Louie Stowell
@louiestowell.bsky.social
Writer/illustrator of the LOKI: A Bad God's Guide books, Writer of Otherland & The Dragon in the Library. https://louiestowell.com. No terfs. Many fluctuating fandoms incluing BtVS + Doctor Who. This feed isn't for kids.
Pinned
Louie Stowell
@louiestowell.bsky.social
· Mar 30
The Louie Stowell Newsletter | Substack
News, books and nonsense. Click to read The Louie Stowell Newsletter, a Substack publication.
louiestowell.substack.com
I have a newsletter! If you'd like to keep up to date on my books, events, news, book-themed activities for kids and occasional Doctor Who and other fandom thoughts, sign up here! louiestowell.substack.com #KidLitUK
Reposted by Louie Stowell
"It's Theory of Mind all the way down, kid!"
As a kid I used to play with my cousin's magic 8 ball and I thought that asking it questions really got me meaningful if sometimes confusing answers.
The problem with the Turing test is that we as a species are really happy to discover and interact with other intelligences and fill gaps in meaning.
The problem with the Turing test is that we as a species are really happy to discover and interact with other intelligences and fill gaps in meaning.
Maybe a lot of our controversies around "AI" could be solved if we took it off the pedestal and saw it as an NLP tech that lets us build NLP interfaces on systems that require consciously building other components that do actual reasoning, data collection and decision making etc.
February 11, 2026 at 12:37 PM
"It's Theory of Mind all the way down, kid!"
Reposted by Louie Stowell
(When you read a book, everyone else who has ever read it reads it with you. Ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million pairs of eyes, all reading along with you. It’s a thrilling thought.)
February 10, 2026 at 10:53 PM
(When you read a book, everyone else who has ever read it reads it with you. Ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million pairs of eyes, all reading along with you. It’s a thrilling thought.)
Reposted by Louie Stowell
We need more schemes like this! They make the state money and ensure world class creative talent can become world class creative talent!
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Ireland’s basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent
When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:58 AM
We need more schemes like this! They make the state money and ensure world class creative talent can become world class creative talent!
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Reposted by Louie Stowell
How very black history month to suddenly discover even more underground railroad
A dresser inside a museum in New York City has been discovered as a secret stop on the Underground Railroad — the first of its kind discovered in Manhattan in over 100 years
February 11, 2026 at 4:43 AM
How very black history month to suddenly discover even more underground railroad
Reposted by Louie Stowell
only idiots rob banks. i rob zoos. i have 47 meerkats
December 7, 2024 at 2:28 AM
only idiots rob banks. i rob zoos. i have 47 meerkats
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I feel like I enjoyed a golden age of WFH 2020-2025 which perfectly coincided with my kids being small and massively contributed to being a good dad & good husband. Also the most successful period in my entire career!
February 10, 2026 at 9:23 AM
I feel like I enjoyed a golden age of WFH 2020-2025 which perfectly coincided with my kids being small and massively contributed to being a good dad & good husband. Also the most successful period in my entire career!
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Cats and bees and cats and bees on Unst Unst Unst Unst!
February 10, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Cats and bees and cats and bees on Unst Unst Unst Unst!
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Slightly north of Yell and Mid Yell, both of which might be equally relevant in this context ;-)
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Slightly north of Yell and Mid Yell, both of which might be equally relevant in this context ;-)
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I regret to confirm that my spouse had the exact same reaction and now does this about the house loudly, often 😅🫠
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 AM
I regret to confirm that my spouse had the exact same reaction and now does this about the house loudly, often 😅🫠
I've just discovered that there's a scottish island called Unst and now I will always think of it whenever I hear techno. UNST UNST UNST UNST UNST UNST etc
February 10, 2026 at 8:40 AM
I've just discovered that there's a scottish island called Unst and now I will always think of it whenever I hear techno. UNST UNST UNST UNST UNST UNST etc
I've been freelance since 2020 so not seen this first hand re return to office mandates. Fascinatingre older managers feeling resentful that THEY had to be in offices all their lives and all must suffer as they suffered. Applies to a lot of work culture things imo
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
‘They want their pound of flesh’: bank bosses push strict return-to-office mandates
Culture, pay and expensive offices among reasons for ending remote work
giftarticle.ft.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:34 AM
I've been freelance since 2020 so not seen this first hand re return to office mandates. Fascinatingre older managers feeling resentful that THEY had to be in offices all their lives and all must suffer as they suffered. Applies to a lot of work culture things imo
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Reposted by Louie Stowell
𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖊
Meet the 1591 cat man. I am counting 7 cats on and near him. #catcontent
February 10, 2026 at 8:05 AM
𝖕𝖚𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖓𝖊𝖙𝖙𝖊
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The organisers of the vital Little Rebels Award @littlerebelsprize.bsky.social have paused this year's prize as they look for funding for a part time award administrator. Can you help? They hope to regroup and come back with a bang in 2027. Find out more:
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
February 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM
The organisers of the vital Little Rebels Award @littlerebelsprize.bsky.social have paused this year's prize as they look for funding for a part time award administrator. Can you help? They hope to regroup and come back with a bang in 2027. Find out more:
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
Reposted by Louie Stowell
This is such a shame, but understandable. Hopefully there's funding out there to make 2027 a brilliant year coz @littlerebsprize.bsky.social is one of my favourite awards! #KidLitUK
The organisers of the vital Little Rebels Award @littlerebelsprize.bsky.social have paused this year's prize as they look for funding for a part time award administrator. Can you help? They hope to regroup and come back with a bang in 2027. Find out more:
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
booksforkeeps.co.uk/little-rebel...
February 10, 2026 at 5:14 AM
This is such a shame, but understandable. Hopefully there's funding out there to make 2027 a brilliant year coz @littlerebsprize.bsky.social is one of my favourite awards! #KidLitUK
Reposted by Louie Stowell
We put on an all-Yiddish community production of fiddler on the roof in Philadelphia and cast member and local artist Sofie Rose Seymour created the most amazing show poster that ever was
February 6, 2026 at 5:10 AM
We put on an all-Yiddish community production of fiddler on the roof in Philadelphia and cast member and local artist Sofie Rose Seymour created the most amazing show poster that ever was
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Yes this. The harms of social media are real! So are the harms of blanket bans.
So many kids affected: LGBTQ, neurodivergent, living in isolated places, living with abusive parents. It's basically a ban on friends who don't live nearby
February 7, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Yes this. The harms of social media are real! So are the harms of blanket bans.
Put on my OOO cos I'm sick. Forgot to change the header on it from "merry christmas". See above re I'm sick.
February 9, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Put on my OOO cos I'm sick. Forgot to change the header on it from "merry christmas". See above re I'm sick.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
This is not writing. Do not let people express this delusion in your face.
fuck this lady, fuck the nyt reporter, fuck all of this. fuck amazon for introducing the KU page read model that makes this possible, fuck our tech overlords.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b...
The New Fabio Is Claude
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
This is not writing. Do not let people express this delusion in your face.
THIS RIGHT HERE! When we have comfortable bras for all? Then we can talk about whether AI is worth trying.
Can't believe we haven't developed better boob engineering yet. We landed a little robot suitcase on an ASTEROID. We can see through TIME with MASSIVE SPACE TELESCOPES. And still we suffer
February 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
THIS RIGHT HERE! When we have comfortable bras for all? Then we can talk about whether AI is worth trying.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
An excellent series for anyone interested in how we get children reading for pleasure. I have lots to catch up on but I had to give it a boost! #kidlituk #ukkidlit
Why aren’t children reading for pleasure and what can we do about it?
We look at the data, explore key barriers, and hear from authors, teachers & literacy experts working to change the story.
🎧 Listen now: https://loom.ly/7Zut6PU
#ReadingCrisis #ReadingForPleasure #teachers
We look at the data, explore key barriers, and hear from authors, teachers & literacy experts working to change the story.
🎧 Listen now: https://loom.ly/7Zut6PU
#ReadingCrisis #ReadingForPleasure #teachers
February 9, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
February 9, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Louie Stowell
And governments and businesses weren't going hell for leather trying to insert NFTs into everything. The boosterism and insistence on uptake is what makes Gen AI a much bigger threat this time. NFTs died because they didn't evolve out of their ecosystem, but as Bookish says, Gen AI already has
February 9, 2026 at 1:32 PM
And governments and businesses weren't going hell for leather trying to insert NFTs into everything. The boosterism and insistence on uptake is what makes Gen AI a much bigger threat this time. NFTs died because they didn't evolve out of their ecosystem, but as Bookish says, Gen AI already has
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The thing with NFTs is that most ordinary people didn’t use them (or even understand them). They seemed quite techbro/rich douchebag-niche to us ordinary plebs. Whereas ordinary plebs are using AI all over the place and genuinely thinking it’s the second coming.
February 9, 2026 at 1:12 PM
The thing with NFTs is that most ordinary people didn’t use them (or even understand them). They seemed quite techbro/rich douchebag-niche to us ordinary plebs. Whereas ordinary plebs are using AI all over the place and genuinely thinking it’s the second coming.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
NFTs have largely died after receiving similar hype to Gen AI. They were also environmentally destructive, and also involved large scale theft from artists, musicians, etc. Similar arguments were made by proponents that NFTs were "the future" and everyone would have to adopt them or be irrelevant.
Line Goes Up – The Problem With NFTs
YouTube video by Folding Ideas
youtu.be
February 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM
NFTs have largely died after receiving similar hype to Gen AI. They were also environmentally destructive, and also involved large scale theft from artists, musicians, etc. Similar arguments were made by proponents that NFTs were "the future" and everyone would have to adopt them or be irrelevant.
Can anyone recommend a good, recent romcom? Can be stupid but has to be actually funny. It's for a film night tonight. THANK YOU everyone!
February 9, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Can anyone recommend a good, recent romcom? Can be stupid but has to be actually funny. It's for a film night tonight. THANK YOU everyone!