Arjun Basu

@arjun.bsky.social

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Writer. Next novel, The Reeds, out October ‘24, available for preorder now. Montreal. Bourbon. Kentucky Colonel. Beer league hockey. Sometimes I get cranky. I used to look a lot more presentable.
https://linktr.ee/arjunba

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Arjun Basu

One of Meta’s policy directors is a Project 2025 author.

Remember when Dorsey, Zuckerberg and Pichai were repeatedly hauled before Congress over allegations of liberal bias? Now we have a major social platform solely controlled by one of Trump's biggest backers. I wrote about what it means for X and the election. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Analysis | What Musk’s Trump support means for Xwww.washingtonpost.com Conservatives long accused Twitter of liberal bias. What happens now that its owner openly backs Trump?

Trains and books, a love story.

The Penguincubator and the Railway Journeywww.straphanger.blog The Express Co-Evolution of Books and Trains // As a child, I dreaded long drives in the family car. I was a bookish kid, but when I tried to read in the backseat of one of a long line of Volkswagens...

It’s not even 10 and I’ve already used the word “Ker-plunk” in a sentence. Out loud.

That's a first step for sure...

CCC Announces a Collective Licensing Subscription for AI Systemspublishingperspectives.com Copyright Clearance Center's AI re-use rights offer stands in its Annual Copyright Licenses subscription program for 'millions of works.'…

Very good read.

When the Cold War Came Homeopen.substack.com To restore credibility to repressive and genocidal states, one cannot rely on history. That is why fascists and imperialists turn to myths.

Better to not have sung than to be eaten at all. (something like that)

She Didn’t Like His Song, So She Tried to Eat Himwww.nytimes.com It’s not easy being green, golden and male, according to a researcher’s observation of attempted frog cannibalism in Australia.

We used to say "art is theft" but now that we have AI, let's change that phrase. Because...

Apple, Nvidia, Anthropic Used Thousands of Swiped YouTube Videos to Train AIwww.wired.com “It’s theft.” A WIRED investigation found that subtitles from 173,536 YouTube videos, siphoned from more than 48,000 channels, were used by Anthropic, Nvidia, Apple, and Salesforce to train AI.

Being a hermit in that cave on the moon is looking more and more appealing.

To every generation, there is a Myspace.

How false nostalgia inspired noplace, a Myspace-like app for Gen Zwww.engadget.com noplace recreates some aspects of Myspace more than a decade after its fall from the most-visited site in the US.

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So I summed up what I learned about magazines after the first season of my podcast. I'm sure I learned more. But I'm watching soccer. arjunbasu.com/archives/my-...

My Podcast About Magazines » Arjun Basuarjunbasu.com

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The Things I Learned During the First Season of My Podcast About Magazines. (Most of what I learned is good and made me hopeful even.) Also available on my website (arjunbasu.com) medium.com/@arjunbasu/t...

The Things I Learned During The First Season of My Podcast About Magazinesmedium.com Sometimes I Learn Things

Meanwhile…

Alabama shootings leave seven people dead including child, police saywww.theguardian.com Nine other victims wounded after two separate shootings in Birmingham, at a nightclub and outside a home

Everything is stupid(er)

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In a sensibly governed country there would be consequences to making illegal threats like Trump does, but in the United States business leaders are being perfectly rational in trying to appease him rather than antagonize him

Trump threatened to put Zuckerberg in jail this week. What the fuck are they doing

Bowel Evisceration is not a band name I had thought of until now, though I wish I hadn't come across this. Probably. Pity the stock photo model here and forever.

Florida man sneezes his intestines out of his body at restaurantwww.independent.co.uk American Journal of Medical Case Reports says that 63-year-old was recovering from surgery at time of incident

100% an original.

very sad news. a phenomenal actress and screen presence.

Shelley Duvall, Robert Altman Protege and Tormented Wife in ‘The Shining,’ Dies at 75www.hollywoodreporter.com The versatile actress, also memorable in 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller,' 'Nashville,' 'Popeye' and '3 Women,' produced TV series for kids as well.

The Things I Learned During The First Season of My Podcast About Magazinesmedium.com Sometimes I Learn Things

The NYT Editorial Board saying "ignore everything we've/the media have either said or ignored and just read this" and then going after Trump hard is...something else. It's a choice, for sure. It's also very thorough.

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It's still the place I see the most Palestinian voices, & is still vital to Indian alternative journalism. I loathe what the clown prince has done to the platform, and he may yet destroy it, but it's annoying when westerners imply anyone staying there is betraying them personally or something.

I know a lot of white Americans keep calling Twitter the Nazi bar and lament people still on the app, but Twitter has been integral to the current Kenyan protests. the individualist approach of leaving and judging everyone who remains doesn't do anything.

So I summed up what I learned about magazines after the first season of my podcast. I'm sure I learned more. But I'm watching soccer. arjunbasu.com/archives/my-...

My Podcast About Magazines » Arjun Basuarjunbasu.com

Season 1 of The Full Bleed is done. I spoke with people from indies to major titles about the future of magazines, including new business models. Mostly, this season was about the love of print and of the medium. Can’t wait to get going on season 2. Available everywhere. And here:

The Full-Bleed Podcast — Magazeummagazeum.co

The first part of this all true and you can replace "digital" with words like "infrastructure" or "airports" or a whole lot of other things and it would still be truer and probably truer. (the photo has absolutely nothing to do with the story I mention....)

The American digital backwaterwww.garbageday.email Read to the end for a good Tumblr post

France is proof that if the left just stopped shooting themselves in the foot for a second, they can win things. The UK proved that incompetence eventually gets you. India proved that a leader who has cowed the media, and the media itself, have no idea what most people think. Lessons.

Donc c'est pas mauvaise les nouvelles, quoi.

Huh. LA can kill everthing.

More Whale Falls Found off Los Angeles than in the Rest of the World Combined | Hakai Magazinehakaimagazine.com A mysterious discovery reveals how little we know about the deep ocean.

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I know the latest NZ election outcome was less than good, but jesus.

My book’s still 25% off at indigo.ca as part of their Most Anticipated Canadian Books sale. Pre-orders are great! They really help. Thanks!

Indeed.

Generative AI is a climate disasterdisconnect.blog Tech companies are abandoning emissions pledges to chase AI market share

Ex-Trumpists govt types trying to influence Canadian energy policy. Oh joy.

Inside the TC Energy Tower | The Narwhalthenarwhal.ca Our team of journalists investigates claims made by TC Energy executives in leaked recordings.

First past the post really distorts things.