So Mayer
@suchmayer.bsky.social
They/them. Overthinker. Reads things, writes things. BAD LANGUAGE out now with Peninsula Press 🐉 THE WORD FOR WORLD (co-ed) out now with @silver-press.bsky.social 🌳 Website & newsletter: somayer.net. Won't age-verify so no DMs.
Pinned
So Mayer
@suchmayer.bsky.social
· Sep 16
It's here.
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
BAD LANGUAGE
13/11/25
"made with love and horror, & a guidebook for our time" — @adamzmith.bsky.social
"Mayer's words & a gift and a gateway" — @elizabethlovatt.bsky.social
"incantation & spell distil a complex argument" — Lola Olufemi
Pre-order: peninsulapress.co.uk/products/bad...
Reposted by So Mayer
JUST PAY SKILLED PEOPLE
Chatbots are being considered for providing legal counselling to people seeking asylum, documents suggest. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission doesn’t believe chatbots are suitable “in provision of legal counselling”, a spokesperson said.
Chatbots considered for providing legal counselling to people seeking asylum, documents suggest
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission doesn’t believe chatbots are suitable “in provision of legal counselling”, a spokesperson said.
www.dublininquirer.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:30 AM
JUST PAY SKILLED PEOPLE
Reposted by So Mayer
TR-49 coded
New: Unsealed court docs detail Big Tech’s yearslong, secret race to ingest the collective works of humanity, including Anthropic’s project to “destructively scan all the books in the world.”
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
Gift link: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ
How Silicon Valley built AI: Buying, scanning and destroying millions of books
Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.
wapo.st
January 28, 2026 at 9:38 AM
TR-49 coded
Reposted by So Mayer
While I obviously think people should get appropriate literacies for their work, the collaboration with big-tech companies is problematic for multiple
www.gov.uk/government/n...
->
www.gov.uk/government/n...
->
Free AI training for all, as government and industry programme expands to provide 10 million workers with key AI skills by 2030
Every adult in the UK is eligible to take free, newly benchmarked courses to gain practical AI skills for work – as the joint government and industry programme sees a major expansion to upskill 10 mil...
www.gov.uk
January 28, 2026 at 9:34 AM
While I obviously think people should get appropriate literacies for their work, the collaboration with big-tech companies is problematic for multiple
www.gov.uk/government/n...
->
www.gov.uk/government/n...
->
Reposted by So Mayer
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 51
Because of my work and writing here with the Bean Project, I had an opportunity to submit some other writing to Gavin @gavingrant.bsky.social and Kelly @kellylink.bsky.social at Small Beer Press for their publication LCRW.
Go support them and me. 🙂 🫘
Because of my work and writing here with the Bean Project, I had an opportunity to submit some other writing to Gavin @gavingrant.bsky.social and Kelly @kellylink.bsky.social at Small Beer Press for their publication LCRW.
Go support them and me. 🙂 🫘
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 51
Cover for this edition Because of my work and writing here with the Bean Project, I had an opportunity to submit some other writing to Gavin and Kelly at Small Beer Press for their publication LCRW…
beanyear.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet No. 51
Because of my work and writing here with the Bean Project, I had an opportunity to submit some other writing to Gavin @gavingrant.bsky.social and Kelly @kellylink.bsky.social at Small Beer Press for their publication LCRW.
Go support them and me. 🙂 🫘
Because of my work and writing here with the Bean Project, I had an opportunity to submit some other writing to Gavin @gavingrant.bsky.social and Kelly @kellylink.bsky.social at Small Beer Press for their publication LCRW.
Go support them and me. 🙂 🫘
For reasons of good cheer (although having just missed Burns Night), here is my favourite thing from ye olde Twitter, saved for posterity by Thread Reader: David Tennant as thermos flasks (yes, there are kilts):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/12688...
threadreaderapp.com/thread/12688...
Thread by @Pandamoanimum: David Tennant as thermos flasks. A thread.…
Thread by @Pandamoanimum: David Tennant as thermos flasks. A thread.…
threadreaderapp.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:29 PM
For reasons of good cheer (although having just missed Burns Night), here is my favourite thing from ye olde Twitter, saved for posterity by Thread Reader: David Tennant as thermos flasks (yes, there are kilts):
threadreaderapp.com/thread/12688...
threadreaderapp.com/thread/12688...
Reposted by So Mayer
The Indian Removal Act is eerily similar to the GREAT Trust and Trump’s plan for Gaza. Here’s how:
To reconstruct the Gaza strip, Trump is drawing on a very old playbook—one that dates back to the 19th century.
To reconstruct the Gaza strip, Trump is drawing on a very old playbook—one that dates back to the 19th century.
January 27, 2026 at 4:22 PM
The Indian Removal Act is eerily similar to the GREAT Trust and Trump’s plan for Gaza. Here’s how:
To reconstruct the Gaza strip, Trump is drawing on a very old playbook—one that dates back to the 19th century.
To reconstruct the Gaza strip, Trump is drawing on a very old playbook—one that dates back to the 19th century.
Reposted by So Mayer
I don't want gen AI in my browser
I don't want gen AI in my pc
I don't want gen AI in my art
I don't want gen AI in my games
I don't want gen AI in my music
I don't want gen AI in my movies
I don't want gen AI in my books
I don't want gen AI in my cart
I don't want gen AI in my life
I don't want gen AI in my pc
I don't want gen AI in my art
I don't want gen AI in my games
I don't want gen AI in my music
I don't want gen AI in my movies
I don't want gen AI in my books
I don't want gen AI in my cart
I don't want gen AI in my life
December 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
I don't want gen AI in my browser
I don't want gen AI in my pc
I don't want gen AI in my art
I don't want gen AI in my games
I don't want gen AI in my music
I don't want gen AI in my movies
I don't want gen AI in my books
I don't want gen AI in my cart
I don't want gen AI in my life
I don't want gen AI in my pc
I don't want gen AI in my art
I don't want gen AI in my games
I don't want gen AI in my music
I don't want gen AI in my movies
I don't want gen AI in my books
I don't want gen AI in my cart
I don't want gen AI in my life
Reposted by So Mayer
"Vonnegut found hope in books and heaped praise on librarians...dedicated professionals amid anti-democratic bullying and censorship."
Take a moment today to read Kurt Vonnegut's admiration for one of the last promising places in America for people to feel: libraries and the people who work there.
Take a moment today to read Kurt Vonnegut's admiration for one of the last promising places in America for people to feel: libraries and the people who work there.
I Love You, Madame Librarian
Kurt Vonnegut expresses admiration for one of the last promising places in America for people to feel: libraries and the people who work there.
inthesetimes.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:15 PM
"Vonnegut found hope in books and heaped praise on librarians...dedicated professionals amid anti-democratic bullying and censorship."
Take a moment today to read Kurt Vonnegut's admiration for one of the last promising places in America for people to feel: libraries and the people who work there.
Take a moment today to read Kurt Vonnegut's admiration for one of the last promising places in America for people to feel: libraries and the people who work there.
Reposted by So Mayer
Love that the NHS just signed a giant contract with surveillance network that kills you instantly, my health data feels super secure :)
Palantir employees are pressing company leadership over its work for ICE in internal company Slacks obtained by @wired.com
"In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this."
Scoop from @makenakelly.bsky.social
"In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this."
Scoop from @makenakelly.bsky.social
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Love that the NHS just signed a giant contract with surveillance network that kills you instantly, my health data feels super secure :)
Reposted by So Mayer
For the geeks, the gallery-lates folk, and the quantum-curious. I'm talking physics and pop culture at Science Gallery this Friday eve, in this very timeline, with King's Philosophy of Science senior lecturer Alex Franklin and SCI-FI London's Louis Savy london.sciencegallery.com/sgl-events/f...
Friday Late: Tales of Entanglement — Science Gallery London
Experience quantum after dark at Science Gallery London. Shake up your relationship with the universe through the power of quantum stories.
london.sciencegallery.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:11 PM
For the geeks, the gallery-lates folk, and the quantum-curious. I'm talking physics and pop culture at Science Gallery this Friday eve, in this very timeline, with King's Philosophy of Science senior lecturer Alex Franklin and SCI-FI London's Louis Savy london.sciencegallery.com/sgl-events/f...
Reposted by So Mayer
what are we reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaading?
January 27, 2026 at 10:40 AM
what are we reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaading?
Reposted by So Mayer
TikTok is tracking people’s IMMIGRATION STATUS?
Buddy shoutout to my 5th grade computer lab teacher who put the fear of GOD in all of us 20 fucking years ago about all this shit. MAN was she fucking right.
Buddy shoutout to my 5th grade computer lab teacher who put the fear of GOD in all of us 20 fucking years ago about all this shit. MAN was she fucking right.
January 27, 2026 at 4:21 PM
TikTok is tracking people’s IMMIGRATION STATUS?
Buddy shoutout to my 5th grade computer lab teacher who put the fear of GOD in all of us 20 fucking years ago about all this shit. MAN was she fucking right.
Buddy shoutout to my 5th grade computer lab teacher who put the fear of GOD in all of us 20 fucking years ago about all this shit. MAN was she fucking right.
Reposted by So Mayer
Hundreds of Moroccan conscripts defected to join the Viet Minh during the French Indochina War, later staying and building lives in Vietnam. Basma El Atti tells their story, in this essay that was recently nominated for a True Story Award.
Vietnam’s Village of Moroccan Defectors
Hundreds of conscripted North Africans were sent to fight France’s war in Indochina — instead they found a new life in Southeast Asia
shorturl.at
January 27, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Hundreds of Moroccan conscripts defected to join the Viet Minh during the French Indochina War, later staying and building lives in Vietnam. Basma El Atti tells their story, in this essay that was recently nominated for a True Story Award.
Reposted by So Mayer
This country has locked up so many children in one prison that the CHILDREN ARE LEADING PRISON UPRISINGS. As a country we are not furious enough yet.
January 27, 2026 at 5:31 AM
This country has locked up so many children in one prison that the CHILDREN ARE LEADING PRISON UPRISINGS. As a country we are not furious enough yet.
Reposted by So Mayer
I'm just going to have to keep tapping this sign eh
I know you all love The Fartlantic today because of that one article but please try to remember that they played an instrumental role in the rise of fascism in the US and you do not, in fact, have to hand it to them.
January 27, 2026 at 3:12 PM
I'm just going to have to keep tapping this sign eh
Reposted by So Mayer
Clocking in for a day on the weeping line.
January 27, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Clocking in for a day on the weeping line.
Reposted by So Mayer
So much love for @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social
“Everything We Do Matters.” Minneapolis’s Moon Palace Books is a Hub For Anti-ICE Resistance
Angela Schwesnedl from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis picked up my phone call on Saturday almost two hours to the minute after Alex Pretti was murdered in the street by ICE officers. “If you have…
lithub.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:12 PM
So much love for @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social
Reposted by So Mayer
NEW Nerve investigation reveals extent of Palantir's enmeshment in UK state operations
Peter Thiel's surveillance company has deals with government bodies amounting to at least £670m – inc. £15m contract with nuclear weapons agency
By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Charlie Young & Max Colbert
🔗⏬
Peter Thiel's surveillance company has deals with government bodies amounting to at least £670m – inc. £15m contract with nuclear weapons agency
By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Charlie Young & Max Colbert
🔗⏬
January 27, 2026 at 2:57 PM
NEW Nerve investigation reveals extent of Palantir's enmeshment in UK state operations
Peter Thiel's surveillance company has deals with government bodies amounting to at least £670m – inc. £15m contract with nuclear weapons agency
By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Charlie Young & Max Colbert
🔗⏬
Peter Thiel's surveillance company has deals with government bodies amounting to at least £670m – inc. £15m contract with nuclear weapons agency
By @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Charlie Young & Max Colbert
🔗⏬
Reposted by So Mayer
Reposted by So Mayer
Ulrike Ottinger: una cineasta radicalmente libre 🎥 Hablamos con Ulrike Ottinger sobre Freak Orlando y también sobre su nueva película, que se estrenará en 2026 🎬
➡️ Puedes leer la entrevista entera en https://filmtopia.net/es/entrevista-ulrike-ottinger/
#directoresdecinema #cineymujeres
➡️ Puedes leer la entrevista entera en https://filmtopia.net/es/entrevista-ulrike-ottinger/
#directoresdecinema #cineymujeres
January 27, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Ulrike Ottinger: una cineasta radicalmente libre 🎥 Hablamos con Ulrike Ottinger sobre Freak Orlando y también sobre su nueva película, que se estrenará en 2026 🎬
➡️ Puedes leer la entrevista entera en https://filmtopia.net/es/entrevista-ulrike-ottinger/
#directoresdecinema #cineymujeres
➡️ Puedes leer la entrevista entera en https://filmtopia.net/es/entrevista-ulrike-ottinger/
#directoresdecinema #cineymujeres
Reposted by So Mayer
REMINDER: If you shopped with a Minneapolis store to support them during their general strike, I swear to god, do not bug them if it takes awhile. Online orders are work, fighting an occupation is work. Don't make more work for them
January 27, 2026 at 2:03 PM
REMINDER: If you shopped with a Minneapolis store to support them during their general strike, I swear to god, do not bug them if it takes awhile. Online orders are work, fighting an occupation is work. Don't make more work for them
Reposted by So Mayer
“We’re in these walled-off secret societies. These are state institutions. But it’s one of the only state institutions that the public or the media has no access to. How can a journalist go into a war zone, but can’t go into a prison in the United States of America?” - Raoul Poole, prisoner
HBO's "The Alabama Solution" was nominated for an Academy Award. But the incarcerated men who produced the footage that made the film possible were just thrown into solitary confinement.
They Collaborated on an Oscar-Nominated Film — Then Got Thrown Into Solitary
The incarcerated men who produced footage for The Alabama Solution were abruptly transferred to solitary this month.
theappeal.org
January 27, 2026 at 1:25 PM
“We’re in these walled-off secret societies. These are state institutions. But it’s one of the only state institutions that the public or the media has no access to. How can a journalist go into a war zone, but can’t go into a prison in the United States of America?” - Raoul Poole, prisoner
Reposted by So Mayer
You must read this story about the hero that risked his life to reveal an unprecedented amount of information on the internal workings of ‘pig butchering’ scams
An incredible story of how one man, tricked into working in a scam compound in Southeast Asia, leaked all of their secrets to @agreenberg.bsky.social before trying to escape.
www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive
A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story.
www.wired.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:05 PM
You must read this story about the hero that risked his life to reveal an unprecedented amount of information on the internal workings of ‘pig butchering’ scams
Reposted by So Mayer
an analogue to the joys and fulfilments of solidarity currently being proved in MN exists in our classrooms. we know that serious study, serious thought, serious play feels good. why not find, invent ways of doing that goodness together rather than focusing so intently on circumventing cheating
January 27, 2026 at 1:57 PM
an analogue to the joys and fulfilments of solidarity currently being proved in MN exists in our classrooms. we know that serious study, serious thought, serious play feels good. why not find, invent ways of doing that goodness together rather than focusing so intently on circumventing cheating
Reposted by So Mayer
Palestine Action-linked prisoner Umer Khalid, 22, ended his protest after becoming severely unwell.
Gravely ill pro-Palestine activist ends hunger, thirst strike in UK prison
The months-long rolling protest joined by eight Palestine Action-linked activists concludes as Umer Khalid ends strike.
www.aljazeera.com
January 27, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Palestine Action-linked prisoner Umer Khalid, 22, ended his protest after becoming severely unwell.