As the article mentions, the MoF theory also intersects with anti-vax and anti-immigration theories, also salient this election
They’re what I call “the conspiracy parties” and they’ve all gained seats today
As the article mentions, the MoF theory also intersects with anti-vax and anti-immigration theories, also salient this election
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Men often wanted Joni Mitchell to be a wife, a muse, a siren, or a star. Instead they got a genius.
Joni Mitchell’s Openhearted Heroism
She made the best music of her generation by falling in love, over and over, while defending her sense of self.
nyer.cm
July 19, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Men often wanted Joni Mitchell to be a wife, a muse, a siren, or a star. Instead they got a genius.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
July 20, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪
July 18, 2025 at 4:12 AM
"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Here’s nice blog post on the pulpy paperback covers for Jackson’s books:
toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/12/shir...
toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/12/shir...
Shirley Jackson: The Paperback Covers
"The Lottery" is easily one of the most famous, and notorious, short stories of the 20th century (I love making big pronouncements like that...
toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Here’s nice blog post on the pulpy paperback covers for Jackson’s books:
toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/12/shir...
toomuchhorrorfiction.blogspot.com/2010/12/shir...
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
If anyone has gotten a Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction contract from after its acquisition by Must Read, Writer Beware would like to see it (anything shared with us is confidential). Contact us at beware@sfwa.org
July 16, 2025 at 12:17 AM
If anyone has gotten a Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction contract from after its acquisition by Must Read, Writer Beware would like to see it (anything shared with us is confidential). Contact us at beware@sfwa.org
I would like to go somewhere safe and comfy I can watch this typhoon roll in across the ocean…
July 15, 2025 at 5:18 AM
I would like to go somewhere safe and comfy I can watch this typhoon roll in across the ocean…
Shirley, in Pulp💀
July 15, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Shirley, in Pulp💀
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
A Borges story about a guy who gets AI to summarize all the world’s information for him, and then summarize the summary, until the AI has the whole world summarized into a single word. He sits alone at his desk, staring at the word, repeating it endlessly, certain he is experiencing everything
July 14, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A Borges story about a guy who gets AI to summarize all the world’s information for him, and then summarize the summary, until the AI has the whole world summarized into a single word. He sits alone at his desk, staring at the word, repeating it endlessly, certain he is experiencing everything
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Good piece by John Platt at The Revelator about flensing AI from searches. How and why. therevelator.org/how-to-get-a...
How to Get AI Out of Your Google Search Results • The Revelator
Three simple keystrokes will deliver search results that consume less energy and water — and probably contain better information.
therevelator.org
July 14, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Good piece by John Platt at The Revelator about flensing AI from searches. How and why. therevelator.org/how-to-get-a...
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Re-up:
CFP: Call For Proposals: Gothic Blackness: Exploring Ethnogothic, New Black Gothic, and Afro-Gothic Themes in Literature, Film, and Culture
Special Issue of American Gothic Studies
Guest Editor: Dr. DeAnna Daniels, University of Arizona
Proposals due 8/15/25, with essays due 2/1/26
Special Issue of American Gothic Studies
Guest Editor: Dr. DeAnna Daniels, University of Arizona
Proposals due 8/15/25, with essays due 2/1/26
July 14, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Re-up:
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Seeing this photo make rounds as a “Shinto Kami.”
No. This is a photo of two Jizo-sama from Tenryuji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. They’re definitely Buddhist, not Shinto.
Due to Haibutsu Kishaku and local practices, a fair few of these roadside protectors were (semi) Shinto-ized, but this one was NOT.
No. This is a photo of two Jizo-sama from Tenryuji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. They’re definitely Buddhist, not Shinto.
Due to Haibutsu Kishaku and local practices, a fair few of these roadside protectors were (semi) Shinto-ized, but this one was NOT.
July 12, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Seeing this photo make rounds as a “Shinto Kami.”
No. This is a photo of two Jizo-sama from Tenryuji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. They’re definitely Buddhist, not Shinto.
Due to Haibutsu Kishaku and local practices, a fair few of these roadside protectors were (semi) Shinto-ized, but this one was NOT.
No. This is a photo of two Jizo-sama from Tenryuji in Arashiyama, Kyoto. They’re definitely Buddhist, not Shinto.
Due to Haibutsu Kishaku and local practices, a fair few of these roadside protectors were (semi) Shinto-ized, but this one was NOT.
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
Don't let the sunshine dampen your supernatural leanings - SPECTRES OF SUMMER will be here this August to keep the spookiness going whatever the weather, with a weekend of ghost story interviews and writing workshops! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spectres-o...
July 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Don't let the sunshine dampen your supernatural leanings - SPECTRES OF SUMMER will be here this August to keep the spookiness going whatever the weather, with a weekend of ghost story interviews and writing workshops! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spectres-o...
Reposted by Dr. Samantha Landau📚
I've written a review article for Religion Compass that focuses on Catholicism since the 1860s. I'm thankful for the reviewer's help and the editors too! Title: Roman Catholicism and the History of Christianity in Modern Japan, and it is open access.
Roman Catholicism and the History of Christianity in Modern Japan
This review article aims to provide an overview of the existing literature on Roman Catholicism in modern Japan post-1873, focussing on works that address its societal impact. It orients readers in t....
compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 12, 2025 at 7:37 AM
I've written a review article for Religion Compass that focuses on Catholicism since the 1860s. I'm thankful for the reviewer's help and the editors too! Title: Roman Catholicism and the History of Christianity in Modern Japan, and it is open access.