Nick Harkaway
@nickharkaway.com
Book-writin' man. Also husband, dad and occasional clothing-repairer, dog-walker, enthusiastic improviser of temporary solutions to random problems. Decreasingly rigorous on social media.
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
Pinned
my god, my typos today
November 24, 2025 at 4:34 PM
my god, my typos today
I'm sorry, I didn't get much past "startup" before I started screaming.
A 25-person startup is developing technology to block the sun and turn down the planet’s thermostat.
The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
Read more: politi.co/4iaojIc
The stakes are huge — and the company and its critics say regulations need to catch up.
Read more: politi.co/4iaojIc
November 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I'm sorry, I didn't get much past "startup" before I started screaming.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Net zero is cheaper than fossil fuel dependence.
That was my #1 takeaway from @iea.org's latest World Energy Outlook.
Don't let anyone tell you drill baby drill is about affordability.
✍️https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/five-lessons-iea-2025-world-energy-outlook
That was my #1 takeaway from @iea.org's latest World Energy Outlook.
Don't let anyone tell you drill baby drill is about affordability.
✍️https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/five-lessons-iea-2025-world-energy-outlook
Five Lessons From the IEA’s 2025 World Energy Outlook for the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels
New analysis examines the 2025 World Energy Outlook and what the reports scenario's could mean for the transition away from fossil fuels.
www.iisd.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Net zero is cheaper than fossil fuel dependence.
That was my #1 takeaway from @iea.org's latest World Energy Outlook.
Don't let anyone tell you drill baby drill is about affordability.
✍️https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/five-lessons-iea-2025-world-energy-outlook
That was my #1 takeaway from @iea.org's latest World Energy Outlook.
Don't let anyone tell you drill baby drill is about affordability.
✍️https://www.iisd.org/articles/explainer/five-lessons-iea-2025-world-energy-outlook
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
At’The Word for the World’ exhibition of Le Guin’s maps and it includes what reads as a very irate note to her cover artist about how a dragon should look.
November 24, 2025 at 12:59 PM
At’The Word for the World’ exhibition of Le Guin’s maps and it includes what reads as a very irate note to her cover artist about how a dragon should look.
All right, I’ve missed something. What’s the origin point for this latest round of discussion about piracy?
November 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
All right, I’ve missed something. What’s the origin point for this latest round of discussion about piracy?
Government could start by not going out of its way to screw the entire knowledge work sector. Just spitballing here. Maybe back your creatives when they say they've been ripped off by huge tech firms instead of finding ways to give our work to megacorps free of charge? I dunno man it's a MYSTERY...
Ahead of the National Year of Reading, the Education Committee has launched a new inquiry to understand how reading can be nurtured following the decline in the number of children reading for pleasure 👇 #BookSky
MPs launch inquiry into how the joy of reading can be kept alive
ebx.sh
November 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Government could start by not going out of its way to screw the entire knowledge work sector. Just spitballing here. Maybe back your creatives when they say they've been ripped off by huge tech firms instead of finding ways to give our work to megacorps free of charge? I dunno man it's a MYSTERY...
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Today in Canadians are hella smart:
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Today in Canadians are hella smart:
We used to use a very clunky monochrome library computer for search. All text, keywords. Then you got your book and went through the index (more keywords) and the bibliography and ordered up anything you could find from there that looked good.
The one thing I really miss about the 'older world' is browsing library stacks, and card catalogues. However much I appreciate databases and retrieving what I want in moments, the serendipity of 'the book next to the one I wanted' and 'the article in the same issue' cannot be replicated. #Libraries
November 24, 2025 at 11:53 AM
We used to use a very clunky monochrome library computer for search. All text, keywords. Then you got your book and went through the index (more keywords) and the bibliography and ordered up anything you could find from there that looked good.
Target rich environment, this.
November 24, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Target rich environment, this.
Yes, by all means, let us blow up tertiary education. Again.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Yes, by all means, let us blow up tertiary education. Again.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
#Finland will begin to #Russia - proof its rail network, integrate with EU train infrastructure.
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
The Finnish government has announced the conversion of its rail network from Russian gauge (1,524 mm) to European standard (1,435 mm).
www.trenvista.net/en/news/flas...
November 23, 2025 at 4:40 PM
do you have any idea how much you have to piss somebody off to make them change their gauge
Jeeeeez. We are so very, very boned.
November 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Jeeeeez. We are so very, very boned.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
À réactivation of apartheid , now with the spectre of “fascism” and survival work .
Black women are often doing the exact same care work
And work work
But now unstructured and under malice
Black women are often doing the exact same care work
And work work
But now unstructured and under malice
Since February, according to my latest analysis, almost 600,000 Black women have been economically sidelined. The November 20, 2025, Jobs Report makes clear this isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. That is not a recovery. It is a redistribution of opportunity.
The exit economy is here. Black Women are paying the highest price | Fortune
This isn’t a blip. It’s a structural crisis. And it's not a recovery, it's a redistribution of opportunity.
fortune.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
À réactivation of apartheid , now with the spectre of “fascism” and survival work .
Black women are often doing the exact same care work
And work work
But now unstructured and under malice
Black women are often doing the exact same care work
And work work
But now unstructured and under malice
Oh ho! I have somehow missed this until now. Looks extremely important.
It’s Stir-Up Sunday and so, as tradition decrees, my Ultimate Christmas Pudding is #RecipeOfTheDay. I have converted many Christmas pud haters with this, which is due not to any brilliance on my part but to the treacly magnificence of the Pedro Ximénez sherry in it. www.nigella.com/recipes/ulti...
Ultimate Christmas Pudding
I don’t deny it: there is something unattractively boastful about calling one’s own recipe “ultimate”. But having soaked my dried fruit for this pudding in Pedro Ximénez — the sweet, dark, sticky sher...
www.nigella.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Oh ho! I have somehow missed this until now. Looks extremely important.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
I wish more reporting on this made the point that novelists won't be displaced by LLMs suddenly producing literature instead of story mulch, but because decision makers focused only on the bottom line, who don't understand what makes a good book, will be persuaded story mulch has got 'good enough'.
New research by @mctd.bsky.social shows the impact of generative AI on authors in the UK. They found over a third of novelists report their income has already been negatively impacted by AI and 85% expect their future income will be negatively impacted.
www.mctd.ac.uk/impact-of-ge...
www.mctd.ac.uk/impact-of-ge...
Impact of Generative AI on the Novel
A report examining how literary creatives being affected by GenAI and what measures they want see implemented by the government to protect the UK’s literary scene.
www.mctd.ac.uk
November 20, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I wish more reporting on this made the point that novelists won't be displaced by LLMs suddenly producing literature instead of story mulch, but because decision makers focused only on the bottom line, who don't understand what makes a good book, will be persuaded story mulch has got 'good enough'.
Attn Labour Party
After more than 10 years of “the Danish Model”, nativism is hegemonic in the country, the far right polls near level highs again, and the Social Democrats lost Copenhagen and poll at historic low.
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Attn Labour Party
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Two perfectly normal ads in the perfectly normal city of San Francisco.
November 22, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Two perfectly normal ads in the perfectly normal city of San Francisco.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
“AI workers said they distrust the models they work on because of a consistent emphasis on rapid turnaround time at the expense of quality.”
Meet the AI workers who tell their friends and family to stay away from AI
When the people making AI seem trustworthy are the ones who trust it the least, it shows that incentives for speed are overtaking safety, experts say
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“AI workers said they distrust the models they work on because of a consistent emphasis on rapid turnaround time at the expense of quality.”
Holy Hecate. That is bad.
Oh, God, this is one of those "where do I even start" things, because Roblox is, like, *fractally* fucked. They are terrible at content moderation. A lot of the games are rated incorrectly, so kids can encounter graphic content (sex or violence) out of nowhere --
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Holy Hecate. That is bad.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
This feels like a @nickharkaway.com or @cstross.bsky.social plot twist.
"The Ukrainian Army is knocking a once-hyped Russian superweapon out of the sky by jamming it with a song and tricking it into thinking it’s in Lima, Peru."
www.404media.co/ukraine-is-j...
"The Ukrainian Army is knocking a once-hyped Russian superweapon out of the sky by jamming it with a song and tricking it into thinking it’s in Lima, Peru."
www.404media.co/ukraine-is-j...
Ukraine Is Jamming Russia’s ‘Superweapon’ With a Song
A few years ago, Putin hyped the Kinzhal hypersonic missile. Now electronic warfare is knocking it out of the sky with music and some bad directions.
www.404media.co
November 22, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This feels like a @nickharkaway.com or @cstross.bsky.social plot twist.
"The Ukrainian Army is knocking a once-hyped Russian superweapon out of the sky by jamming it with a song and tricking it into thinking it’s in Lima, Peru."
www.404media.co/ukraine-is-j...
"The Ukrainian Army is knocking a once-hyped Russian superweapon out of the sky by jamming it with a song and tricking it into thinking it’s in Lima, Peru."
www.404media.co/ukraine-is-j...
In my drift through popular SF/F audiobooks I’ve just touched on Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s more self-hating than I expected from the number of people selling merch.
November 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
In my drift through popular SF/F audiobooks I’ve just touched on Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s more self-hating than I expected from the number of people selling merch.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
“Magic.“ Pointing at things and trying to change them by speaking words and exerting power is called “magic”.
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 8:25 PM
“Magic.“ Pointing at things and trying to change them by speaking words and exerting power is called “magic”.