Tong Lam
@tonglam.bsky.social
History prof, visual artist, book author w/ projects on infrastructure, colonialism, Cold War mobilization, and (mis)information. <http://tonglam.com>
Pinned
Where there is no room for fiction @ Toronto Nuit Blanche 2025
TEXT 1 (UN)REAL ESTATE OF CONTAINERS Shipping containers—ubiquitous on this site—are a core infrastructure of the contemporary economy. As both symbol…
vimeo.com
The official documentation of my site-specific multimedia installation in 2025 Toronto Nuit Blanche
The official documentation of my site-specific multimedia installation in 2025 Toronto Nuit Blanche
Where there is no room for fiction @ Toronto Nuit Blanche 2025
TEXT 1 (UN)REAL ESTATE OF CONTAINERS Shipping containers—ubiquitous on this site—are a core infrastructure of the contemporary economy. As both symbol…
vimeo.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
The official documentation of my site-specific multimedia installation in 2025 Toronto Nuit Blanche
Join us for an all-night celebration that translates the city through contemporary art, exploring a key infrastructure of the global economy that sustains everyday life in North America’s largest shipping container market
September 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Join us for an all-night celebration that translates the city through contemporary art, exploring a key infrastructure of the global economy that sustains everyday life in North America’s largest shipping container market
This book is finally out. My piece is on speculation and concrete punctumbooks.com/titles/the-s... Free download @punctumbooks.bsky.social
May 12, 2025 at 9:54 PM
This book is finally out. My piece is on speculation and concrete punctumbooks.com/titles/the-s... Free download @punctumbooks.bsky.social
No surprise. The US-bound Air Canada lounge at YYZ is relatively quiet this morning
March 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
No surprise. The US-bound Air Canada lounge at YYZ is relatively quiet this morning
"The mass shooter is the most extreme example of the ongoing mutation of human psychology after decades of the neoliberal promotion of aggressive values" www.e-flux.com/notes/649956...
New Heroes - Notes - e-flux
Franco Berardi revists the themes of his 2015 book Heroes in light of recent mass shootings.
www.e-flux.com
February 22, 2025 at 3:42 PM
"The mass shooter is the most extreme example of the ongoing mutation of human psychology after decades of the neoliberal promotion of aggressive values" www.e-flux.com/notes/649956...
Reposted by Tong Lam
Collapse is underway
The University of Pittsburgh confirmed Friday that there would be no new Ph.D. offers of admission while Pitt works to understand how reduced federal aid could impact the institution.
The University of Pittsburgh pauses its Ph.D. admissions process amid research funding uncertainty
A spokesperson for the University told WESA Friday that the school has "temporarily paused additional Ph.D. offers of admission," while Pitt works to understand how proposed federal funding cuts could...
www.wesa.fm
February 22, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Collapse is underway
I'm in the US for this week, giving talks at Harvard & CU Boulder. The 2 topics, respectively on Cold War extractivism & love stories, offer opportunities to reflect on the limitations of our human-centric worldview amid fleeting geopolitical tensions. Please come by to say hello if you have time.
February 4, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I'm in the US for this week, giving talks at Harvard & CU Boulder. The 2 topics, respectively on Cold War extractivism & love stories, offer opportunities to reflect on the limitations of our human-centric worldview amid fleeting geopolitical tensions. Please come by to say hello if you have time.
Cookies for thought: saw in my workplace kitchen yesterday
February 4, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Cookies for thought: saw in my workplace kitchen yesterday
Reposted by Tong Lam
This Wednesday at the @fairbankcenter.bsky.social! @tonglam.bsky.social speaking on Extractivism and China's early Cold War Mobilization.
Details here: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Details here: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Modern China Lecture featuring Tong Lam — Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization – Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
February 3, 2025 at 3:47 PM
This Wednesday at the @fairbankcenter.bsky.social! @tonglam.bsky.social speaking on Extractivism and China's early Cold War Mobilization.
Details here: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Details here: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Reposted by Tong Lam
looks like another great book from Jie-Hyun Lim - Victimhood Nationalism: History and Memory in a Global Age
cup.columbia.edu/book/victimh...
cup.columbia.edu/book/victimh...
Victimhood Nationalism | Columbia University Press
Nationalism today depends on the perception of victimhood. The historical memory of past suffering endows nationalist movements with political legitimacy and... | CUP
cup.columbia.edu
February 2, 2025 at 4:13 PM
looks like another great book from Jie-Hyun Lim - Victimhood Nationalism: History and Memory in a Global Age
cup.columbia.edu/book/victimh...
cup.columbia.edu/book/victimh...
Reposted by Tong Lam
🧪
If I were Canadian PM I would immediately:
1. Create a new $15B science fund
2. Offer any credentialed US scientist funding for lab startup and replacement of NIH grants if they move to Canada
3. Immediate permanent residency
4. Citizenship after 2 years
Overnight a science superpower
If I were Canadian PM I would immediately:
1. Create a new $15B science fund
2. Offer any credentialed US scientist funding for lab startup and replacement of NIH grants if they move to Canada
3. Immediate permanent residency
4. Citizenship after 2 years
Overnight a science superpower
January 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
🧪
If I were Canadian PM I would immediately:
1. Create a new $15B science fund
2. Offer any credentialed US scientist funding for lab startup and replacement of NIH grants if they move to Canada
3. Immediate permanent residency
4. Citizenship after 2 years
Overnight a science superpower
If I were Canadian PM I would immediately:
1. Create a new $15B science fund
2. Offer any credentialed US scientist funding for lab startup and replacement of NIH grants if they move to Canada
3. Immediate permanent residency
4. Citizenship after 2 years
Overnight a science superpower
Reposted by Tong Lam
Looking forward to the first @fairbankcenter.bsky.social Modern China Lecture of the spring, featuring
@tonglam.bsky.social.
Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization
Wednesday, February 5, 4 PM EST
Details: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
@tonglam.bsky.social.
Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization
Wednesday, February 5, 4 PM EST
Details: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Modern China Lecture featuring Tong Lam — Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization – Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
January 23, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Looking forward to the first @fairbankcenter.bsky.social Modern China Lecture of the spring, featuring
@tonglam.bsky.social.
Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization
Wednesday, February 5, 4 PM EST
Details: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
@tonglam.bsky.social.
Let the Ore Speak: Extractivism and China’s Early Cold War Mobilization
Wednesday, February 5, 4 PM EST
Details: fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/moder...
Reposted by Tong Lam
Mike Davis in his last interview: “Ruling classes everywhere have no rational analysis...for the immediate future. A small group have more concentrated power over the human future than ever before in human history,& they have no vision, no strategy, no plan”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...
Mike Davis, California’s ‘prophet of doom’, on activism in a dying world: ‘Despair is useless’
His warnings of ecological and social breakdown have proved accurate. But with months to live, Davis is anything but defeated
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Mike Davis in his last interview: “Ruling classes everywhere have no rational analysis...for the immediate future. A small group have more concentrated power over the human future than ever before in human history,& they have no vision, no strategy, no plan”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...
Confused proletarian influencers from around the world are now united as memes on Rednote, seemingly becoming even more disoriented in light of their "awakening"
January 19, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Confused proletarian influencers from around the world are now united as memes on Rednote, seemingly becoming even more disoriented in light of their "awakening"
As the year ends in ruins, the new one begins in ruins as well
December 31, 2024 at 1:47 PM
As the year ends in ruins, the new one begins in ruins as well
I’m waiting for stores that respectively named Woke and Tankies
December 27, 2024 at 7:18 PM
I’m waiting for stores that respectively named Woke and Tankies
A quiet Christmas Eve
December 24, 2024 at 10:38 PM
A quiet Christmas Eve
Reposted by Tong Lam
Liu Minhua was among the over a million people who were relocated for the Three Gorges Dam project. when he had to leave his home forever (which would become submerged), he carried on his back the peach tree from home
Li Feng took the photo in 2012, but it was first published in 2019
Li Feng took the photo in 2012, but it was first published in 2019
December 21, 2024 at 10:23 PM
Liu Minhua was among the over a million people who were relocated for the Three Gorges Dam project. when he had to leave his home forever (which would become submerged), he carried on his back the peach tree from home
Li Feng took the photo in 2012, but it was first published in 2019
Li Feng took the photo in 2012, but it was first published in 2019
Once considered the end of the world, this site remains barren under the relentless, forbidding wind. Yet, something grows here—a peculiar narrative of colonialism and globalization. It has a subject, yet it unfolds as if driven by a process devoid of agency.
December 21, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Once considered the end of the world, this site remains barren under the relentless, forbidding wind. Yet, something grows here—a peculiar narrative of colonialism and globalization. It has a subject, yet it unfolds as if driven by a process devoid of agency.
In Roman times, this was considered as the end of the world. This barren site overlooks Africa one the one side and America on the other
December 20, 2024 at 5:15 PM
In Roman times, this was considered as the end of the world. This barren site overlooks Africa one the one side and America on the other