Connor Tomas O'Brien
@mrconnorobrien.bsky.social
Run a design studio for non-profits (http://studiosometimes.com) + write stuff for lazy environmentalists (Change is Hard). Born: 351.41 ppm CO2
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
If you want to support all the writers boycotting Bendigo Writers Festival, borrow their books from your library. They get paid and libraries buy more of their books.
August 14, 2025 at 11:20 PM
If you want to support all the writers boycotting Bendigo Writers Festival, borrow their books from your library. They get paid and libraries buy more of their books.
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
If you need something genuinely lovely to read today 💜
For interview #227, Jeff Fatt speaks to Emma Do about a life in music, family legacies, and the origins of his sleepy persona.
www.liminalmag.com/interviews/j...
www.liminalmag.com/interviews/j...
Interview #227—Jeff Fatt — LIMINAL
“‘Wake Up Jeff!’ will see me to my grave, which I’m quite grateful for.”
www.liminalmag.com
July 7, 2025 at 7:25 AM
If you need something genuinely lovely to read today 💜
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
In light of the terrible decision by the govt to approve the NWS extension, watch this doco on Murujuga Rock Art by @stephenlongaus.bsky.social and @elinorjohnstonleek.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9V...
youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9V...
The Fight to Save Murujuga
YouTube video by The Australia Institute
youtube.com
May 28, 2025 at 10:52 AM
In light of the terrible decision by the govt to approve the NWS extension, watch this doco on Murujuga Rock Art by @stephenlongaus.bsky.social and @elinorjohnstonleek.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9V...
youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9V...
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Powerful Stella prize speech from Michelle de Kretser:
“In Australia today it isn’t those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers.”
“In Australia today it isn’t those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers.”
‘Serious consequences for Australian democracy’: Author uses prize speech to warn against censorship
Australian author Michelle de Kretser described feeling afraid of speaking publicly about the conflict in Gaza as she accepted the 2025 Stella Prize for her book Theory & Practice.
www.theage.com.au
May 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Powerful Stella prize speech from Michelle de Kretser:
“In Australia today it isn’t those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers.”
“In Australia today it isn’t those applauding mass murder who have cause to be afraid, but those speaking out against it. Principally targeted are Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, First Nations people, people of colour, queers.”
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
I call on the State Library of Queensland to do their duty and award the peer selected black&write! fellowships to the winners the judges selected. You are custodians of the award, make sure you look after it properly
May 22, 2025 at 1:23 AM
I call on the State Library of Queensland to do their duty and award the peer selected black&write! fellowships to the winners the judges selected. You are custodians of the award, make sure you look after it properly
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
KYD commissioned me to take a look back on The Book Club (2006 - 2017) and what I found was a long storied history of film, book and cultural criticism on ABC TV, but a complete dearth of that sort of coverage today, when it should be easier and cheaper to make than ever.
ABC TV’s 'First Tuesday Book Club' brought the literary salon to Australian television screens. Seven years since it was taken off the air, Sam Twyford-Moore uncovers what we’re missing in the absence of regular televised arts criticism.
buff.ly/qIqlvBz
buff.ly/qIqlvBz
Bringing Back 'The Book Club'
At turns entertaining and bemusing, rewatching ABC TV’s book show highlights a scarcity of televised arts criticism.
buff.ly
April 1, 2025 at 3:42 AM
KYD commissioned me to take a look back on The Book Club (2006 - 2017) and what I found was a long storied history of film, book and cultural criticism on ABC TV, but a complete dearth of that sort of coverage today, when it should be easier and cheaper to make than ever.
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
OpenAI is using Studio Ghibli-style memes as an ad hoc promotional campaign for its new image generator—despite Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki's famous hatred of AI. Sam Altman made his X avatar a 'Ghiblified' portrait.
Disgracing Miyazaki is part of the point: It's more proof to them tech has won.
Disgracing Miyazaki is part of the point: It's more proof to them tech has won.
OpenAI's Studio Ghibli meme factory is an insult to art itself
Sam Altman is promoting his new image generator by appropriating the work of one of the greatest living animators—who is "disgusted" by AI.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
March 27, 2025 at 5:51 PM
OpenAI is using Studio Ghibli-style memes as an ad hoc promotional campaign for its new image generator—despite Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki's famous hatred of AI. Sam Altman made his X avatar a 'Ghiblified' portrait.
Disgracing Miyazaki is part of the point: It's more proof to them tech has won.
Disgracing Miyazaki is part of the point: It's more proof to them tech has won.
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Here's me on loving my suburb and its little library 📚❤️
In a world of overwhelming choice, I love the whittled-down book selection at my local street library | Jane Howard
In a world of overwhelming choice, I love the whittled-down book selection at my local street library | Jane Howard
There may be a book I want to read, there may not. But making the choice feels so much easier than keeping up with new releases
I am a voracious reader, but it is easy to feel there are too many books in the world. How do you find the time to keep up…
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Here's me on loving my suburb and its little library 📚❤️
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Over a decade ago I wrote about the risks of travelling to Vang Vien. Seems little has changed. www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/wate...
Water for the Skull: On River Tubing in Laos — Kill Your Darlings
On the Nam Song River, I had refused the shots of Lao-Lao, the backyard rice whiskey served free in the water, and taken only a solitary sip of beer. I... Read more
www.killyourdarlings.com.au
November 22, 2024 at 3:42 AM
Over a decade ago I wrote about the risks of travelling to Vang Vien. Seems little has changed. www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/wate...
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
👋 Hi! Nice to join you all here on BlueSky.
We're The Conversation and we do news and analysis a little differently.
Our experienced journalists collaborate with academics to bring you fact-based analysis of the biggest news and issues facing us all.
No bias. No agenda. No paywalls.
We're The Conversation and we do news and analysis a little differently.
Our experienced journalists collaborate with academics to bring you fact-based analysis of the biggest news and issues facing us all.
No bias. No agenda. No paywalls.
November 19, 2024 at 3:49 AM
👋 Hi! Nice to join you all here on BlueSky.
We're The Conversation and we do news and analysis a little differently.
Our experienced journalists collaborate with academics to bring you fact-based analysis of the biggest news and issues facing us all.
No bias. No agenda. No paywalls.
We're The Conversation and we do news and analysis a little differently.
Our experienced journalists collaborate with academics to bring you fact-based analysis of the biggest news and issues facing us all.
No bias. No agenda. No paywalls.
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Such a total nonsense that rewilded land, ie wild nature, "doesn't produce anything".
How about, for starters, the stable biosphere that farming depends on more than ANYTHING ELSE?
🌍
How about, for starters, the stable biosphere that farming depends on more than ANYTHING ELSE?
🌍
November 19, 2024 at 7:29 AM
Such a total nonsense that rewilded land, ie wild nature, "doesn't produce anything".
How about, for starters, the stable biosphere that farming depends on more than ANYTHING ELSE?
🌍
How about, for starters, the stable biosphere that farming depends on more than ANYTHING ELSE?
🌍
after only using instagram for the past year, it's nice to know that everyone I follow is still actually a freaky little goblin
November 19, 2024 at 12:20 AM
after only using instagram for the past year, it's nice to know that everyone I follow is still actually a freaky little goblin
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
“we silence the song of the Earth. We live in a much quieter world than even 50 years ago, there is 60% less buzzing, croaking, roaring, scuttling, blooming, singing and erupting life. Planet Earth is increasingly threadbare; it seems E. O. Wilson was right.” [We live in the Age of Loneliness.]
The link decided not to work this morning, so here's a direct link to our website post: www.curlewaction.org/slender-bill...
And to the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
And to the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Slender-billed Curlew declared extinct | Curlew Action
A new paper calculates that the likelihood of the Slender-billed Curlew being extinct is 99.6%. Mary Colwell reflects on this heart-breaking conclusion.
www.curlewaction.org
November 18, 2024 at 1:52 PM
“we silence the song of the Earth. We live in a much quieter world than even 50 years ago, there is 60% less buzzing, croaking, roaring, scuttling, blooming, singing and erupting life. Planet Earth is increasingly threadbare; it seems E. O. Wilson was right.” [We live in the Age of Loneliness.]
lots of new faces in my follower list so might share some pieces I've worked on recently(ish). here's one I loved writing, using a century-old map from a polymathic environmentalist to trace the old haunts of the Plains Wanderer across Victoria: www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/f...
Notes on a disappearance
Urban spaces, camouflage and the fate of the plains-wanderer
www.themonthly.com.au
November 18, 2024 at 8:42 AM
lots of new faces in my follower list so might share some pieces I've worked on recently(ish). here's one I loved writing, using a century-old map from a polymathic environmentalist to trace the old haunts of the Plains Wanderer across Victoria: www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/f...
if the federal government extends the youth social media ban to under 37s, it's so over for bluesky
November 18, 2024 at 6:53 AM
if the federal government extends the youth social media ban to under 37s, it's so over for bluesky
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
In one place for your convenience:
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 1 (full)
go.bsky.app/AqicagE
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 2 (still growing)
go.bsky.app/Nhxw9CE
Aus writers, publishers et al. combined into a list (ongoing)
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Let me know if you want to be added
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 1 (full)
go.bsky.app/AqicagE
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 2 (still growing)
go.bsky.app/Nhxw9CE
Aus writers, publishers et al. combined into a list (ongoing)
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Let me know if you want to be added
November 18, 2024 at 5:21 AM
In one place for your convenience:
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 1 (full)
go.bsky.app/AqicagE
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 2 (still growing)
go.bsky.app/Nhxw9CE
Aus writers, publishers et al. combined into a list (ongoing)
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Let me know if you want to be added
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 1 (full)
go.bsky.app/AqicagE
Aus writers, publishers et al. pack 2 (still growing)
go.bsky.app/Nhxw9CE
Aus writers, publishers et al. combined into a list (ongoing)
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Let me know if you want to be added
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
I'm old enough to remember when a computer didn't automatically connect to the internet, it used to make a screaming noise. We should have listened.
August 28, 2024 at 6:42 AM
I'm old enough to remember when a computer didn't automatically connect to the internet, it used to make a screaming noise. We should have listened.
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
the Kat Muscat Fellowship for young writers and editors of an underrepresented gender is open once again, now in its tenth year. get around it! www.expressmedia.org.au/the-kat-musc...
The Kat Muscat Fellowship — EXPRESS MEDIA
www.expressmedia.org.au
November 14, 2024 at 5:01 AM
the Kat Muscat Fellowship for young writers and editors of an underrepresented gender is open once again, now in its tenth year. get around it! www.expressmedia.org.au/the-kat-musc...
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Aus and NZ writers! These lit journals have submissions open. x
Griffith Review: Culture Vultures edition www.griffithreview.com/for-writers/
2025 Liminal x Hyphenated Projects Writing Fellowship www.liminalmag.com/prizes-fello...
Overland: poetry overland.org.au/submit/poetr...
Griffith Review: Culture Vultures edition www.griffithreview.com/for-writers/
2025 Liminal x Hyphenated Projects Writing Fellowship www.liminalmag.com/prizes-fello...
Overland: poetry overland.org.au/submit/poetr...
Submissions
Griffith Review is a literary and current affairs journal that’s aimed at a general readership – although we’re part of a university, we’re not an academic publication. We publish work by established ...
www.griffithreview.com
November 14, 2024 at 12:19 AM
Aus and NZ writers! These lit journals have submissions open. x
Griffith Review: Culture Vultures edition www.griffithreview.com/for-writers/
2025 Liminal x Hyphenated Projects Writing Fellowship www.liminalmag.com/prizes-fello...
Overland: poetry overland.org.au/submit/poetr...
Griffith Review: Culture Vultures edition www.griffithreview.com/for-writers/
2025 Liminal x Hyphenated Projects Writing Fellowship www.liminalmag.com/prizes-fello...
Overland: poetry overland.org.au/submit/poetr...
Reposted by Connor Tomas O'Brien
Someone suggested we simply turn off the internet and go back to the woods. Much to consider
August 10, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Someone suggested we simply turn off the internet and go back to the woods. Much to consider
my joker moment is melbourne airport trying to distract people from their plan to destroy native forest for a runway by funding bob brown to give a lecture on native forest conservation
November 12, 2024 at 5:42 AM
my joker moment is melbourne airport trying to distract people from their plan to destroy native forest for a runway by funding bob brown to give a lecture on native forest conservation