Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · 4d

I'll be doing a workshop for Edmonton's LitFest that I've long wanted to put together! We'll be getting intimate with sentences, exploring the magic that can happen when you leverage language structure with skill and sensitivity. Saturday, Oct. 18, noon-2 pm. litfestalberta.org/event-1/work...

Workshop: Crafting Superb Sentences, with Julie Sedivy - LitFest Alberta

Facilitator: Julie Sedivy Tickets: $15, Available HERE Sentences are the foundation of all writing, and mastering the sentence is essential to developing a strong writing voice. In this workshop, I […...

litfestalberta.org

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · 9d

Meticulous, time-consuming peer review is the biggest thing standing between us and the inevitable dumbing down of science that comes with authoritarianism. It's such essential work right now.

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · 9d

Important article at this point in history: "As much harm as a 40 percent cut to the NIH budget would have on scientific innovation, destroying the peer-evaluation system that decides what science is funded would be far worse." Indeed. It would be like doing away with criminal trial by jury.

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 9d

This is the original story that i wrote about the topic for The Transmitter.
www.thetransmitter.org/craft-and-ca...

Fear and loathing on study section: Reviewing grant proposals while the system is burning

As grants are canceled, delayed and subject to general uncertainty, participating in study sections can feel futile. But it’s more important than ever.

www.thetransmitter.org

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Sep 8

I got to review @michaelerard.bsky.social's new book for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, a book that grapples with the things most worth thinking about: language, human connection, mortality.
lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

The Thing You’ve Been Saying Your Whole Life | Los Angeles Review of Books

Julie Sedivy reviews Michael Erard’s “Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words.”

lareviewofbooks.org

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Sep 3

This book by David Martin was such hearty brain and soul food! I was glad to have had a chance to review it. albertaviews.ca/limited-verse/

Limited Verse by David Martin - Alberta Views

David Martin’s third book, Limited Verse, is a brilliant feat of imagination, mashing together poetry, dystopian sci-fi and literary theory.

albertaviews.ca

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Jul 7

It's delusional to think that in this day and age, scrubbing sexual content from school libraries will protect kids. More than ever, they need books and materials to help them navigate the often toxic sexual content that is everywhere.

The Walrus @thewalrus.ca · Jul 3

“Banning books won’t preserve childhood innocence,” writes Ira Wells. It will, however, rob young people of enriching stories and teach others that censorship is the solution to ideas you find challenging or contrary to your personal values. thewalrus.ca/albertas-book-ba...

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Reposted by Julie Sedivy

Darin Flynn @phono-logical.bsky.social · Jul 7

@juliesedivy.bsky.social is the best of the best

Linguistic Discovery @linguisticdiscovery.com · Jul 6

Constraints on our working memory fundamentally shape how language works and how we converse with one another.

This article (which is one of the coolest pop linguistics articles I’ve read this year) explains how:

psyche.co/ideas/why-ev...

Why every utterance you make begins with a leap of faith | Psyche Ideas

Time pressure and the limitations of memory compel you and your listener to engage in a fascinating linguistic trade-off

psyche.co

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Jun 19

I'm honoured and delighted that Linguaphile was chosen as the winner of this year's W.O. Mitchell City of Calgary Book Prize. Many thanks to the jury, who read through a big pile of books, and warm congrats to my fellow finalists, David Martin and Teresa Wong.

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Leslie Greentree @lesliegreentree.bsky.social · Jun 1

If we listen to their poems as birds might, relieved of our preoccupation with message, we may hear the beloved music of our language on display, intensified, toyed with, subverted, stretched taut to its quivering point.

#SundaySentence
Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love
@juliesedivy.bsky.social

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Mar 26

Ah, you’ve understood how much my book really WANTS to be near a plant. They are kindred spirits.

Thank you for your kind words, friend.

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Reposted by Julie Sedivy

George Musser @georgemusser.com · Mar 17

A standing ovation for federal workers by the thousands of physicists who are meeting in Anaheim this week, supporting their colleagues in science agencies who couldn’t afford—or weren’t allowed—to come. Sorry, no pictures, in part out of green-card holders’ fears. #APSGlobalSummit2025 #APSMarch

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Mar 17

So "AI safety" and "responsible AI" are now "ideological terms" that are forbidden. What's next? "Personal autonomy"? "Human flourishing"? www.wired.com/story/ai-saf...

Under Trump, AI Scientists Are Told to Remove ‘Ideological Bias’ From Powerful Models

A directive from the National Institute of Standards and Technology eliminates mention of “AI safety” and “AI fairness.”

www.wired.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Mar 13

Thank you for the generous words! So glad it spoke to you!

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Michelle Spencer @writingranchette.bsky.social · Mar 13

If you are looking for a nonfiction read that’ll leave you inspired, wiser and sobbing like a baby, look no further than @juliesedivy.bsky.social latest masterpiece. #writingcommunity #canlit

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Mar 5

I got measles back in 1970, before MMR vaccines were available. It wiped out my immune system for a year. In short order I got mumps, rubella, chicken pox and scarlet fever, which landed me (without family) in a quarantine facility. I was one sick little kid with two very, very worried parents.

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 25

How about that! That made my day.

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Reposted by Julie Sedivy

Michael Erard @michaelerard.bsky.social · Feb 25

This is very insightful and incredibly helpful: the different ways that academics (learn to) behave in autocratic societies.

Vera Kempe @vkempe.bsky.social · Feb 25

I wrote this for my US friends and colleagues, but also for all of us. Lessons from the past. open.substack.com/pub/verakemp...

Scholarship Under Autocracy

We Have Been Here Before

open.substack.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 25

The Many Minds podcast with the very sharp @kensycoop.bsky.social is one of my faves these days, and I especially love this episode with @tanialombrozo.bsky.social , which does a deep dive in how we learn not just by experience or exposure but also by thinking.
open.spotify.com/episode/1Clj...

A paradox of learning

Many Minds · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 16

My favorite interviews are when the host is prepared, deeply curious and emotionally present. I loved this one, in which we talked about the difference between communication as performance versus connection, the power of obliqueness and the tragic limits of AI.

open.spotify.com/episode/14pS...

The Sounds of Language

Flow · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 13

“We must vow not to do stenography for people in power.” Carl Zimmer on science journalism in a politicized era.

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Feb 13

A few years ago, I gave a lecture about how the Soviet Union denied genetics for years as "bourgeois perversion." There are lessons to be learned about what can happen to science. carlzimmer.com/lets-not-los...

Let’s Not Lose Our Minds, Carl Zimmer

I was asked to give the keynote talk at “Science, Journalism, and Democracy: Grappling With A New Reality” at Rockefeller...

carlzimmer.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 12

I've long admired Alan Alda's podcast and SciComm activities—what an honor to appear on his Clear + Vivid podcast! clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com/episodes/jul...

Julie Sedivy: How Language Shapes Us | Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda

Her new book, Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love is an ode to the power of language to both shape us and be shaped by us. It’s informed by her own experience with languages: she spoke five before le...

clear-vivid-with-alan-alda.simplecast.com

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Lynne Murphy @lynneguist.bsky.social · Feb 12

ChatGPT is bad at counting, you may know. Turns out it’s also bad at accent arithmetic. Amusing bit early in Pete Holmes’ podcast today. They started wondering about sentences that would be neutral for US/UK accent & CGPT gets it so wrong. (Soon after, gets NSFW.)

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/y...

Gareth Reynolds Returns

Podcast Episode · You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes · 12/02/2025 · 2h 25m

podcasts.apple.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 12

I hear you! The future does indeed seem faceless. But I feel we can't be paralyzed by the uncertainty of everything. FWIW, I'm planning a trip to Baltimore/PA/DC to give a couple of talks this spring.

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Brian Nosek @briannosek.bsky.social · Feb 12

Stand Up for Science rallies will be held in DC and state capitals on March 7th. Share with friends. Sign-up here to get email updates with details: www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE 2025 - DC and NATIONWIDE

Stand up for science with us on March 7th, 2025, because science is for everyone! More info at www.standupforscience2025.org

www.eventbrite.com

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Julie Sedivy @juliesedivy.bsky.social · Feb 12

Thanks so much! And I really do recommend The Knowledge Illusion by Steven Sloman and Phil Fernbach.

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