Monica Byrne
@monicabyrne13.bsky.social
Writer living in Ireland. AI-free. Buy THE ACTUAL STAR: https://www.monicabyrne.org/the-actual-star. Reps at CAA, DG&B, and Kaplan/Perrone. She/her.
monicabyrne.substack.com
patreon.com/monicabyrne
monicabyrne.substack.com
patreon.com/monicabyrne
Pinned
Monica Byrne
@monicabyrne13.bsky.social
· Oct 23
The Actual Star review: A masterpiece of imaginative world building
Monica Byrne's fantastic second novel follows three storylines in the past, present and future, all of which are linked by historical threads and religious ideas, says Michael Marshall
www.newscientist.com
"When a book is this ambitious, either it is a thumping success or it falls on its face. Happily, The Actual Star is a stone-cold masterpiece. It is one of the most moving novels I have read and surely a contender for major awards."
Welp. 😳
Welp. 😳
Reposted by Monica Byrne
For more on Rev. Woolf, who appears to have been arrested today: he published an editorial with @rns.org literally this week titled “Why clergy should risk assault to protest ICE” —> religionnews.com/2025/11/13/w...
November 14, 2025 at 5:25 PM
For more on Rev. Woolf, who appears to have been arrested today: he published an editorial with @rns.org literally this week titled “Why clergy should risk assault to protest ICE” —> religionnews.com/2025/11/13/w...
Reposted by Monica Byrne
if your moderation team bans someone for a harmless unactionable exclamation of disgust, but permits a govt account to say stuff like this,
you need a new moderation team.
you need a new moderation team.
![Dept. of War [sic]'s bluesky account says "To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: If you keep trafficking deadly drugs–we will kill you."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:a4n6zqm2ufqrdbyszo5gvgyq/bafkreifpxnl7xocstyj3ztg3enbd5osgyaxznmbkkkysjjuykxbplp5gl4@jpeg)
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
if your moderation team bans someone for a harmless unactionable exclamation of disgust, but permits a govt account to say stuff like this,
you need a new moderation team.
you need a new moderation team.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
I sometimes feel like they don’t want to end poverty or reduce inequality because they believe they’re entitled to a class of people they can prey upon
November 14, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I sometimes feel like they don’t want to end poverty or reduce inequality because they believe they’re entitled to a class of people they can prey upon
Reposted by Monica Byrne
So rich grown men’s sexual abuse of poor women and young girls is not merely a bonus of power for them—it’s central to how they maintain their power.
November 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM
So rich grown men’s sexual abuse of poor women and young girls is not merely a bonus of power for them—it’s central to how they maintain their power.
I think I’m experiencing culture shock on a lag time. It took four months but….😵💫
November 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I think I’m experiencing culture shock on a lag time. It took four months but….😵💫
Reposted by Monica Byrne
"What if one of YOUR favorite politicians/celebrities/etc is on the list?" Did you all not notice how quickly we dropped Neil Gaiman when we found out about the things he did? Do you know how beloved that guy used to be and how loathed he is now? I think that right there should answer your question.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 AM
"What if one of YOUR favorite politicians/celebrities/etc is on the list?" Did you all not notice how quickly we dropped Neil Gaiman when we found out about the things he did? Do you know how beloved that guy used to be and how loathed he is now? I think that right there should answer your question.
I’m up way past my bedtime because I visited a scifi class in New Zealand, which itself had students from all over the world. All of us nerding out together in our respective time zones.
The world is such a wreck, and yet we also live in such an age of miracles. Impossible to reconcile.
The world is such a wreck, and yet we also live in such an age of miracles. Impossible to reconcile.
November 14, 2025 at 12:54 AM
I’m up way past my bedtime because I visited a scifi class in New Zealand, which itself had students from all over the world. All of us nerding out together in our respective time zones.
The world is such a wreck, and yet we also live in such an age of miracles. Impossible to reconcile.
The world is such a wreck, and yet we also live in such an age of miracles. Impossible to reconcile.
….OH MY GOD
I thought that D’Angelo video was only an extended shot of his face and I’ve never been more happy to be wrong
November 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
….OH MY GOD
Cold days here. If I pull my cowl up, I look like Shai-Hulud
November 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Cold days here. If I pull my cowl up, I look like Shai-Hulud
Reposted by Monica Byrne
What I want to know is, how are we going to celebrate the first anniversary of this photo
November 12, 2025 at 8:11 PM
What I want to know is, how are we going to celebrate the first anniversary of this photo
So uh. If Disney now owns Hulu, why am I getting charged separately, for both?
November 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
So uh. If Disney now owns Hulu, why am I getting charged separately, for both?
Equating “leaving a country” = “ceasing to fight on behalf of the people in it” is the logic of the state, and I wish we would stop doing it
November 13, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Equating “leaving a country” = “ceasing to fight on behalf of the people in it” is the logic of the state, and I wish we would stop doing it
Reposted by Monica Byrne
Donald Trump was practicing child rape the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
November 13, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Donald Trump was practicing child rape the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
Reposted by Monica Byrne
we live in rape culture. children are not, despite a powerful discourse of "taboo sex crimes," exempt. they are the most powerless class of people in a social system were power us expressed and practiced through sexual violence. this is the norm, not the exception.
November 13, 2025 at 12:34 AM
we live in rape culture. children are not, despite a powerful discourse of "taboo sex crimes," exempt. they are the most powerless class of people in a social system were power us expressed and practiced through sexual violence. this is the norm, not the exception.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
it's because the notion that child sexual abuse is some uniquely taboo universally reviled übercrime for which men can easily get their lives/careers ruined is a myth and always has been. it's always been tacitly permitted, winked at, ignored, excused, and downplayed across all sectors of society.
Maybe it's my Autism Brain or whatever, but I don't really get why anyone who had access to this stuff wouldn't have splashed these horrific revelations literally everywhere the second you knew about them. Take these fuckers down.
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 AM
it's because the notion that child sexual abuse is some uniquely taboo universally reviled übercrime for which men can easily get their lives/careers ruined is a myth and always has been. it's always been tacitly permitted, winked at, ignored, excused, and downplayed across all sectors of society.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.
So much work remains to be done.
So much work remains to be done.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
Well I can see Bluesky is handling a PR crisis in their normal competent manner
November 12, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Well I can see Bluesky is handling a PR crisis in their normal competent manner
Cancel. Your. Subscription.
Another thing this email trove has convinced me of is that NYT has been actively and consciously helping Trump since 2015. It wasn't just casual sexism, double standards, and political reporting Kayfabe. They were doing catch and kill
November 12, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Cancel. Your. Subscription.
Whew, this episode. “For the Uniform.” Revealed a really ugly side of Sisko, imo. But I’m glad Eddington is living to see another day… he’s such a fascinating character.
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Whew, this episode. “For the Uniform.” Revealed a really ugly side of Sisko, imo. But I’m glad Eddington is living to see another day… he’s such a fascinating character.
I thought that D’Angelo video was only an extended shot of his face and I’ve never been more happy to be wrong
November 12, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I thought that D’Angelo video was only an extended shot of his face and I’ve never been more happy to be wrong
What I want to know is, how are we going to celebrate the first anniversary of this photo
November 12, 2025 at 8:11 PM
What I want to know is, how are we going to celebrate the first anniversary of this photo
Yes! Because the media is captured and the “opposition party” is complicit! That’s the situation we’re actually in, and it still will be, even if there exist some magical Files that will somehow be Released.
Christ, even all the big bad awful things combined don't seem to be enough to take this scumbag down
November 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Yes! Because the media is captured and the “opposition party” is complicit! That’s the situation we’re actually in, and it still will be, even if there exist some magical Files that will somehow be Released.
Goddamn my honesty. Sometimes I really wish I had the ability to lie.
November 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Goddamn my honesty. Sometimes I really wish I had the ability to lie.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
What we (should have) learned from MeToo is that rape and abuse are integral to patriarchy, and in response patriarchy redoubled its commitment to power.
November 12, 2025 at 4:50 PM
What we (should have) learned from MeToo is that rape and abuse are integral to patriarchy, and in response patriarchy redoubled its commitment to power.
Reposted by Monica Byrne
This is the exact premise of my story “Parasocial,” except with interactive holograms.
If you’re a film producer: my reps are currently shopping it. See next link.
If you’re a film producer: my reps are currently shopping it. See next link.
ElevenLabs' "Iconic Voice Marketplace" also features dead luminaries such as Maya Angelou, Judy Garland, Thomas Edison, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.
www.avclub.com/michael-cain...
www.avclub.com/michael-cain...
Michael Caine and Liza Minnelli give AI company greenlight to clone their voices
Michael Caine and Liza Minnelli give AI company greenlight to clone their voices
www.avclub.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:12 PM
This is the exact premise of my story “Parasocial,” except with interactive holograms.
If you’re a film producer: my reps are currently shopping it. See next link.
If you’re a film producer: my reps are currently shopping it. See next link.