Sarah Steegar
@paperandairplanes.bsky.social
Writer & sometime Flight Attendant. Technically an anthropologist. I commute across the Atlantic (I know, right?!) Nerd for all things ancient history, literature, linguistics. What’s your Roman Empire?
#pile
#pile
One of the unexpected things about my kid is that while she reads well, she is not (yet🤞🏻) “a reader”.
So I was thrilled when we finally got to Loki: A Bad God’s Guide (by @louiestowell.bsky.social) on our TBR stack last night - she kept pulling it out of my hands to read herself! Huzzah! #KidLit
So I was thrilled when we finally got to Loki: A Bad God’s Guide (by @louiestowell.bsky.social) on our TBR stack last night - she kept pulling it out of my hands to read herself! Huzzah! #KidLit
December 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
One of the unexpected things about my kid is that while she reads well, she is not (yet🤞🏻) “a reader”.
So I was thrilled when we finally got to Loki: A Bad God’s Guide (by @louiestowell.bsky.social) on our TBR stack last night - she kept pulling it out of my hands to read herself! Huzzah! #KidLit
So I was thrilled when we finally got to Loki: A Bad God’s Guide (by @louiestowell.bsky.social) on our TBR stack last night - she kept pulling it out of my hands to read herself! Huzzah! #KidLit
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
If they aren’t a registered charity and they aren’t registered with the Fundraising Regulator (example logo below), it’s probably one of these scammy orgs where the ‘profit’ is a tiny fraction of the money you handed over and some bastard gets rich on your good intentions. Give to a real charity.
December 9, 2025 at 8:12 AM
If they aren’t a registered charity and they aren’t registered with the Fundraising Regulator (example logo below), it’s probably one of these scammy orgs where the ‘profit’ is a tiny fraction of the money you handed over and some bastard gets rich on your good intentions. Give to a real charity.
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
"If everyone who streamed All Hell on Spotify had done so using Tidal instead, we would have received an extra £31,847.38, which would double the amount we made from streaming of the album in this time period. Or if everyone used Apple Music it would have been £12,331 more."
Los Campesinos:
Los Campesinos:
Here’s how much money Los Camp! make from streaming… - Los Campesinos!
loscampesinos.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:58 PM
"If everyone who streamed All Hell on Spotify had done so using Tidal instead, we would have received an extra £31,847.38, which would double the amount we made from streaming of the album in this time period. Or if everyone used Apple Music it would have been £12,331 more."
Los Campesinos:
Los Campesinos:
What’s his idea of “vulnerable” here?
Meanwhile bsky.app/profile/gild...
A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.
“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.
This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.
This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:
www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
December 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
What’s his idea of “vulnerable” here?
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
I don’t think night people get enough credit for adapting to a world run by day people
December 6, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I don’t think night people get enough credit for adapting to a world run by day people
I’m so glad the story keeps making news, but I do wish “drug boat” would consistently be put in quotes. Unless I am mistaken, the only evidence this was even a drug running boat is the government’s word for it, and we all know what that’s worth - esp as more facts of the story come out
Drug-Boat Attack Survivors Waved as U.S. Aircraft Flew By, Video Shows
“Bradley told lawmakers, however, that he thought submerged packages of cocaine were keeping the vessel’s remains afloat, according to the lawmakers and others familiar with the briefing.”
apple.news/A0VxthUwwQGC...
“Bradley told lawmakers, however, that he thought submerged packages of cocaine were keeping the vessel’s remains afloat, according to the lawmakers and others familiar with the briefing.”
apple.news/A0VxthUwwQGC...
Drug-Boat Attack Survivors Waved as U.S. Aircraft Flew By, Video Shows — The Wall Street Journal
People who have seen video disagree over meaning of signal from alleged traffickers
apple.news
December 6, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I’m so glad the story keeps making news, but I do wish “drug boat” would consistently be put in quotes. Unless I am mistaken, the only evidence this was even a drug running boat is the government’s word for it, and we all know what that’s worth - esp as more facts of the story come out
omg I laughed out loud (from discomfort)
I see your Krampus and Mari Lwyd, and raise you Newfoundland Mummers as the most terrifying Christmas tradition 🎄❄️🧟♀️
December 5, 2025 at 9:59 AM
omg I laughed out loud (from discomfort)
I really enjoyed Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. Also, the Dustlands Series by Moira Young is perhaps my all-time favourite series.
(I wouldn’t generalise myself as a person who doesn’t read YA, but it hasn’t been my “reading zone” for several years now.)
(I wouldn’t generalise myself as a person who doesn’t read YA, but it hasn’t been my “reading zone” for several years now.)
I’ve just bought my mum Sarah Crossan’s brilliant YA ‘Where the Heart Should Be’ for her Christmas. What other great kids / YA books should we be gifting to grown-ups who don’t generally read children’s books? #KidsBooksFriday
#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit
#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit
December 5, 2025 at 8:22 AM
I really enjoyed Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. Also, the Dustlands Series by Moira Young is perhaps my all-time favourite series.
(I wouldn’t generalise myself as a person who doesn’t read YA, but it hasn’t been my “reading zone” for several years now.)
(I wouldn’t generalise myself as a person who doesn’t read YA, but it hasn’t been my “reading zone” for several years now.)
Uh…wow. This is mad! Look at that dog!
December 4, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Uh…wow. This is mad! Look at that dog!
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
As dumb as that is, I miss the days where the Next Big Thing actually did something as earth-shattering as "move a person around slightly faster than they could walk themselves."
Now it's "the NBT is an update to the predictive text your flip-phone used to have, only it's planet-killing."
Now it's "the NBT is an update to the predictive text your flip-phone used to have, only it's planet-killing."
December 3, 2025 at 8:31 PM
As dumb as that is, I miss the days where the Next Big Thing actually did something as earth-shattering as "move a person around slightly faster than they could walk themselves."
Now it's "the NBT is an update to the predictive text your flip-phone used to have, only it's planet-killing."
Now it's "the NBT is an update to the predictive text your flip-phone used to have, only it's planet-killing."
I was just watching a podcast segment in which some brilliant guest was saying how, when industry leaders are asked what today’s youth should be studying they say “coding [or whatever blahblah],” but when asked what studies most affected their life trajectory they say philosophy, classics, etc.
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
December 2, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I was just watching a podcast segment in which some brilliant guest was saying how, when industry leaders are asked what today’s youth should be studying they say “coding [or whatever blahblah],” but when asked what studies most affected their life trajectory they say philosophy, classics, etc.
My husband, who is a senior school teacher, tells me that the kids are no longer saying “fake news” to accuse someone of lying/spouting nonsense. Instead they say “that’s AI”. And I think that’s beautiful.
December 2, 2025 at 9:05 AM
My husband, who is a senior school teacher, tells me that the kids are no longer saying “fake news” to accuse someone of lying/spouting nonsense. Instead they say “that’s AI”. And I think that’s beautiful.
This IS a fun fact!
Fun fact: at Netflix, our internal design system/component library is called Hawkins and the docs all use Stranger Things character names in the examples
December 2, 2025 at 7:27 AM
This IS a fun fact!
Hubs and I just watched ep1 of the new Stranger Things. I was feeling this weird anxiety watching. 30min in I finally realized it was about how nice (in hindsight) it was to grow up in the 80s, that our kids don’t have that. (THAT being the pre-techbro childhood. Man that was great.)
era.am
December 1, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Hubs and I just watched ep1 of the new Stranger Things. I was feeling this weird anxiety watching. 30min in I finally realized it was about how nice (in hindsight) it was to grow up in the 80s, that our kids don’t have that. (THAT being the pre-techbro childhood. Man that was great.)
Are you in the Mile High Club? in a dead heat with Do you have a boyfriend in every city?
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Are you in the Mile High Club? in a dead heat with Do you have a boyfriend in every city?
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
Dance like nobody is watching omg no not like that
December 1, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Dance like nobody is watching omg no not like that
It’s not me. I’ve looked into it and Etsy is almost useless now. They have indeed removed the filter for finding local (even in country) products. Is Etsy now just Alibaba with shipping scams?
Am I doing something wrong or is Etsy totally useless now, with not showing shipping costs for each product,m. So you go to check out and only know that some item (or all? Who knows!) in your cart has like £60 on a £4 item?
December 1, 2025 at 1:07 PM
It’s not me. I’ve looked into it and Etsy is almost useless now. They have indeed removed the filter for finding local (even in country) products. Is Etsy now just Alibaba with shipping scams?
My kid and I had a good chat in the car this morning about some of our family challenges. At the end she said, “you should do that thing where you become a therapist” and I said, “Why? Do you think I’d be good at it?” And she said, “No, you just need to make some money.”
December 1, 2025 at 12:59 PM
My kid and I had a good chat in the car this morning about some of our family challenges. At the end she said, “you should do that thing where you become a therapist” and I said, “Why? Do you think I’d be good at it?” And she said, “No, you just need to make some money.”
Bless this guy. This portrait is giving “well-intentioned Spanish cleaning lady tried to restore the painting”
1 December is the day we must mark the sad passing 504 years ago of Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici – or Pope Leo X, as he was also known. Leo was not one of those popes memorable for a sordid life, but is known for two things. Firstly, this:
December 1, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Bless this guy. This portrait is giving “well-intentioned Spanish cleaning lady tried to restore the painting”
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Is there actually a non-horrific purpose for the existence of deep fake technology?
I mean I can think of relatively fun or neutral uses, but they’re definitely not social “goods”, more like acceptable/social consolation prizes to this technology.
I mean I can think of relatively fun or neutral uses, but they’re definitely not social “goods”, more like acceptable/social consolation prizes to this technology.
‘It was extremely pornographic’: Cara Hunter on the deepfake video that nearly ended her political career
‘It was extremely pornographic’: Cara Hunter on the deepfake video that nearly ended her political career
The Irish politician was targeted in 2022, in the final weeks of her run for office. She has never found out who made the malicious deepfake, but knew immediately she had to try to stop this happening to other women
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Is there actually a non-horrific purpose for the existence of deep fake technology?
I mean I can think of relatively fun or neutral uses, but they’re definitely not social “goods”, more like acceptable/social consolation prizes to this technology.
I mean I can think of relatively fun or neutral uses, but they’re definitely not social “goods”, more like acceptable/social consolation prizes to this technology.
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
Remember when Amazon held a sale during Independent Bookstore Day in an effort to undercut indie bookstores?
We didn’t forget. Support local bookstores during Small Business Saturday and beyond.
We didn’t forget. Support local bookstores during Small Business Saturday and beyond.
November 29, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Remember when Amazon held a sale during Independent Bookstore Day in an effort to undercut indie bookstores?
We didn’t forget. Support local bookstores during Small Business Saturday and beyond.
We didn’t forget. Support local bookstores during Small Business Saturday and beyond.
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
This weekend there's free shipping from our UK bookshop.org. Your cat will thank you for it.
If you're looking for non-fiction, our research stack might be the list for you: uk.bookshop.org/list...
If you're looking for non-fiction, our research stack might be the list for you: uk.bookshop.org/list...
November 29, 2025 at 8:45 AM
This weekend there's free shipping from our UK bookshop.org. Your cat will thank you for it.
If you're looking for non-fiction, our research stack might be the list for you: uk.bookshop.org/list...
If you're looking for non-fiction, our research stack might be the list for you: uk.bookshop.org/list...
This piece is 😘👌🏻, @naoisedolan.bsky.social
Fave bit (of quite a few): “the trend of op-eds] in which a rightwing man complains that women don’t want to date him. Often enough, he is an avowed libertarian, leaving it a mystery why he does not simply accept the workings of the free market.”
Fave bit (of quite a few): “the trend of op-eds] in which a rightwing man complains that women don’t want to date him. Often enough, he is an avowed libertarian, leaving it a mystery why he does not simply accept the workings of the free market.”
What could be putting young women off marriage? It really isn’t that much of a mystery | Naoise Dolan
Survey data suggests more and more girls can’t imagine getting married, while their male counterparts are keener. That disparity holds a clue, says writer Naoise Dolan
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:26 AM
This piece is 😘👌🏻, @naoisedolan.bsky.social
Fave bit (of quite a few): “the trend of op-eds] in which a rightwing man complains that women don’t want to date him. Often enough, he is an avowed libertarian, leaving it a mystery why he does not simply accept the workings of the free market.”
Fave bit (of quite a few): “the trend of op-eds] in which a rightwing man complains that women don’t want to date him. Often enough, he is an avowed libertarian, leaving it a mystery why he does not simply accept the workings of the free market.”
Reposted by Sarah Steegar
Time once again to rep my favorite place for giving: anelder.org - they supply food, firewood and supplies for traditional crafting to Navajo Elders. If you have the cash, please give these folks a hand.
November 27, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Time once again to rep my favorite place for giving: anelder.org - they supply food, firewood and supplies for traditional crafting to Navajo Elders. If you have the cash, please give these folks a hand.