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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them)

@bookjockeyalex.bsky.social

13K followers 530 following 12K posts

librarian, archivist, historian, author, Ignyte award-winning & Hugo-nominated writer and critic, rat obsessive, hella queer words in reactormag.com, locusmag.com, npr, reader's digest, and elsewhere bookjockeyalex.com

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · Nov 11

Greetings new followers! I'm a high school librarian and book critic specializing in speculative fiction. I'm also a historian and archivist who has written two books on marginalized history in California. Also do some sensitivity/authenticity reading. Link in profile.
bookshop.org/shop/bookjoc...

Alexandria Brown Bookshop

A queer Black librarian, local historian, writer, and author. They write about speculative fiction and young adult literature for Tor.com and Locus Magazine, as well as on their blog, bookjockeyalex.c...

bookshop.org

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1h

They're trying to prevent the student newspaper from printing news, period. Not just a particular story.

"The Media School directed us to print no news in the paper... nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage."

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 3h

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

IndyStar 2 . Follow
1h:
"All Media School and IU students, faculty and staff
should be scared by this blatant attack on someone
standing up for what's right," student Editors-ln-Chief
Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller said in a statement.
Read more: bit.ly/43ebKW1
IndyStar.
IDS
The original investigative student
newsroom of Indiana University
Barge suspends Bloomingtonr
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IDS
IDS
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Indiana University fires IDS
adviser amid push to control
student newspaper's content

The director of student media at Indiana University was fired amidst a dispute between university leadership and editors at the Indiana Daily Student over what content gets printed in the student newspaper.

As director of student media, Jim Rodenbush did not directly oversee or have any say over the content published in the IDS, per a charter between the IDS and the university. But he told IndyStar his firing follows a series of meetings with IU Media School leadership in which it grew increasingly apparent they were expecting him to officially prohibit students from publishing news.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2h

Months before catastrophic floods swept through an Alaska Native village on Sunday, the Trump administration canceled a $20 million grant meant to protect the community from extreme flooding. At the time, the EPA administrator said he was eliminating "wasteful DEI and Environmental Justice grants."

E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant to Alaska, Parts of Which Just Flooded

The remote village of Kipnuk planned to use the money to protect against flooding. On Sunday, it was inundated.

nyti.ms

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Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 3h

Indiana University has fired the staff director of the student newspaper, after disputes in which university leadership tried to pressure him to prevent students from publishing news.

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Leah Millis @leahmillis.bsky.social · 2h

The @chicago.suntimes.com photographer who risked their personal health and safety to take this photograph is Anthony Vazquez. Please credit photographers and media outlets. In this age of misinformation, a photo with no context could be anything at all.

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 2h

Please remind us who the domestic terrorists are again.

Photo from Chicago: DHS militarized agent holding a gun up directly in someone’s face as the victim has their hands up, pleading for them not to shoot.

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karen ward @kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 2h

after they tasered him, the cops charged him with refusal to comply with a demand, two counts of assaulting police officers and resisting arrest

APTN News @aptnnews.bsky.social · 4h

'I don’t drink': A Mi’kmaw Elder was tasered twice by two members of the RCMP for refusing to give a breathalyzer.

Mi’kmaw is Fred Sylliboy’s first language. He said he asked the RCMP for a translator numerous times.

Mi'kmaw Elder says he was tasered after refusing breathalyzer

A Mi'kmaw Elder says he was tasered outside his home in Eskasoni by the RCMP after refusing to take a breathalyzer.

www.aptnnews.ca

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NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 17h

It is engineering malpractice that this site has not yet implemented an option to allow people to private their accounts, given that they’re a US based company, and the US is going through what it’s going through.

But hey, waffles, amirite.

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 2h

We could be curing cancer instead of this shit

Solomon @solomonmissouri.bsky.social · 8h

Samuel Please

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Christopher Caldwell @seraph76.bsky.social · 6h

Black queer surfers. Black queer bank-robbers. Black queer sea monsters. Black queer sorcerers. Black queer rootworkers. Black queer sailors. Black queer saints. Black queer sinners.

It’s Black!
It’s queer!
It’s Here!

Now available!
www.neonhemlock.com/books/call-a...

Call and Response by Christopher Caldwell (pre-order) — neon hemlock

A collection of short stories. Publication date: October 14th, 2025. An 8” x 5” paperback. 188 pages. This is a pre-order—any other books ordered with it will ship when the pre-order is ready to ship....

www.neonhemlock.com

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Phil Bildner @philbildner.bsky.social · 2h

Students Banned From the Library

Thank you Kelly Jensen and @bookriot.bsky.social for reporting on what's now happening in one Texas school district... just like we feared/knew would happen.

New Braunfels ISD has closed its libraries to middle and high schoolers.

bookriot.com/new-braunfel...

A Texas District Has Just Banned Students from Secondary School Libraries

In order to ban books from its libraries, New Braunfels Independent School District has just closed its libraries to middle and high schoolers.

bookriot.com

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Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 11h

Unbelievable story of Afghan refugee, a highly vetted fluent English speaker who helped the US against the Taliban and now lives here with his US citizen kids, declared “illegal” and perhaps about to be shipped home by the Trump admin to his likely death

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 11h

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S.

Then ICE arrested him.

If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

America saved him from the Taliban. Trump wants to send him back.

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S. Then ICE arrested him. If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Vida Cruz-Borja @laviecestmoi.bsky.social · 21h

Little update. Mostly been off bsky coz I've had some complications involving fevers, bleeding. It's been a rough six weeks, physically, mentally, emotionally. Would have liked to have rested but I gotta pay for the hospital bills and various tests and medications. Anything you can spare will help.

Vida Cruz-Borja @laviecestmoi.bsky.social · May 23

Hi all; I'm going to undergo a significant procedure later this year (sorry, would rather not disclose) and my husband's health insurance doesn't cover it. We're going to need funds for the care during and after. Any help would be much appreciated:

gogetfunding.com/medical-and-...

Medical and Post-Hospital Care for Vida Cruz-Borja

Hello, I am Vida Cruz-Borja, author of the Cirilo F. Bautista Award-winning Song of the Mango and Other New Myths and the IGNYTE Award-winning essay “We are the Mountain: A Look at the Inactive Protag...

gogetfunding.com

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Zoe TunnHELL @zoewithasword.bsky.social · 6h

Would it surprise you that the owner of Scientific American's parent company, Stefan von Holtzbrinck, invested $37 million in Inkitt, an AI firm?

What a SHOCK

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 1d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

www.scientificamerican.com

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 6h

Springer Nature tried to charge me $2,495 for institutional access to Scientific American and Nature Magazine, but copyright law is just a growing pain, right? I should get that material for free, since copyright is a minor hurdle technology will overcome. No more paywalls, right?

Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 6h

Hey Scientific American, since you don't care about copyright law, you're going to release all your copyrighted materials to the public and no longer charge people for licenses right? This rights request is about to be deleted from your website, I'm sure. www.scientificamerican.com/contact-us/

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Alex Degen (Magic Serple 2025) @adactivity.bsky.social · 9h

This is cool after the war on everything called “porn” by platforms and payment processors. A machine that stole all your words can generate and sell “erotica” but you can’t haaa

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 9h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 6h

Setting aside graverobbing woman who died in no small part due to men exploiting her image, copyright violations aren't "growing pains." It's literally the law. They’re breaking the law. Without copyright law, there is no creative industry, and without a creative industry, there is no genAI.

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · 1d

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon

Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies

www.scientificamerican.com

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💀 🎃 ThemBOO! 🎃 💀 @thembo.bsky.social · 9h

Finally, a chance to see a blonde woman in game of thrones. This is worth the collapse of the environment and economy imo

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karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 1d

Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 8h

judging by the qts on that original post, not likely.......

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The Oaklandside @oaklandside.org · 8h

The Department of Homeland Security video blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown. Many airport officials say screening the partisan message at checkpoints would risk violating federal law.

Oakland airport joins at least eight others in refusing to air Kristi Noem video

The Department of Homeland Security video blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown. Airport officials say showing the partisan message would risk violating federal law.

oaklandside.org

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 8h

very happy for these men and those fans, but for me this is the equivalent of someone walking up to me on the street, pointing to someone i don't know waiting at a bus stop and saying "he's gay." okay king. happy to have you here.

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 8h

congrats i guess to these two random white men i've never seen or heard of before

Pop Crave @popcrave.com · 1d

🚨Dan and Phil confirm they’ve been in a relationship for almost 16 years.

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paris martineau @paris.nyc · 10h

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 9h

Turns out your assumptions about what republican group chats are like is correct www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 9h

THREAD

Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 9h

“At least one person in the Telegram chat works in the Trump administration: Michael Bartels, who, according to his LinkedIn account, serves as a senior adviser in the office of general counsel within the U.S. Small Business Administration.”

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 9h

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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