Tobias Wilson-Bates
@phdhurtbrain.bsky.social
Time Machines. Temporality. Ecology. Robots. Education. Associate Professor of 19th century British Literature.
Pinned
Bluesky isn’t about popularity, it’s about gathering all 17 William Morris lovers together in a single online location!
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I just read the word “Apocaloptimist” and unfortunately must now pluck my eyes from my head and go mad.
January 26, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I just read the word “Apocaloptimist” and unfortunately must now pluck my eyes from my head and go mad.
I just read the word “Apocaloptimist” and unfortunately must now pluck my eyes from my head and go mad.
January 26, 2026 at 7:28 PM
I just read the word “Apocaloptimist” and unfortunately must now pluck my eyes from my head and go mad.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
The correct answer to this is "Yes, and everyone else too."
Should artists get a basic income like they do in Ireland?
Could the government pay salaries to musicians and artists - no strings attached like they do in Ireland?
www.bbc.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:49 PM
The correct answer to this is "Yes, and everyone else too."
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I've heard people say the world feels small but that's romance baby. Nobody said this was an urban fantasy book.
when I talk about how this is truly the only show to have a romance novel structure, this is what I mean: every other romance adaptation turns the fundamentally, crucially narrow focus of a romance novel into a broader tv world. this show feels different because it does not.
I wrote about a show about love. Maybe you've heard of it.
Me, on HEATED RIVALRY, for @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2055...
Me, on HEATED RIVALRY, for @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2055...
January 26, 2026 at 4:42 PM
I've heard people say the world feels small but that's romance baby. Nobody said this was an urban fantasy book.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Based on what I’ve experienced on the road, they don’t teach this anymore.
January 26, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Based on what I’ve experienced on the road, they don’t teach this anymore.
Parchment paper is the most hardcore paper. It’s seen things that other paper couldn’t even imagine.
January 26, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Parchment paper is the most hardcore paper. It’s seen things that other paper couldn’t even imagine.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Always worth reiterating this as current Tech oligarchs are like “hey, bro, stealing fire from the gods. Built different”
January 26, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Always worth reiterating this as current Tech oligarchs are like “hey, bro, stealing fire from the gods. Built different”
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Watching Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino giving their account of the murder of Alex Pretti…I can’t stop thinking about this scene from “Andor”.
January 25, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Watching Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino giving their account of the murder of Alex Pretti…I can’t stop thinking about this scene from “Andor”.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Pretty sure that Frankenstein is written as a best-case scenario. Worse outcomes seem entirely possible, but anything more optimistic than this scenario is fundamentally unbelievable.
January 26, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Pretty sure that Frankenstein is written as a best-case scenario. Worse outcomes seem entirely possible, but anything more optimistic than this scenario is fundamentally unbelievable.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
to the extent that there is a “carrot” to trumpism it is the same carrot that slaveholders offered to lower class white men: “you can be an overseer”
January 26, 2026 at 2:43 PM
to the extent that there is a “carrot” to trumpism it is the same carrot that slaveholders offered to lower class white men: “you can be an overseer”
It was obvious from the moment it became clear that they would always be masked and armed that they were planning on doing crimes they didn’t want to be held accountable for.
January 26, 2026 at 2:58 PM
It was obvious from the moment it became clear that they would always be masked and armed that they were planning on doing crimes they didn’t want to be held accountable for.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I will never forget saying that Rittenhouse’s valorization was a sign that white men had been deputized in precisely this way. I believe it got me almost banned on Twitter. Anyway.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Another way to think of ICE right now is as the institutionalization of the Kyle Rittenhouse model of vigilantism under the state's authority.
Escalation and aggressive violence is clearly intentional.
But it's also cooked into the sociological model of how this force has been mobilized.
🧵
Escalation and aggressive violence is clearly intentional.
But it's also cooked into the sociological model of how this force has been mobilized.
🧵
January 25, 2026 at 9:52 PM
I will never forget saying that Rittenhouse’s valorization was a sign that white men had been deputized in precisely this way. I believe it got me almost banned on Twitter. Anyway.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Some of the reason I just cannot these days is I feel like I already did.
Pretty sure that Frankenstein is written as a best-case scenario. Worse outcomes seem entirely possible, but anything more optimistic than this scenario is fundamentally unbelievable.
January 26, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Pretty sure that Frankenstein is written as a best-case scenario. Worse outcomes seem entirely possible, but anything more optimistic than this scenario is fundamentally unbelievable.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
"Pope Leo XIV on Saturday stressed the risks of generative artificial intelligence, how it could usurp human identities and relationships, influence public opinion and deepen social polarisation."
Pope warns against risks of AI algorithms
In a message marking the World Day of Social Communications, the pope said AI systems reflect the worldview of their creators.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 26, 2026 at 12:39 PM
"Pope Leo XIV on Saturday stressed the risks of generative artificial intelligence, how it could usurp human identities and relationships, influence public opinion and deepen social polarisation."
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Kids should get at least five (5) real deal canceled school go crazy snow days before schools start doing “Digital Learning”
January 25, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Kids should get at least five (5) real deal canceled school go crazy snow days before schools start doing “Digital Learning”
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
January 25, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Kids should get at least five (5) real deal canceled school go crazy snow days before schools start doing “Digital Learning”
January 25, 2026 at 10:14 PM
Kids should get at least five (5) real deal canceled school go crazy snow days before schools start doing “Digital Learning”
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
"How can one make a life out of six cardboard boxes full of tailor's bills, love letters and old picture postcards? Yes, writing lives is the devil."
Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882
Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882
January 25, 2026 at 12:56 PM
"How can one make a life out of six cardboard boxes full of tailor's bills, love letters and old picture postcards? Yes, writing lives is the devil."
Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882
Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
The "Seaweed" pattern, William Morris.
January 25, 2026 at 6:13 PM
The "Seaweed" pattern, William Morris.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I write about food, something that immigrant labor makes possible in America, in industrial terms, even as capitalism makes most of us less well fed than we could be.
People can only be compelled to think illegal immigration is an actual problem for them because it can be rhetorically made to resemble the unchecked capitalism that actually makes their life precarious. I can never decide if this is so obvious it's not worth saying or not.
January 25, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I write about food, something that immigrant labor makes possible in America, in industrial terms, even as capitalism makes most of us less well fed than we could be.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
imagine if all that money had gone to teachers instead
January 25, 2026 at 2:37 PM
imagine if all that money had gone to teachers instead
I think we should bring back people demonstrating accomplishments as part of matchmaking. Would be cool as hell to watch a prospective partner play piano, paint a landscape, and speak Latin.
January 24, 2026 at 10:22 PM
I think we should bring back people demonstrating accomplishments as part of matchmaking. Would be cool as hell to watch a prospective partner play piano, paint a landscape, and speak Latin.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
I watched a bunch of AI sessions at the WEF so you wouldn’t have to.
But you should read this.
But you should read this.
"You have to use it. You have to trust it.": Forced Adoption of AI is The Subtext of Davos
Authoritarianism is the AI Bailout; But If AI Doesn't Need a Bailout, Does it Need Authoritarianism?
theamericanvandal.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 1:01 PM
I watched a bunch of AI sessions at the WEF so you wouldn’t have to.
But you should read this.
But you should read this.
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
Old institutions can go rogue too, but institutions that do not have (1) established histories & a shared narrative of that history; (2) clearly defined purpose; and (3) (most important) successfully socialized cultures of adherence to norms following from (2) are in special danger of weaponization
how young is DHS? its first director was sworn in 23 years ago today. George W Bush gave remarks; immigration was not mentioned, other than a single reference to protecting “the border” under the banner of fighting terrorism (still a new-ish framing at the time)
www.c-span.org/program/whit...
www.c-span.org/program/whit...
www.c-span.org
January 24, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Old institutions can go rogue too, but institutions that do not have (1) established histories & a shared narrative of that history; (2) clearly defined purpose; and (3) (most important) successfully socialized cultures of adherence to norms following from (2) are in special danger of weaponization
Reposted by Tobias Wilson-Bates
