Aram Sinnreich
@aram.aoir.social.ap.brid.gy
Writer, professor, musician.
The lesser ½ of Dunia & Aram.
The lesser ½ of @RASinn.
The lesser ⅛ of Comm Studies @ AU.
New book from @themitpress: THE SECRET LIFE OF […]
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://aoir.social/@aram, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
The lesser ½ of Dunia & Aram.
The lesser ½ of @RASinn.
The lesser ⅛ of Comm Studies @ AU.
New book from @themitpress: THE SECRET LIFE OF […]
🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://aoir.social/@aram, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
Pinned
2025 Nancy Baym Book Award |
aoir.org
Some personal news: @jesse and I just won the Nancy Baym Book Award, granted annually by The Association of Internet Researchers (@AoIR ), for our @mitpress book The Secret Life of Data. I am honored, chuffed, and oh so grateful.
https://aoir.org/2025nb_bookaward/
https://aoir.org/2025nb_bookaward/
I've seen this documentary dozens of times. My dad's law partner Jonathan Zavin did the IP clearance for the publishing rights, so they had the VHS tape in their office. Whenever we had to be there for a few hours they'd plonk me & @rachelcleves down in front of it […]
Original post on aoir.social
aoir.social
December 4, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I've seen this documentary dozens of times. My dad's law partner Jonathan Zavin did the IP clearance for the publishing rights, so they had the VHS tape in their office. Whenever we had to be there for a few hours they'd plonk me & @rachelcleves down in front of it […]
Rest in Power #stevecropper I'm so glad to have lived during the time of your music
https://apnews.com/article/steve-cropper-obituary-57fff73cf820438e89fe894cdd3a5995
https://apnews.com/article/steve-cropper-obituary-57fff73cf820438e89fe894cdd3a5995
Steve Cropper, guitarist and member of Stax Records' Booker T and the M.G.'s, has died at age 84
Steve Cropper, who co-wrote classic songs, including “(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour,” during his years playing guitar at the legendary Stax Records in Memphis, has died.
apnews.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Rest in Power #stevecropper I'm so glad to have lived during the time of your music
https://apnews.com/article/steve-cropper-obituary-57fff73cf820438e89fe894cdd3a5995
https://apnews.com/article/steve-cropper-obituary-57fff73cf820438e89fe894cdd3a5995
Earlier this semester my students asked me to define neoliberalism and
https://gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo-says-making-war-crimes-constitutional-would-be-good-for-business-2000695162
https://gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo-says-making-war-crimes-constitutional-would-be-good-for-business-2000695162
Palantir CEO Says Making War Crimes Constitutional Would Be Good for Business
Alex Karp vows to use his "whole influence" on immigration and defense policy.
gizmodo.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Earlier this semester my students asked me to define neoliberalism and
https://gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo-says-making-war-crimes-constitutional-would-be-good-for-business-2000695162
https://gizmodo.com/palantir-ceo-says-making-war-crimes-constitutional-would-be-good-for-business-2000695162
The EEOC is Dean Pelton.
December 3, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The EEOC is Dean Pelton.
Bezos, Ellison, and Zaslav have put so much time, energy, and cash into courting Trump, and perverting US mass media into a propaganda machine for his benefit...
…and this is the thanks they get.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
…and this is the thanks they get.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
www.whitehouse.gov
December 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Bezos, Ellison, and Zaslav have put so much time, energy, and cash into courting Trump, and perverting US mass media into a propaganda machine for his benefit...
…and this is the thanks they get.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
…and this is the thanks they get.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/mediabias/
🚨 Unconfirmed reports that ICE is on the American University campus, near Nebraska Hall. Please take caution and warn fellow students and colleagues.
December 3, 2025 at 4:35 PM
🚨 Unconfirmed reports that ICE is on the American University campus, near Nebraska Hall. Please take caution and warn fellow students and colleagues.
News reporting would both be more accurate and make a whole lot more sense if editors would adopt a style that clarified Pete Hegseth has a Nazi tattoo.
Helpful examples below.
Helpful examples below.
![The president said that he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike on the boat survivors, and that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told him he did not order one.
Mr. Hegseth had previously said, that he yatched the operation live on video. But on Tuesday, Mr. Hegseth [inserted text: who has a Nazi tattoo] said he “didn’t stick around” to see the second strike.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mrthjpvae4obmhivsy7vngi7/bafkreid67b35a26qrmmzmwrglp42w2rgs3x32mxuc2malmtjwqmhfszo7a@jpeg)
![In response to reports that the first of these strikes included a second round that killed two survivors on a burning boat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he authorized and watched the initial attacks but did not watch the second round. "I watched that first strike live," Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting at the White House. "As you can imagine, the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do. So I moved on to my next meeting."
Hegseth, [inserted text: [who has a Nazi tattoo], said he did not see survivors of that Sept. 2 attack on the video and that the following strikes to sink the boat, which killed the survivors, were ordered by Adm. Frank M. Bradley.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mrthjpvae4obmhivsy7vngi7/bafkreiglwvw2cihbz57bmtb5d7ymbm5u2ktenvi6brqwwesfsyc2sbmipy@jpeg)
December 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
News reporting would both be more accurate and make a whole lot more sense if editors would adopt a style that clarified Pete Hegseth has a Nazi tattoo.
Helpful examples below.
Helpful examples below.
I am currently listening to Grant Green and am 100% confident this music was not generated by AI.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577912/are-you-listening-to-bots
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577912/are-you-listening-to-bots
Are you listening to bots? | The Express Tribune
Are you listening to bots?
tribune.com.pk
December 3, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I am currently listening to Grant Green and am 100% confident this music was not generated by AI.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577912/are-you-listening-to-bots
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2577912/are-you-listening-to-bots
Your great news of the day
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506595-man-unexpectedly-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506595-man-unexpectedly-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/
男子接受干细胞移植后意外治愈艾滋病
Man unexpectedly cured of HIV after stem cell transplant (www.newscientist.com)
12-02 ↑ 107 HN Points
www.newscientist.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Your great news of the day
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506595-man-unexpectedly-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2506595-man-unexpectedly-cured-of-hiv-after-stem-cell-transplant/
The more I consider it, the more I think Pete Seeger was the hero of "A Complete Unknown," with Dylan's electric betrayal presented as the undoing of the New Left. It's a persuasive argument, though I don't buy it.
December 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
The more I consider it, the more I think Pete Seeger was the hero of "A Complete Unknown," with Dylan's electric betrayal presented as the undoing of the New Left. It's a persuasive argument, though I don't buy it.
State transparency laws about discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance are fine...
but federal laws outlawing discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance would be even better.
https://www.wired.com/story/algorithmic-pricing-eggs-ny-law/
but federal laws outlawing discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance would be even better.
https://www.wired.com/story/algorithmic-pricing-eggs-ny-law/
Your Data Might Determine How Much You Pay for Eggs
A newly enacted New York law requires retailers to say whether your data influences the price of basic goods like a dozen eggs or toilet paper, but not how.
www.wired.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
State transparency laws about discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance are fine...
but federal laws outlawing discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance would be even better.
https://www.wired.com/story/algorithmic-pricing-eggs-ny-law/
but federal laws outlawing discriminatory pricing based on data surveillance would be even better.
https://www.wired.com/story/algorithmic-pricing-eggs-ny-law/
RE: https://wandering.shop/@cstross/115650271347534201
My pet peeve is galactic-scale stories that don’t take relativity into account. There is no universal “now,” and it’s meaningless to say the Zargazols invaded the epsilon sector last Tuesday.
I haven’t written a galactic-scale novel yet […]
My pet peeve is galactic-scale stories that don’t take relativity into account. There is no universal “now,” and it’s meaningless to say the Zargazols invaded the epsilon sector last Tuesday.
I haven’t written a galactic-scale novel yet […]
Original post on aoir.social
aoir.social
December 2, 2025 at 2:34 PM
RE: https://wandering.shop/@cstross/115650271347534201
My pet peeve is galactic-scale stories that don’t take relativity into account. There is no universal “now,” and it’s meaningless to say the Zargazols invaded the epsilon sector last Tuesday.
I haven’t written a galactic-scale novel yet […]
My pet peeve is galactic-scale stories that don’t take relativity into account. There is no universal “now,” and it’s meaningless to say the Zargazols invaded the epsilon sector last Tuesday.
I haven’t written a galactic-scale novel yet […]
My employer “froze” everyone’s salaries, slashed contributions to our retirement accounts in half, laid off most of our support staff, spent millions on outside consultancies, and is now sending us all emails to contribute money to the university for #givingtuesday.
No thanks, I’ve got more […]
No thanks, I’ve got more […]
Original post on aoir.social
aoir.social
December 2, 2025 at 2:15 PM
My employer “froze” everyone’s salaries, slashed contributions to our retirement accounts in half, laid off most of our support staff, spent millions on outside consultancies, and is now sending us all emails to contribute money to the university for #givingtuesday.
No thanks, I’ve got more […]
No thanks, I’ve got more […]
Imagine having a billion dollars and wasting your time doing anything other than:
1. Reading novels in the bath
2. Making art
3. Traveling
4. Cooking and eating
5. Giving heaps of cash to awesome people and institutions who need it
1. Reading novels in the bath
2. Making art
3. Traveling
4. Cooking and eating
5. Giving heaps of cash to awesome people and institutions who need it
December 2, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Imagine having a billion dollars and wasting your time doing anything other than:
1. Reading novels in the bath
2. Making art
3. Traveling
4. Cooking and eating
5. Giving heaps of cash to awesome people and institutions who need it
1. Reading novels in the bath
2. Making art
3. Traveling
4. Cooking and eating
5. Giving heaps of cash to awesome people and institutions who need it
RE: https://flipboard.com/@cbcnews/top-stories-01r3k2ttz/-/a-SRxTnG2eRBaJ-2O-HikZRQ%3Aa%3A107108217-%2F0
No. The takeaway is not that “anger fuels us.”
The takeaway is that our media systems have been rewired to profit from emotional engagement, and therefore rage is treated as a monetizable […]
No. The takeaway is not that “anger fuels us.”
The takeaway is that our media systems have been rewired to profit from emotional engagement, and therefore rage is treated as a monetizable […]
Original post on aoir.social
aoir.social
December 1, 2025 at 3:37 PM
RE: https://flipboard.com/@cbcnews/top-stories-01r3k2ttz/-/a-SRxTnG2eRBaJ-2O-HikZRQ%3Aa%3A107108217-%2F0
No. The takeaway is not that “anger fuels us.”
The takeaway is that our media systems have been rewired to profit from emotional engagement, and therefore rage is treated as a monetizable […]
No. The takeaway is not that “anger fuels us.”
The takeaway is that our media systems have been rewired to profit from emotional engagement, and therefore rage is treated as a monetizable […]
This is a hell of a retraction. If we had a functional FDA, they’d ban glyphosate immediately and save a lot of lives.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230099913715
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230099913715
December 1, 2025 at 3:33 PM
This is a hell of a retraction. If we had a functional FDA, they’d ban glyphosate immediately and save a lot of lives.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230099913715
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230099913715
This has been the longest year ever. Also how tf is it December already?
December 1, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This has been the longest year ever. Also how tf is it December already?
Yes, rising tuition is partially to blame for the perceived decline the value of a college degree, and there are many reasons for that.
But the article fails to mention the sustained right wing propaganda campaign against #highered that almost certainly plays a role as well.
FYI FWIW I make […]
But the article fails to mention the sustained right wing propaganda campaign against #highered that almost certainly plays a role as well.
FYI FWIW I make […]
Original post on aoir.social
aoir.social
November 28, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Yes, rising tuition is partially to blame for the perceived decline the value of a college degree, and there are many reasons for that.
But the article fails to mention the sustained right wing propaganda campaign against #highered that almost certainly plays a role as well.
FYI FWIW I make […]
But the article fails to mention the sustained right wing propaganda campaign against #highered that almost certainly plays a role as well.
FYI FWIW I make […]
A friend who is a Muslim African immigrant to the US just sent this meme via WhatsApp and I am so touched because a native born American would never treat our most important secular holiday with such unironic reverence and goodwill.
November 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A friend who is a Muslim African immigrant to the US just sent this meme via WhatsApp and I am so touched because a native born American would never treat our most important secular holiday with such unironic reverence and goodwill.
RE: https://mastodon.social/@PCMag/115617098846037339
This is one of many reasons why oligopolies suck
This is one of many reasons why oligopolies suck
mastodon.social
November 26, 2025 at 5:11 PM
RE: https://mastodon.social/@PCMag/115617098846037339
This is one of many reasons why oligopolies suck
This is one of many reasons why oligopolies suck
Throughout "The Rose Field" I kept wondering how Pullman was going to wrap up his dozens of plot threads in a satisfying and comprehensible way and then it turned out he just didn't
ps I kept hoping he'd do something with the Roosevelt association but no
ps I kept hoping he'd do something with the Roosevelt association but no
November 26, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Throughout "The Rose Field" I kept wondering how Pullman was going to wrap up his dozens of plot threads in a satisfying and comprehensible way and then it turned out he just didn't
ps I kept hoping he'd do something with the Roosevelt association but no
ps I kept hoping he'd do something with the Roosevelt association but no
I had never tried Gemini Deep Research before (and heard rave reviews from folks), so yesterday I decided to give it a go, asking a scholarly question I already know the answer to, so I could see how its response stacks up.
It’s had ~18 hours to process my query, and this is as far as it’s gotten.
It’s had ~18 hours to process my query, and this is as far as it’s gotten.
November 25, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I had never tried Gemini Deep Research before (and heard rave reviews from folks), so yesterday I decided to give it a go, asking a scholarly question I already know the answer to, so I could see how its response stacks up.
It’s had ~18 hours to process my query, and this is as far as it’s gotten.
It’s had ~18 hours to process my query, and this is as far as it’s gotten.
Any other frequently-quoted experts out there discovered that press inquiries have dried up since the Trump inauguration? Either there’s a media blocklist in effect or my cred somehow plummeted at the same time as my new book was out there winning awards
November 25, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Any other frequently-quoted experts out there discovered that press inquiries have dried up since the Trump inauguration? Either there’s a media blocklist in effect or my cred somehow plummeted at the same time as my new book was out there winning awards