Andrew Losowsky
@losowsky.com
Community, trust & safety, journalism, tea. Posts are ephemeral.
www.losowsky.com
www.losowsky.com
Pinned
Andrew Losowsky
@losowsky.com
· Sep 12
Impact Award - Online Journalism Awards
The Impact Award honors a trailblazing individual whose work in digital journalism and dedication to innovation exhibits a substantial impact on the industry, regardless of their tenure in…
awards.journalists.org
When I learned that I had been chosen for ONA’s Impact Award this year (awards.journalists.org/awards/impac...), for centering community voices, my first response was to think of at least a dozen others they could have also chosen.
Really powerful response to the Bondi Beach shootings from @alicefraser.bsky.social
youtu.be/YAqq1NDZ0Ok?...
youtu.be/YAqq1NDZ0Ok?...
Rage Bait Bugle - Bugle 4363
YouTube video by The Bugle
youtu.be
December 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Really powerful response to the Bondi Beach shootings from @alicefraser.bsky.social
youtu.be/YAqq1NDZ0Ok?...
youtu.be/YAqq1NDZ0Ok?...
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
In NYC there are plenty of people who don't celebrate, and people who do, who dont have anywhere to go.
So as is our tradition, Anyone Comics in BK and Everyone Comics at Queensboro Plaza will be there to entertain from 12-5pm and handing out free books for those who feel left out!
So as is our tradition, Anyone Comics in BK and Everyone Comics at Queensboro Plaza will be there to entertain from 12-5pm and handing out free books for those who feel left out!
December 25, 2025 at 2:53 AM
In NYC there are plenty of people who don't celebrate, and people who do, who dont have anywhere to go.
So as is our tradition, Anyone Comics in BK and Everyone Comics at Queensboro Plaza will be there to entertain from 12-5pm and handing out free books for those who feel left out!
So as is our tradition, Anyone Comics in BK and Everyone Comics at Queensboro Plaza will be there to entertain from 12-5pm and handing out free books for those who feel left out!
Reading this fantastic essay alongside Joseph Henrich's 'The Secret of Our Success' is making my brain throb in all of the ways about society, knowledge, learning, and intrinsic cognitive flaws. Well worth your time.
Happy holidays, Bluesky! I got you a megathrust earthquake, soil liquefaction, spine-tingling papers about the way our networks confound knowledge, and a PDF in a pear tree. It's my wrap on a year of trying to make sense of how we make sense of what's happening to us.
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
www.wrecka.ge/landslide-a-...
Landslide; a ghost story
On March 27, 1964, a converted liberty ship named the SS Chena brought a shipment of supplies to the port of Valdez, Alaska. Valdez, which I need you to know is pronounced “valDEEZ,” sits at the end o...
www.wrecka.ge
December 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reading this fantastic essay alongside Joseph Henrich's 'The Secret of Our Success' is making my brain throb in all of the ways about society, knowledge, learning, and intrinsic cognitive flaws. Well worth your time.
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
The towering Lerch-san, mascot for Niigata Prefecture, is based on Theodor Von Lerch, an Austro-Hungarian who introduced skiing to Japan in 1911.
December 24, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The towering Lerch-san, mascot for Niigata Prefecture, is based on Theodor Von Lerch, an Austro-Hungarian who introduced skiing to Japan in 1911.
I said what I said
December 21, 2025 at 7:27 AM
I said what I said
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
And trans lives are grounded in reality.
We see y'all. No matter what.
www.popsci.com/science/tran...
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Find free winter coat drives and locations in NYC. Open to all, donations welcome. documentedny.com/2025/11/26/f...
Where To Get or Donate Free Winter Coats in NYC - Documented
Find free winter coat drives and locations in NYC. Get equipped for winter with warm layers and coats. Open to all, donations welcome.
documentedny.com
December 15, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Find free winter coat drives and locations in NYC. Open to all, donations welcome. documentedny.com/2025/11/26/f...
Ideas are cheap. Great execution is expensive.
AI tricks us by making artifacts that have the same packaging as great execution, but the contents are much much worse
AI tricks us by making artifacts that have the same packaging as great execution, but the contents are much much worse
More ideas. We’re not going to run out of ideas but generative AI is a tool for people who don’t want to be involved in the step between idea and art. People whose own ideas will never evolve or become more complex because they don’t actually want to interact with or examine them.
December 14, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Ideas are cheap. Great execution is expensive.
AI tricks us by making artifacts that have the same packaging as great execution, but the contents are much much worse
AI tricks us by making artifacts that have the same packaging as great execution, but the contents are much much worse
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
This is a great thread and you should read it. One thing I'd point out is that history museums and related orgs have an extremely high level of public trust and are utterly ubiquitous in the US—even more-so than libraries. They're a real untapped resource in the information and democracy ecosystem.
Bringing journalists into classrooms works in countries where journalism is still widely trusted, but in the UK and US, institutional trust is weak. You can’t rebuild public confidence by leaning on institutions people already see as compromised or partisan.
December 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
This is a great thread and you should read it. One thing I'd point out is that history museums and related orgs have an extremely high level of public trust and are utterly ubiquitous in the US—even more-so than libraries. They're a real untapped resource in the information and democracy ecosystem.
TIL this is their annual tradition and I think it’s amazing
This week’s cover story: Our notes of gratitude to the community advocates, health care workers and others who make Nashville special.
Hey, Thanks: The Scene’s Letters of Appreciation 2025
Our notes of gratitude to the community advocates, health care workers and others who make Nashville special
www.nashvillescene.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
TIL this is their annual tradition and I think it’s amazing
This sounds incredible
Here's a #Shedvent gift for you: it's the recipe for Guy's xocolatl spice powder, from VIANNE... www.joanne-harris.co.uk/news/decembe...
December in the Shed… | Joanne Harris
www.joanne-harris.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 11:49 AM
This sounds incredible
KOSA is the anti-free Internet bill that will stifle speech, endanger LGBTA+ content online, and will not die
Congress is attempting to fast track KOSA and more than a dozen bills that would restrict internet access, censor speech and increase surveillance under the guise of protecting children.
Committee hearings begin tomorrow.
Committee hearings begin tomorrow.
Lawmakers to consider 19 bills for childproofing the internet
KOSA is back, along with more than a dozen other bills that will erode free speech and privacy in the name of protecting kids.
reason.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:47 AM
KOSA is the anti-free Internet bill that will stifle speech, endanger LGBTA+ content online, and will not die
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
I'm so tired of measles.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
I'm also tired of people using needle shots on stories like this.
Show what measles looks like.
Gallatin Co. reports 2nd measles case, warns of exposure sites nbcmontana.com/news/local/g...
December 2, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Just imagining how much better it would be if ALL news stories about vaccine-preventable illnesses were illustrated with pictures of people with the disease, not pictures of needle injections. If you must show something that people will find scary & unpleasant, make it the disease, not the cure.
A thread for anyone who believes that AI can replace human moderators
December 2, 2025 at 3:39 AM
A thread for anyone who believes that AI can replace human moderators
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Every prompt to chatbot software is “generate me some text.” If it generated you some text, it performed its function correctly. It never lies, it never wants anything, it’s text generating software that generates text.
Not wanting to disappoint you so much that it lies is the last quality I want in a computer.
November 28, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Every prompt to chatbot software is “generate me some text.” If it generated you some text, it performed its function correctly. It never lies, it never wants anything, it’s text generating software that generates text.
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
"There is no Substack or interactive website... We want people to hold it, touch it + seek it out... That physicality gives the work its value, adding presence to information, relationships + the neighborhood itself. This is active engagement with your neighborhood + your neighbors."
November 25, 2025 at 10:08 PM
"There is no Substack or interactive website... We want people to hold it, touch it + seek it out... That physicality gives the work its value, adding presence to information, relationships + the neighborhood itself. This is active engagement with your neighborhood + your neighbors."
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
POLL: Does Microsoft understand consent?
- Yes
- Ask me again in three days
- Yes
- Ask me again in three days
November 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
POLL: Does Microsoft understand consent?
- Yes
- Ask me again in three days
- Yes
- Ask me again in three days
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Books Not Bars 2025 Holiday Campaign
BOOKS NOT BARS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated.
In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the imm...
haymarketbooks.app.neoncrm.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program
Almost anyone would be susceptible to online radicalization in the right circumstances. Good thread as a reminder
It's not a framing exclusive to Wired, a lot of reporting in the area has the implicit assumption that only certain people are susceptible/only certain groups do the indoctrination, and a site removing those people/groups will make it Safe Forever because they got rid of the people who are Wrong
November 23, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Almost anyone would be susceptible to online radicalization in the right circumstances. Good thread as a reminder
I used to secretly buy this as a kid and hide it from my parents. It taught me the subversive power of print at an early age
OINK! (1986): Brilliantly subversive kid's comic which featured strips from Charlie Brooker, Tony Husband, Frank Sidebottom, and Marc 'Lard' Riley. Caused a proper stink at the time; WH Smith eventually moved it to the top shelf!
November 23, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I used to secretly buy this as a kid and hide it from my parents. It taught me the subversive power of print at an early age
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Huge amounts of the focus on misinformation/disinformation goes on the idea of things like “Russian bots” and “Russian influence ops”.
That’s the 1% bit of the iceberg. The 99% is people doing it to turn a profit, because it’s easy money. And the platforms largely ignore it because they get a cut.
That’s the 1% bit of the iceberg. The 99% is people doing it to turn a profit, because it’s easy money. And the platforms largely ignore it because they get a cut.
13k comments on one tweet is a massive payout. All of the tweets follow a certain formula, so the content is likely automated using AI technology (e.g., AI generated images and text). Basically running it as a money printing machine. But for those in the US, it translates to low simmering rage.
November 23, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Huge amounts of the focus on misinformation/disinformation goes on the idea of things like “Russian bots” and “Russian influence ops”.
That’s the 1% bit of the iceberg. The 99% is people doing it to turn a profit, because it’s easy money. And the platforms largely ignore it because they get a cut.
That’s the 1% bit of the iceberg. The 99% is people doing it to turn a profit, because it’s easy money. And the platforms largely ignore it because they get a cut.
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
When pregnant woman boarded a subway car, 38% of the time someone offered her a seat. If someone dressed as Batman was also in the car it rose to 68%.
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
The Batman effect: The mere sight of the 'superhero' can make us more altruistic
If "Batman" appears on the scene, we immediately become more altruistic: in fact, research conducted by psychologists from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, shows that the sudden appear...
phys.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:34 PM
When pregnant woman boarded a subway car, 38% of the time someone offered her a seat. If someone dressed as Batman was also in the car it rose to 68%.
phys.org/news/2025-11...
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
COYOTE’s service journalism will always be free to read, including today’s guide to helping someone who might be overdosing.
Anyone can reverse an overdose, and we should all know how. Naloxone is a social intervention; while our public health systems are woefully inadequate, and the war on drugs continues unchecked, we can empower ourselves and one another to step up.
✍️: @nuala.bsky.social
📸: @estefancy.bsky.social
✍️: @nuala.bsky.social
📸: @estefancy.bsky.social
COYOTE First Aid Kit: How to Compassionately Respond to an Overdose
Naloxone, rescue breathing, and 911: Learn the do's, don'ts, and best practices for reversing an overdose.
www.coyotemedia.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:41 PM
COYOTE’s service journalism will always be free to read, including today’s guide to helping someone who might be overdosing.
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
Happening tomorrow: Join the Lenfest Communities of Practice for 2 webinars ⬇️
1. Don’t let valuable audience research sit on the shelf! Ariel Zirulnick joins the Lenfest Audience Community at 2 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. PST to share how orgs can use audience data to inform product & editorial strategy:
1. Don’t let valuable audience research sit on the shelf! Ariel Zirulnick joins the Lenfest Audience Community at 2 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. PST to share how orgs can use audience data to inform product & editorial strategy:
Audience Community: Operationalizing audience insights
Ariel Zirulnick joins the Lenfest Audience Community on Nov. 20 to discuss using audience data to inform product and editorial strategy.
www.lenfestinstitute.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Happening tomorrow: Join the Lenfest Communities of Practice for 2 webinars ⬇️
1. Don’t let valuable audience research sit on the shelf! Ariel Zirulnick joins the Lenfest Audience Community at 2 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. PST to share how orgs can use audience data to inform product & editorial strategy:
1. Don’t let valuable audience research sit on the shelf! Ariel Zirulnick joins the Lenfest Audience Community at 2 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. PST to share how orgs can use audience data to inform product & editorial strategy:
Reposted by Andrew Losowsky
man we should bring back the pamphlet
Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...
November 19, 2025 at 3:48 AM
man we should bring back the pamphlet