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Reposted by Alex Gil

Global DH Symposium @globaldhsymposium.bsky.social · 1d

⏰ ¡Quedan 8 días para enviar tu propuesta al #GlobalDHSymposium 2026! Hazlo antes del 15 de octubre a medianoche.

¿No sabes qué enviar? Consulta presentaciones anteriores en tinyurl.com/GlobalDHvideos o explora nuestras directrices en tinyurl.com/GlobalDHguias

¡Tu perspectiva importa!

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MSU Digital Humanities

Digital Humanities at Michigan State University (DH@MSU) facilitates collaborations among the digital centers, labs, programs, and projects across campus. Our community supports innovative research, s...

tinyurl.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12h

Holy crap that’s bad.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 13h

ICE is not only chasing down every random brown person in Chicago, they have a cameraman following them to film this for social media. Cruelty and inhumanity as content.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 16h

And, 7) Transfusion: The myths must be related to the grandiosity of the nation. This includes a "comedy of health," the sense that finally the nation is healthy and redeemed. The state should be salvific and even miraculous.

Ring a bell?

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 16h

4) Affectivity: The appeal should not be to reason, but to emotion.

5) Occultation: The production and organization of propaganda should not be visible to the public.

6) Impression of unanimity: Propaganda must be shared by all groups. It must be contagious, peer-pressured.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 16h

1) Simplification: Only one discourse, one truth, one hope, one image, one omnipresence.

2) Unity: Centralization and orchestration

3) Repetition: Winning propaganda should "anchor in the subconscious." Strong images, simple words, repeat, repeat, repeat.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 16h

Gather around, friends, for a friendly 🧵.

Propaganda was not a widely used word before WW2. Sergeï Chakhotin was one of the first theoreticians of authoritarian propaganda in his 1939 book The Rape of the Masses, which was immediately banned by fascists.

Here are his 7 rules of propaganda:

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 17h

On the question of whether AI can do indexes. Here's the statement from the ASI.

Nicola King @nicolaking.bsky.social · 21h

Not yet - see the @asindexing.bsky.social statement asindexing.org/ai-news/stat... A human indexer would have caught that kind of error. An AI one might if it had been taught to do so.

Statement on AI and Book Indexing | American Society for Indexing

asindexing.org

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Chica Marx @mckenziewark.bsky.social · 1d

And you can select your favorite independent (Hive Mind Books, for eg) as your "store" and Bookshop kicks them a lil something.

bookriot.bsky.social @bookriot.bsky.social · 1d

Support independent bookstores and get free shipping by purchasing books through Bookshop.org during their "Anti-Prime Day" sale.

#booksky

bookriot.com/bookshop-org...

Bookshop.org Offers Free Shipping and 20% Off Banned Books for “Anti-Prime Day”

Support independent bookstores and get free shipping by purchasing books through Bookshop.org during their "Anti-Prime Day" sale.

bookriot.com

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Reposted by Alex Gil

Maura Smale 😷💉 @maurasmale.bsky.social · 1d

Academic librarians, come join us in the CUNYverse! We have a few jobs open in CUNY libraries:

cuny.jobs/queens-ny/in...

cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...

cuny.jobs/new-york-ny/...

I’m not at these campuses but happy to answer questions!

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

I'd save that $$ and just let it fall in one of those eastern european libraries that are available to the planet because of the internet... ahem.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

I would not be surprised if big academic publishers are investing money on this as we speak. Whether we can have open source versions of these things is another matter. It would be nice to have for those of us who work with presses that ask us to cover the cost of indexing.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

😂

Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

Another question: what would it look like to write the unsummarizable book which would still read coherently? Faced with such, AI might have to simply list themes, but would be unable to sinthesize it, no? Right?!

A picture from Padme looking at Anakin Skywalker incredoulously.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe there's no escape from it. I certainly dream of a new prose... For now, all I can do is break my work into 100 arguments, instead of one. Might have to call it "notes toward" and pray for my audience's mercy.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

Abstracts and subject headings rule the day, and gen AI is more than happy to replate it at room temperature. Maybe we need analysis without overriding claims that could be captured in 2-word sound bites, or reduced to typecast. Is it a downstream effect of T&P? Does it really make better books?

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

Barely changing the subject from the travesty of justice before us...

I might be wrong, but we have become too enamoured of summaries. Academic authors are known for summary brands, whole bodies of work reduced to main claims. AI serves that right back to us. 🧵

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Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

It's not just that they're going to strike down a law against conversion therapy, it's that they're going to do it on behalf of made-up claims from a straw plaintiff who can't honestly show the law affected her at all

Tom Scocca @tomscocca.bsky.social · 1d

One thing about American's widespread distrust and disapproval of the Supreme Court is that mainstream news coverage mostly doesn't dwell on stuff like standing, so people don't even begin to grasp how rigged the Court truly is www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Supreme Court Live Updates: Justices Seem Set to Rule Against Colorado’s Ban on Conversion Therapy

www.nytimes.com

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

I'm hearing Bondi went for "owning the libs" social media footage instead of answering the questions of the judicial committee. Truly a moment determined by the material media infrastructure if there ever was one. While theoretically interesting, I propose we overcome media determinism.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 1d

Sums it up well.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 2d

Tons of respect for Greta Thunberg and the flotillas. I know Thunberg wants us all to focus on the genocide and ethnic cleansing, but allow us a moment to acknowledge your courage. Caring for yours is easy, and we share that with fascists. Caring for the stranger? That's the level up.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 2d

Two to go! Join us at the #Slaveryarchive Book Club to discuss The Heretic of Cacheu (U. of Chicago Press) by Toby Green on Oct. 25, register HERE us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... and get the book here with 30% discount with code UCPNEW at check out press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: #Slaveryarchive Book Club with Toby Green (King's College London). After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Join us to discuss The Heretic of Cacheu: Struggles over Life in a 17th Century West African Port (Penguin/Allen Lane, 2025) by Toby Green (King's College London) Get the book here and use code UCPNE...

us06web.zoom.us

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Reposted by Alex Gil

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you, for the wonderful conversation, and for enriching us with yet another banger.

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Nick Sturm @nicksturm.bsky.social · 3d

Two+ years late to this great unpacking of the audiobook industry, how narrators mediate our experience of books, & the invisible labor of audiobook production at LARB by @manshel.bsky.social, @lbmcgrath.bsky.social, & @jdporter.bsky.social.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

The Work of the Audiobook | Los Angeles Review of Books

Alexander Manshel, Laura B. McGrath, and J. D. Porter discuss the economics and aesthetics of audiobooks.

lareviewofbooks.org

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Alex Gil @elotroalex.bsky.social · 3d

Great talk and conversation yesterday. And the book is an eye-opener. If you like a history book that changes the way you understand a received idea, this one belongs in your bookshelf.

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 3d

The talk I gave yesterday in the #slaveryarchive Book Club series, about my new work *Freedom Ship*, is now available on Youtube. Thanks to @araujohistorian.bsky.social and @elotroalex.bsky.social for the invitation and for organizing the event.

www.youtube.com/live/H17ToyM...

#Slaveryarchive Book Club with Marcus Rediker (University of Pittsburg)

YouTube video by #Slaveryarchive Book Club

www.youtube.com

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