Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lisa Ko

Harsha Walia @harshawalia.bsky.social · Jun 14

there is a lot to be terrified of with news out of Minnesota

thing that sticks out to me is how the killer impersonated being a cop

Canada's deadliest mass shooting also involved police impersonation

pretending to be cops in order to kill speaks volumes about sanctioned police violence & impunity

1 80 250

Reposted by Lisa Ko

Maud Newton @maudnewton.bsky.social · May 26

I recently read @iamlisako.bsky.social's MEMORY PIECE. A good companion read to PARABLE OF THE SOWER, with Y2K era art, tech, and activism storylines that extend to the future. Recommended.

1 2 15

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · May 27

thanks for reading!

1 1

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · May 21

it's hideous! what is even real anymore?! just another example of how our actual work as authors gets continually devalued (imagining that i blurbed your novel as "a thrilling tale of naval heroism")

1 1 20

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · May 20

A few of these quotes are from old AP reviews but for some reason they've all ended up being credited to me, apparently the world's most prolific fake blurber.

2 6 110

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · May 20

I only became aware of this when I saw a bookstore advertising a book club for Just Kids with a blurb from me, which then noticed was also on the publisher site, and then an author emailed my agent to thank me for blurbing her book, which I hadn't?

www.harpercollins.com/products/jus...

Just Kids

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two...

www.harpercollins.com

3 6 84

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · May 20

The AI book list and general enshittification reminded me that I've been credited as blurbing hundreds of books I never have, including books by Patti Smith, Amy Tan, Sidney Sheldon, Joyce Maynard, and Elmore Leonard? And I can't get these fake blurbs taken off publisher and bookstore websites?

Blurbs attributed to "Lisa Ko, author of the leavers" for Elmore Leonard, Sidney Sheldon, Joyce maynard, Peter Maas, Amy Tan, and Patti Smith

30 190 460

Reposted by Lisa Ko

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 24

Build your own time capsule with me on April 2 at Interference Archive as an analog antidote to digital authoritarianism. When histories are rewritten and collective memory is contested, personal archiving can be a mode of resistance.

RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/build-your...

A drawing of gray time capsule with a clock buried in the dirt beneath grass and shadows of buildings. Build Your Own Time Capsule: a workshop facilitated by Lisa Ko. Weds. April 2, 2025, 6:30-8:30pm, Interference Archive, 314 7th Street, Brooklyn

2 15 40

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 24

Build your own time capsule with me on April 2 at Interference Archive as an analog antidote to digital authoritarianism. When histories are rewritten and collective memory is contested, personal archiving can be a mode of resistance.

RSVP: www.eventbrite.com/e/build-your...

2 15 40

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 13

Moderately present

Feline Grimace Scale chart with first row "ear position" with photos of 3 cats Ears facing forward, slightly pulled apart, and rotated outwards. Second row Orbital tightening with 3 cats: Eyes opened, partially closed, squinted

2 9

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 9

Tickets here, starting at $5: www.eventbrite.com/e/obsessions...

Obsessions! A Memory Piece Paperback Launch

"A heartbreaking elegy for a communal, almost utopian approach to urban life." — Rumaan Alam, critically acclaimed author of Entitlement

www.eventbrite.com

1

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 9

Memory Piece is out in paperback soon and we're celebrating with obsessions! I've dreamed of organizing a reading where writers share PowerPoints on topics they're obsessed with. Join us on 3/25 at P&T Knitwear for presentations from Jennifer Baker, Temim Fruchter, Benedict Nguyễn, and Nina Sharma!

Tues, March 25th, 6:30PM General Admission: $5 Redeemable as Credit Towards Book Purchase P&T Knitwear 180 Orchard St New York NY 10002 Lisa Ko Presents Memory Piece with Presentations from Special Guests

Author photos of Temim Fruchter, Jennifer Baker, Benedict Nguyễn, and Nina Sharma

2 3

Reposted by Lisa Ko

Z Samudzi @zsamudzi.bsky.social · Mar 1

If they also push harder for these mask bans…

J. Offir, PhD @joffirphd.bsky.social · Feb 27

First, they said postponed; now the meeting is canceled. That means no flu shots next year.

“'It’s a six-month production cycle,' Dr. Offit said. 'So one can only assume that we’re not picking flu strains this year.'"

Fundamentally, that's a form of mass murder.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/u...

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots

The cancellation plays into fears among scientists who worry that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use his position as health secretary to sow doubts about vaccines.

www.nytimes.com

15 29

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 1

more cash, less cards in 2025. bring back subway tokens. let me pay for laundry with a giant stack of quarters

5

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Mar 1

It's paperback events season for MEMORY PIECE. @aliontas.bsky.social called the book "both warning and safe harbor," which I love!

Join me on 3/25 for the paperback launch in NYC, and events in Philly, NJ, LA and more - plus a time capsule workshop and a zine workshop in April!

lisa-ko.com/events

An image of a figure on a bicycle next to Join Lisa Ko on Tour For Memory Piece

3/19: Grand Forks, ND: University of North Dakota Writers Conference
3/21: Charlottesville, VA: Virginia Festival of the Book
3/25: NY, NY: P&T Knitwear - Paperback Launch (Obsessions! with Jennifer Baker, Temim Fruchter, Benedict Nguyễn, and Nina Sharma)
3/27: Long Beach, CA: Bel Canto Books (book launch for Roohi Choudhry’s Outside Women)
4/02: Brooklyn, NY: Interference Archive (Build Your Own Time Capsule Workshop)
4/07: Paramus, NJ: Barnes & Noble (in conversation with Nicole Haroutunian)
4/10: Philadelphia, PA: Asian Arts Initiative (in conversation with Emma Copley Eisenberg)
4/13: Queens, NY: The World’s Borough Bookshop (Zine Workshop)
4/15: Brooklyn, NY: Liz’s Book Bar (with Clare Beams, Xochitl Gonzalez, and Crystal Hana Kim)
4/17: Brooklyn, NY: Hive Mind Books (with Griffin Hansbury)
4/26-27: Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

More details at lisa-ko.com

An image of the cover of the book, with the same figure on a bicycle set against a fuschia flame

2 4 15

Reposted by Lisa Ko

NYCosmosSC @nycosmossc.bsky.social · Feb 3

Every Sunday, New Yorkers from all over make their way downtown to volunteer their time & fight the good, gourmet-inspired fight with EV❤️NYC. Packing up a hot meal & sending it out to our most vulnerable neighbors is a relatively small act…which feels great

Learn more⬇️
www.evloves.nyc

📸Linda Hayes

35 200

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Jan 27

My prompt on creating your own time capsule as an anchor in uncertain times is today's letter for @writingco-lab.bsky.social's 100 Days of Creative Resistance. Read the full post: mailchi.mp/504fc06240fa/lisa-ko-creating-time-capsule

3 6

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Jan 22

ty Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya for including Memory Piece!

"A sprawling feminist tale about art, tech and capitalism, the queer relationships (and sex scenes!) are as detailed and developed as its storytelling about the toxic relationship between art and capitalism"
www.autostraddle.com/queer-climat...

Queer Books About the Environment for When All You Can Think About Is Climate Crisis

These 30+ books are about land, ecology, natural disasters, apocalypse, the harm capitalism does to the planet, despair, hope, growth, death, and rebirth.

www.autostraddle.com

2 5

Reposted by Lisa Ko

Harsha Walia @harshawalia.bsky.social · Jan 22

one of key functions of immigration raids & crackdowns is not to actually deport all migrants/refugees but to deepen conditions of social precarity & labor deportability. to make migrants more vulnerable to exploitation from bosses & landlords & banks, and to create scapegoats for austerity policies

20 890 2.3K

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Dec 30

This is art

Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · Dec 30

A student somehow accidentally emailed the entire NYU faculty and the reply-all carnage is like a freeway pile-up

8

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Nov 27

I aim to disrupt myself by writing 8,001 books in 2025 alone!

1 11

Lisa Ko @iamlisako.bsky.social · Nov 26

Memory Piece is one of NPR's 2024 Books We Love: "A story about 3 friends growing up in and around NYC in the '90s. Their friendship evolves as they push the boundaries of art, performance and technology. I loved that the book makes art feel real and weird and kind of gross." Kind of gross: YES

Books We Love: NPR

This is a coming-of-age story about three friends growing up in and around New York City in the 1990s. Their friendship evolves over the decades as they experiment with, and push the boundaries of, art, performance and technology. I loved that the book makes art feel real and weird and kind of gross – not glamorous and sugarcoated.
— Elissa Nadworny, correspondent

1 2 14

Reposted by Lisa Ko

vijay iyer @vijayiyer.bsky.social · Nov 21

+1 to this! If you’re in NYC it’s at Film Forum through the weekend. filmforum.org/film/soundtr...

3 9 42