Torsten Kathke
@kathke.com
Historian. 19th/20th century US & Germany. JGU Mainz. 70s/80s cultural criticism, pop science, futurology. Book: Wires That Bind.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
We‘re back just in time for the holidays with Hallmark‘s Jewish take on Groundhog Day starring Vic Michaelis (of @dropout.tv fame) and Bryan Greenberg! Episode available now wherever you get your podcasts.
December 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
We‘re back just in time for the holidays with Hallmark‘s Jewish take on Groundhog Day starring Vic Michaelis (of @dropout.tv fame) and Bryan Greenberg! Episode available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Does anyone wanna see a really good Getty image of Rita Moreno and Sam The Eagle having dinner in 1979?
December 20, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Does anyone wanna see a really good Getty image of Rita Moreno and Sam The Eagle having dinner in 1979?
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
“Politicians should do what wins elections” is asinine for moral reasons but also, no one knows what will win an election! Yglesias et al keep acting like there’s some obvious set of policies or words that will guarantee victory but Harris basically did what they wanted and she lost.
4. Yglesias instead seems to implicitly argue that politicians should only do what wins elections, virtue be damned. One wonders what he thinks of those foolish 1850s abolitionists. As Condleeza Rice once said, politics is the art of making the impossible inevitable. That ain't this.
December 20, 2025 at 4:26 PM
“Politicians should do what wins elections” is asinine for moral reasons but also, no one knows what will win an election! Yglesias et al keep acting like there’s some obvious set of policies or words that will guarantee victory but Harris basically did what they wanted and she lost.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
the thing about working to become good at something is that going through this process is an absolutely *crucial* part of being able to tell great ideas from terrible ones in the first place.
I'd be more willing to accept the "i have no talent, but i have all these great ideas to get out" explanation, if the great ideas weren't always shit like "Tony Stark surfing on a t-rex whilst drinking from a beer bong full of franzia."
I think you (and the world) will survive without your vision.
I think you (and the world) will survive without your vision.
December 19, 2025 at 10:39 PM
the thing about working to become good at something is that going through this process is an absolutely *crucial* part of being able to tell great ideas from terrible ones in the first place.
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They should add crimes against typography to the articles of impeachment.
December 19, 2025 at 8:54 PM
They should add crimes against typography to the articles of impeachment.
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This is btw a pretty good example of what STS calls a socio-technical assemblage: for something like this to happen, impact factor, academic precariousness, the horrors of the academic publishing industry, and a new technology (AI) interact with each other in the worst ways
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
This is btw a pretty good example of what STS calls a socio-technical assemblage: for something like this to happen, impact factor, academic precariousness, the horrors of the academic publishing industry, and a new technology (AI) interact with each other in the worst ways
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Things That Matter is the fake NPR show in a made for tv movie for which they didn't pay the writers enough to think of something more convincing.
December 20, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Things That Matter is the fake NPR show in a made for tv movie for which they didn't pay the writers enough to think of something more convincing.
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Great piece from Paul Musgrave on how Trump is, in essence, taking America private:
Taking America Private
The political-economic consequences of Mr. Trump
musgrave.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Great piece from Paul Musgrave on how Trump is, in essence, taking America private:
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.
December 20, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.
Things That Matter is the fake NPR show in a made for tv movie for which they didn't pay the writers enough to think of something more convincing.
December 20, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Things That Matter is the fake NPR show in a made for tv movie for which they didn't pay the writers enough to think of something more convincing.
You can't say you released a thing with redactions for the sake of the victims and then just show us black bars any more than I could say I passed a driving exam if I crashed into a tree and claimed I was protecting the road signs.
December 19, 2025 at 11:26 PM
You can't say you released a thing with redactions for the sake of the victims and then just show us black bars any more than I could say I passed a driving exam if I crashed into a tree and claimed I was protecting the road signs.
They should add crimes against typography to the articles of impeachment.
December 19, 2025 at 8:54 PM
They should add crimes against typography to the articles of impeachment.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
December 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.
Turns out Gen Z Republicans are… Republicans
December 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Turns out Gen Z Republicans are… Republicans
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
uh
December 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
uh
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Ah yes, Naomi Wolf, known far and wide for her accurate interpretation of texts and for not letting her priors shape her analyses.
December 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Ah yes, Naomi Wolf, known far and wide for her accurate interpretation of texts and for not letting her priors shape her analyses.
Got a copyright strike for the Creative Commons licensed title theme for @infrontofira.bsky.social
The copyright system continues to be gloriously broken.
The copyright system continues to be gloriously broken.
December 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Got a copyright strike for the Creative Commons licensed title theme for @infrontofira.bsky.social
The copyright system continues to be gloriously broken.
The copyright system continues to be gloriously broken.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
If any romantic comedy fans haven't checked out the three seasons of "Home for Christmas" yet, there still might be time to binge it all before Christmas.
This is a pretty remarkable show.
This is a pretty remarkable show.
December 19, 2025 at 4:08 AM
If any romantic comedy fans haven't checked out the three seasons of "Home for Christmas" yet, there still might be time to binge it all before Christmas.
This is a pretty remarkable show.
This is a pretty remarkable show.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Habe ich Follower, die noch Sütterlin-Schrift gut entziffern können? I stoße bei einem Tagebuch an meine Grenzen.
December 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Habe ich Follower, die noch Sütterlin-Schrift gut entziffern können? I stoße bei einem Tagebuch an meine Grenzen.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
We’re back with a new (holiday) season!
Starting off with “Round and Round” starring Vic Michaelis and Bryan Greenberg, a movie that has Hanukkah, a romance, nerdy sidekicks, and a time travel plot!
Available everywhere fine pods are cast!
Starting off with “Round and Round” starring Vic Michaelis and Bryan Greenberg, a movie that has Hanukkah, a romance, nerdy sidekicks, and a time travel plot!
Available everywhere fine pods are cast!
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
We’re back with a new (holiday) season!
Starting off with “Round and Round” starring Vic Michaelis and Bryan Greenberg, a movie that has Hanukkah, a romance, nerdy sidekicks, and a time travel plot!
Available everywhere fine pods are cast!
Starting off with “Round and Round” starring Vic Michaelis and Bryan Greenberg, a movie that has Hanukkah, a romance, nerdy sidekicks, and a time travel plot!
Available everywhere fine pods are cast!
Did he just learn about JFK and now wants to outdo him?
December 18, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Did he just learn about JFK and now wants to outdo him?
Trump–Reagan National Airport is next.
Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center —Karoline Leavitt x.com/PressSec/sta...
December 18, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Trump–Reagan National Airport is next.
Reposted by Torsten Kathke
Imagine how good a film list has to be for When Harry Met Sally to be number 6.
#RIP
editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/rob-re...
#RIP
editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/rob-re...
Rob Reiner Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
We rank all movies directed by Rob Reiner, including 'This Is Spinal Tap', 'The Princess Bride', 'When Harry Met Sally...', and more.
editorial.rottentomatoes.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Imagine how good a film list has to be for When Harry Met Sally to be number 6.
#RIP
editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/rob-re...
#RIP
editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/rob-re...
Vanity Fair: An Issue Without a Hero
December 17, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Vanity Fair: An Issue Without a Hero
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Even if you still believe AI is "thinking," at a certain point maybe you have to acknowledge it is bad at thinking.
For anyone worried AI will replace all of us.
Courtesy of Gemini for the prompt “create an infographic of all the World Series winners since 1986”
I dare you to find 10 things that are right.
Courtesy of Gemini for the prompt “create an infographic of all the World Series winners since 1986”
I dare you to find 10 things that are right.
December 17, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Even if you still believe AI is "thinking," at a certain point maybe you have to acknowledge it is bad at thinking.