John Degen 🍁
@jkdegen.bsky.social
Sleeping dog. Novelist, poet, rock & bird nerd. He/him. CEO @twuc, Chair @IntAuthors - Opinions entirely my own, so don’t even. Bird and book content at my website— jkdegen.com — and substack https://substack.com/@johndegen
Honestly @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social — what a load of horseshit right now with this Trump award. So offensive.
December 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Honestly @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social — what a load of horseshit right now with this Trump award. So offensive.
What a disservice and insult to every athlete and fan involved in @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social
FIFA would give an award to a giant meteor heading straight for the planet. Pathetic.
FIFA would give an award to a giant meteor heading straight for the planet. Pathetic.
December 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
What a disservice and insult to every athlete and fan involved in @fifaworldcup26.bsky.social
FIFA would give an award to a giant meteor heading straight for the planet. Pathetic.
FIFA would give an award to a giant meteor heading straight for the planet. Pathetic.
I suggest the problem is NOT that the AI produced some bad images for this government-financed commercial, but rather that an AI commercial was made at all.
Our governments should prioritize human labour. Stop “experimenting” at replacing people with technology.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Our governments should prioritize human labour. Stop “experimenting” at replacing people with technology.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Province pauses AI commercial from N.B. Liquor after negative reception | CBC News
N.B. Liquor is catching enough heat for a holiday video campaign made with artificial intelligence that a government minister has directed the Crown corporation to take the ad down.
www.cbc.ca
December 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I suggest the problem is NOT that the AI produced some bad images for this government-financed commercial, but rather that an AI commercial was made at all.
Our governments should prioritize human labour. Stop “experimenting” at replacing people with technology.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Our governments should prioritize human labour. Stop “experimenting” at replacing people with technology.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
One would think the Secretary of Defence of the United States would know what the term “fog of war” actually means.
It is not the smoke caused by a missile strike.
Complete asshat.
It is not the smoke caused by a missile strike.
Complete asshat.
December 3, 2025 at 10:36 PM
One would think the Secretary of Defence of the United States would know what the term “fog of war” actually means.
It is not the smoke caused by a missile strike.
Complete asshat.
It is not the smoke caused by a missile strike.
Complete asshat.
My work for The Writers' Union of Canada and International Authors Forum brings me to The Guadalajara Book Fair, where I am speaking about the economic realities of professional authorship.
See the IAF’s program here in this national media article from Mexico.
www.milenio.com/cultura/fil/...
See the IAF’s program here in this national media article from Mexico.
www.milenio.com/cultura/fil/...
¿Qué protegen los derechos de autor? Los desafíos en la era digital
El International Authors Forum se realiza en la FIL para debatir sobre la profesionalización del oficio y poner sobre la mesa los desafíos actuales ante la era
www.milenio.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:14 PM
My work for The Writers' Union of Canada and International Authors Forum brings me to The Guadalajara Book Fair, where I am speaking about the economic realities of professional authorship.
See the IAF’s program here in this national media article from Mexico.
www.milenio.com/cultura/fil/...
See the IAF’s program here in this national media article from Mexico.
www.milenio.com/cultura/fil/...
If fighting drug cartels is priority one, why is the President pardoning a drug kingpin duly convicted by a US jury?
Is this that four dimensional chess they keep talking about?
Is this that four dimensional chess they keep talking about?
November 29, 2025 at 1:42 PM
If fighting drug cartels is priority one, why is the President pardoning a drug kingpin duly convicted by a US jury?
Is this that four dimensional chess they keep talking about?
Is this that four dimensional chess they keep talking about?
I spoke with Sarah Tomlinson at CBC/Radio-Canada about professional creative work and artificial intelligence. You should read the article but, really, the sign over my right shoulder says all you need to know.
Don't make me tap the sign.
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/220...
Don't make me tap the sign.
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/220...
IA : le Canada face au défi du droit d’auteur
Des organismes artistiques craignent des impacts de cette technologie sur leurs industries et en ont fait part au Comité permanent du patrimoine canadien.
ici.radio-canada.ca
November 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I spoke with Sarah Tomlinson at CBC/Radio-Canada about professional creative work and artificial intelligence. You should read the article but, really, the sign over my right shoulder says all you need to know.
Don't make me tap the sign.
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/220...
Don't make me tap the sign.
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/220...
So, everything that happens on their watch is Joe Biden’s fault, and we should applaud when they manage to do basic investigative functions. Got it.
November 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
So, everything that happens on their watch is Joe Biden’s fault, and we should applaud when they manage to do basic investigative functions. Got it.
Just woke from a stress dream in which I was desperately trying to identify a bird.
Glad to know my midlife anxieties are evolving appropriately as they accompany me into the next phase.
Glad to know my midlife anxieties are evolving appropriately as they accompany me into the next phase.
November 27, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Just woke from a stress dream in which I was desperately trying to identify a bird.
Glad to know my midlife anxieties are evolving appropriately as they accompany me into the next phase.
Glad to know my midlife anxieties are evolving appropriately as they accompany me into the next phase.
In a first for Northern Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie makes space for natural burials in a municipal cemetery.
Green interment — without embalming chemicals or non-biodegradable containers — is a growing practice.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Green interment — without embalming chemicals or non-biodegradable containers — is a growing practice.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Experimenting with Natural Burials in the Soo
Council approves by-law change to allow unembalmed, green interment
open.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:48 AM
In a first for Northern Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie makes space for natural burials in a municipal cemetery.
Green interment — without embalming chemicals or non-biodegradable containers — is a growing practice.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Green interment — without embalming chemicals or non-biodegradable containers — is a growing practice.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Obviously, the files released will have been sanitized for his protection. The world needs a leaky hero.
November 20, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Obviously, the files released will have been sanitized for his protection. The world needs a leaky hero.
TFG excusing the murder of a journalist from the oval office.
Come get your drunk uncle, America.
Come get your drunk uncle, America.
November 19, 2025 at 1:32 AM
TFG excusing the murder of a journalist from the oval office.
Come get your drunk uncle, America.
Come get your drunk uncle, America.
No seriously, the major social media platforms are absolutely infected with AI crap photos and videos right now.
This is the great promise of technology? Obviously fake content?
Please go read a book. It will heal you.
This is the great promise of technology? Obviously fake content?
Please go read a book. It will heal you.
November 11, 2025 at 11:21 PM
No seriously, the major social media platforms are absolutely infected with AI crap photos and videos right now.
This is the great promise of technology? Obviously fake content?
Please go read a book. It will heal you.
This is the great promise of technology? Obviously fake content?
Please go read a book. It will heal you.
Stop caving to this guy and his pressure proxies.
You can’t watch Fox News for five minutes without losing count of the enabling falsehoods that will never be challenged.
There is no such thing as 100% unbiased media. The BBC is not perfect, but it remains a global standard.
You can’t watch Fox News for five minutes without losing count of the enabling falsehoods that will never be challenged.
There is no such thing as 100% unbiased media. The BBC is not perfect, but it remains a global standard.
November 11, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Stop caving to this guy and his pressure proxies.
You can’t watch Fox News for five minutes without losing count of the enabling falsehoods that will never be challenged.
There is no such thing as 100% unbiased media. The BBC is not perfect, but it remains a global standard.
You can’t watch Fox News for five minutes without losing count of the enabling falsehoods that will never be challenged.
There is no such thing as 100% unbiased media. The BBC is not perfect, but it remains a global standard.
I have been having meetings, going over ms text, and considering cover designs for my first book in almost twenty years. Working with a great team.
It’s messing with my mind a bit. In a good way.
Anyway, official announcement soon. Publication, Spring 2026.
It’s messing with my mind a bit. In a good way.
Anyway, official announcement soon. Publication, Spring 2026.
November 8, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I have been having meetings, going over ms text, and considering cover designs for my first book in almost twenty years. Working with a great team.
It’s messing with my mind a bit. In a good way.
Anyway, official announcement soon. Publication, Spring 2026.
It’s messing with my mind a bit. In a good way.
Anyway, official announcement soon. Publication, Spring 2026.
I am disappointed coverage of the sandwich has so far not revealed its contents.
Assorted cold cuts? Tuna? Turkey and bacon?
Assorted cold cuts? Tuna? Turkey and bacon?
November 7, 2025 at 12:05 AM
I am disappointed coverage of the sandwich has so far not revealed its contents.
Assorted cold cuts? Tuna? Turkey and bacon?
Assorted cold cuts? Tuna? Turkey and bacon?
I need to understand this federal budget.
Nearly a billion $ for AI developers in Canada (the folks who have ALL the money right now), and all of $6 million over three years for the arts council… the place AI developers raid for “free” training material.
Back to work.
Nearly a billion $ for AI developers in Canada (the folks who have ALL the money right now), and all of $6 million over three years for the arts council… the place AI developers raid for “free” training material.
Back to work.
November 4, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I need to understand this federal budget.
Nearly a billion $ for AI developers in Canada (the folks who have ALL the money right now), and all of $6 million over three years for the arts council… the place AI developers raid for “free” training material.
Back to work.
Nearly a billion $ for AI developers in Canada (the folks who have ALL the money right now), and all of $6 million over three years for the arts council… the place AI developers raid for “free” training material.
Back to work.
Appreciate this coverage, but am confused by the idea there is a split in the creative community. I work in the creative community, and my experience with the crowd is it’s 99.8% Emma Thompson.
That’s consensus; not a split.
That’s consensus; not a split.
Good morning! This week for @opinion.bloomberg.com, I wrote about the effective messaging of Emma Thompson and @realgdt.bsky.social telling AI to fuck off:
Emma Thompson’s NSFW Rant Is Just What the AI Boom Needed
Emma Thompson is very good at many things — acting, screenwriting, penning children’s books — and in recent years, she’s also become quite accomplished at going viral. She did it again this week, duri...
www.bloomberg.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Appreciate this coverage, but am confused by the idea there is a split in the creative community. I work in the creative community, and my experience with the crowd is it’s 99.8% Emma Thompson.
That’s consensus; not a split.
That’s consensus; not a split.
Talking bridges, taxes, and budgets in Northern Ontario.
Shore Report, the podcast, on the isolated community of Dean Lake’s troubled bridge.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Shore Report, the podcast, on the isolated community of Dean Lake’s troubled bridge.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
A Bridge Too Far?
Talking bridges, taxes, and budgets with Dean Lake resident, Mary Johnson
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Talking bridges, taxes, and budgets in Northern Ontario.
Shore Report, the podcast, on the isolated community of Dean Lake’s troubled bridge.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Shore Report, the podcast, on the isolated community of Dean Lake’s troubled bridge.
open.substack.com/pub/shorerep...
Just imagine the camera and microphone system Putin has sold Trump for the new ballroom.
November 2, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Just imagine the camera and microphone system Putin has sold Trump for the new ballroom.
I hate that lodged ball rule. Hate it.
November 1, 2025 at 3:15 AM
I hate that lodged ball rule. Hate it.
You just know every other team in MLB will be having off-season meetings to figure out how they can play like the Blue Jays.
Small ball is back, baby!
Small ball is back, baby!
October 30, 2025 at 2:44 AM
You just know every other team in MLB will be having off-season meetings to figure out how they can play like the Blue Jays.
Small ball is back, baby!
Small ball is back, baby!
The remaining question… will there be enough left of the US government to rebuild in three years’ time?
a house that has been burned to the ground and the roof is covered in flames
Alt: a house that has been burned to the ground and the roof is covered in flames
media.tenor.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:55 PM
The remaining question… will there be enough left of the US government to rebuild in three years’ time?
I say old chap, whatever became of those Epstein files?
October 27, 2025 at 10:40 AM
I say old chap, whatever became of those Epstein files?