Zohar Jacobs
@zoharjacobs.bsky.social
Migrant Jewish intellectual. Writer, historian, mystic | Fiction in Sunday Morning Transport, Analog, Asimov's & Clarkesworld | Oxford, UK
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
There is a lot of "oh dear" to go around in the results of this very thorough Pew study on the issues with synthetic samples, but this strikes me as particularly "oh dear"
www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/20...
www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/20...
September 30, 2026 at 6:52 PM
There is a lot of "oh dear" to go around in the results of this very thorough Pew study on the issues with synthetic samples, but this strikes me as particularly "oh dear"
www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/20...
www.pewresearch.org/data-labs/20...
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
Alexandra Pierce reviews CODE AND CODEX by Yoon Ha Lee: “This novel is magnificent and I hope it finds many readers who will engage with its themes of censor¬ship and totalitarianism and human possibility.” locusmag.com/review/...
September 30, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Alexandra Pierce reviews CODE AND CODEX by Yoon Ha Lee: “This novel is magnificent and I hope it finds many readers who will engage with its themes of censor¬ship and totalitarianism and human possibility.” locusmag.com/review/...
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
More and more, for me the point of art in any form is: how do we stay human?
September 30, 2026 at 4:02 PM
More and more, for me the point of art in any form is: how do we stay human?
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
September 30, 2026 at 4:19 PM
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
We've had the ability to watch, say, Counterstrike marathons, Street Fighter tournaments, or chess matches between computers since the 90s. Spectacles which, by their very definition, would be at a "higher standard" than human play. And nobody wants it. It's entirely meaningless. It has no appeal.
September 30, 2026 at 12:38 PM
We've had the ability to watch, say, Counterstrike marathons, Street Fighter tournaments, or chess matches between computers since the 90s. Spectacles which, by their very definition, would be at a "higher standard" than human play. And nobody wants it. It's entirely meaningless. It has no appeal.
Had never heard of Sarum College as a writing retreat destination. Or indeed at all. Added to the list!
A brief user comparison of @gladlib.bsky.social and @sarumcollege.bsky.social as locations for solo #writing #retreats. Both are VERY GOOD, but there are interesting differences. And both are heaving with Church of England theological texts so if that's abhorrent to you, look away now. /next
September 30, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Had never heard of Sarum College as a writing retreat destination. Or indeed at all. Added to the list!
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
Hello! 🔥
I think wanting precise outcomes and strict representation from a book is part of the literacy crisis. People are looking at representation and not the thesis of the book and how characters work within it.
September 29, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Hello! 🔥
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
September 29, 2026 at 6:13 AM
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
Two-tier British citizenship latest.
September 27, 2026 at 9:10 AM
Two-tier British citizenship latest.
Damn foreigners ruining our universities again, amiright? www.theguardian.com/education/20...
‘It’s like the Scottish Upper East Side’: shame and snobbery as American students blamed for St Andrews classism
Online comments reflect class tensions at Scottish university between those from lower-income families and wealthier US undergraduates
www.theguardian.com
September 27, 2026 at 8:22 AM
Damn foreigners ruining our universities again, amiright? www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
September 24, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
September 23, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
I own a couple of pieces by @elakdawalla.bsky.social and they are so cool.
My Etsy shop is open again! I make gemstone and wire jewelry and art inspired by space. Every piece is one-of-a-kind and handmade by me. I'm busily restocking the shop; and I'm happy to make custom pieces. Check it out at elakdawalla.etsy.com
elakdawalla - Etsy
Shop Emily's Space Craft by elakdawalla located in Los Angeles, California.
elakdawalla.etsy.com
September 23, 2026 at 7:51 PM
I own a couple of pieces by @elakdawalla.bsky.social and they are so cool.
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
The goodreads reviews of The End of Everything are just phenomenal.
September 23, 2026 at 7:55 AM
The goodreads reviews of The End of Everything are just phenomenal.
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
You're going to be needing specialists in: languages, narrative, history, psychology, information, mythology, conspiracies, etc, etc. then?
#humanities
#socialscience
#humanities
#socialscience
New UK agency will tackle ‘information warfare’ from likes of Russia, Burnham says
New UK agency will tackle ‘information warfare’ from likes of Russia, Burnham says
PM aims to ‘stem poisonous tide’ of disinformation and deepfakes with National Centre for Information Defence
Security chiefs will set up a new national centre to tackle disinformation and deepfakes from hostile states such as Russia, Andy Burnham has announced, saying the government had a duty to “stem the poisonous tide” from damaging British interests.
The National Centre for Information Defence will “detect, attribute and disrupt” information attacks by foreign powers, many of which are enabled by AI, bringing together the intelligence agencies, law enforcement and social media companies. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
September 23, 2026 at 7:15 AM
You're going to be needing specialists in: languages, narrative, history, psychology, information, mythology, conspiracies, etc, etc. then?
#humanities
#socialscience
#humanities
#socialscience
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
It helps to understand America as a casino you’re trapped in: no windows to another future, no concept of time apart from the casino itself, designed to wear you down. Neon lights and beeps and boops, every machine dressed up as some familiar IP, all doing the same thing: slowly bleeding you dry.
September 23, 2026 at 1:45 AM
It helps to understand America as a casino you’re trapped in: no windows to another future, no concept of time apart from the casino itself, designed to wear you down. Neon lights and beeps and boops, every machine dressed up as some familiar IP, all doing the same thing: slowly bleeding you dry.
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
If British politics had any decency left, party leaders would be queuing up to be photographed with lifeboat crews.
September 23, 2026 at 6:30 AM
If British politics had any decency left, party leaders would be queuing up to be photographed with lifeboat crews.
Enceladus!
Interesting tidbit from today's briefing at the Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) meeting by NASA planetary leadership:
NASA is considering *two* flagships for flight—one to Uranus, the other to orbit and land on Enceladus.
Both were Decadal priorities—but in series, not one over the other.
NASA is considering *two* flagships for flight—one to Uranus, the other to orbit and land on Enceladus.
Both were Decadal priorities—but in series, not one over the other.
September 22, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Enceladus!
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
pov: you're a regional cryptid about to have the worst day of your life
September 19, 2023 at 2:58 PM
pov: you're a regional cryptid about to have the worst day of your life
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
The local elections were on 7 May--one hundred and thirty seven days ago--so this is steady depletion at a rate of just over one lost Councillor per day, every day. #clownshow
Just 4 months after the local elections, Reform UK (RefUK) have lost 158 of their local councillors:
-55 resigned
-42 went Independent
-28 defected
-24 were kicked out
-5 lost their seats
-2 disqualified
-2 suspended.
Appalling record - and a waste of taxpayers’ money!
-55 resigned
-42 went Independent
-28 defected
-24 were kicked out
-5 lost their seats
-2 disqualified
-2 suspended.
Appalling record - and a waste of taxpayers’ money!
September 21, 2026 at 8:02 PM
The local elections were on 7 May--one hundred and thirty seven days ago--so this is steady depletion at a rate of just over one lost Councillor per day, every day. #clownshow
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
What the actual hell are you talking about?!
September 19, 2026 at 2:43 PM
What the actual hell are you talking about?!
Yom Kippur starts at sunset. My synagogue now has a concrete crash barrier in front of its always-locked gates and blast-resistant curtains.
September 20, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Yom Kippur starts at sunset. My synagogue now has a concrete crash barrier in front of its always-locked gates and blast-resistant curtains.
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
Commitment to job… 5am and the Botley Rd in Oxford finally reopens! You saw it here first!
September 20, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Commitment to job… 5am and the Botley Rd in Oxford finally reopens! You saw it here first!
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"
September 28, 2025 at 6:52 PM
my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"
Reposted by Zohar Jacobs
Certain kinds of smart people tend to have a "sexy apocalypse" problem when it comes to thinking about risk. E.g. skynet turning everyone in paperclips, while bad, is also *kind of cool and fun* at the same time. Where the reality is that most actual disasters are both stupid and disappointing.
September 17, 2026 at 5:20 AM
Certain kinds of smart people tend to have a "sexy apocalypse" problem when it comes to thinking about risk. E.g. skynet turning everyone in paperclips, while bad, is also *kind of cool and fun* at the same time. Where the reality is that most actual disasters are both stupid and disappointing.