Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anindita Basu Sempere

@anindita.org

1K followers 800 following 1.8K posts

PM at Performant Software. PhD & MFA. Digital Humanities, place, poetics, Elizabeth Bishop, poetry, children's lit. She/her. Lived in Lausanne for over a decade and now relearning the US.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · Nov 10

Welcome new folks! Happy to see so much activity here. I’m interested in place-related work, writing, all things Elizabeth Bishop, pedagogy and learning, poetry, children’s lit, crafting, nature & soccer/football. I’m a professional digital humanist. I love to hear about what people are working on.

1 14

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 11h

I’m currently in General Maman mode. The kid has a large project due, and we are sitting together at the kitchen table, butts in chairs, until it is done. No moaning or complaining allowed. (General Maman sounds a lot like Björk.)

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 11h

As we were leaving soccer, a small child dashed in front of my car, and I managed to brake hard and not hit him.

And then as I was pulling up towards our house, I saw A heading out. Opened my window: “Home Depot run?” A: *holds up finger wrapped in gauze* Urgent care.”

It’s been a night.

1 1

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Ben Carlson @bencarlson007.bsky.social · 23h

Middle aged guy think piece:

There is no such thing as monoculture anymore

Every kid across America right now:

Six sevennnn!

6 32 170

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 19h

This is a jaw-dropping, terrifying number. The CDC's workforce has decreased by 3,000 people since January.

A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone

Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.

www.wired.com

23 260 550

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 1d

D’Angelo, the neo-soul trailblazer and modern visionary whose three albums were all heralded as classic works of art, has died at age 51.

Access the free article here: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

38 620 1.4K

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 1d

D’Angelo???

I saw him and Mary J. Blige perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival. This doesn’t seem possible.

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 2d

There’s a GoFundMe to help this family with legal, travel, and communication expenses. Please donate here: www.gofundme.com/f/mim-ajuda-...

2 2

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 2d

Kid: Poor [friend's name]!
Me: Why? What happened?
Kid: He wants to be an artist when he grows up, and he thinks AI has ruined his future career possibility.

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 2d

Kid: *sits next to me* I need to be near an organized human.
Me: Why?
Kid: It's too painful to be around disorganized humans.

1 3

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 2d

Also glad they found a way to connect because they've been like a pair of skew lines over the past few days.

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 2d

My child and my mum are both extremely competitive, and they're trying to kill each other at a board game, and it's kind of hilarious. They're both so savage.

1 1

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Kashana @kashana.blacksky.app · 3d

So thankful that dudes without game now have the option of driving all of our energy bills up to come up with devastating lines like it was nice to meet you

C. Buckthorn @cbuckthorn.bsky.social · 4d

This is amazing. I laughed out loud www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success".
When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be.
ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich.
"Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] - good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."

55 700 3.4K

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Sarah Weinman @sarahweinman.com · 3d

Needed to sleep on this and my god the evil of this news. I don't have better words than that.

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 4d

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

4 19 89

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 6d

. @404media.co is investigating book bans. They could use your pointers on where to be looking. You can do it anonymously.

"We need help deciding... which school districts and cities to seek public records from and... where we should point our reporting efforts. "

www.404media.co/help-us-inve...

Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America

404 Media has gotten a grant to unearth public records about systematic censorship of books, schools, and libraries in the U.S.

www.404media.co

1 69 87

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 7d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

340 8.9K 28K

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

This is my mother. Nothing so pedestrian! It’s all complicated stuff — 5 types of Bengali sweets, kochuri, vegetable cutlets (chop). Everything divided into portions and labeled.

1 1

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

Me: I don’t think we have that much space!

Mum to Dad: She needs a freezer.

Me: 😳 I will make it fit!!!

1 3

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

Me: Please don’t bring any stuff for us. We have way too much stuff.

Parents: *have 3 suitcases for a weekend visit*

Me: Whyyyy?

Mum: You said not to buy you stuff. So I cooked. The big suitcase is full of food. We need to get it into your freezer.

3 11

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

Kid just explained the Sumerian number system to me, and it’s very cool!

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

😂

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

Ohhh noooo I forgot how annoying my mum's Bengali soap operas are... so much fake crying!

1 3

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 6d

Conversation over breakfast:
Me: Your grandparents’ flight is delayed today.
Kid: Why?
Me: *explains government shutdown* *explains three branches of government and checks & balances* *explains budget standoff* *explains air traffic controller pay situation*
Kid: Oh yeah, that’s where we started!

🫠

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 7d

Every so often, I have to tell myself: You’ve done enough today. There will always be another thing. Do it tomorrow.

Posting in case you need to hear that, too.

Anindita Basu Sempere @anindita.org · 8d

🥳

Stephanie Burt @notquitehydepark.bsky.social · 8d

Publication day for Taylor's Version! I'm so happy for my baby and for all the work @hachetteus.bsky.social & @johnmurrays.bsky.social did to bring her out into the world. Consider an order here: www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/steph...

Taylor’s Version

“With unfailing lucidity, empathy, and wit” (Greil Marcus), a preeminent Harvard professor and poetry expert explains the artistry—and the celebrity—...

www.hachettebookgroup.com

Reposted by Anindita Basu Sempere

NEH Union - AFGE L3403 @nehafge3403.bsky.social · 8d

The cuts at the National Endowment for the Humanities go far deeper than any of these agencies - almost 70% of 179 people were terminated, despite no change to the agency's budget.

There were no savings here - only idealogical destruction. #NEH

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 9d

How much smaller the federal workforce is now vs. a year ago
Ed Dept 42%
OPM 33%
HUD 31%
Treasury 29%
Defense (civilian jobs) 22%
Small Biz Admin 21%
Energy 20%
Interior 15%
HHS 14%
SSA 11%
EPA 10%
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Much Smaller Is the Federal Work Force? Shutdown Plans Offer a Clue.

The number of federal employees has been trimmed by thousands since President Trump took office, according to contingency plans drawn up by federal agencies.

www.nytimes.com

57 110