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Michelle Chihara

@thisblue.bsky.social

1.8K followers 2.1K following 1.1K posts

Los Angeles since 2003. Media Studies, Critical Finance; power ballads; history of this wild city Find me at michellechihara.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 10d

Come to Montreal in the Spring!!!

Come think beyond current constraints! I’m going to be talking complementary currencies…

www.acla.org/seminar/7bfc...

View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association

www.acla.org

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Stu Fleming @thebasement.nz · 17h

“Excuse me mate, we’d like to actually see the tulips please”

Jessica Kant @jessdkant.bsky.social · 22h

Oh what’s that? They will depreciate at roughly 3 times the rate previously touted and require constant replacement and 2-3x the revenue to match initial expenditure?

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 3d

"...like Pynchon, he knows that aesthetic pleasure and comedy can be corollaries to political work."

David Hering @davidhering.bsky.social · 3d

I wrote on One Battle After Another, Thomas Pynchon and Paul Thomas Anderson’s California

open.substack.com/pub/davidher...

A Few Small Beers with Pynchon: On One Battle After Another

If you put Paul Thomas Anderson’s films alongside each other you’d have a shadow history of California.

open.substack.com

Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 3d

by any historic measure, we have very little time left
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Adam Tooze · Ecological Leninism: Drill, baby, drill

The question isn’t whether liberal activists do or don’t want to engage in sabotage. If we keep to our current...

www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 4d

Today in Politics Chat, I talked about how power sloshes around when a president is checked out, and noted that right now unelected officials like Stephen Miller are trying to grab it. But instead, We the People can take it back and create a better nation.

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 5d

Fight on, friends
www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/10/06/r...

‘Reject the Compact’ petition urges USC not to sign Trump’s contract

Faculty show support for USC to reject the federal government’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 7d

I think we’re really going to have to do a lot more of this. A massive deprogramming so that people can read more than ten words at a time without anxiety.

www.thetimes.com/uk/education...?

Universities teaching literature students how to cope with long novels

Critics blame GCSE English for deterring teenagers from the subject, describing the literature syllabus as boring and repetitive

www.thetimes.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 10d

“…one twist to Bostrom’s future-gazing is the idea of a suicidal superintelligence, … ‘the AI ... should, upon having established with sufficient probability that this is what humanity’s extrapolated volition would wish it to do, safely shut itself down.’”

James Meek @jamesmeek.bsky.social · 10d

I wrote about Artificial Desire

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

James Meek · Computers that want things

For all the fluency and synthetic friendliness of public-facing AI chatbots like ChatGPT, it seems important to remember...

www.lrb.co.uk

Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 10d

Especially when that thing involves leaning into Blackstone getting more power…

Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 10d

Deadline is kinda right now! I’m behind the curve! I know you know. Help me out, jump in.

Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 10d

Come to Montreal in the Spring!!!

Come think beyond current constraints! I’m going to be talking complementary currencies…

www.acla.org/seminar/7bfc...

View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association

www.acla.org

1 3 6

Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Money on the Left @moneyontheleft.bsky.social · 11d

The assumption that only billionaires or suburban taxpayers can provision democracy has become so entrenched that it is easier to imagine acquiescing to authoritarianism than bypassing this veto.

The Case for Fiscal Insurgency

by Will Beaman A common refrain keeps surfacing among prominent journalists- and commentators-in-digital-exile on BlueSky. Commenting on the emergence of yet another shadowy centrist think tank, Ne…

moneyontheleft.org

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 10d

Montreal with @thisblue.bsky.social, Duncan Faherty, and what's sure to be a sharp seminar of scholars. Sounds like a pretty good deal.

www.acla.org/seminar/7bfc...

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

manakanda.bsky.social @manakanda.bsky.social · 11d

In light of today’s absolutely fucking deranged “I’m in a war movie” speeches by Trump and Hegseth, I give you the plaque at West Point.

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 16d

This is really bad. It won’t get the popular opposition the Kimmel incident did, but it’s way more sweeping and authoritarian. This is an effort to bring the full force of government down on any and all opposition to this administration.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence

NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

www.whitehouse.gov

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 26d

I liked a lot of last night's Emmy results, but boy did I hate last night's Emmy telecast:

Emmys 2025: One Bad Bit Overshadowed TV's Biggest Night

The 2025 Emmys honored deserving work in all categories but the celebrations were lost to a cruel charity gimmick that shortened speeches.

www.rollingstone.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · 26d

(Pple always tell me it doesn't matter if your ideas get scooped/stolen bc yours are always different or better in some way... never makes me feel better!) fwiw @seeshespeak.bsky.social's excellent book is quoted on the "course pledge" page of my History of TV grad seminar at USC!

Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Steve (Works at public land grant university UC Berkeley) Katz @stevenkatz.bsky.social · 28d

Concur completely with Professor Norena, this is a disastrous action. I don’t see how Chancellor Rich Lyons recovers from it. As I posted here yesterday, it marks the end of the time when UC Berkeley could claim the mantel of Free Speech as part of its core identity.

Carlos Noreña @carlosfnorena.bsky.social · 28d

A few new details have come to light, most of them noted in this essay by Judith Butler.

My dismay has only deepened. It is a shocking violation of institutional trust—and I write as an undergraduate alumnus and 20-year faculty member of a place that has meant so much to me. Devastating.

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · Sep 12

Definitely feeling the need to connect irl with others who see how dark things are getting

Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · Sep 11

Some important reporting on data work.

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Surprising but telling to see Google flat-out denying the contribution of data workers to their products:

>>

screencap from linked article:
Google said in a statement: “Quality raters are employed by our suppliers and are temporarily assigned to provide external feedback on our products. Their ratings are one of many aggregated data points that help us measure how well our systems are working, but do not directly impact our algorithms or models.” GlobalLogic declined to comment for this story.

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · Sep 11

The next time someone tells you this is just how it is/"AI" is inevitable/this junk is here to stay, please remember that the future is not yet written and we don't have to put up with this.

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Olivier Jutel 🇵🇸 @ojutel.bsky.social · Jul 30

This is wild but I went on my fav podcast
QAA Pod to harp on about the phoney baloney NatSec social science of Disinfo Studies. Big thanks to @travisview.bsky.social and Julian! www.patreon.com/posts/135278...

The Problem of Disinformation (E334) | QAA

Get more from QAA on Patreon

www.patreon.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · Sep 7

I also just think she’s disgustingly wrong and I am also screaming into a paper bag

Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · Sep 6

"A small cohort of artists + cultural wrkrs, distinguished by a clear-👀 understanding of the contradictions + compromises that govern the field, has recast the legacy of socially engaged art [thru] institutional decay. They’ve put the tools of finance + law to use in redirecting wealth + power..."

Off the Books | Triple Canopy

Is art a loophole? An essay on “compliant non-compliance” in the face of institutional decay. ...

canopycanopycanopy.com

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Reposted by Michelle Chihara

Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · Apr 25

The reason why older generations burnt the shit out of their meat and boiled the shit out of their vegetables, was your kid died if you didn't.

Medium rare steaks and roasted Brussels sprouts are a side effect of an intact food safety infrastructure

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · Apr 25

"The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat."

www.seattletimes.com/business/usd...

USDA withdraws a plan to limit salmonella levels in raw poultry

The Agriculture Department says it is withdrawing a plan to limit salmonella bacteria in poultry products.

www.seattletimes.com

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Michelle Chihara @thisblue.bsky.social · Sep 3

I got you. I can DM you the PDF.