James French
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jafrench.bsky.social
James French
@jafrench.bsky.social
48 followers 130 following 17 posts
www.ludulluu.com
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Reposted by James French
thestar.com
University of Toronto to create AI role named after tech pioneer Geoffrey Hinton
University of Toronto to create AI role named after tech pioneer Geoffrey Hinton
The Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence will help the university recruit, teach and train students and inspire promising AI startups.
www.thestar.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by James French
hofrench.bsky.social
I'll be in conversation with Mahmood Mamdani about his new book, Slow Poison, today at 4 at Columbia. Details below. Here's the first of two pieces I've written about the book. foreignpolicy.com/2025/08/04/z...
The Making of Mamdani
A close reading of a new book by New York politician Zohran Mamdani’s father reveals a generational yearning for community and inclusion.
foreignpolicy.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by James French
ryanmusser.bsky.social
Mali has recovered $1.2 billion in arrears from mining companies after an audit that uncovered massive shortfalls for the state and paved the way for a new mining code. The law raised royalties, boosted state stakes in mining companies & scrapped stability clauses.

www.reuters.com/world/africa...
Mali recovers $1.2 billion in arrears from miners, eyes annual windfall under new code
Mali has recovered 761 billion CFA francs ($1.2 billion) in arrears from mining companies following a sweeping audit, its finance minister said, marking one of the country’s biggest clawbacks from its...
www.reuters.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by James French
augustin-trebuchet.bsky.social
Quand Nestlé décide de ne rien apprendre du scandale du lait pour bébé vendu en Afrique ça donne Nestlé qui ne met pas de sucre dans ses céréales pour bébés en Occident, l’enlève sous la pression en Inde, et…

…augmente la dose en Afrique.

Mais hein c’est pas du racisme, c’est de l’entrepreneuriat!
a young boy is sitting in a chair with his mouth open .
Alt: Un jeune garçon assis sur une chaise l’air dégoûté
media.tenor.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by James French
hofrench.bsky.social
Tonight!
hofrench.bsky.social Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · Aug 27
I'm speaking and signing copies this evening at 7pm at the Harvard U. bookstore about The Second Emancipation. Open to all! www.harvard.com/event/howard...
August 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by James French
hofrench.bsky.social
A fantastic review of The Second Emancipation in today's Boston Globe, seen just now, hours before I speak in Cambridge. This reviewer understands how a deep intellectual history of Pan-Africanism sits at the book's core. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/27/a...
Looking at African liberation through its first post-colonial presidency - The Boston Globe
At midnight on March 6, 1957, Crown subjects in the Gold Coast celebrated the end of British colonial rule by naming themselves citizens of a new nation-state, the Republic of Ghana.
www.bostonglobe.com
August 27, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by James French
ianbetteridge.com
Some interesting numbers on the decline for clickthrough rates from Google thanks to AI summaries and overviews. It's basically the apocalypse for publisher revenue.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/digital-journalism/google-ai-overviews-leads-to-dramatic-reduction-in-click-throughs-for-mail-
Google AI Overviews leads to dramatic reduction in clickthroughs for Mail Online
Mail Online is seeing up to 56% lower clickthrough rate when Google AI Overviews appear for one of its keywords.
pressgazette.co.uk
May 18, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by James French
johnpelwood.bsky.social
A colleague emailed me today to flag the fact that the superb Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson ended a quotidian insurance opinion with an unusually introspective conclusion.
April 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
Just wrapped an incredible panel at #SXSW2025: "Can AI Be Trained to Be Ethical, and Will It?" It was an honor to be with brilliant co-panelists @perspectivai.bsky.social, Grace Gerwe and @sustainablemedia.bsky.social
1/x
www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2pXh4Nq/
Building Ethical AI: A Panel Discussion Explore the crucial ethics of AI development in this insightful panel discussion. Experts discuss building ethical AI systems, emphasizing empathy, stakeholder ...
TikTok video by Sustainable Media Center
www.tiktok.com
March 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by James French
hofrench.bsky.social
Created by a slave owner and built by slaves. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
University of Virginia board votes to end DEI office
UVA is the latest school to dismantle its office of diversity, equity and inclusion and some say other Virginia universities could follow.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 8, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Reposted by James French
hofrench.bsky.social
More great blurb banners for my forthcoming book, The Second Emancipation, out in August. I'm deeply grateful to all of these wonderful contributors.
The cover design of my next book, The Second Emancipation. Wonderful words of support. Here, Robin D.G. Kelley. Greg Grandin. Annette Gordon-Reed
March 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by James French
tgpeterson.bsky.social
Deeply, deeply immoral.
eliothiggins.bsky.social Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Mar 4
The US will no longer worry about civilians getting in the way of their bombs:
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...
March 4, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Reposted by James French
georgetakei.bsky.social
A reminder for these times.
March 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
The bombastic flouting of norms and laws makes the world more sensible to them. It is government and civic life they don’t understand. Musk clarifies a scary world for them, putting it in terms they understand. Bad guy. Good guy. Evil. Villain. Kill. Win.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/o...
Opinion | Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work. (Gift Article)
Everything is content.
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2025 at 3:51 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
A curious group of friends sneak into an abandoned spinach canning factory to investigate the legend of the "Sailor Man"

I approve.
eephustosser.bsky.social Eephus Tosser @eephustosser.bsky.social · Jan 22
Don't ever tell me the cinema is dead.
A screenshot of a Deadline article. At the top, a shadowy photo of a man in prosthetics that make him look like a beefcake version of Statler, the heckling Muppet. He's dressed in a white sailor suit and cap with a blue neckerchief. Over the image is the title "Popeye the Slayer Man." The visible section of the article reads: "EXCLUSIVE: VMI Worldwide has boarded worldwide sales on horror Popeye The Slayer Man which will have its world premiere screening in the market at next month’s EFM in Berlin. "This film follows a group of friends who sneak into an abandoned spinach canning factory to film a documentary on the legend of the ‘Sailor Man,’ who is said to haunt the factory and local docks. A North American theatrical release is being lined up for spring 2025 via Vantage Media."
February 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by James French
beardedgenius.bsky.social
Genuinely the most tense, gripping sporting contest I've seen all year. Great sportsmanship at the end too 👏🏾
December 25, 2024 at 12:49 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
I agree, and would extend by saying the onus is on communities and stakeholders to be actively involved in governance. It can’t be done credibly from above alone, we learned that in Web 2.0
runningredlights.bsky.social Leni @runningredlights.bsky.social · Dec 19
There are ways across each platform to protect your data. Easiest way is to hit delete. No one reads the fine print. Like product disclosure statements with banking products. I always go on about this because it’s true. The onus is also on the individual to protect.
December 19, 2024 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by James French
coffeecat311.bsky.social
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
@hcrichardson.bsky.social
12/12/2024
Ten days ago, on December 2,
President Joe Biden arrived in Angola, the first U.S. president to visit central Africa since President Barack Obama traveled
there in 2015.

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
December 13, 2024 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by James French
blackwomeninai.com
In Honor of Nikki Giovanni
Ego Trippin for the rest of the week...
I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
December 10, 2024 at 9:54 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
Street at Arnold Arboretum renamed to honor enslaved woman — Harvard Gazette
The city of Boston approved changing Bussey Street to Flora Way, honoring an enslaved woman who lived on an estate in the 18th century.
news.harvard.edu
December 10, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by James French
drblack.bsky.social
🤔 Is AI good or evil? Or both? I would love to know what you think.

❤️ Please take 2 minutes to answer my quick questions and share

🙌🏽 Thank you so much, I will send you the results

#AI #poll #questions

forms.gle/J6u7xcUx7DWW...
Is AI good or evil?
Please answer these short questions to help me understand what people think about AI, there are no right or wrong answers, thank you very much. I will email you the results.
forms.gle
December 6, 2024 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by James French
cobbo3.bsky.social
U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2100, the largest age group of the world’s population will have changed from 10-14 year-olds today to 35-39 year-olds. The global population will have grown from 8.1 billion to 10.9 billion🧵
Map reveals how world's population will change by 2100
The Census Bureau has revealed how much populations will change across the world, with vastly different changes between nations.
www.newsweek.com
December 4, 2024 at 2:59 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
The doccie "Dahomey," by Mati Diop, was listed in today's NYT as one of 2024's best films. Have not yet seen it, but I'm looking forward to it.

www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/m...
‘Dahomey’: A Daring Meditation on the Painful Legacy of Looted Artifacts
Mati Diop examines the fate of 26 treasures — sometimes from their point of view — looted from Benin in 1892.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2024 at 5:18 PM
jafrench.bsky.social
Breaking with a long-held taboo, a new generation of leaders in #Senegal wants answers.
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/w...
80 Years After Killings, Senegal Wants the Facts From France (Gift Article)
The mass slaying of West African soldiers by colonial forces at the end of World War II in Senegal remains shrouded in secrecy. But Senegal’s new government won’t abide the mystery.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2024 at 5:40 PM