Alicia Wanless
@lageneralista.ca
Information Ecologist exploring the information environment | Senior Fellow at @carnegieendowment.org and Director of @ieproject.bsky.social | PhD from KCL War Studies | Visiting Researcher @uniofbath.bsky.social | Author of The Information Animal 🇨🇦
Pinned
Alicia Wanless
@lageneralista.ca
· Aug 22
The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality - La Generalista
Humanity has always craved, and feared, information. How should we understand our enduring, ever-changing relationships with technology and knowledge? Description Depending on the news you read, new t...
theinformationanimal.com
A wee book page - "The Information Animal: Humans, Technology and the Competition for Reality" is finally out! theinformationanimal.com
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
We're looking for outstanding mid-career journalists to join our fellowship programme in 2026-27.
Explore the future of journalism through an immersive programme of seminars, events, discussions and a personal project.
Deadline to apply: 13 Feb
Explore the future of journalism through an immersive programme of seminars, events, discussions and a personal project.
Deadline to apply: 13 Feb
Our Journalist Fellowship
The Journalist Fellowship Programme is one of the world’s leading schemes for practising, mid-career journalists.
buff.ly
January 21, 2026 at 1:29 PM
We're looking for outstanding mid-career journalists to join our fellowship programme in 2026-27.
Explore the future of journalism through an immersive programme of seminars, events, discussions and a personal project.
Deadline to apply: 13 Feb
Explore the future of journalism through an immersive programme of seminars, events, discussions and a personal project.
Deadline to apply: 13 Feb
Not my favourite quote from this excellent speech. Here is to hope we and our allies rise to the inspiration.
We can build walls or we can be more ambitious — and build something better, stronger, and more just.
January 20, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Not my favourite quote from this excellent speech. Here is to hope we and our allies rise to the inspiration.
"I argue that middle powers must act together, because if we aren't at the table, we're on the menu."
www.youtube.com/live/dE981Z_...
www.youtube.com/live/dE981Z_...
Davos LIVE: Canadian PM Mark Carney speaks at World Economic Forum
YouTube video by Associated Press
www.youtube.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:33 PM
"I argue that middle powers must act together, because if we aren't at the table, we're on the menu."
www.youtube.com/live/dE981Z_...
www.youtube.com/live/dE981Z_...
Maybe they should start making drones, or satellites, or means to launch those satellites. Heck, I hear we need planes.
January 19, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Maybe they should start making drones, or satellites, or means to launch those satellites. Heck, I hear we need planes.
Because who doesn’t want to start the day with some Kafka in this absurd world.
January 19, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Because who doesn’t want to start the day with some Kafka in this absurd world.
@22-minutes.bsky.social is better than SNL - yeah, I said it. youtu.be/npw7zZYSZcU?...
Hey ChatGPT, what is an intervention? | This Hour Has 22 Minutes
YouTube video by 22 Minutes
youtu.be
January 18, 2026 at 2:27 PM
@22-minutes.bsky.social is better than SNL - yeah, I said it. youtu.be/npw7zZYSZcU?...
So has the movement begun for services and products made without any ICT? www.bbc.com/news/article...
Vastaamo hack: My darkest secrets were revealed to the world
Meri-Tuuli Auer told her counsellor things about her life she didn't want her closest family to know.
www.bbc.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:49 AM
So has the movement begun for services and products made without any ICT? www.bbc.com/news/article...
Statistics Canada is a gold star in data on this country, and it would be a very sad day for that knowledge to be compromised. It’s fundamental for the nation to be strategic. No idea if these deep cuts make it more efficient, that’s outside my lane. But I am worried.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Statistics Canada to trim 850 jobs as public servants, unions brace for more cuts | CBC News
Federal workers are starting to learn more about planned job cuts across the public service after Statistics Canada told employees on Monday that 850 positions will be eliminated from the department o...
www.cbc.ca
January 15, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Statistics Canada is a gold star in data on this country, and it would be a very sad day for that knowledge to be compromised. It’s fundamental for the nation to be strategic. No idea if these deep cuts make it more efficient, that’s outside my lane. But I am worried.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
what we are losing: “The rise in forest fires is unmistakable. Four of the five worst years on record have occurred since 2020… 2024 was the 1st time major fires raged across tropical, hot and humid forests such as the Amazon, boreal forests, and those spanning Canada’s vast coniferous regions…”
Mapped: how the world is losing its forests to wildfires
Mapped: how the world is losing its forests to wildfires
Wildfires now destroy twice as much tree cover per year as two decades ago – a crisis fuelled by climate change
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 12:29 PM
what we are losing: “The rise in forest fires is unmistakable. Four of the five worst years on record have occurred since 2020… 2024 was the 1st time major fires raged across tropical, hot and humid forests such as the Amazon, boreal forests, and those spanning Canada’s vast coniferous regions…”
The comments…
January 15, 2026 at 10:39 AM
The comments…
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
🔔The University of Vienna invites applications for at least 40 funded doctoral positions across the Social Sciences & Humanities to do your own research project and choose your preferred supervisor.
❗Application deadline: March 2, 2026
👇Check eligibility here:
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...
❗Application deadline: March 2, 2026
👇Check eligibility here:
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...
careers.univie.ac.at
January 14, 2026 at 10:27 AM
🔔The University of Vienna invites applications for at least 40 funded doctoral positions across the Social Sciences & Humanities to do your own research project and choose your preferred supervisor.
❗Application deadline: March 2, 2026
👇Check eligibility here:
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...
❗Application deadline: March 2, 2026
👇Check eligibility here:
careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/p...
It's a red-letter day, an interview, a chapter, and now this - a podcast on The Information Animal. Big surprise, it's about Charles. Maybe now I can stop. I'm told this episode is full of easter eggs of similarities between our timeline and Charles': open.substack.com/pub/theinfor...
So Cavalier: The Early Modern English Information Ecosystem
An episode from The Information Animal Podcast
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:38 PM
It's a red-letter day, an interview, a chapter, and now this - a podcast on The Information Animal. Big surprise, it's about Charles. Maybe now I can stop. I'm told this episode is full of easter eggs of similarities between our timeline and Charles': open.substack.com/pub/theinfor...
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
Information integrity is much discussed these days, but how is it defined, and can current uses be practically applied to messy, sprawling national information ecosystems? @kamyayadav.bsky.social, @samlai.bsky.social and @lageneralista.ca explore in this chapter: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Client Challenge
link.springer.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Information integrity is much discussed these days, but how is it defined, and can current uses be practically applied to messy, sprawling national information ecosystems? @kamyayadav.bsky.social, @samlai.bsky.social and @lageneralista.ca explore in this chapter: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
I wish I could say I did this in Croatian - Moram vježbati. But in all seriousness, a huge thank you to Ivana Dragicevic for thinking of me and posing challenging questions! The English version is in the comments: www.telegram.hr/velike-price... cc: @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
Naši informacijski ekosustavi ovise o američkoj tehnologiji. Trump ih sad koristi za širenje svoje ideologije
Geopolitički pomaci otvaraju vrlo realna pitanja suvereniteta, kaže stručnjakinja za informacijski integritet Alicia Wanless
www.telegram.hr
January 12, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I wish I could say I did this in Croatian - Moram vježbati. But in all seriousness, a huge thank you to Ivana Dragicevic for thinking of me and posing challenging questions! The English version is in the comments: www.telegram.hr/velike-price... cc: @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
For anyone in need of a historical escape - ok, maybe it's too close to home - here's a short starter of a podcast exploring why the English information ecosystem was such a challenge for King Charles I - and more importantly, why the changes happening within it matter today. youtu.be/j9fXoLsEF4k
So Cavalier: The Early Modern English Information Ecosystem
YouTube video by The Information Animal
youtu.be
January 9, 2026 at 10:12 PM
For anyone in need of a historical escape - ok, maybe it's too close to home - here's a short starter of a podcast exploring why the English information ecosystem was such a challenge for King Charles I - and more importantly, why the changes happening within it matter today. youtu.be/j9fXoLsEF4k
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
Anthropomorphizing language conceals the limitations of AI, promoting misplaced trust. @emilymbender.bsky.social & @nannainie.bsky.social suggest focusing on a system’s functionalities: instead of saying a model is “good at” something, say what it is “good for." www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-t...
We Need to Talk About How We Talk About 'AI' | TechPolicy.Press
We share a responsibility to create and use empowering metaphors rather than misleading language, write Emily M. Bender and Nanna Inie.
www.techpolicy.press
January 8, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Anthropomorphizing language conceals the limitations of AI, promoting misplaced trust. @emilymbender.bsky.social & @nannainie.bsky.social suggest focusing on a system’s functionalities: instead of saying a model is “good at” something, say what it is “good for." www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-t...
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
🇬🇱 See author of 'So You Want to Own Greenland?' Liz Buchanan featured in @thetimes.com with Oliver Moody.
“The real story will be the extent to which the Greenlandic leadership manipulate or play mum off against dad in terms of Washington and Copenhagen”
Read article here: tinyurl.com/2n8e6fss
“The real story will be the extent to which the Greenlandic leadership manipulate or play mum off against dad in terms of Washington and Copenhagen”
Read article here: tinyurl.com/2n8e6fss
January 7, 2026 at 7:54 AM
🇬🇱 See author of 'So You Want to Own Greenland?' Liz Buchanan featured in @thetimes.com with Oliver Moody.
“The real story will be the extent to which the Greenlandic leadership manipulate or play mum off against dad in terms of Washington and Copenhagen”
Read article here: tinyurl.com/2n8e6fss
“The real story will be the extent to which the Greenlandic leadership manipulate or play mum off against dad in terms of Washington and Copenhagen”
Read article here: tinyurl.com/2n8e6fss
Subscriptions you can initiate online but cannot be cancelled just as easily should be illegal.
January 6, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Subscriptions you can initiate online but cannot be cancelled just as easily should be illegal.
It’s a dark morning seeing this study and having recently read Evil Geniuses by @kurtandersen.bsky.social en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Ge...
January 5, 2026 at 12:27 PM
It’s a dark morning seeing this study and having recently read Evil Geniuses by @kurtandersen.bsky.social en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Ge...
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
While the heat is on Denmark and Greenland, followers might be interested in this book by Elsabeth Buchanan and published by @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
cc: @michaeldwyer.bsky.social
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/so-you-...
cc: @michaeldwyer.bsky.social
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/so-you-...
So You Want to Own Greenland? | Hurst Publishers
An indispensable guide to Greenland—why it matters, who covets it and how it could become the next global flashpoint.
www.hurstpublishers.com
January 4, 2026 at 8:58 PM
While the heat is on Denmark and Greenland, followers might be interested in this book by Elsabeth Buchanan and published by @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
cc: @michaeldwyer.bsky.social
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/so-you-...
cc: @michaeldwyer.bsky.social
www.hurstpublishers.com/book/so-you-...
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
Data brokers are the invisible engines of the data surveillance economy. It's hard to escape. Until.
California just opened a website to delete (and keep deleting) your information from 500+ data brokers in one fell swoop.
Try it if you're in California and LMK how it goes! privacy.ca.gov/drop/
California just opened a website to delete (and keep deleting) your information from 500+ data brokers in one fell swoop.
Try it if you're in California and LMK how it goes! privacy.ca.gov/drop/
Delete request and opt-out platform (DROP)
Protect your personal information. Data brokers collect, share, and sell your personal information. You can stop that from happening.
privacy.ca.gov
January 2, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Data brokers are the invisible engines of the data surveillance economy. It's hard to escape. Until.
California just opened a website to delete (and keep deleting) your information from 500+ data brokers in one fell swoop.
Try it if you're in California and LMK how it goes! privacy.ca.gov/drop/
California just opened a website to delete (and keep deleting) your information from 500+ data brokers in one fell swoop.
Try it if you're in California and LMK how it goes! privacy.ca.gov/drop/
The MasterClass format tends to the shiny and slick, which leaves me doubtful. Not @margaretatwood.bsky.social - every unit she makes me smile with her humour, authenticity, practicality and humility. She’s not just a national treasure, she’s a gift to the world. Highly recommend her class.
MasterClass | Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing
Explore the art of creative writing with acclaimed novelist Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, in her new MasterClass.
share.google
January 1, 2026 at 3:02 PM
The MasterClass format tends to the shiny and slick, which leaves me doubtful. Not @margaretatwood.bsky.social - every unit she makes me smile with her humour, authenticity, practicality and humility. She’s not just a national treasure, she’s a gift to the world. Highly recommend her class.
Sure, you could read Nexus, but this one is shorter. Maybe even cozier.
December 27, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Sure, you could read Nexus, but this one is shorter. Maybe even cozier.
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
Was about to share one of my favorite Christmas stories, but then I stumbled upon this one, and well, it chose itself. An absolutely lovely story for this year.
December 25, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Was about to share one of my favorite Christmas stories, but then I stumbled upon this one, and well, it chose itself. An absolutely lovely story for this year.
Reposted by Alicia Wanless
“the future is not settled”
We don’t have to accept that it is
We don’t have to accept that it is
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
“the future is not settled”
We don’t have to accept that it is
We don’t have to accept that it is