Giovanni Tiso
@gtiso.bsky.social
Online magazine editor, @overlandjournal.bsky.social. Bylines at New Humanist, Pantograph Punch, New Inquiry, Popula, Sport. Translator. He/him.
The starmerisation of New Zealand Labour continues apace. Meanwhile, the number of people who asked for this remains steady at zero.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
'Opportunity to stamp my own mark': Chris Hipkins promises a different Labour
The last election saw Labour's six years in government come to an end, and Hipkins returning to the opposition benches just 10 months after becoming prime minister.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 13, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The starmerisation of New Zealand Labour continues apace. Meanwhile, the number of people who asked for this remains steady at zero.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
My flight back from Christchurch was late last night so I took a cab. The driver proceeded to lecture me about taking an Uber next time instead, which was a new one for me.
December 12, 2025 at 10:03 PM
My flight back from Christchurch was late last night so I took a cab. The driver proceeded to lecture me about taking an Uber next time instead, which was a new one for me.
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
“Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that anti-Arab sentiment and xenophobia are not confined to the past, or to Cronulla.”
Megan McElhone addresses revisionist histories of the Cronulla Riots, twenty years on.
Megan McElhone addresses revisionist histories of the Cronulla Riots, twenty years on.
Contending with Cronulla Riots revisionism, twenty years on - Overland literary journal
Rather than writing revisionist histories of the Cronulla Riots, we need to contend with the racism and xenophobia the riots were founded upon. The mob ultimately achieved its aim, with Middle Eastern...
overland.org.au
December 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
“Perhaps it is unsurprising, then, that anti-Arab sentiment and xenophobia are not confined to the past, or to Cronulla.”
Megan McElhone addresses revisionist histories of the Cronulla Riots, twenty years on.
Megan McElhone addresses revisionist histories of the Cronulla Riots, twenty years on.
Making text more accessible to disabled people is woke, therefore bad. www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri ...
www.reuters.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Making text more accessible to disabled people is woke, therefore bad. www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
This is how I learn that the UK — which is matching the US stride for stride in the race for stupidest country on Earth — has an "Obesity tsar".
you: absolutely and correctly livid at the abject stupidity of this suggestion
me: unable to stop muttering FEWER calories
me: unable to stop muttering FEWER calories
December 8, 2025 at 7:34 PM
This is how I learn that the UK — which is matching the US stride for stride in the race for stupidest country on Earth — has an "Obesity tsar".
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
“If Australian policy-makers genuinely want to safeguard young people, the evidence points elsewhere: comprehensive, non-stigmatising sexuality education that acknowledges pleasure, consent and diversity.”
The Scarlet Alliance’s Mish Pony on Phase 2 of Australia’s online safety codes.
The Scarlet Alliance’s Mish Pony on Phase 2 of Australia’s online safety codes.
Howard and Harradine’s vision for the Internet is finally realised - Overland literary journal
What binds these actors is not simply distaste for pornography, but a conviction that sexuality and identity require moral regulation. Through advisory roles and institutional influence, they're shapi...
overland.org.au
December 8, 2025 at 1:47 AM
“If Australian policy-makers genuinely want to safeguard young people, the evidence points elsewhere: comprehensive, non-stigmatising sexuality education that acknowledges pleasure, consent and diversity.”
The Scarlet Alliance’s Mish Pony on Phase 2 of Australia’s online safety codes.
The Scarlet Alliance’s Mish Pony on Phase 2 of Australia’s online safety codes.
Anyway Foucault's Pendulum is a pretty good book.
a lot of people seem to think that television shows are full of secrets and that analyzing shows is about looking for clues to reveal those secrets
December 8, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Anyway Foucault's Pendulum is a pretty good book.
So... what happens to schoolkids in this scenario? Do we need to give them bank cards or upgrade their phones? www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Wellington region to ditch Snapper public transport cards
Public transport users will be able to tag on with their phones and debit cards, as a councillor says locals are "sick of waiting" for a national system.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 7, 2025 at 11:41 PM
So... what happens to schoolkids in this scenario? Do we need to give them bank cards or upgrade their phones? www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
We shall start with the spelling.
December 7, 2025 at 8:41 PM
We shall start with the spelling.
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
Tāmaki whānau, please go to this protest by Block the Ban against the Government's transphobic ban on puberty blockers for trans youth on Sunday 7th December from 10AM at Myers Park. Everyone, including trans youth, deserves access to healthcare. www.facebook.com/events/11854...
December 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Tāmaki whānau, please go to this protest by Block the Ban against the Government's transphobic ban on puberty blockers for trans youth on Sunday 7th December from 10AM at Myers Park. Everyone, including trans youth, deserves access to healthcare. www.facebook.com/events/11854...
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
December 6, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
It's the First Annual Gianni Infantino Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Peace.
wtf is a FIFA peace prize? that's like being an NFL laureate in physics
December 5, 2025 at 8:06 PM
It's the First Annual Gianni Infantino Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Peace.
An incredible piece.
“I was analysing systems of state power at the exact moment one of those systems was destroying my family.”
Two years after his mother was killed by an airstrike in Khan Younis, Hazem Almassry writes about how universities exploit Palestinian expertise.
Two years after his mother was killed by an airstrike in Khan Younis, Hazem Almassry writes about how universities exploit Palestinian expertise.
The profit of distance: how universities exploit Palestinian expertise - Overland literary journal
My mother was killed on 5 December 2023 in Khan Younis. An airstrike hit our home around 3 pm. The building collapsed. I learned she was dead while I was in Taiwan, working on research about how polit...
overland.org.au
December 5, 2025 at 1:41 AM
An incredible piece.
Speaking of music, my son asked for a portable CD player for his birthday and since then—our family subscription to Tidal be damned—he's been going to the library and borrowing CDs. So he gets to listen to them as discrete albums instead of drowning in the ocean of endless playlists. SMOOTH move.
December 4, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Speaking of music, my son asked for a portable CD player for his birthday and since then—our family subscription to Tidal be damned—he's been going to the library and borrowing CDs. So he gets to listen to them as discrete albums instead of drowning in the ocean of endless playlists. SMOOTH move.
Russians by Sting. Hands down.
December 4, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Russians by Sting. Hands down.
[Seinfeld jazz riff]
December 3, 2025 at 8:54 PM
[Seinfeld jazz riff]
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
“Planning is political, especially in a country where it has been used to facilitate settler frames of land commodification and exclusion.”
An in-depth history by Rachel Gallagher of urban planning as a colonial tool.
An in-depth history by Rachel Gallagher of urban planning as a colonial tool.
Settling the city: urban planning as a vector of settler colonialism - Overland literary journal
The key tools of urban planning, like master planning, zoning and state acquisition of land, are derivatives of the state’s perceived need for centralised control. Urban planning assumes there is a bl...
overland.org.au
December 3, 2025 at 1:02 AM
“Planning is political, especially in a country where it has been used to facilitate settler frames of land commodification and exclusion.”
An in-depth history by Rachel Gallagher of urban planning as a colonial tool.
An in-depth history by Rachel Gallagher of urban planning as a colonial tool.
Pege Hegseth, Ssecretary of War
December 3, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Pege Hegseth, Ssecretary of War
Not so much prescience as science (but pronounced so it rhymes with prescience).
December 2, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Not so much prescience as science (but pronounced so it rhymes with prescience).
Actually a terrible outcome as Peter Griffin explains in the article. It says AI companies can still train their LLMs on works of literature without permission so long as they don't acquire the content using dodgy websites. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
NZ authors among global payout out after AI chatbot trained on pirated books
Award-winning author Catherine Chidgey's books have been caught up in a class action in the US which saw Anthropic AI agree to pay up to $2.6 billion.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 2, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Actually a terrible outcome as Peter Griffin explains in the article. It says AI companies can still train their LLMs on works of literature without permission so long as they don't acquire the content using dodgy websites. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
Reposted by Giovanni Tiso
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
December 2, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"
The common experience of accumulating followers on platforms one is not on.
December 2, 2025 at 3:15 AM
The common experience of accumulating followers on platforms one is not on.
A clickbait headline about rage-baiting.
December 1, 2025 at 11:02 PM
A clickbait headline about rage-baiting.
Trump doesn't know what part of his body was medically scanned in an unusual case of patient-patient confidentiality.
Reporter: Governor Walz called for the release of your MRI results
Trump: They were perfect like my phone call where I got impeached.
Reporter: Can you tell us what they were looking at?
Trump: I have no idea. It was just an MRI. It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and aced it.
Trump: They were perfect like my phone call where I got impeached.
Reporter: Can you tell us what they were looking at?
Trump: I have no idea. It was just an MRI. It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and aced it.
December 1, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Trump doesn't know what part of his body was medically scanned in an unusual case of patient-patient confidentiality.