Alex Maskill
@alexmaskill.bsky.social
Writer, developer, musician, sometime gamedev, onetime leftist current events podcaster, Terry Pratchett First Novel Award winner (the only cool thing I have ever done)
Traitors is wild, the most melodramatic production design in the world over some business consultant in the middle of a game of werewolf doing a really banal confession cam
January 9, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Traitors is wild, the most melodramatic production design in the world over some business consultant in the middle of a game of werewolf doing a really banal confession cam
The neighbourhood cats have figured out where our apartment is and have started meowing at the window to get my flatmate to come outside
January 6, 2026 at 6:32 PM
The neighbourhood cats have figured out where our apartment is and have started meowing at the window to get my flatmate to come outside
Reposted by Alex Maskill
‘Psychoanalysis can help us better understand how the world, including our oppressors, works, and so what we might do about it, and them; and what wishes we might have for collective life, and which of these the reality principle demands we set aside.’
Amia Srinivasan:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Amia Srinivasan:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Amia Srinivasan · The Impossible Patient: Return of the Unconscious
You may not wish to commit yourself ontologically to some thing called the ‘unconscious’, and you may reasonably...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 21, 2025 at 9:41 AM
‘Psychoanalysis can help us better understand how the world, including our oppressors, works, and so what we might do about it, and them; and what wishes we might have for collective life, and which of these the reality principle demands we set aside.’
Amia Srinivasan:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Amia Srinivasan:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
My new years resolution is to get way better at reading when I'm not in the office now that I'm not in an office five days a week because jesus christ there has been a falloff
December 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM
My new years resolution is to get way better at reading when I'm not in the office now that I'm not in an office five days a week because jesus christ there has been a falloff
Reposted by Alex Maskill
How the nyt used the Cass report to restart its anti-trans propaganda campaign in the US:
Coverage of the report was initially assigned to a nyt UK correspondent, usual practice for a UK report. The story being prepared cited critics who called Cass a shoddy, political document that defied science
Coverage of the report was initially assigned to a nyt UK correspondent, usual practice for a UK report. The story being prepared cited critics who called Cass a shoddy, political document that defied science
One reason the NYT has burned its credibility with trans people is that they still cite the discredited Cass report in reporting on trans healthcare. Never the German, Utah, or other systematic reviews supporting care. They also never provide the political context behind restrictions in care.
December 20, 2025 at 10:23 AM
How the nyt used the Cass report to restart its anti-trans propaganda campaign in the US:
Coverage of the report was initially assigned to a nyt UK correspondent, usual practice for a UK report. The story being prepared cited critics who called Cass a shoddy, political document that defied science
Coverage of the report was initially assigned to a nyt UK correspondent, usual practice for a UK report. The story being prepared cited critics who called Cass a shoddy, political document that defied science
Reposted by Alex Maskill
It’s insane to talk through this shit out loud. “Children should starve because it might make their moms less likely to sleep around in the future.”
November 2, 2025 at 11:09 PM
It’s insane to talk through this shit out loud. “Children should starve because it might make their moms less likely to sleep around in the future.”
Amazon delivery got hit with the "still arriving today"
November 2, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Amazon delivery got hit with the "still arriving today"
Reposted by Alex Maskill
It was a real pleasure to interview @apwot.bsky.social's @cazwis.bsky.social for Forbes this month, especially ahead of A Profound Waste of Time issue 5!
Check it out here:
Check it out here:
How ‘APWOT’, The Most Beautiful Gaming Journal, Made Its Annual Release An Event
'A Profound Waste of Time' has set an incredibly high bar for printed gaming media, even if only four issues have been produced in ten years.
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
It was a real pleasure to interview @apwot.bsky.social's @cazwis.bsky.social for Forbes this month, especially ahead of A Profound Waste of Time issue 5!
Check it out here:
Check it out here:
Reposted by Alex Maskill
"The EHRC’s exclusionary interim guidance has had a devastating impact on trans people’s lives"
“Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”
“Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”
EHRC withdraws interim guidance encouraging trans exclusion
After six months of confusion and delay, the EHRC has taken down interim guidance rushed out in April. But the damage has already been done.
goodlawproject.org
October 15, 2025 at 4:40 PM
"The EHRC’s exclusionary interim guidance has had a devastating impact on trans people’s lives"
“Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”
“Now the guidance has been withdrawn, so should the exclusionary policies that organisations rashly implemented in its aftermath. If not, they could find themselves in hot water.”
(more intrigued than I've been in my life) apparently the new Luca Guadagnino film fucking sucks
October 15, 2025 at 11:43 PM
(more intrigued than I've been in my life) apparently the new Luca Guadagnino film fucking sucks
Reposted by Alex Maskill
Anyway, my stance remains the same - never trust anyone in statement glasses
August 19, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Anyway, my stance remains the same - never trust anyone in statement glasses
Am I reading this right or is this senior party figure saying "the promise was to be Continuity Toryism but competent" AND "but now nobody buys competent part"
Not "everybody" thought that lol, some of us did silly things like 'read the manifesto' and 'listen to this guy talk'
July 5, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Am I reading this right or is this senior party figure saying "the promise was to be Continuity Toryism but competent" AND "but now nobody buys competent part"
Reposted by Alex Maskill
I wrote about Clarence Thomas's anti-intellectual, anti-trans concurrence in United States v. Skrmetti, and what it says about how far the right has fallen into conspiratorialism
The Triumph of the American Moron
Clarence Thomas's anti-trans concurrence is the culmination of right-wing anti-intellectualism
stringinamaze.net
June 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I wrote about Clarence Thomas's anti-intellectual, anti-trans concurrence in United States v. Skrmetti, and what it says about how far the right has fallen into conspiratorialism
Reposted by Alex Maskill
Its worth noting that in Britain, Mamdani would have thrown out of the Labour Party by a small room full LinkIn weirdos and then replaced by a former private healthcare lobbyist who would go on to lose by 5,000 votes to a Reform candidate who was a convinced sex offender.
June 25, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Its worth noting that in Britain, Mamdani would have thrown out of the Labour Party by a small room full LinkIn weirdos and then replaced by a former private healthcare lobbyist who would go on to lose by 5,000 votes to a Reform candidate who was a convinced sex offender.
A great episode on a great book from one of my favourite incredibly niche podcasts
Christianity in Japanese Literature, RJL’s latest episode, is now available on all major podcast platforms.
In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo’s Silence.
In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese literature. Our focus text is Shusaku Endo’s Silence.
Episode 44: Christianity in Japanese Literature
Listen to Episode 44 of the Read Literature podcast. Transcript available. In this episode, we look into the history of Christianity in Japan—especially the role Christianity has played in Japanese…
readjapaneseliterature.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
A great episode on a great book from one of my favourite incredibly niche podcasts
Reposted by Alex Maskill
“ChatGPT, in giving my students an alternative to skill-building, hurts their ability to learn, but more than that, it kills the trust that any teaching relationship depends on.”
May 15, 2025 at 1:33 PM
“ChatGPT, in giving my students an alternative to skill-building, hurts their ability to learn, but more than that, it kills the trust that any teaching relationship depends on.”
Reposted by Alex Maskill
this is not an exaggeration
May 12, 2025 at 9:40 AM
this is not an exaggeration
Reposted by Alex Maskill
Very Serious People who insisted the labour party of 2015-2019 was the most racist it had been ever are very very quiet at the moment
May 12, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Very Serious People who insisted the labour party of 2015-2019 was the most racist it had been ever are very very quiet at the moment
Reposted by Alex Maskill
Starmer's "island of strangers" line tells me one thing. Keir Starmer is a racist.
May 12, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Starmer's "island of strangers" line tells me one thing. Keir Starmer is a racist.
They're going to canonize Mike Ditka upon his death
May 8, 2025 at 5:55 PM
They're going to canonize Mike Ditka upon his death
Reposted by Alex Maskill
The real problem with Moldbug is that this kind of guy is, like the first type of guy you fought with on the internet in Web 1.0 forums, so people who grew up online know to ignore him, but the people who didn’t think he needs to be engaged with. He even looks the part.
May 6, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The real problem with Moldbug is that this kind of guy is, like the first type of guy you fought with on the internet in Web 1.0 forums, so people who grew up online know to ignore him, but the people who didn’t think he needs to be engaged with. He even looks the part.
Reposted by Alex Maskill
Also, it's not like their ideas are confined to 4Chan any more, the kid trying to learn COBOL so he can starve millions of elderly people has the same beliefs as the old /pol/ posters
4chan has become this icon of internet hate for a lot of people and fair enough but i'm not sure how relevant it's been for that since the 2010s. the real freaks are on a bunch of other boards that spun off over the last decade
April 15, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Also, it's not like their ideas are confined to 4Chan any more, the kid trying to learn COBOL so he can starve millions of elderly people has the same beliefs as the old /pol/ posters
Bits I'm predicting for the KJB Transporter episode:
- absurdly fetishy Shu Qi kidnap scenes
- "you just got transported" sounding too pleasant and like you got dazzled to be an action movie line
- increasingly implausible "that's transport, he can use it" scenarios a la "is it a technical"
- absurdly fetishy Shu Qi kidnap scenes
- "you just got transported" sounding too pleasant and like you got dazzled to be an action movie line
- increasingly implausible "that's transport, he can use it" scenarios a la "is it a technical"
April 15, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Bits I'm predicting for the KJB Transporter episode:
- absurdly fetishy Shu Qi kidnap scenes
- "you just got transported" sounding too pleasant and like you got dazzled to be an action movie line
- increasingly implausible "that's transport, he can use it" scenarios a la "is it a technical"
- absurdly fetishy Shu Qi kidnap scenes
- "you just got transported" sounding too pleasant and like you got dazzled to be an action movie line
- increasingly implausible "that's transport, he can use it" scenarios a la "is it a technical"
It's always fun to read a classic novel with a lot of cultural impact and go "oh that's who this character I've heard about all my life is". Currently reading Les Miserables, finding out about this fella Jean Valjean, wild stuff
April 2, 2025 at 7:33 PM
It's always fun to read a classic novel with a lot of cultural impact and go "oh that's who this character I've heard about all my life is". Currently reading Les Miserables, finding out about this fella Jean Valjean, wild stuff
Reposted by Alex Maskill
What this has reminded me of were some accounts on here who were like "Labour's going to get a larger vote share than Corbyn did in 2017 and Corbynites are going to have to explain that in a way that isn't cope" then they got fewer votes than 2019 and no explanations were forthcoming from them.
I mean, you would *think* this would cause Discourse. What it instead prompted was months of televised roaring in fury at the unfairness and surely cheating that caused e.g. Ashworth to lose his seat.
March 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
What this has reminded me of were some accounts on here who were like "Labour's going to get a larger vote share than Corbyn did in 2017 and Corbynites are going to have to explain that in a way that isn't cope" then they got fewer votes than 2019 and no explanations were forthcoming from them.