K.E. Semmel
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kesemmel.bsky.social
K.E. Semmel
@kesemmel.bsky.social
K.E. Semmel is a writer and translator and Dylan enthusiast. His debut novel, The Book of Losman, published in October 2024 (SFWP). kesemmel.com.
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Start the morning off right when you listen to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN by @kesemmel.bsky.social on #Audible! buff.ly/dLGLUYK

@susanschulman.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Don't miss out on reading @kesemmel.bsky.social's latest installment to his newsletter, "On Reading and Writing in a Dystopian Age." buff.ly/zPASrqH

Get THE BOOK OF LOSMAN right here: amzn.to/3uJDi7C
@susanschulman.bsky.social
On Reading and Writing in a Dystopian Age
We are living through a remarkable—if horrible—epoch.
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
It’s horrifying to me that we’ve offered perhaps our greatest human asset, our language, to machines that commodify it into discrete units of value for the taking and breaking of human minds. open.substack.com/pub/kesemmel...
On Reading and Writing in a Dystopian Age
We are living through a remarkable—if horrible—epoch.
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Check out @kesemmel.bsky.social's latest interview with Tourette syndrome and disability advocate Jhónelle Bean for his newsletter, Bright Boy! buff.ly/asOz8i2

Afterwards, you listen to his novel THE BOOK OF LOSMAN on #Audible! buff.ly/4w7v9QT
Interview with Jhónelle Bean: Tourette's advocate
I recently interviewed Tourette syndrome and disability advocate Jhónelle Bean for Bright Boy.
buff.ly
November 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
It’s a sad fact that Bob Dylan’s lines “we’re living in times where men commit crimes/and crime don’t have a face” from his song “political world” will always be true.
November 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
This article in the @TheAtlantic by translator Benjamin Ross is excellent—a warning about what we lose when we rely on AI to translate language. As a literary translator, i can certainly relate. Disappointing to find the audio version narrated by AI.

www.theatlantic.com/books/2025/1...
The Costs of Instant Translation
AI might soon rob us of the thrill and challenge of cross-cultural conversation.
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:09 AM
I recently interviewed #tourettesyndrome and disability advocate Jhonelle Bean for my substack, Bright Boy. Hear what she has to say about how her advocacy has helped her mental health. Hint: talking about it is good.

youtube.com/shorts/URW1X...
How Advocacy Helped My Mental Health #substack #shorts
YouTube video by K.E. Semmel
youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Mamdani: My message to I.C.E. Agents and to everyone across this city is that everyone will be held to the same standard of the law. If you violate the law, you must be held accountable.
November 5, 2025 at 6:21 PM
The thing i’ve learned about writing in the 30 years I’ve worked at my writing is that it can be both excitingly challenging work and, at the same time, incredibly *fun* work—the very best kind of labor there is.

Why would anyone use AI to do this?
October 31, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
I was wondering why my friend Kyle (@kesemmel.bsky.social) named his Substack "Bright Boy." He wrote a wonderful essay in response and I learned more about him, which is maybe what we want in any writing. So many Substacks, some of them not very interestingly named. But "Bright Boy"? I love it.
October 24, 2025 at 12:43 AM
On 9/11, terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers and attempted to fly another into the White House or the U.S. Capitol. Now this administration is completing the job for them. The destruction of the WH during a gov't shutdown, while the country decays, is a perfect symbol for today's GOP.
That the US government is entirely shut down but Trump can somehow find the means to demolish the White House seems too absurd to be possible, I am looking for an irony epipen right now
October 23, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
We're thrilled to share @kesemmel.bsky.social's article "‘You Learn How to Cope’: How Tourette Syndrome Affects 5 Older Americans," that was recently published in @aarp.org! buff.ly/tpsTGCr

Treat yourself to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN right here: buff.ly/0LgcVQA
@susanschulman.bsky.social
How Tourette Syndrome Affects the Lives of 5 Older Americans
Roughly half of individuals with the disorder go undiagnosed, and experts say many of them are older adults
buff.ly
October 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
My friend @sejalshah.bsky.social asked me why I named my Substack "Bright Boy." Here's why. open.substack.com/pub/kesemmel...
Mønsterbryder: Why did you name your Substack Bright Boy?
I’ve been noticeably absent from this Substack the past few weeks.
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Chaos is too gentle a word for fascism, for the meanness and cruelty we’re witnessing every single day, but it's exactly what this administration wants to provoke. #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
ICE has been deployed to *provoke* civilians, not to protect them. They want to throw tear gas canisters and get people on the streets riled up, all to create footage for Fox News and Newsmax, et al., that will be used as a pretext for imposing martial law to lower voting rates in Democratic cities.
The only violence I’ve been seeing in Portland is from the so-called Feds!!!

Keep sharing these videos; it’s evidence.
October 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I recently interviewed #tourettesyndrome advocate and all-around amazing person Vernell Jones for my substack. Watch here: youtu.be/thbBgG7kOoU?...
Bright Boy: K.E. Semmel and Vernell Jones
YouTube video by K.E. Semmel
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
This is a) utterly terrifying and b) vital. Don’t turn away. The crisis is fixable because it is, ultimately, political. We know the chemistry. We decline the action necessary.
October 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
I was thrilled to write a story on adults with #tourettesyndrome for AARP. It features some fantastic humans who've dealt with TS all their lives. Few studies have explored the impact TS has had on us adults with TS, I write, but that’s beginning to change. www.aarp.org/health/condi...
How Tourette Syndrome Affects the Lives of 5 Older Americans
Roughly half of individuals with the disorder go undiagnosed, and experts say many of them are older adults
www.aarp.org
October 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Prepare for the upcoming weekend when you treat yourself to THE BOOK OF LOSMAN by @kesemmel.bsky.social on #Audible! buff.ly/fI1eG0H
@susanschulman.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Now that Trump has taken over the national guard and plans to deploy them to DC, a reminder: he’s in the Epstein files. The President of the U.S. is a rapist.
August 11, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I wrote about 'normalizing' #tourettesyndrome this week in fiction and in culture. kesemmel.substack.com/p/normalizin...
August 8, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by K.E. Semmel
Honestly can't think of a more straightforward example of how men profit from the sexual degradation of women
From @theathletic.com: A memecoin — Green Dildo Coin — and it's community are responsible for some of the disruptions at WNBA games.
The group's coin was created the day before the first incident, and as of Thursday, its worth had nearly tripled in one week.
WNBA sex toy incidents may be linked to cryptocurrency group’s money scheme
The group's coin was created the day before the first incident, and as of Thursday, its worth had nearly tripled in one week.
nyti.ms
August 8, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The less I'm on social media the happier I am, and the better my relationships with other people, *real* people. Of course, that means I have almost zero engagement on this platform.
July 30, 2025 at 4:16 PM
For my substack this week I wrote about 11 Bob Dylan songs that have deep artistic meaning for me.

Call me a luddite if you will, but in the age of generative AI, I'm going to embrace great human-made art and cling to it. Click on the link to see the list.

kesemmel.substack.com/p/11-great-b...
11 Great Bob Dylan Songs You Need to Listen To
This week I’m going to write about Bob Dylan.
kesemmel.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 4:19 PM