Media pundit
@mediapundit.bsky.social
Writer and film reviewer. Working on my first novel! Letterboxd: https://bit.ly/46ipvlF. Blog: https://tinyurl.com/mud3xvz4
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Media pundit
@mediapundit.bsky.social
· Dec 23
Review: John Updike’s Rabbit quartet
Harry Angstrom of John Updike’s Rabbit series is an unusual protagonist. There are plenty of characters in literature who are ‘everymen’- Winston Smith from 1984, for example- but for the most part…
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk
Review of John Updike's Rabbit quartet.
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
Reposted by Media pundit
Live footage of Hannah Arendt's dichotomy between violence and power.
This administration is cooked. Literally no one is scared of them.
January 25, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Live footage of Hannah Arendt's dichotomy between violence and power.
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millions of mixed shades and shadows, drowned dreams, somnambulisms, reveries; all that we call lives and souls, lie dreaming, dreaming
January 25, 2026 at 7:47 AM
millions of mixed shades and shadows, drowned dreams, somnambulisms, reveries; all that we call lives and souls, lie dreaming, dreaming
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It’s called elevated horror, T. It’s when the dracula is actually that your mom died.
January 23, 2024 at 6:04 PM
It’s called elevated horror, T. It’s when the dracula is actually that your mom died.
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There are still many unknowns about the deal about Greenland, but it looks like Europe's pressure worked. The military deployments to Greenland had the desired effect, and Europe's defiant response to Trump's tariff threats has led to him now taking an off-ramp.
January 21, 2026 at 10:54 PM
There are still many unknowns about the deal about Greenland, but it looks like Europe's pressure worked. The military deployments to Greenland had the desired effect, and Europe's defiant response to Trump's tariff threats has led to him now taking an off-ramp.
No-one is going to ‘sell’ Trump Greenland.
January 20, 2026 at 12:16 AM
No-one is going to ‘sell’ Trump Greenland.
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Yeah, it's just IMO as deep as 'plot the far too many (31!) characters in far too many places on a map. You can only move them basically at the pace of the third-person limited perspective'. The problem is just baked into 'Martin should have made v different decisions around Storm of Swords'.
Yeah he went too wide and just cannot find a way to land the plane without actively retconning a book or two.
January 19, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Yeah, it's just IMO as deep as 'plot the far too many (31!) characters in far too many places on a map. You can only move them basically at the pace of the third-person limited perspective'. The problem is just baked into 'Martin should have made v different decisions around Storm of Swords'.
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like this is why Europe doesn't even trust Democrats on atlanticism now
i feel like Americans don't get the level of eye-rolling this is getting from Europe
January 19, 2026 at 4:07 AM
like this is why Europe doesn't even trust Democrats on atlanticism now
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“The Europeans won’t fight back” is a wildly factually incorrect statement and shows an astonishing lack of understanding of 1) how the geopolitics of escalation works 2) how Europe works 3) how war works
France is a nuclear power and is deploying troops in Greenland, for God’s sake
France is a nuclear power and is deploying troops in Greenland, for God’s sake
January 14, 2026 at 11:39 PM
“The Europeans won’t fight back” is a wildly factually incorrect statement and shows an astonishing lack of understanding of 1) how the geopolitics of escalation works 2) how Europe works 3) how war works
France is a nuclear power and is deploying troops in Greenland, for God’s sake
France is a nuclear power and is deploying troops in Greenland, for God’s sake
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So to be clear we have actually reached the point where NATO states are deploying tripwire forces to deter *another NATO state* from invading *another NATO state.*
I struggle to communicate the strategic and just regular insanity of this moment.
I struggle to communicate the strategic and just regular insanity of this moment.
Sweden is over Trump's nonsense about Greenland and is sending in troops.
SWEDEN, PEOPLE.
SWEDEN, PEOPLE.
January 14, 2026 at 5:57 PM
So to be clear we have actually reached the point where NATO states are deploying tripwire forces to deter *another NATO state* from invading *another NATO state.*
I struggle to communicate the strategic and just regular insanity of this moment.
I struggle to communicate the strategic and just regular insanity of this moment.
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This is a good read. Cory Doctorow on how Trump Tariffs are actually an opportunity for the rest of the world to break the grip of US tech companies.
Trump may be the beginning of the end for ‘enshittification’ – this is our chance to make tech good again | Cory Doctorow
The US president is weaponising tech, but his tariffs and Brexit provide a surprising opportunity to gain back digital control of our lives, says science fiction author, activist and journalist Cory D...
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:20 AM
This is a good read. Cory Doctorow on how Trump Tariffs are actually an opportunity for the rest of the world to break the grip of US tech companies.
Reposted by Media pundit
this guy is a fucking hero
the man widely regarded as creator of Korean fried chicken has died www.koreaherald.com/article/1065...
Man who built Korea's fried chicken industry dies at 74
Yoon Jong-gye, the founder of Mexican Chicken and widely regarded as the creator of Korea’s signature sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, has died after a long illne
www.koreaherald.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:12 AM
this guy is a fucking hero
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Discworld QOTD, from Snuff
January 7, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Discworld QOTD, from Snuff
A lot of talk from Americans about how the effete Europeans would never shoot back against the glorious American Wehrmacht, if it comes to it.
They should read some history from before about 1990.
#Greenland
They should read some history from before about 1990.
#Greenland
January 8, 2026 at 3:47 AM
A lot of talk from Americans about how the effete Europeans would never shoot back against the glorious American Wehrmacht, if it comes to it.
They should read some history from before about 1990.
#Greenland
They should read some history from before about 1990.
#Greenland
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Hopefully this is the first step and will be backed up by enforcement.
Government demands Musk's X deals with 'appalling' Grok AI
Grok is being used to digitally remove women's clothing - something victims describe as
www.bbc.co.uk
January 6, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Hopefully this is the first step and will be backed up by enforcement.
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The EU and UK should shut down X just as they shut down RT - and in fact I think it is likely that they will eventually. The question is, how much damage will be done by then?
January 5, 2026 at 4:54 PM
The EU and UK should shut down X just as they shut down RT - and in fact I think it is likely that they will eventually. The question is, how much damage will be done by then?
‘Wickedness was like food: once you got started it was hard to stop; the gut expanded to take in more and more.’
-John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
-John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
January 5, 2026 at 6:36 AM
‘Wickedness was like food: once you got started it was hard to stop; the gut expanded to take in more and more.’
-John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
-John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick
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the water thing about genAI is bullshit but the thing where it makes on-demand nudes and CSAM isn't and the thing where it talks you into killing yourself isn't and those seem pretty bad
January 2, 2026 at 1:43 AM
the water thing about genAI is bullshit but the thing where it makes on-demand nudes and CSAM isn't and the thing where it talks you into killing yourself isn't and those seem pretty bad
Cheerful news to bring in the new year
#2026 #happynewyear
#2026 #happynewyear
January 1, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Cheerful news to bring in the new year
#2026 #happynewyear
#2026 #happynewyear
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the kind of boring and banal truth about AI tools is that they are basically like every other tool in that they work best to complement your existing areas of expertise, have limitations, and do require an investment of time to learn their capabilities and limitations.
December 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
the kind of boring and banal truth about AI tools is that they are basically like every other tool in that they work best to complement your existing areas of expertise, have limitations, and do require an investment of time to learn their capabilities and limitations.
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Cunk spittin Christmas cheer
December 20, 2024 at 12:48 PM
Cunk spittin Christmas cheer
Review of John Updike's Rabbit quartet.
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
Review: John Updike’s Rabbit quartet
Harry Angstrom of John Updike’s Rabbit series is an unusual protagonist. There are plenty of characters in literature who are ‘everymen’- Winston Smith from 1984, for example- but for the most part…
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Review of John Updike's Rabbit quartet.
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
My last blog post of the year
#Updike #Rabbit #writing #writingcommunity
chrisbarkerauthor.co.uk/2025/12/23/r...
One thing which dispelled the magic around LLMs for me was asking ChatGPT for a review of a film, then for a summary of some actual scenes.
The review was ’fine.’ The descriptions of key scenes in the film was complete nonsense.
The review was ’fine.’ The descriptions of key scenes in the film was complete nonsense.
The “AI” has not read the book. Even if the book was in its training data, it has just absorbed it as a set of statistics. It will juggle you a “summary” that might or might not relate to the conclusions of the actual text. The only way you’ll know is to read it yourself.
This is one of the reasons I remain horrified by seeing @historians.org suggest "ways to use gAI" that included this:
December 22, 2025 at 8:58 AM
One thing which dispelled the magic around LLMs for me was asking ChatGPT for a review of a film, then for a summary of some actual scenes.
The review was ’fine.’ The descriptions of key scenes in the film was complete nonsense.
The review was ’fine.’ The descriptions of key scenes in the film was complete nonsense.
Reposted by Media pundit
The “AI” has not read the book. Even if the book was in its training data, it has just absorbed it as a set of statistics. It will juggle you a “summary” that might or might not relate to the conclusions of the actual text. The only way you’ll know is to read it yourself.
This is one of the reasons I remain horrified by seeing @historians.org suggest "ways to use gAI" that included this:
December 22, 2025 at 7:21 AM
The “AI” has not read the book. Even if the book was in its training data, it has just absorbed it as a set of statistics. It will juggle you a “summary” that might or might not relate to the conclusions of the actual text. The only way you’ll know is to read it yourself.
Reposted by Media pundit
Discworld QOTD, from The Last Continent
“The wizards were civilized men of considerable education and culture. When faced with being inadvertently marooned on a desert island they understood immediately that the first thing to do was place the blame.”
“The wizards were civilized men of considerable education and culture. When faced with being inadvertently marooned on a desert island they understood immediately that the first thing to do was place the blame.”
Discworld QOTD, from Thud!
December 19, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Discworld QOTD, from The Last Continent
“The wizards were civilized men of considerable education and culture. When faced with being inadvertently marooned on a desert island they understood immediately that the first thing to do was place the blame.”
“The wizards were civilized men of considerable education and culture. When faced with being inadvertently marooned on a desert island they understood immediately that the first thing to do was place the blame.”
Reposted by Media pundit
You know a thing that is very bad about this? This is the anti-trans playbook being played against women. Start with 'has the x movement failed the people it's supposed to help', then infantilize them, then make the case they can't be responsible for their own choices, then take their rights away
"Has feminism failed women brought to you by bank of america" is my MKULTRA sleeper agent activation phrase
December 19, 2025 at 5:42 PM
You know a thing that is very bad about this? This is the anti-trans playbook being played against women. Start with 'has the x movement failed the people it's supposed to help', then infantilize them, then make the case they can't be responsible for their own choices, then take their rights away