Liz Bourke
@hawkwinglb.bsky.social
Ph.D Classics. Reviews @ Reactor Magazine (ex. Tor.com) and Locus Magazine.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hawkwing_lb
Wordpress: https://lizbourke.wordpress.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@hawkwing_lb
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hawkwing_lb
Wordpress: https://lizbourke.wordpress.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@hawkwing_lb
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Liz Bourke
@hawkwinglb.bsky.social
· Nov 9
κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries
Liz Bourke: books, history, writing, and culture.
lizbourke.wordpress.com
Hello, new followers! I write reviews of science fiction and fantasy novels for @locusmag.bsky.social and for @reactorsff.bsky.social. On my blog lizbourke.wordpress.com/news-and-upd..., I write about the nonfiction I've been reading lately, and the occasional deeper dive on some aspect of SFF.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
I know there are irish people who are a disappointment to their ancestors by how they treat the stranger and the laws of hospitality. But honest to god, my opinion of any Irish diaspora who is anti immigrant is so low that Lucifer has to look down to see it
American culture of the 1840’s would have been *very fucking surprised* to see the Irish considered as co-founders.
Elon’s an ahistorical dipshit, but its always worth saying some stuff out loud: if you‘re a fellow Irish-American and you aren’t 100% pro-immigrant, you’re a fucking embarassment.
Elon’s an ahistorical dipshit, but its always worth saying some stuff out loud: if you‘re a fellow Irish-American and you aren’t 100% pro-immigrant, you’re a fucking embarassment.
1/3 What Musk is really referring to here is, of course “race” - that construct that served to define the hierarchies of wealth & power structured by modern colonialism. Like other far right racists though, he uses the word “culture” as a seemingly less pernicious synonym.
February 16, 2026 at 1:23 PM
I know there are irish people who are a disappointment to their ancestors by how they treat the stranger and the laws of hospitality. But honest to god, my opinion of any Irish diaspora who is anti immigrant is so low that Lucifer has to look down to see it
Reposted by Liz Bourke
We're hiring at Birkbeck!
Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th.
Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th.
Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
February 16, 2026 at 2:04 PM
We're hiring at Birkbeck!
Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th.
Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
Lecturer in Ancient History and Classics, full-time and open-ended. Closing date March 18th.
Details here: cis7.bbk.ac.uk/vacancy/lect...
Reposted by Liz Bourke
and I mean obviously
3) children still want to play and they will end up in the non-play-area bit that is still full of broken glass
3) children still want to play and they will end up in the non-play-area bit that is still full of broken glass
February 16, 2026 at 3:28 PM
and I mean obviously
3) children still want to play and they will end up in the non-play-area bit that is still full of broken glass
3) children still want to play and they will end up in the non-play-area bit that is still full of broken glass
Reposted by Liz Bourke
and you won't be able to see that that's what's happening.
the park should not be full of broken glass.
you can't just ban children from the play area and call the problem solved.
1) they now have no play area
2) everyone else is still getting cut to ribbons
the park should not be full of broken glass.
you can't just ban children from the play area and call the problem solved.
1) they now have no play area
2) everyone else is still getting cut to ribbons
February 16, 2026 at 3:25 PM
and you won't be able to see that that's what's happening.
the park should not be full of broken glass.
you can't just ban children from the play area and call the problem solved.
1) they now have no play area
2) everyone else is still getting cut to ribbons
the park should not be full of broken glass.
you can't just ban children from the play area and call the problem solved.
1) they now have no play area
2) everyone else is still getting cut to ribbons
Reposted by Liz Bourke
yes. the things that would make social media safer for children are almost all just the things that would make social media non-harmful/much less harmful for *all of us*.
if you do it by age verification then nothing will stop a child in a difficult home accessing stuff via parents' accounts
if you do it by age verification then nothing will stop a child in a difficult home accessing stuff via parents' accounts
The under-16 social media (and VPN, and chatbot) ban is part of a broader policy problem IMV, which is that it is politically easier to talk about e.g. 'child poverty', and you can do a lot of good with that approach, but it has hard limits because ultimately you are also just talking about poverty.
February 16, 2026 at 3:23 PM
yes. the things that would make social media safer for children are almost all just the things that would make social media non-harmful/much less harmful for *all of us*.
if you do it by age verification then nothing will stop a child in a difficult home accessing stuff via parents' accounts
if you do it by age verification then nothing will stop a child in a difficult home accessing stuff via parents' accounts
I hate headcolds. Things go reasonably well, personally, and then wham, your head feels like it's gone a round in the tumble dryer.
February 16, 2026 at 3:44 PM
I hate headcolds. Things go reasonably well, personally, and then wham, your head feels like it's gone a round in the tumble dryer.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
My spouse, looking at the neighborhood ICE-watch Signal group after it has crowdsourced finding & returning a lost dog: "It's like a neighborhood watch, but not fascist, because it's made of people mad about fascism."
Me: "NextDoor, woke edition!"
Me: "NextDoor, woke edition!"
Things are fundamentally shifting in this city in ways that truly are amazing and need to be widely adopted. Minneapolis is starting to build the social dictionary for the future and it’s a real view of the historic social and political change happening on the ground. Neighborism is the future.
And these kids decided, on their own, to play a benefit show for families impacted by the surge. At that first show they had hoped to raise a couple thousand dollars. Their families and friends came to Minneapolis and packed the house. They ended up raising over 10 grand. (3/?)
February 16, 2026 at 3:37 PM
My spouse, looking at the neighborhood ICE-watch Signal group after it has crowdsourced finding & returning a lost dog: "It's like a neighborhood watch, but not fascist, because it's made of people mad about fascism."
Me: "NextDoor, woke edition!"
Me: "NextDoor, woke edition!"
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Reposted by Liz Bourke
tfw stealing material history is insufficient
February 16, 2026 at 3:01 PM
tfw stealing material history is insufficient
Reposted by Liz Bourke
from the perspective of someone who might want to be president, the best time to run for the white house is now, not later. so if AOC is thinking about it — if the white house is her ambition — then her best bet is to throw her hat in the ring
You Know What? Maybe the Time Is Right for an AOC Presidential Bid
She’s only 36, and there’s a good argument that she should run for Senate and bide her time. But she also could be a formidable White House candidate.
newrepublic.com
February 16, 2026 at 2:13 PM
from the perspective of someone who might want to be president, the best time to run for the white house is now, not later. so if AOC is thinking about it — if the white house is her ambition — then her best bet is to throw her hat in the ring
Reposted by Liz Bourke
In the same mode: did a cruise-ship #StarTrek con with @peter.petermorwood.com in the 80s. He went down to the bar one night & devised a stacked-rums drink that caught on w/the fans. When we docked in Bermuda, the catering staff had to send ashore for more rum: the fans had drunk the ship rum-dry… 😁
February 16, 2026 at 2:39 PM
In the same mode: did a cruise-ship #StarTrek con with @peter.petermorwood.com in the 80s. He went down to the bar one night & devised a stacked-rums drink that caught on w/the fans. When we docked in Bermuda, the catering staff had to send ashore for more rum: the fans had drunk the ship rum-dry… 😁
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Great, plain English, Brainstorm piece by @ucc.ie researchers on what it would take to decarbonised #DublinAirport -- more than you would think @rte.ie
How much land & power are required to decarbonise Dublin Airport?
Decarbonising the emissions associated with flights from Dublin Airport would need much more land and electricity than you might think
www.rte.ie
February 16, 2026 at 9:37 AM
Great, plain English, Brainstorm piece by @ucc.ie researchers on what it would take to decarbonised #DublinAirport -- more than you would think @rte.ie
Reposted by Liz Bourke
It's always the right moment to slip in the fact that "apolitical" art is a Cold War emanation for the purpose of counteracting Agitprop.
So even art stripped of overt political messaging is itself political.
So even art stripped of overt political messaging is itself political.
February 16, 2026 at 1:04 PM
It's always the right moment to slip in the fact that "apolitical" art is a Cold War emanation for the purpose of counteracting Agitprop.
So even art stripped of overt political messaging is itself political.
So even art stripped of overt political messaging is itself political.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Proposal: vampire romance is necromantasy
February 16, 2026 at 2:39 AM
Proposal: vampire romance is necromantasy
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Despite overcrowding, prison officials told to exclude immigration detainees from temporary release. The Irish Prison Service had asked the government to revisit the policy, given more serious high-risk offenders had to be released early to make the space. (August 2025)
Despite overcrowding, prison officials told to exclude immigration detainees from temporary release
The Irish Prison Service had asked the government to revisit the policy, given more serious high-risk offenders had to be released early to make the space.
www.dublininquirer.com
February 16, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Despite overcrowding, prison officials told to exclude immigration detainees from temporary release. The Irish Prison Service had asked the government to revisit the policy, given more serious high-risk offenders had to be released early to make the space. (August 2025)
Reposted by Liz Bourke
PREACH.
How comfortable and ignorant do you have to be to say “art shouldn’t be political” with a straight face
As if that in itself is not a political statement
As if that in itself is not a political statement
February 16, 2026 at 11:49 AM
PREACH.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
I'm not especially opposed to driverless cabs, but I'm fucked if I'm giving up my ancestral British right to cross the road anywhere if it's safe for me to do so. "Jaywalking" isn't a thing or a crime here, techbros, so your magic cars will have to learn to deal with that.
Politics London discussing driverless taxis casually referring to “jaywalking pedestrians”.
Jaywalking is not a thing in UK law.
Transport for London and Government had better not be asleep at the wheel on this.
Jaywalking is not a thing in UK law.
Transport for London and Government had better not be asleep at the wheel on this.
February 15, 2026 at 11:43 AM
I'm not especially opposed to driverless cabs, but I'm fucked if I'm giving up my ancestral British right to cross the road anywhere if it's safe for me to do so. "Jaywalking" isn't a thing or a crime here, techbros, so your magic cars will have to learn to deal with that.
Sunday, day seven. Whole day off yesterday to see what my cold did. 20 minutes for 5km this morning.
Day five. Rest morning, on purpose this time.
Day four. I overslept, so I get an extra morning exercise rest day. Better luck next week I guess.
February 15, 2026 at 12:42 PM
Sunday, day seven. Whole day off yesterday to see what my cold did. 20 minutes for 5km this morning.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
“If you’re slugging back 4 creamy pints a day you need to hear this”
Someone get the national dairy council on the line, we’ve found your new spokesperson.
#ireland
#speirgorm
Someone get the national dairy council on the line, we’ve found your new spokesperson.
#ireland
#speirgorm
important message i want to pass along about the creamy pint addiction - please watch if you, like many, are still slugging back 4-6 creamy pints a day 👇
February 14, 2026 at 3:37 PM
“If you’re slugging back 4 creamy pints a day you need to hear this”
Someone get the national dairy council on the line, we’ve found your new spokesperson.
#ireland
#speirgorm
Someone get the national dairy council on the line, we’ve found your new spokesperson.
#ireland
#speirgorm
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Every year, Christina Rossetti wrote a Valentine to her mother. This is the one for 1884, when Christina was her 84 year-old mother's primary caregiver.
February 14, 2026 at 3:26 PM
Every year, Christina Rossetti wrote a Valentine to her mother. This is the one for 1884, when Christina was her 84 year-old mother's primary caregiver.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
The rebuttal to this is that Star Trek is not a show about how the future could be but how the present should be. To eradicate disability, rather than accept and accommodate it, is a eugenicist ideal.
I have a friend who said, of Starfleet Academy, that this took them out of it - that seeing a person in a wheelchair in the 32nd century seemed unrealistic, since medicine in Star Trek "should be able to cure whatever was wrong with them."
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.
February 13, 2026 at 11:49 PM
The rebuttal to this is that Star Trek is not a show about how the future could be but how the present should be. To eradicate disability, rather than accept and accommodate it, is a eugenicist ideal.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Roses are red,
These times are quite trying
These times are quite trying
February 14, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Roses are red,
These times are quite trying
These times are quite trying
Reposted by Liz Bourke
"The abolition of gender studies is a way of further guaranteeing impunity to the elite men whose contempt for and exploitation of women & girls apparently knew no bounds, whether they actually slept with the women on offer or simply shared Epstein’s fantasies in order to gain influence or funding."
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:05 AM
"The abolition of gender studies is a way of further guaranteeing impunity to the elite men whose contempt for and exploitation of women & girls apparently knew no bounds, whether they actually slept with the women on offer or simply shared Epstein’s fantasies in order to gain influence or funding."
Reposted by Liz Bourke
My unexpected Valentine: the neighborhood cat came by for a visit, so I’ve given her some salmon and plugged in the electric blanket. She is purring like a motorboat.
February 14, 2026 at 2:15 PM
My unexpected Valentine: the neighborhood cat came by for a visit, so I’ve given her some salmon and plugged in the electric blanket. She is purring like a motorboat.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Prevention may have wider spillovers than we thought: Eric Topol explores the evidence that older adults who received a shingles vaccine had a roughly 20% lower risk of developing dementia in later years buff.ly/iuMmX9U
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Spotlight on the Shingles Vaccine—Again!
Two new studies add to a remarkable body of evidence for benefit
buff.ly
February 14, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Prevention may have wider spillovers than we thought: Eric Topol explores the evidence that older adults who received a shingles vaccine had a roughly 20% lower risk of developing dementia in later years buff.ly/iuMmX9U
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo