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williamcomfortanderson.com
William Comfort Anderson
@williamcomfortanderson.com
110 followers 560 following 13 posts
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williamcomfortanderson.com
“Content creators” as platform patsies. (Hello, Bluesky.)
Our conventional response to all media, namely that it is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the "content" of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.
November 9, 2025 at 1:49 AM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Alan Kay in 1977 might as well have been talking about AI in 2025 (via @hrheingold.bsky.social)
Children who have not yet lost much of their sense of wonder and fun have helped us to find an ethic about computing: Do not automate the work you are engaged in, only the materials. If you like to draw, do not automate drawing; rather, program your personal computer to give you a new set of paints. If you like to play music, do not build a "player piano"; instead program yourself a new kind of instrument.
October 30, 2025 at 7:24 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Vonnegut sprinkling several short story concepts/thought experiments throughout Breakfast of Champions reminds me of Invisible Cities.
Trout couldn't tell one politician from another one. They were all formlessly enthusiastic chimpanzees to him. He wrote a story one time about an optimistic chimpanzee who became President of the United States. He called it "Hail to the Chief." The chimpanzee wore a little blue blazer with brass buttons, and with the seal of the President of the United States sewed to the breast pocket.
September 15, 2025 at 10:28 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Why newsletters: Essays instead of aphorisms; thinking in public instead of hot takes; taking one’s time instead of dancing for one’s dinner.

Plus, should you go to Bread Loaf?

And recommendations: @evanderlang.bsky.social, Adam Mastroianni, and The Trial on @criterion.bsky.social.
Why newsletters; should you go to Bread Loaf?; and recommendations.
Essays instead of aphorisms; thinking in public instead of hot takes; taking one’s time instead of dancing for one’s dinner hour after hour.
williamcomfortanderson.com
September 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
The article explains at the end that this isn't some text-prompt exercise but rather led by "a filmmaker who’s spent the last five years re-creating 30,000 missing frames from the movie" and will "deploy a fusion of AI and traditional film techniques."

But here's the thing... 1/2
September 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
I'm pleased to present the transcript of a debate that finally settles the question of the use of AI in creative writing.
williamcomfortanderson.com/2025/04/20/t...
The definitive debate on the use of AI in creative writing
I’m pleased to present the transcript of a debate that finally settles the question of the use of AI in creating writing.
williamcomfortanderson.com
April 20, 2025 at 4:22 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Forget “Discover” and “Following.” I need “Horrors” and “Funnies.”
March 21, 2025 at 9:56 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Podcast: We are now without a doubt in the midst of a constitutional crisis. In fact, without co-equal branches of government, it is debatable if we can call ourselves a "democracy" at all.

Podcast ad break: Do you want your dinner parties to sparkle? Well...
March 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by William Comfort Anderson
wychstreet.bsky.social
Orson Welles, Redd Fox, Ray Charles & Desmond Wilson on the set of Sanford & Son
March 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Today's Bradbury trio:
- Story: "Forever Overhead" by David Foster Wallace
- Essay: "Not-Knowing" by Donald Barthelme
- Poem: "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg
Bradbury trio, Feb 1, 2025
A boy with a problem, the usefulness of problems, and despair of the multifaceted problem.
williamcomfortanderson.com
February 2, 2025 at 12:18 AM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Today's Bradbury trio:
- Story: "The School" by Donald Barthelme
- Essay: "Rise, Baby, Rise!" by George Saunders
- Poem: "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith
Bradbury trio, Jan 26, 2025
Escalating death, the motorcycle-sidebar model of reading, and selling the world.
williamcomfortanderson.com
January 26, 2025 at 10:40 PM
williamcomfortanderson.com
Maybe this is a moment for optimism—not because that’s the rational response, but because that's the work that needs doing. @aworkinglibrary.com and Robin Sloan on steering imagination where it's needed: williamcomfortanderson.com/2024/12/01/a...
A moment for optimism
This moment in history feels bleak, but maybe that calls for optimism. Not in the sense that that’s the rational response, but because that is what is called for—it’s the work that need…
williamcomfortanderson.com
December 1, 2024 at 4:07 PM