Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
@zgtcooper.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Digital Media & Film at St. Lawrence University | Affiliate @datasociety.bsky.social (Climate, Technology, and Justice group). Internet infrastructure and sustainability researcher. www.zanegriffintalleycooper.com
Pinned
Geographies of Digital Wasting
www.geographiesofdigitalwasting.com
Haven’t been here in a bit so for Bsky folks who may not know, @laurenebridges.bsky.social, myself, and a wonderful research team published this really cool multimedia project on e-waste called Geographies of Digital Wasting and y’all should check it out! www.geographiesofdigitalwasting.com
This is mentioned briefly in the article, but the entire hiring and promotion process for academics has been ensnared by this shit. Publishing 7 articles and a book in five years in order to get tenure is insane. Research contribution should be measured by quality not quantity.
“Reclaiming academic publishing as a public good requires a return to not-for-profit models & sustainable open-access systems. Quality, accessibility & integrity need to be put ahead of profit. Change is needed to protect the purpose of academic research: to advance knowledge in the public interest”
The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing
Academic publishing now shows the same decline that has hit social media and online marketplaces.
theconversation.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:01 PM
This is mentioned briefly in the article, but the entire hiring and promotion process for academics has been ensnared by this shit. Publishing 7 articles and a book in five years in order to get tenure is insane. Research contribution should be measured by quality not quantity.
Once again tapping the sign: datasociety.net/points/the-n...
January 11, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Once again tapping the sign: datasociety.net/points/the-n...
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the price of Bitcoin started rising to its highest point since early December a couple of hours directly before the U.S. invasion of Venezuela
January 5, 2026 at 4:44 AM
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that the price of Bitcoin started rising to its highest point since early December a couple of hours directly before the U.S. invasion of Venezuela
It’s important in this mess to distinguish between rhetoric/imaginary and on-the-ground reality. For these folks Greenland isn’t a real place with people and things, but more of an empty fetish object on which to project future imaginaries. I talk a bit about it here: datasociety.net/points/the-n...
January 5, 2026 at 12:58 AM
It’s important in this mess to distinguish between rhetoric/imaginary and on-the-ground reality. For these folks Greenland isn’t a real place with people and things, but more of an empty fetish object on which to project future imaginaries. I talk a bit about it here: datasociety.net/points/the-n...
I'm researching the relationship between humanoid robots and data centers, and I'm looking for resources that detail the cloud infrastructures of robots. Generally interested in relationships between these emerging robotics companies and AWS/Azure, etc. Any pointers would be much appreciated!
January 2, 2026 at 6:27 PM
I'm researching the relationship between humanoid robots and data centers, and I'm looking for resources that detail the cloud infrastructures of robots. Generally interested in relationships between these emerging robotics companies and AWS/Azure, etc. Any pointers would be much appreciated!
I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I wanted to share the syllabus for my Experimental Cinema course I ran last semester. A transcendent experience. Their final films were incredible. Here's the syllabus and some project screenshots: static1.squarespace.com/static/5d5ef...
December 27, 2025 at 7:00 PM
I haven't been posting a lot lately, but I wanted to share the syllabus for my Experimental Cinema course I ran last semester. A transcendent experience. Their final films were incredible. Here's the syllabus and some project screenshots: static1.squarespace.com/static/5d5ef...
Any tech that doesn’t help directly address ongoing genocides, income inequality, the climate crisis, and the rise of global fascism is nonsense and should not be funded.
June 9, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Any tech that doesn’t help directly address ongoing genocides, income inequality, the climate crisis, and the rise of global fascism is nonsense and should not be funded.
As an aside, if any editor out there wants to pay me to write a piece on why measuring the immense social and environmental impacts of AI is getting us nowhere, and how we can reframe the discourse, I have a number of things brewing. Plus I’m poor and need some extra cash plzzzz.
My thinking is that, long term, AI use at universities will become pretty narrow and specific, once an untold amount of damage is done by trying to force AI tools into every level of operation. AGI is not a thing. It’s management propaganda for the most part.
June 9, 2025 at 7:12 PM
As an aside, if any editor out there wants to pay me to write a piece on why measuring the immense social and environmental impacts of AI is getting us nowhere, and how we can reframe the discourse, I have a number of things brewing. Plus I’m poor and need some extra cash plzzzz.
Maxine Berg shows how the “nimble fingers” stereotype first arose in the early Industrial Revolution as a way for managers to de-skill the labor of women workers. It was also used to exoticize labor of Navajo semiconductor manufacturers at Shiprock in the 60s. The term has a long sordid history.
May 25, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Maxine Berg shows how the “nimble fingers” stereotype first arose in the early Industrial Revolution as a way for managers to de-skill the labor of women workers. It was also used to exoticize labor of Navajo semiconductor manufacturers at Shiprock in the 60s. The term has a long sordid history.
It’s The Rizzler.
Next in procedure, the cardinal elected pope must formally accept the role, and then is asked to choose a name.
The pope then enters the Room of Tears, changes garments, and shows himself to the world by walking out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope then enters the Room of Tears, changes garments, and shows himself to the world by walking out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Conclave live updates: New pope elected, white smoke over the Vatican proclaims
Cheers erupted and suspense built in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square as cardinals announced with clamor and smoke that a successor to Pope Francis has been named.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:56 PM
It’s The Rizzler.
In addition to the plagiarism, energy use, and general deterioration of critical thinking, AI (as currently deployed) is a less an existential risk to humanity, and more a management ideology that begets extreme wealth consolidation and labor exploitation.
can i ask my followers here perhaps too earnestly - if you hate AI or find it utterly worthless, why?
it's jolting how little AI skepticism has reached the general public. i've had many acquaintances ask whether i use AI for research and seem shocked when i tell them it's completely useless for that purpose. my wife recently told her colleagues about hallucinations and it was news to all of them.
May 7, 2025 at 11:04 PM
In addition to the plagiarism, energy use, and general deterioration of critical thinking, AI (as currently deployed) is a less an existential risk to humanity, and more a management ideology that begets extreme wealth consolidation and labor exploitation.
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
AI is a plagiarism engine built on stolen data, exploited labour, and enviro harm. Marketed as “intelligent,” it erodes critical thinking, empathy, and causes psychological harm. Run by authoritarian billionaires, it’s used for surveillance, profiling, and genocide—whether it works or makes up shit.
can i ask my followers here perhaps too earnestly - if you hate AI or find it utterly worthless, why?
it's jolting how little AI skepticism has reached the general public. i've had many acquaintances ask whether i use AI for research and seem shocked when i tell them it's completely useless for that purpose. my wife recently told her colleagues about hallucinations and it was news to all of them.
May 7, 2025 at 8:52 PM
AI is a plagiarism engine built on stolen data, exploited labour, and enviro harm. Marketed as “intelligent,” it erodes critical thinking, empathy, and causes psychological harm. Run by authoritarian billionaires, it’s used for surveillance, profiling, and genocide—whether it works or makes up shit.
Notice they went with the RED lightsaber
May 4, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Notice they went with the RED lightsaber
This is a fantastic piece, and exactly what I try to impart to my students. Things can, and should be different. The first step in this long and arduous process is imagination, pure and simple.
"The greatest tragedy of all, in this ultimate nexus of crises, is the pollution to our minds. In a time when we need to find the very best of ourselves, we are collectively suffering through a crisis of imagination."
I loved writing this for @dezeen.com
www.dezeen.com/2025/04/28/c...
I loved writing this for @dezeen.com
www.dezeen.com/2025/04/28/c...
"We are collectively suffering through a crisis of imagination"
An inability to imagine the world differently is preventing us from understanding what a terrible situation humanity is in, writes Rachel Donald.
www.dezeen.com
April 28, 2025 at 8:13 PM
This is a fantastic piece, and exactly what I try to impart to my students. Things can, and should be different. The first step in this long and arduous process is imagination, pure and simple.
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
I love how @zgtcooper.bsky.social uses his ethnographic work in Greenland to take down the vacuous concept of the Network State, which is so detached from land and the people who live in a place, with tech bros grafting AI generated crypto fascist nightmares onto topographies they don’t understand
The Network State and Topological Fetishism in Greenland
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate Zane Griffin Talley Cooper examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality o...
datasociety.net
April 23, 2025 at 11:35 PM
I love how @zgtcooper.bsky.social uses his ethnographic work in Greenland to take down the vacuous concept of the Network State, which is so detached from land and the people who live in a place, with tech bros grafting AI generated crypto fascist nightmares onto topographies they don’t understand
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
A sneak peek at histories of environmental justice and transnational solidarity, from Oakland to Taiwan, we’ll be talking about on Saturday in my fireside chat with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social and @xrw.bsky.social as part of SF Climate Week
The Cloud is Dead, Deadly, and Haunted
The resource costs of AI “are informed not only by histories of extraction and exploitation, but by those of resistance,” D&S Climate Program Director Tamara Kneese writes. “This means we need to do m...
datasociety.net
April 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM
A sneak peek at histories of environmental justice and transnational solidarity, from Oakland to Taiwan, we’ll be talking about on Saturday in my fireside chat with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social and @xrw.bsky.social as part of SF Climate Week
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate @zgtcooper.bsky.social examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality of life in Greenland. datasociety.net/points/the-n...
April 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate @zgtcooper.bsky.social examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality of life in Greenland. datasociety.net/points/the-n...
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
It’s Earth Week! In this new series, members of our research network explore how communities have addressed the unequal power dynamics between tech production and deployment, and how tech impacts people’s everyday lives and the environment around them. datasociety.net/points/the-c...
April 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
It’s Earth Week! In this new series, members of our research network explore how communities have addressed the unequal power dynamics between tech production and deployment, and how tech impacts people’s everyday lives and the environment around them. datasociety.net/points/the-c...
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
THE NETWORK STATE AND TOPOLOGICAL FETISHISM IN GREENLAND
The Cloud is Dead: A Series on Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction
By ZANE GRIFFIN TALLEY COOPER
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Cloud is Dead: A Series on Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction
By ZANE GRIFFIN TALLEY COOPER
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Network State and Topological Fetishism in Greenland
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate Zane Griffin Talley Cooper examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality o...
datasociety.net
April 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
THE NETWORK STATE AND TOPOLOGICAL FETISHISM IN GREENLAND
The Cloud is Dead: A Series on Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction
By ZANE GRIFFIN TALLEY COOPER
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Cloud is Dead: A Series on Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction
By ZANE GRIFFIN TALLEY COOPER
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
My pal @zgtcooper.bsky.social with a great piece on Greenland and the nitwit Dryden Brown attn: @gilduran.com
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Network State and Topological Fetishism in Greenland
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate Zane Griffin Talley Cooper examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality o...
datasociety.net
April 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
My pal @zgtcooper.bsky.social with a great piece on Greenland and the nitwit Dryden Brown attn: @gilduran.com
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Cloud is Dead! Spread the word! Through the lens of an experimental farm in South Greenland, I advocate for a shift from what I call the "topological fetishism" of tech industry imaginaries, toward a more local, situated idea of technological futures. datasociety.net/points/the-n...
The Network State and Topological Fetishism in Greenland
In his essay for our series “The Cloud is Dead,” D&S affiliate Zane Griffin Talley Cooper examines resource extraction in the Arctic and how fantasies of the Network State run counter to the reality o...
datasociety.net
April 21, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The Cloud is Dead! Spread the word! Through the lens of an experimental farm in South Greenland, I advocate for a shift from what I call the "topological fetishism" of tech industry imaginaries, toward a more local, situated idea of technological futures. datasociety.net/points/the-n...
Reposted by Zane Griffin Talley Cooper
At the top of Earth Week, we are launching this series of essays for @datasociety.bsky.social Points, The Cloud is Dead: Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction with contributions from @xrw.bsky.social, @zgtcooper.bsky.social, Jen Liu, and Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes, with an intro by me
The Cloud is Dead
In this series, we explore how communities have addressed the unequal power dynamics between technology production and deployment, and how tech impacts people and the environment.
datasociety.net
April 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
At the top of Earth Week, we are launching this series of essays for @datasociety.bsky.social Points, The Cloud is Dead: Living with Legacies of Resource Extraction with contributions from @xrw.bsky.social, @zgtcooper.bsky.social, Jen Liu, and Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes, with an intro by me
In today’s episode of “Maps are political objects,” someone has labeled El Salvador’s CECOT prison as a “D3ATH CAMP” on Google Maps
April 15, 2025 at 1:59 AM
In today’s episode of “Maps are political objects,” someone has labeled El Salvador’s CECOT prison as a “D3ATH CAMP” on Google Maps
Coming out of an unexpected hibernation to encourage y’all at @appliedanthro.bsky.social to come talk with us about the increasingly complex relationships between data infrastructures, energy, and place! Wednesday, just before dinner. Be there, or be somewhere else!
Come to our #SFAA panel! Data centers started chasing renewable energy, now they're chasing any energy at all, reshaping landscapes in the process. We ask: are there better ways of working? W/ @tamigraph.bsky.social @zgtcooper.bsky.social Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes, & Tony Salvador.
March 25, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Coming out of an unexpected hibernation to encourage y’all at @appliedanthro.bsky.social to come talk with us about the increasingly complex relationships between data infrastructures, energy, and place! Wednesday, just before dinner. Be there, or be somewhere else!