Rafiq
@rafiqcopeland.bsky.social
So familar from its influence, but I hadn't read before. Stalker (the film) and works like Southern Reach books were front of mind while reading. But a week or two after finishing it is the sordid reality of Harmont and its black market which resonates, more than the uncannyness of the Zone.
August 25, 2025 at 2:12 AM
So familar from its influence, but I hadn't read before. Stalker (the film) and works like Southern Reach books were front of mind while reading. But a week or two after finishing it is the sordid reality of Harmont and its black market which resonates, more than the uncannyness of the Zone.
“Silicon Valley is full of wealthy men who think they are victims, says wealthy man who thinks he is a victim and person with humiliation kink, Nick Clegg.”
August 25, 2025 at 1:45 AM
“Silicon Valley is full of wealthy men who think they are victims, says wealthy man who thinks he is a victim and person with humiliation kink, Nick Clegg.”
Listened to the audiobook. Explores how communications and payments infrastructure are leveraged and manipulated for geopolitical purposes. A central insight which seems blindingly obvious but is surrounded by a constellation of startling corollaries.
August 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Listened to the audiobook. Explores how communications and payments infrastructure are leveraged and manipulated for geopolitical purposes. A central insight which seems blindingly obvious but is surrounded by a constellation of startling corollaries.
Oh I really loved this book. The story is about putting a production of Hamlet in the West Bank, but of course there is so much more going on. Impossible to read without thinking about current events of course (was published in 2023) which adds another layer of resonance to a complex novel.
July 29, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Oh I really loved this book. The story is about putting a production of Hamlet in the West Bank, but of course there is so much more going on. Impossible to read without thinking about current events of course (was published in 2023) which adds another layer of resonance to a complex novel.
Australia’s online age verification is like that joke about the restraint with terrible food, and such small portions. The whole thing is bad policy, and also excluding YouTube is stupid.
July 29, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Australia’s online age verification is like that joke about the restraint with terrible food, and such small portions. The whole thing is bad policy, and also excluding YouTube is stupid.
A lot going on in this novel - climate change, family drama, romance, mystery, thriller. Maybe a bit too much for mine. Loved the setting on a fictionalized Macquarie Island.
July 20, 2025 at 4:56 AM
A lot going on in this novel - climate change, family drama, romance, mystery, thriller. Maybe a bit too much for mine. Loved the setting on a fictionalized Macquarie Island.
Another book about rivers. This by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social is lyrical and full of wisdom and wonder. It will make you want to dive in and get swept away. A very different book to the James C. Scott but complimentary in terms of approach and subject matter.
July 20, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Another book about rivers. This by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social is lyrical and full of wisdom and wonder. It will make you want to dive in and get swept away. A very different book to the James C. Scott but complimentary in terms of approach and subject matter.
Guys I saw Orange Bellied Parrots! Three of them! There are less than 200 of these beautiful birds in the wild. Maybe half that. And here are three of them sitting on a branch. I feel giddy. #birds
July 14, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Guys I saw Orange Bellied Parrots! Three of them! There are less than 200 of these beautiful birds in the wild. Maybe half that. And here are three of them sitting on a branch. I feel giddy. #birds
Biography is not normally my genre, but this was very good, about a part of history I knew very little about.
July 4, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Biography is not normally my genre, but this was very good, about a part of history I knew very little about.
James C Scott’s last book maybe replays a lot of the old hits - but not in a bad way. A bit meandering like its subject matter, but I appreciated the focus on Myanmar.
July 2, 2025 at 9:37 AM
James C Scott’s last book maybe replays a lot of the old hits - but not in a bad way. A bit meandering like its subject matter, but I appreciated the focus on Myanmar.
Listened to this on audio and enjoyed it a lot. That said, I remember the Ancillary books (which I read when they came out) really blowing my mind, and this didn’t do that. Explores lots of interesting ideas, as you would expect, but never really got out of second gear.
June 30, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Listened to this on audio and enjoyed it a lot. That said, I remember the Ancillary books (which I read when they came out) really blowing my mind, and this didn’t do that. Explores lots of interesting ideas, as you would expect, but never really got out of second gear.
Loved this novel by my friend Marija Peričić. A story about grief and family, and how we can be unreliable narrators of even our own experience.
June 25, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Loved this novel by my friend Marija Peričić. A story about grief and family, and how we can be unreliable narrators of even our own experience.
Listened to Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social as an audiobook (narrated by the author). I think the best book on AI I have read. At this point you can't meaninfully talk about AI and the implications as a technology without focusing on power and control, which this nails.
June 10, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Listened to Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social as an audiobook (narrated by the author). I think the best book on AI I have read. At this point you can't meaninfully talk about AI and the implications as a technology without focusing on power and control, which this nails.
Another heavy book, but somehow very beautiful despite the subject matter (the killing of civilians by military during 1980 democratic uprising in South Korea). My third and favorite Han Kang. I didn’t know anything about the events in the book, but it seems sadly universal and all too relevant.
June 7, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Another heavy book, but somehow very beautiful despite the subject matter (the killing of civilians by military during 1980 democratic uprising in South Korea). My third and favorite Han Kang. I didn’t know anything about the events in the book, but it seems sadly universal and all too relevant.
Interesting read in the current context (thinking about North West Shelf gas approvals). Somehow both a goofy 70s romp and radical call to blow up fossil fuel infrastructure. 50s years on and we’re still fighting (and losing) the same battles.
May 31, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Interesting read in the current context (thinking about North West Shelf gas approvals). Somehow both a goofy 70s romp and radical call to blow up fossil fuel infrastructure. 50s years on and we’re still fighting (and losing) the same battles.
A bit late to this, but highly recommend Revolusi by David Van Reybrouck. Really well written and propelled by oral history interviews. I can’t think of many great English language books on Indonesia but think this is one. Also great on decolonization and as a sort of prequel to The Jakarta Method.
May 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
A bit late to this, but highly recommend Revolusi by David Van Reybrouck. Really well written and propelled by oral history interviews. I can’t think of many great English language books on Indonesia but think this is one. Also great on decolonization and as a sort of prequel to The Jakarta Method.
Of all the possible futures we are just constantly doubling down on the dumbest and most racist.
May 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Of all the possible futures we are just constantly doubling down on the dumbest and most racist.
Look at this lovely flame robin at Mount Buller in Victoria’s high country.
January 14, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Look at this lovely flame robin at Mount Buller in Victoria’s high country.
Enjoyed this book by @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social making the moral case against extreme wealth. A billionaire isn’t just a ‘policy failure’ but a profound moral failure too. More challenging is where we set the bar for what is acceptable inequality and how we, collectively, go about fixing it.
December 12, 2024 at 4:11 AM
Enjoyed this book by @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social making the moral case against extreme wealth. A billionaire isn’t just a ‘policy failure’ but a profound moral failure too. More challenging is where we set the bar for what is acceptable inequality and how we, collectively, go about fixing it.
In the spirit of more positive posting, I just finished this great book on First Nations languages in Australia. Highly recommend. Very accessible despite having essentially no prior no knowledge. An important topic, but also just really cool and interesting.
November 12, 2024 at 8:36 AM
In the spirit of more positive posting, I just finished this great book on First Nations languages in Australia. Highly recommend. Very accessible despite having essentially no prior no knowledge. An important topic, but also just really cool and interesting.