Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
@paalhal.bsky.social
Associate prof, Library and information science, OsloMet + postdoc in sociology. Interested in social theory, digital media and culture, taste, sociology of literature and WW2. Also, chair of the Norwegian Sociological Association
Pinned
How do writers respond to authoritarian developments? Are they the famous metaphorical canaries in the coal mine? In this new article we research the case of the response of writers to the German occupation of Norway, 1940–45. Historical sociology meets sociology of literature! OA, link in next
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
💥 Viktor Orbán faces a possible ousting in April 2026 — and whether he manages to cling to power or not, his regime and its global allure as a model for autocrats worldwide are crumbling. Read the sharpest analysis available.
The Era of Orbánism as an Exportable Model May Be Ending - VSquare.org
Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán’s once-admired “illiberal model” is faltering — plagued by economic crisis, voter frustration, and collapsing governance. With the 2026 election looming, his future — and the global appeal of his system — is at stake as his government faces its biggest political test.
vsquare.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:30 PM
💥 Viktor Orbán faces a possible ousting in April 2026 — and whether he manages to cling to power or not, his regime and its global allure as a model for autocrats worldwide are crumbling. Read the sharpest analysis available.
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Prediction is hard, especially about the future.
It's worth reading Mary McCarthy's 1986 review of Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." Not for how she misjudges its achievement but more for what McCarthy, a brilliant writer and intellectual, couldn't see—and to judge how far America has come since then. #Skystorians archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....
November 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Prediction is hard, especially about the future.
Trist leder av Mari Skurdal i dag. Bernhard Ellefsen har forsøkt å tenke originalt og konstruktivt om norsk kulturpolitikk og blir møtt med det korte og slappe “tilsvaret”. Hvilke prioriteringer vil Skurdal gjøre for å gjenreise kulturpolitikken?
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Trist leder av Mari Skurdal i dag. Bernhard Ellefsen har forsøkt å tenke originalt og konstruktivt om norsk kulturpolitikk og blir møtt med det korte og slappe “tilsvaret”. Hvilke prioriteringer vil Skurdal gjøre for å gjenreise kulturpolitikken?
It’s going to be an interest in election last year
💥Viktor Orbán and his rival Péter Magyar both called supporters to the streets of Budapest to mark the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution.
Political scientist Andrea Szabó and her students used scientific methods to count the crowds: Orbán drew about 93K, Magyar 168K ppl: www.facebook.com/andrea.szabo...
Political scientist Andrea Szabó and her students used scientific methods to count the crowds: Orbán drew about 93K, Magyar 168K ppl: www.facebook.com/andrea.szabo...
October 25, 2025 at 11:05 AM
It’s going to be an interest in election last year
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
📸 There's a story behind this breathtaking shot of Hungary’s opposition rally marking the 1956 revolution: Orbán’s government banned drones to try conceal the crowd’s size. Yet a passenger on a landing plane caught the scene in Budapest from above — the photo hit Reddit and went viral instantly.
October 24, 2025 at 6:49 PM
📸 There's a story behind this breathtaking shot of Hungary’s opposition rally marking the 1956 revolution: Orbán’s government banned drones to try conceal the crowd’s size. Yet a passenger on a landing plane caught the scene in Budapest from above — the photo hit Reddit and went viral instantly.
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
“Understand a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity.”
Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
October 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
“Understand a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity.”
Clifford Geertz
Clifford Geertz
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?
BREAKING: Venezuela's Maria Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 reut.rs/42uh3Aw
October 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
I’m happy to see the awful Venezuelan regime being criticized but if “this is an award for an entire movement” (as the committee said), why give it to one specific person? And one with dubious friends and positions? Nobel Prize has been given to groups and movements before. Peace offer to Trump?
Krasznahorkai!!!! Great award, most deserved!!
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
Krasznahorkai László kapta az irodalmi Nobel-díjat
Az indokolás szerint látnoki erejű műveiért részesült az elismerésben, amelyek az apokaliptikus terror közepette is képesek megerősíteni a művészet erejét. Kertész Imre 2002-es sikere után nyerte újra...
telex.hu
October 9, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Krasznahorkai!!!! Great award, most deserved!!
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
telex.hu/kult/2025/10...
Oh no, may I no longer use the em dash? Afraid I’ve been sending wrong signals for a while now: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition
www.nytimes.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Oh no, may I no longer use the em dash? Afraid I’ve been sending wrong signals for a while now: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
i love ta-nehisi coates so much
September 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
i love ta-nehisi coates so much
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Today translators, tomorrow... We need to prioritize human-to-human connection.
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com
September 26, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Today translators, tomorrow... We need to prioritize human-to-human connection.
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
“The more we remove human elements from human interaction, the more it could distort relationships between people. Now more than ever, we need humans connecting with humans.”
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
The dangers of AI slop: “AI content can push our emotional buttons easily, re-affirming or amplifying existing beliefs with generated imagery. Practically every social media study since 2012 has found that the secret to virality is in making you emotional . . . .”
No, that wasn’t Angela Rayner dancing and rapping: you’ll need to understand AI slopaganda | Marcus Beard
The qualms about using AI imagery and deepfakes in politics are breaking down. It will soon just be part of the political language we all use, says digital, disinformation and AI specialist Marcus Bea...
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The dangers of AI slop: “AI content can push our emotional buttons easily, re-affirming or amplifying existing beliefs with generated imagery. Practically every social media study since 2012 has found that the secret to virality is in making you emotional . . . .”
Spurt i 2009 om Ungarere lever under bedre, verre eller samme forhold som under kommunismen, oppga 72 prosent verre forhold. Selv russerne har et mer positivt syn på regimeendringene etter 1990 enn ungarerne. Les min bokanmeldelse av Tibor Valuchs nye bok (2025) tidsskriftet-nof.no/index.php/no...
Contemporary Hungarian Society. Social Changes in Hungary from Late State Socialism
| Nordisk Østforum
tidsskriftet-nof.no
September 8, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Spurt i 2009 om Ungarere lever under bedre, verre eller samme forhold som under kommunismen, oppga 72 prosent verre forhold. Selv russerne har et mer positivt syn på regimeendringene etter 1990 enn ungarerne. Les min bokanmeldelse av Tibor Valuchs nye bok (2025) tidsskriftet-nof.no/index.php/no...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
this is one of the things where they’re clearly doing it to trigger the libs, but the triggering thing is “the government should be allowed to kill people for no reason”, and if you’re not gonna ‘take the bait’ on that, why even have a politics?
Yale Law School never beating the “they don’t teach law at Yale” allegations
September 7, 2025 at 1:22 AM
this is one of the things where they’re clearly doing it to trigger the libs, but the triggering thing is “the government should be allowed to kill people for no reason”, and if you’re not gonna ‘take the bait’ on that, why even have a politics?
Currently enjoying being a part of the group «man with an unpublished book manuscript about World War II», but a bit hesitant to having the group «man with rejected book manuscript about World War II» as a possible future
September 6, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Currently enjoying being a part of the group «man with an unpublished book manuscript about World War II», but a bit hesitant to having the group «man with rejected book manuscript about World War II» as a possible future
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
17 August 1942 | Irène Némirovsky, a French-language novelist born in the family of Russian Jews, died of typhus after a month of imprisonment in the German Nazi #Auschwitz camp. She was 39.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A...
August 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM
17 August 1942 | Irène Némirovsky, a French-language novelist born in the family of Russian Jews, died of typhus after a month of imprisonment in the German Nazi #Auschwitz camp. She was 39.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ir%C3%A...
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Håvard Brede Aven skreiv ein veldig god tekst om Førdesfjorden og andre miljørettssaker i Syn og Segn i fjor. Kan vera verd ei nylesing no som naturorganisasjonane vann mot staten i lagmannsretten.
www.synogsegn.no/2025/tilbake...
www.synogsegn.no/2025/tilbake...
Tilbake til råvarene - Syn og Segn
For Oslo tingrett er Førdefjorden ein av 30 000 vassførekomstar i landet. For meg er fjorden noko som har gjort meg til den eg er. Men kva seier utfallet av Fjordsøksmålet om framtida til dei norske f...
www.synogsegn.no
August 12, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Håvard Brede Aven skreiv ein veldig god tekst om Førdesfjorden og andre miljørettssaker i Syn og Segn i fjor. Kan vera verd ei nylesing no som naturorganisasjonane vann mot staten i lagmannsretten.
www.synogsegn.no/2025/tilbake...
www.synogsegn.no/2025/tilbake...
Furthest I’ve been:
North: Tromsø 🇳🇴
East: St. Petersburg 🇷🇺
West: California 🇺🇸
South: Marrakesh 🇲🇦
North: Tromsø 🇳🇴
East: St. Petersburg 🇷🇺
West: California 🇺🇸
South: Marrakesh 🇲🇦
(I guess "furthest" East and West is relative to where one normally/currently lives - so, using Philly.)
Furthest I've been:
North: somewhere in Alaska when I was 14
West: Beijing
South: McAllen, TX
East: Budapest
(I thought for sure Morocco would be the furthest *somewhere* but maps say no.)
Furthest I've been:
North: somewhere in Alaska when I was 14
West: Beijing
South: McAllen, TX
East: Budapest
(I thought for sure Morocco would be the furthest *somewhere* but maps say no.)
furthest i’ve been:
north: berlin 🇩🇪
east: santorini 🇬🇷
south: ko samui 🇹🇭
west: chiang mai 🇹🇭
north: berlin 🇩🇪
east: santorini 🇬🇷
south: ko samui 🇹🇭
west: chiang mai 🇹🇭
August 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Furthest I’ve been:
North: Tromsø 🇳🇴
East: St. Petersburg 🇷🇺
West: California 🇺🇸
South: Marrakesh 🇲🇦
North: Tromsø 🇳🇴
East: St. Petersburg 🇷🇺
West: California 🇺🇸
South: Marrakesh 🇲🇦
Kjærås, NFF og leder for UEFA playmakers i Norge sier på radio at Innsiden ut 2 (!) er mer utbredt som kulturell fellesnevner enn Ambjørnsen og Moe, underforstått Askeladden. Jeg har alltid synes det har vært litt komisk med sånn kulturimperialisme-kritikk, men den har jaggu framleis sin plass!
July 18, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Kjærås, NFF og leder for UEFA playmakers i Norge sier på radio at Innsiden ut 2 (!) er mer utbredt som kulturell fellesnevner enn Ambjørnsen og Moe, underforstått Askeladden. Jeg har alltid synes det har vært litt komisk med sånn kulturimperialisme-kritikk, men den har jaggu framleis sin plass!
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
There's something about the way men use LLMs that feel like those men at the strip club who believe that the dancers like them for their personality and wit.
They just want a toy that makes them feel good.
They just want a toy that makes them feel good.
![Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber who no longer works at the company, appeared on All-In to talk with hosts Jason Calacanis and Chamath Palihapitiya about the future of technology. When the topic turned to AI, Kalanick discussed how he uses xAI’s Grok, which went haywire last week, praising Adolf Hitler and advocating for a second Holocaust against Jews.
“I’ll go down this thread with [Chat]GPT or Grok and I’ll start to get to the edge of what’s known in quantum physics and then I’m doing the equivalent of vibe coding, except it’s vibe physics,” Kalanick explained. “And we’re approaching what’s known. And I’m trying to poke and see if there’s breakthroughs to be had. And I’ve gotten pretty damn close to some interesting breakthroughs just doing that.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/bafkreiac2szurc5dnw6klquhpjmo7iafg4n6fwmrqyred7jrrph6h6mptq@jpeg)
July 16, 2025 at 4:19 AM
There's something about the way men use LLMs that feel like those men at the strip club who believe that the dancers like them for their personality and wit.
They just want a toy that makes them feel good.
They just want a toy that makes them feel good.
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
Orban Playbook.
This is from AdImpact, the canonical outfit tracking political spending on advertising. Note that the "top advertiser" so far this year is the Department of Homeland Security, so the Trump administration's spending taxpayer dollars in support of the President.
July 3, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Orban Playbook.
Reposted by Pål Csaszni Halvorsen
In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered one of the greatest speeches in US history. Today it’s often presented in abridged form, though, and skips what seems like a long-winded introduction. If you read the intro closely, however, there’s an ingenious structure. THREAD👇🏽
July 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
In July of 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered one of the greatest speeches in US history. Today it’s often presented in abridged form, though, and skips what seems like a long-winded introduction. If you read the intro closely, however, there’s an ingenious structure. THREAD👇🏽