Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 6d

ahhh the latest from @annanorth.bsky.social (via @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social) — and her most extraordinary yet — just came in the mail! If you want to hear a bog talk (yes, I said ”a bog talk”), I offer this preview. For more: Read BOG QUEEEN 👑

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 6d

I'm running a daylong retreat — How to Write a Novel — with Hedgebrook on December 6th! There are only 20 spots, and registration just opened, so snap up your spot! ✨ hedgebrook.wildapricot.org/event-6352549

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 8d

You can hear me read from Searches and talk to Stephanie Young at this free online event hosted by @northeasternu.bsky.social (Mills College) at noon PT on 11/4! 🔥 www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-cr...

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Reposted by Vauhini Vara

Amardeep Singh @electrostani.bsky.social · Aug 21

Soft-launching: a new digital project on Indigenous Writers (Adivasi writers) from South Asia. I've been working on it this summer with a graduate student collaborator, Srishti Raj.

Adivasi literature is another glaring gap in the archive, with a lot of materials untranslated and inaccessible. 1/3

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 9d

Here's a good book about the romance industry / community in general!

Love in the Time of Self-Publishing

Lessons in creative labor, solidarity, and inclusion under precarious economic conditions

press.princeton.edu

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 14d

I've met plenty of public figures and been left unfazed. Even secretly disdained all those fazed fanchildren. Then I met George Saunders—whose work transformed me 25 years ago—at Lighthouse in Denver (and he, as generous as is said!), and now I'm one of you. Such maniacal grinning. I'm unashamed. ✨

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 15d

Atlanta friends, I'll be giving a talk at Emory with the AIAI Network — about what AI means for writing and reading — on October 16th at 4 pm. Come one, come all! www.eventbrite.com/e/vauhini-va...

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 15d

“Impressive … Lennon’s ambition is not to turn human suffering into spectacle, but to restore complexity to his own story and those of the men around him.“ @pamelacolloff.bsky.social’s sensitive and admiring review of THE TRAGEDY OF TRUE CRIME.

A Journalist on the Inside Upends Good vs. Evil Criminal Stereotypes

www.nytimes.com

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 16d

The Tragedy of True Crime might be the first journalistic book written entirely from prison; it subverts true crime by telling the story of four men who murdered, but centering the social conditions for crime and punishment, not the salacious details. I got to interview its extraordinary author. 🔥

Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 16d

@vauhinivara.bsky.social talks to John J. Lennon about the sensationalism of true crime and the reality of being human in prison.

John J. Lennon on Humanity in Prison and the Sensationalism of the True Crime Genre

In 2019, I was editing articles about criminal justice for the website of The Atlantic when a colleague, David A. Graham, sent me an email that started: “I’m passing along this pitch fr…

buff.ly

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 21d

I’m so excited about this! come say hi!

Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 21d

Atlanta! The AIAI Network is hosting the fabulous journalist and novelist @vauhinivara.bsky.social on Thursday, October 16. She will give a talk at 4PM in Atwood 360 titled “If Computers Can Write, Why Should We?” Come out!

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Reposted by Vauhini Vara

Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 22d

Big essay out by @sdileonardi.bsky.social in @publicbooks.bsky.social today, drawing on 100 years of translations and bestseller data to show that the US has seen three waves of translation: European; Latin American Boom; Nordic Noir. And what this means for us.
www.publicbooks.org/how-translat...

How Translations Sell: Three U.S. Eras of International Bestsellers - Public Books

A translation renaissance in US publishing just ended. And you probably missed it.

www.publicbooks.org

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Reposted by Vauhini Vara

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 23d

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.

I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

substack.com

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · 29d

If you live in LA, Miami, Chicago, DC or Boston, you know what you should do? You should go hear John J. Lennon talk about his extraordinary new book The Tragedy of True Crime. (Stay tuned for events in New York, too.)

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 6

i meant *this week*

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

It's one possible future but not the only one, as @charleswlogan.bsky.social and others point out! Thanks for reading.

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

I read and admired your piece while researching them! Thanks for your reporting.

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

As I reported in Businessweek this year, it turns out Alpha has been operating as a subsidiary of a major tech company — and using its products with the children in its schools, including closely tracking them with webcams and microphones.

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

Here's a gift link to my Businessweek article including a section about the financial interests behind Alpha School.

How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids' Classrooms

Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?

www.bloomberg.com

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

I wrote an article for Businessweek this week about how the tech industry is pushing AI into schools. It includes a section about Alpha, which reveals, among other things, that it's actually been operating as a subsidiary of a major tech company. Its press blitz is part of a bigger plan.

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

That should be a gift link, but the tl;dr is that it turns out Alpha has actually been operating as a subsidiary as a major tech company called Trilogy — using Trilogy products. It's part of a bigger strategy.

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

I hope those reporting on Alpha read this thread (or better yet, the article). bsky.app/profile/vauh...

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

Ah, thank you!

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

I wrote an article for Businessweek this week that includes an investigation of Alpha School with some previously unreported details. Hope you'll read (and share) this thread. bsky.app/profile/vauh...

Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 2

You might have heard of the private school, Alpha, that says it uses AI to squeeze a school day's worth of learning into two hours. It's gotten coverage in the NYT, WSJ, and elsewhere. But I found while reporting this article that the story is more complicated and interesting than that. (1/x)

How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids' Classrooms

Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?

www.bloomberg.com

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 5

I've gotten requests and want to make a more formal offer: I'll remotely visit groups of public K-12 students / parents / teachers (including in classrooms!) that would like to read and discuss this article. Here's a form where you can express interest. (Pls share?) docs.google.com/forms/d/1yn-...

Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 4

Today Melania Trump met with execs in support of AI in education. It's part of a big push by tech companies and the Trump Administration to get AI products into schools fast. If there's an American child you care about, pls read my recent article about what's happening. Let's be informed.

How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids' Classrooms

Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?

www.bloomberg.com

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Vauhini Vara @vauhinivara.bsky.social · Sep 4

Today Melania Trump met with execs in support of AI in education. It's part of a big push by tech companies and the Trump Administration to get AI products into schools fast. If there's an American child you care about, pls read my recent article about what's happening. Let's be informed.

How Chatbots and AI Are Already Transforming Kids' Classrooms

Educators across the country are bringing chatbots into their lesson plans. Will it help kids learn or is it just another doomed ed-tech fad?

www.bloomberg.com

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