Brian Phipps
@a4istic.bsky.social
"The Owl of Minerva flies at dusk--but our work is due by noon."
Reposted by Brian Phipps
For me, the most difficult part is often the lies.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/living-in-...
Living in the Lie
And How Not To
www.unpopularfront.news
January 8, 2026 at 1:40 PM
For me, the most difficult part is often the lies.— www.unpopularfront.news/p/living-in-...
Reposted by Brian Phipps
‘Pynchon shows the way ripples from the political earthquake in Berlin are felt in the bowling alleys of Milwaukee, and the music sung in a Chicago cocktail lounge is received and remodulated in a nightclub on the Danube.’
@danielsoar.bsky.social on 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@danielsoar.bsky.social on 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Daniel Soar · Land of Milk and Cheese: Pynchon’s World
The universe has no centre. What Pynchon has mapped is a world that is continuous and connected, where borders, however...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 7, 2026 at 2:15 PM
‘Pynchon shows the way ripples from the political earthquake in Berlin are felt in the bowling alleys of Milwaukee, and the music sung in a Chicago cocktail lounge is received and remodulated in a nightclub on the Danube.’
@danielsoar.bsky.social on 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@danielsoar.bsky.social on 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Brian Phipps
The ranchers of Point Reyes have long been integral to California’s sustainable food culture. But as @laurenmarkham.bsky.social explains, a series of lawsuits has spoiled the idyll, pit environmentalists against organic dairies, and drawn in the MAHA crowd.
Last Herd on Earth | Lauren Markham
In California, conservation-minded environmentalists go to war against organic milk producers.
thebaffler.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:15 PM
The ranchers of Point Reyes have long been integral to California’s sustainable food culture. But as @laurenmarkham.bsky.social explains, a series of lawsuits has spoiled the idyll, pit environmentalists against organic dairies, and drawn in the MAHA crowd.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Version 2 of our open-access patent casebook is now available!
- Free PDF copy available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Low-cost print copy available here: a.co/d/8vpSEQi
And if you'd like to assign just one day on designs, we've got a supplement for that: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Free PDF copy available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Low-cost print copy available here: a.co/d/8vpSEQi
And if you'd like to assign just one day on designs, we've got a supplement for that: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
January 6, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Version 2 of our open-access patent casebook is now available!
- Free PDF copy available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Low-cost print copy available here: a.co/d/8vpSEQi
And if you'd like to assign just one day on designs, we've got a supplement for that: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Free PDF copy available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
- Low-cost print copy available here: a.co/d/8vpSEQi
And if you'd like to assign just one day on designs, we've got a supplement for that: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Work by @abenewman.bsky.social & @segoddard.bsky.social : The rules-based order is being destroyed & one based on "neo-royalism" is being imposed (by Trump, Putin, Saudis, etc.). Not sure abt term "neo-royalism," but this is a great intro to this very useful model. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:16 PM
Work by @abenewman.bsky.social & @segoddard.bsky.social : The rules-based order is being destroyed & one based on "neo-royalism" is being imposed (by Trump, Putin, Saudis, etc.). Not sure abt term "neo-royalism," but this is a great intro to this very useful model. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Brian Phipps
This will help you make sense our our country’s non-sensical actions
1/Leaders are abducted/allies are threatened but pundits and governments are scratching their heads on what the US is doing. Danish PM on Greenland "It makes absolutely no sense". Why? Because actors using old IR models when we need a new lens. Enter neo-royalism.
abcnews.go.com/Internationa...
abcnews.go.com/Internationa...
Denmark's PM urges Trump to 'stop the threats' of annexing Greenland
The prime minister of Denmark called on Trump to “stop the threats” of the U.S. annexing Greenland after renewed comments garnered international attention.
abcnews.go.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:45 PM
This will help you make sense our our country’s non-sensical actions
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Reality is what you can get away with, and if you’re an AI, they just let you do it
January 5, 2026 at 3:17 AM
Reality is what you can get away with, and if you’re an AI, they just let you do it
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Nicolas Gourault's fantastic short experimental documentary film «Their Eyes» about the invisible human labor behind AI, which we showed and discussed at our «React & Respond» conference in Zurich last year, is now streaming on the NYT website www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/o...
Opinion | Self-Driving Cars Can’t See Without Their Eyes
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Nicolas Gourault's fantastic short experimental documentary film «Their Eyes» about the invisible human labor behind AI, which we showed and discussed at our «React & Respond» conference in Zurich last year, is now streaming on the NYT website www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/o...
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Reposted by Brian Phipps
this = the problem w/ X. by turning it into 4chan w/ virality distribution the platform turns everything into a meme. so it must strip away almost all context & imbue it w/ intense amounts of nihilism or so many layers of irony that there's no humanity anymore. it's a great dehumanization machine
“…the creators of these [nonconsensual, violent AI] images often seemed to be treating the action like a game or meme, with an air of laughter & detachment.”
January 2, 2026 at 7:17 PM
this = the problem w/ X. by turning it into 4chan w/ virality distribution the platform turns everything into a meme. so it must strip away almost all context & imbue it w/ intense amounts of nihilism or so many layers of irony that there's no humanity anymore. it's a great dehumanization machine
Reposted by Brian Phipps
How 2026 was depicted in the sci-fi classic 'Metropolis' (1927)
January 1, 2026 at 10:10 PM
How 2026 was depicted in the sci-fi classic 'Metropolis' (1927)
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Republicans are terrible at governing but exceptional at turning minor scandals into major conspiracies and major conspiracies into minor scandals.
December 31, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Republicans are terrible at governing but exceptional at turning minor scandals into major conspiracies and major conspiracies into minor scandals.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
“The logical conclusion of a technofeudal oligarchy combining forces with an authoritarian political movement is compulsory enrollment in the security state’s platform architecture of surveillance, indoctrination, and behavioral modification.”
Against Technofeudal Education
Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI
theamericanvandal.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 10:10 PM
“The logical conclusion of a technofeudal oligarchy combining forces with an authoritarian political movement is compulsory enrollment in the security state’s platform architecture of surveillance, indoctrination, and behavioral modification.”
Reposted by Brian Phipps
what a shocking turn of events
who could’ve seen this coming
who could’ve seen this coming
OpenAI Reportedly Planning to Make ChatGPT "Prioritize" Advertisers in Conversation
OpenAI employees working on ChatGPT report plans to unleash sponsored advertisements above organic results.
futurism.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:07 AM
what a shocking turn of events
who could’ve seen this coming
who could’ve seen this coming
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Americans will spend the next 20 years paying the price - a market of last resort for Trump's petrostate oligarch allies whose oil reserves would otherwise go stranded.
It's funny how us parochial Americans generally seem to perceive that the EV revolution is stalling or reversing when in fact it's accelerating rapidly worldwide. 25% of cars sold globally in 2025 were EVs!
It's mostly just the US that's being left behind
It's mostly just the US that's being left behind
December 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Americans will spend the next 20 years paying the price - a market of last resort for Trump's petrostate oligarch allies whose oil reserves would otherwise go stranded.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
It’s not so much has the president done these specific crimes as is the president a criminal in general.
December 24, 2025 at 5:30 AM
It’s not so much has the president done these specific crimes as is the president a criminal in general.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
The Associated Press has an excellent story about how FCC boss Brendan Carr bullied a Bay Area AM radio station for the crime of reporting on local ICE activity.
facing existential collapse it immediately demoted journalists end replaced political coverage with safe public interest cack:
facing existential collapse it immediately demoted journalists end replaced political coverage with safe public interest cack:
How an AM radio station in California weathered the Trump administration's assault on media
Six days into President Donald Trump's new administration, the San Francisco Bay-area radio station KCBS-AM and other outlets reported on local immigration raids.
apnews.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:08 PM
The Associated Press has an excellent story about how FCC boss Brendan Carr bullied a Bay Area AM radio station for the crime of reporting on local ICE activity.
facing existential collapse it immediately demoted journalists end replaced political coverage with safe public interest cack:
facing existential collapse it immediately demoted journalists end replaced political coverage with safe public interest cack:
Reposted by Brian Phipps
And this idea of creating knowledge emerges from an understanding that being in society requires empathy; not the empathy of squishy feeling (though squishy feeling is great). It's the empathy that is the foundation of the social contract. 5/n
December 21, 2025 at 5:28 PM
And this idea of creating knowledge emerges from an understanding that being in society requires empathy; not the empathy of squishy feeling (though squishy feeling is great). It's the empathy that is the foundation of the social contract. 5/n
Reposted by Brian Phipps
A better framework is to address the broader project of AI to displace interpersonal contact, thought, negotiation; and to normalize this project. This aspect of AI is essential to the economic agenda that it underpins. 2/n
December 21, 2025 at 5:22 PM
A better framework is to address the broader project of AI to displace interpersonal contact, thought, negotiation; and to normalize this project. This aspect of AI is essential to the economic agenda that it underpins. 2/n
Reposted by Brian Phipps
I think Asha Rangappa is right — they are lining up the external and internal enemies. Or trying to. This is very risky and will almost certainly blow up in their faces.
I keep saying this but no one is connecting the dots. The war is to satisfy legal preconditions for mass removal *domestically* of Latinos (i.e., suddenly a lot of people are going to be “Venezuelan” for purposes of removal). This is 100% Stephen Miller…oil claim is to make grandpa go along
There is no national security logic that would impel the US to want to do regime change in Venezuela. It's simply not that important. I'm not even sure wag the dog is the right metaphor for what's happening here. Seems like an insane misallocation of US national security assets and attention.
December 19, 2025 at 2:10 AM
I think Asha Rangappa is right — they are lining up the external and internal enemies. Or trying to. This is very risky and will almost certainly blow up in their faces.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
‘Reform isn’t just the anti-immigration party. It’s also the anti-net-zero party. Rather than a green industrial revolution mellowing the small boats paranoia in Blyth, the outcome now forecast by the polls is the opposite.’
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
James Meek · Ten-Foot Chopsticks: The North-East Transition
The ghost of the industrial revolution haunts Britain. The language of today’s politicians, of unlocking and...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM
‘Reform isn’t just the anti-immigration party. It’s also the anti-net-zero party. Rather than a green industrial revolution mellowing the small boats paranoia in Blyth, the outcome now forecast by the polls is the opposite.’
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@jamesmeek.bsky.social on the North-East.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.
Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
bit.ly
December 17, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.
Reposted by Brian Phipps
Hokkaido Vikings 😅
US-Japan archaeological team argues strong similarities between very earliest US lithic technology and lithic tech from Hokkaido means that isolated groups on Hokkaido may have used boats to hop along Beringia coast to Americas 18-22K yrs ago (no walk across the land bridge at all). (From Oct.)
Characterizing the American Upper Paleolithic
Tool similarities link Late Pleistocene American and Northeast Asian lithic traditions.
www.science.org
December 14, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Hokkaido Vikings 😅