Notices by Annalee Newitz 🍜 (annaleen@wandering.shop)

We cannot let this one pass. New bathroom bill would essentially make it illegal for trans people to use bathrooms in American airports. Don't be surprised when it's followed by national bills preventing people from being trans in public. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/nancy-maces-federal-trans-bathroom

@fraying that's what I was thinking about yeah ... I feel like the entire idea of a friendly community is being demonized by the right

@fraying Highly recommend the latest newsletter by Emily St. James on this very topic https://episodes.ghost.io/echo-chamber-bluesky/

COVER REVEAL! It's my next book, "Automatic Noodle," a cozy, near-future story about a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen who take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot, and start making tasty hand-pulled noodles. Set in San Francisco after a horrible war, this is about rebuilding and finding love after political disaster.

Coming 8.5.25!⁣ Please pre-order! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250357465/automaticnoodle
⁣
Art by Eric Nyquist ⁣
Design by Christine Foltzer

I've been talking about this book a lot on here as I've been writing it, and some of you even provided suggestions for me when I asked what kind of personality a self-executing contract might have. Yes, your suggestions made it into the book! Plus, it's a future where everyone is using federated social media. It's my love letter to San Francisco, and to all of us here, trying to make the online world a nicer place.

The thing I didn't realize I needed last night was to watch (finally) the 2023 flick Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem! Amazing animation, incredible soundtrack, Jackie fucking Chan as Splinter (!!!), hilarious dialogue ... plus, a wholesome message about why journalism is good and how high schools should accept all kids, even if their bodies don't fit the norm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHvzw4Ibuho

TONIGHT, Thurs. 11/7 -- Join me for a virtual talk and discussion about the future of disinformation in America. 7pm EST/4pm PST, hosted by Cary Library in Lexington, MA. I'll discuss successful strategies for resisting propaganda, based on historical examples. Register: https://carylibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/virtual-stories-are-weapons-psychological-warfare-and-the-american-mind/

Hey folks. If you missed my talk on the history and future of disinformation in America, you can watch it now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE08IcUEXjA&t=2642s

What should we hope for now? Greater Good Magazine asked me and an amazing group of thinkers this question on the day after the election. I wrote about how backyard parties can become a model for resistance, because joyful, unplanned gatherings -- outside the influence of corporations and authorities -- can be a model for reimagining our public sphere. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/whats_giving_us_hope_right_now

Whaaat? You can get the Kindle version of my novel The Terraformers for just $2.99 from now until 10/9! Can you really afford to miss this opportunity to learn about moose romance, cat journalism, and a civilization of nonbinary people who live under a volcano? https://www.amazon.com/Terraformers-Annalee-Newitz-ebook/dp/B09XL7N9XD

Because you are all my friends, I am going to confess that I accidentally thought that Korn and Tool were the same band for the last 20 years. I apologize.

At the National Book Festival yesterday, I discussed propaganda w/ Peter Pomerantsev ("How to Win an Information War") and Roswell Encina (Library of Congress CCO). We talked about how to counter disinfo with better stories -- more hopeful ones about our shared future, but also spicier ones focused on undermining fascists. Crucially, we also need to think about information design, and get transparency from platforms about how they shape content with algorithms and internal policies.

Why are libraries ground zero in the culture wars? Because they provide a mental model for a democratic public sphere, a place of information without coercion. Here's how to save our libraries! It's my latest for @washingtonpost https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/24/libraries-end-culture-wars-book-bans/

@evan here is my vote for "both quick and fair," mixed equally. Also "fairness" in US elections is hard to measure anyway, since all our processes are designed to undermine the popular vote and give power to appointed delegates

@evan why not both?

If you like science, sports, and smart critiques of gender, Rose Eveleth has a new podcast called Tested from CBC/NPR about the weird/horrifying practice of testing female athletes for "femaleness" -- and what happens when a group of runners are deemed "not female" and disqualified from participating in the Olympics and other competitions. These are not trans women -- they are AFAB but don't fit arbitrary norms. The pod is wild, fascinating, & heartbreaking. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/1733-tested

If you are interested in blockchain stuff, I have a question for you. Imagine that a self-executing contract became sentient in the future. What would its personality be like? I want to include a character who is a contract in a scifi story I'm writing and I'm not sure how it might behave.

First mosquito bite of the summer

@Earthtoerika dammit you just caused a new startup devoted to automated dystopia detection to get funding

@goosname @michaelgemar I heard you had to give bile and mucus if you wanted into the gold-level beta