Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Chris Willrich

@librariangoblin.bsky.social

580 followers 540 following 190 posts

SFF writer with work at Asimov's, BCS, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Lightspeed, Reactor, Strange Horizons, Tales from the Magician's Skull, Best American SF&F 2023. Books from Pyr and Paizo. He/him. The map in my profile image is by Rhys Davies.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · Mar 6

"Tyranny is the co-operation of parasite and host; no tyrant maintains himself by force but by trading on his victims' fears." -- Northrop Frye, _Fearful Symmetry_

3 7

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 12h

Very pleased to announce a return to the world of Gaunt, Bone, and Shadowdrop, in a stand-alone story in the next @bcsmagazine.bsky.social .

Weightless Books @weightlessbooks.bsky.social · 18h

New issue of @bcsmagazine.bsky.social is here! Featuring stories by @librariangoblin.bsky.social and Adrian Ward @adrianwardwrites.bsky.social and cover art by @brucedraws.bsky.social: weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...

Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #443

Issue #443 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Chris Willrich and Adrian Ward nd cover art by Bruce Brenneise.

weightlessbooks.com

2 5

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 12h

Thank you! I'm delighted to be included in this Table of Contents! ("Nine Billion Turing Tests," originally published in @reactorsff.bsky.social will soon appear in The Year's Top Robot and AI Stories, sixth annual collection, edited by Allan Kaster ‪@infinivoxsf.bsky.social‬ .)

Allan Kaster @infinivoxsf.bsky.social · 17h

A heart-warming tale from the coding world.
Way to stick the landing on this! @librariangoblin.bsky.social

Pre-order the book:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1d

Early voting is underway for Prop 50 in California.

I urge anyone in the state to vote yes.

This isn’t a race to the bottom. It’s a means of avoiding the bottom. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/what-blue-states-should-do-when-red

240 3.2K 8K

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Allan Kaster @infinivoxsf.bsky.social · 3d

Pre-order:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

Stories by:
@ecastroianni.bsky.social
@grantcollier.bsky.social
@gregegansf.bsky.social
Rich Larson
@kyliu99.bsky.social
James Morrow
@trnapper.bsky.social
Amal Singh
Lavie Tidier
Jay Werkheiser
@librariangoblin.bsky.social

6 7

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 3d

I'm on my way down to Santa Cruz! Please don't let me be lonely this evening.......

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 6d

Santa Cruz! I am coming to you!

This Sunday, Oct. 5, I'll be at Bookshop Santa Cruz for the kickoff of Banned Books Week. Fight for your right to read the stories you love <3

Banned Books Night: Read for Your Rights!
OCT. 5TH AT 5:00
BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ
SC PL
SANTA CRUZ PUBLIC LIBRARIES
With bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders, Director of Santa Cruz Public Libraries Christopher Platt, and author and bookseller Yves • At Bookshop Santa Cruz
GENSORSHIP is so 1984
FOR YOUR RIGHTS
ALAAmericanLibraryAssociation
©2025 American Library Association ala.org/bbooks

2 16 70

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 5d

... in white text reading in all caps, "No thrones. No crowns. No kings." The bottom has white all-caps text atop a red rectangle. The text reads "Saturday Oct. 18."

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 5d

Since I didn't see a way to add alt-text, the image on the link has a black-and-white photographic background of a large group of protesters seen from overhead. The left foreground image is of a hand-drawn white crown with a red X crossing it out, while the right foreground has 3 declarations ...

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 5d

Oct. 18 there'll be new U.S.-wide “No Kings" protests. I'm planning to go to the one along El Camino Real between Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. There may be events more convenient for you. Not everyone's circumstances will allow them to protest, but every bit can help. www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

NO KINGS on El Camino Real, 8 Miles, 16 Intersections, from Sunnyvale to Palo Alto · No Kings

No Kings on June 14 brought 20,000 people together on El Camino Real in a solid line of democracy lovers. We are doing it again, from Sunnyvale to Palo Alto, with an improved route and high visibility...

www.mobilize.us

3 1

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Jami-Jam @jami-jam.bsky.social · 5d

May we take heed to Jane Goodall's last words. Let us do all we can to perpetuate her legacy. ✨

Jane Goodall Institute of Canada @janegoodallcan.bsky.social · 5d

"You have it in your power to make a difference. Don't give up. There is a future for you. Do your best while you’re still on this beautiful Planet Earth that I look down upon from where I am now."

Those were Dr. Jane's last words, as released by Netflix.

Photo: Katherine Holland

28 74

Reposted by Chris Willrich

ACLU @aclu.org · 6d

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

660 16K 32K

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Matthew Kressel @matthewkressel.net · 7d

My short story "Model Collapse" is out today at Reactor Magazine. It's a dark SF tale about a government agent and his mentee who are sent into a remote town on a mysterious and dangerous project. Edited by Ellen Datlow. Cover by Keith Negley. Link in thread.

Cover for "Model Collapse" a short story by Matthew Kressel. Two small figures climb through a tangled mazelike structure, like the distorted frame of a house. The pastel colors are bright and colorful, but the scene has an aura of darkness.

1 1 10

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 6d

News media when Democrats are in power: The Democrats need to learn to compromise!

News media when Republicans are in power: The Democrats need to learn to compromise!

1 5

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 6d

I've enjoyed Nisi Shawl's work, and this sounds like an interesting project.

gofund.me/e34374fb8

Donate to Help Nisi Shawl write the book of her dream!, organized by Eileen Gunn

Nisi Shawl, a wise and wonderful writer of science fiction and fantasy, had a… Eileen Gunn needs your support for Help Nisi Shawl write the book of her dream!

gofund.me

1 2

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Vanessa Fogg @vanessafogg.bsky.social · 7d

My book officially drops in almost a month!! And I’ll be reading at the online launch event!

Interstellar Flight Press @interstellarflight.bsky.social · 13d

Vanessa Fogg will read from THE HOUSE OF ILLUSIONISTS November 3rd. Register to attend online, free, via Zoom! www.interstellarflig...

Book Cover The House of Illusionists and other stories by Vanessa Fogg a fantasy house and tree with watercolor sky

4 21 41

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 6d

Congrats!

1 1

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 7d

For fellow Californians -- the legislature recently passed five bills to support trans rights. You can encourage Gov. Newsom to sign them here: www.gov.ca.gov/contact/ or call (916) 445-2841. More details below:

transfamilysos.org/action-neede...

Action Needed: Urge Governor Newsom to Sign Five Critical Trans Rights Bills

TransFamily Support Services is proud to co-sponsor five critical trans rights bills that have officially passed the California Legislature. This is a major victory—one made possible through a powerfu...

transfamilysos.org

Reposted by Chris Willrich

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 7d

This is factually correct.

Rhetorically correct, also.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7d

Overnight, Trump and Republicans in Congress shut down the federal government.

They shut it down because they’re determined to strip healthcare from millions of Americans, to enrich the billionaires they serve, to continue the assault on our rights.

We must fight back.

3 61 250

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 11d

As a paid up member of the do-everything-at-the-last-minute club, I needed this reminder.

Keezy Young🌼 @keezyyoung.bsky.social · 11d

heads up mail-in voters! 30-40% of our votes come in on election day. we can't do that anymore. don't let their attempts to dismantle our postal system result in losing your vote, too

Washington ballots mailed on Election Day or even days in advance could be thrown out due to postmark delays

Washington voters who mail their ballots on Election Day this November, or even days in advance, could have their ballots thrown out as a result of compounding cost-cutting measures by the United Sta...

www.spokesman.com

1 2 2

Chris Willrich @librariangoblin.bsky.social · 13d

Sharing an urgent ACLU petition that ICE free an Atlanta journalist arrested in June who is still being held -- and who might be deported very soon -- despite a court order that he be released.

action.aclu.org/send-message...

Free Mario Guevara

ICE detained journalist Mario Guevara for over 100 days for his reporting, despite orders that he be released on bond. Now, an immigration board has issued a final removal order - and he could be depo...

action.aclu.org

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Wendy Orent @wendyorent.bsky.social · 15d

Trans rights are human rights, people. That’s the beginning and end of the whole matter.

Tony Serrata 🇺🇦 @serrata.org · 15d

It won't stop at transgender people. Don't defend them now, there won't be anyone left later to defend you when it's your turn. The fascists are coming for all of us

Patsy “Resistance Kitty” Evans Ph.D. @drharmony.net · 15d

1 6 16

Reposted by Chris Willrich

James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 16d

Everything is day by day, but worth noting some dates for groups that have stood up:

-7 weeks since front-page claims that Harvard would pony up $500m to appease Trump.
Still hasn't happened.

-2+ weeks since Trump posted threat below. ICE running wild in Chi + everywhere. But not Nat Guard.

Post by Trump "I love the smell of departures in the morning... .Chicago is about the find out why it's called the Department of WAR."

5 35 160

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29d

Trump’s problem is that so many Americans — including his MAGA base — believed that he’d expose a powerful global elite.

But every day it's becoming more and more clear that Trump is actually part of that global elite.

Expect him to lash out as the walls close in.

72 410 1.7K

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · Sep 8

Absolutely fucking horrifying. A greenlight for racial profiling and terrorizing communities. John Roberts and the MAGA majority shredding the constitution to carry Trump's water.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · Sep 8

BREAKING: By an apparent 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court halts an injunction that had prevented immigration agents from racially profiling Latinos in central California.

Sotomayor, dissenting, says the decision is "unconscionably irreconcilable with our nation's constitutional guarantees."

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26085894-25a169-order/

26 170 600

Reposted by Chris Willrich

Peggy Stuart @peggystuart.bsky.social · Sep 5

LISTEN to Gov. J.B. Pritzker warning:

Authoritarians thrive on your silence.

Be loud for America.

110 1.6K 4.3K

Reposted by Chris Willrich

DeMisty D. Bellinger - Ice Is for Tea, Not Fascism. @demisty.bsky.social · Sep 5

So many of those jobs lost were held by Black women. Thanks to our dear leader, so many of them were fired from nonpartisan fed jobs.

1 2 6