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'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
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Good morning please enjoy these French porcelain sphynxes, they can’t believe you would actually post that, they are both repelled and intrigued
February 14, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Good morning please enjoy these French porcelain sphynxes, they can’t believe you would actually post that, they are both repelled and intrigued
Reposted by Liz Bourke
In incredible news, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly for "The Full Recognition Of Trans Women As Women."
Even the center-right European People's Party voted for the declaration.
It will form a foundation for their position at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Our latest.
Even the center-right European People's Party voted for the declaration.
It will form a foundation for their position at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Our latest.
European Parliament Votes Overwhelmingly For "The Full Recognition Of Trans Women As Women"
The resolution, though nonbinding, is a significant shot at those who seek to erode transgender rights on the continent.
www.erininthemorning.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:17 PM
In incredible news, the European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly for "The Full Recognition Of Trans Women As Women."
Even the center-right European People's Party voted for the declaration.
It will form a foundation for their position at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Our latest.
Even the center-right European People's Party voted for the declaration.
It will form a foundation for their position at the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Our latest.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Excellent piece. Get your kids vaccinated, people.
“You look at your son, the glasses you picked out with him, the haircut he chose from the wall at the barber shop, the beating heart you gave him. And you know that you, too, will never recover.” Elizabeth Bruenig maps how a child dies of measles:
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
bit.ly
February 13, 2026 at 9:29 PM
Excellent piece. Get your kids vaccinated, people.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
If that comes with fun superhero stuff and lots of implausible fighty/explodey, that will be a bonus.
Now on to 'Arrow' (2012-2020), which appears to be about the pernicious influence and corruption of greedy and arrogant billionaires who think they are above the law... 2/2
Now on to 'Arrow' (2012-2020), which appears to be about the pernicious influence and corruption of greedy and arrogant billionaires who think they are above the law... 2/2
February 13, 2026 at 10:04 AM
If that comes with fun superhero stuff and lots of implausible fighty/explodey, that will be a bonus.
Now on to 'Arrow' (2012-2020), which appears to be about the pernicious influence and corruption of greedy and arrogant billionaires who think they are above the law... 2/2
Now on to 'Arrow' (2012-2020), which appears to be about the pernicious influence and corruption of greedy and arrogant billionaires who think they are above the law... 2/2
Reposted by Liz Bourke
I have finished watching the 'Supergirl' 2015-2021 TV series, thanks to ITVX. I look forward to the day when a show with a majority female cast, sustained leading roles for actors of colour, and lesbian/trans inclusion as an aspect of everyday life, can get greenlit again. 1/2
February 13, 2026 at 10:04 AM
I have finished watching the 'Supergirl' 2015-2021 TV series, thanks to ITVX. I look forward to the day when a show with a majority female cast, sustained leading roles for actors of colour, and lesbian/trans inclusion as an aspect of everyday life, can get greenlit again. 1/2
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Oh yay, evolutionary psychology now being cited by the UK’s far right party to justify their Handmaid’s Tale vision of the future
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
February 14, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Oh yay, evolutionary psychology now being cited by the UK’s far right party to justify their Handmaid’s Tale vision of the future
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Liz Bourke
The US, trying a little bit of bog-standard UK sewage pollution for a treat, right down to the tardy/low-reporting (and undoubtedly in this political moment, same lack of accountability). Thumbs down. I hate it.
From @lizneeley.bsky.social's newsletter today: "Hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage have poured into the Potomac river in the past month, exposing Maryland and Washington DC to staggering levels of pathogenic bacteria. [This] is now the worst wastewater spill in American history." 1/2
February 14, 2026 at 1:42 PM
The US, trying a little bit of bog-standard UK sewage pollution for a treat, right down to the tardy/low-reporting (and undoubtedly in this political moment, same lack of accountability). Thumbs down. I hate it.
Very reassured. Not.
ARE YOU NOT REASSURED
February 14, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Very reassured. Not.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
In adding in all those publication dates I've been reminded of possibly the worst book I've read for awards related purposes, Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon.
It would have sucked regardless but the books I read before and after it were A Memory Called Empire and The Mirror and the Light.
It would have sucked regardless but the books I read before and after it were A Memory Called Empire and The Mirror and the Light.
February 14, 2026 at 1:43 PM
In adding in all those publication dates I've been reminded of possibly the worst book I've read for awards related purposes, Fire with Fire by Charles E. Gannon.
It would have sucked regardless but the books I read before and after it were A Memory Called Empire and The Mirror and the Light.
It would have sucked regardless but the books I read before and after it were A Memory Called Empire and The Mirror and the Light.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
This from Stella Creasy is spot on.
February 14, 2026 at 9:10 AM
This from Stella Creasy is spot on.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Yeah, hi, I’m a person with “mobility challenges” (excuse me while I hurl). What we want, by and large, are not expensive, heavy devices that will “help us walk again”, but ramps.
I know, it’s not sexy, as technology invented before Christ, but it is overlooked in favor of…this. Repeatedly.
I know, it’s not sexy, as technology invented before Christ, but it is overlooked in favor of…this. Repeatedly.
Nike's battery-powered footwear system, which propels wearers forward, is part of a broader push to help humans move farther and faster.
'E-bike for your feet': How bionic sneakers could change human mobility
Nike's battery-powered footwear system, which propels wearers forward, is part of a broader push to help humans move farther and faster.
n.pr
February 14, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Yeah, hi, I’m a person with “mobility challenges” (excuse me while I hurl). What we want, by and large, are not expensive, heavy devices that will “help us walk again”, but ramps.
I know, it’s not sexy, as technology invented before Christ, but it is overlooked in favor of…this. Repeatedly.
I know, it’s not sexy, as technology invented before Christ, but it is overlooked in favor of…this. Repeatedly.
Reposted by Liz Bourke
This is an informative thread from a Minneapolis lawyer
So it’s a race: how quickly can a person’s family realize they were snatched and find a lawyer, and how quickly can that lawyer get a habeas petition of file? And is that faster than ICE can load the detainee on a plane to Texas?
It’s exhausting and terrifying. It can be life and death.
18/
It’s exhausting and terrifying. It can be life and death.
18/
February 14, 2026 at 1:58 PM
This is an informative thread from a Minneapolis lawyer
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Damn, “we should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” has some serious hands
February 14, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Damn, “we should learn to speak in a language that rich people who don't dream can't comprehend” has some serious hands
Reposted by Liz Bourke
Le gunna-scréach faoi lámhach na bpiléé éérrrrr—
February 14, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Le gunna-scréach faoi lámhach na bpiléé éérrrrr—
Reposted by Liz Bourke
"Many GSFC employees are still concerned that the imminent removal and possible disposal of materials are in direct contradiction to the instructions in a Congressional Joint Exploratory Statement which directs NASA to preserve technical and scientific capabilities."
I am posting some photos of the NASA Goddard library taken yesterday. The photos were NOT taken by library employees - but rather by others at NASA Goddard . Word has it that trucks are arriving this weekend to begin removal of these boxes. More: nasawatch.com/trumpspace/n... #NASA
NASA Goddard Library Shutdown Update
NASA Goddard Library Shutdown Update
nasawatch.com
February 14, 2026 at 3:16 AM
"Many GSFC employees are still concerned that the imminent removal and possible disposal of materials are in direct contradiction to the instructions in a Congressional Joint Exploratory Statement which directs NASA to preserve technical and scientific capabilities."
Reposted by Liz Bourke
The *vast majority* of people who work at Meta today are people who willingly chose to work at the company after it directly enabled a genocide, according to multiple independent global human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. It is a warehouse for psychopaths.
This company is so uniquely toxic and awful.
Meta's plan for launching glasses that people can use to secretly identify strangers on the street is to do it "during a dynamic political environment" when people who care about why that's bad are "focused on other concerns."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
February 14, 2026 at 4:26 AM
The *vast majority* of people who work at Meta today are people who willingly chose to work at the company after it directly enabled a genocide, according to multiple independent global human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. It is a warehouse for psychopaths.