Caleb Wellum
@calebwellum.bsky.social
Senior Researcher @ICES/U of T Scarborough. Author of Energizing Neoliberalism. Researching energy cultures of the New Economy. Writer. EH [@energyhumanities.bsky.social] Editor. HigherEd Teacher.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
I know I have been promising this forever but the Oxford Illustrated History of the United States will finally be out in June of next year, just in time to help unite the nation around the 250th
December 10, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I know I have been promising this forever but the Oxford Illustrated History of the United States will finally be out in June of next year, just in time to help unite the nation around the 250th
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Yorkville Village haunted Christmas forest display. Depicts small town toy soldier lured to Yorkville by algorithmic influencers where, after being coated in fake gold, finds himself lost in the emptiness, one tree looking the same as the next (same surgeon). A cautionary Christmas tale. 10.5/10
December 11, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Yorkville Village haunted Christmas forest display. Depicts small town toy soldier lured to Yorkville by algorithmic influencers where, after being coated in fake gold, finds himself lost in the emptiness, one tree looking the same as the next (same surgeon). A cautionary Christmas tale. 10.5/10
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Chinatown Centre tree + Christmas universe. Tree itself raised on plinth of presents demonstrates abundance agenda fidelity. Outward looking snowman, bear, & deer indicates an ecumenical, if secular, openness while the soldier regards this hyperreality with a baudrillardian gaze. Epic. Total. 13/10
December 11, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Chinatown Centre tree + Christmas universe. Tree itself raised on plinth of presents demonstrates abundance agenda fidelity. Outward looking snowman, bear, & deer indicates an ecumenical, if secular, openness while the soldier regards this hyperreality with a baudrillardian gaze. Epic. Total. 13/10
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
👀 copyedits are ready. It’s finally on the way.
#EnergySociety&Environment
#EnergySociety&Environment
December 10, 2025 at 1:44 PM
👀 copyedits are ready. It’s finally on the way.
#EnergySociety&Environment
#EnergySociety&Environment
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
For all its good intentions, this announcement will likely be bad news for Canadian graduates and PhD students, since the rest of the sector will remain starved for cash. Why hire Canadian if you can hire non-Canadian or those trained outside the country from this new pot of money?
December 10, 2025 at 1:16 PM
For all its good intentions, this announcement will likely be bad news for Canadian graduates and PhD students, since the rest of the sector will remain starved for cash. Why hire Canadian if you can hire non-Canadian or those trained outside the country from this new pot of money?
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
I’m having trouble squaring this announcement with the fact that, at least in Ontario, universities are in a decades-long underfunding crisis that governments are refusing to address and in many cases are making worse.
🎉 At last it's public ... "Canada on Tuesday launched a CAN$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) program to recruit leading global researchers, part of the effort to poach intellectual talent looking to leave the United States because of President Donald Trump's policies." 🇨🇦 💪 www.france24.com/en/live-news...
Canada launches billion dollar plan to recruit top researchers
Canada on Tuesday launched a CAN$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) program to recruit leading global researchers, part of the effort to poach intellectual talent looking to leave the United States because of...
www.france24.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I’m having trouble squaring this announcement with the fact that, at least in Ontario, universities are in a decades-long underfunding crisis that governments are refusing to address and in many cases are making worse.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
The @masseycollege.bsky.social Tree. An extravaganza of a natural tree in Cda's greatest building (Ron Thom 1962). Soaring 14ft, its feathered plumage & tasselled bottom garland brings this graduate college comfort & joy in the time of exams, final paper writing & the slog of endless marking. 14/10
December 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
The @masseycollege.bsky.social Tree. An extravaganza of a natural tree in Cda's greatest building (Ron Thom 1962). Soaring 14ft, its feathered plumage & tasselled bottom garland brings this graduate college comfort & joy in the time of exams, final paper writing & the slog of endless marking. 14/10
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
If American car manufacturers want a chance at survival, they could start by no longer shoving oversized design down our throats.
American car companies have effectively eliminated smaller, practical vehicles from the marketplace, leaving only massive, expensive trucks and SUVs for basic transport.
American car companies have effectively eliminated smaller, practical vehicles from the marketplace, leaving only massive, expensive trucks and SUVs for basic transport.
Western carmakers ‘in fight for lives’ against Chinese rivals, says Ford boss
Jim Farley’s comments come as US manufacturer and Renault announce deal to make two smaller electric cars
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:54 PM
If American car manufacturers want a chance at survival, they could start by no longer shoving oversized design down our throats.
American car companies have effectively eliminated smaller, practical vehicles from the marketplace, leaving only massive, expensive trucks and SUVs for basic transport.
American car companies have effectively eliminated smaller, practical vehicles from the marketplace, leaving only massive, expensive trucks and SUVs for basic transport.
Now would be a great time for faculty to fight to save (and transform) the university. If not now, then when? www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 9, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Now would be a great time for faculty to fight to save (and transform) the university. If not now, then when? www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
This pretty much sums up why I’m reviving the plan B’s I had in grad school.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 8, 2025 at 3:52 PM
This pretty much sums up why I’m reviving the plan B’s I had in grad school.
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Jimmy Fallon: ...so you'll just consume everything.
Artaxias, The Screeching Void From Beyond the Sun: ALL SHALL LIVE WITHIN MY MAW.
Fallon: That's so wild.
Artaxias, The Screeching Void From Beyond the Sun: ALL SHALL LIVE WITHIN MY MAW.
Fallon: That's so wild.
December 9, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Jimmy Fallon: ...so you'll just consume everything.
Artaxias, The Screeching Void From Beyond the Sun: ALL SHALL LIVE WITHIN MY MAW.
Fallon: That's so wild.
Artaxias, The Screeching Void From Beyond the Sun: ALL SHALL LIVE WITHIN MY MAW.
Fallon: That's so wild.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
A perfect example of how AI boosters want to make people simulacrums so they can charge them a fee to be themselves. Altman wants to replace Dr. Spock's classic sublime advice—"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do."—with total reliance on his expensive stochastic parrot.
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 4:36 PM
A perfect example of how AI boosters want to make people simulacrums so they can charge them a fee to be themselves. Altman wants to replace Dr. Spock's classic sublime advice—"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do."—with total reliance on his expensive stochastic parrot.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
More accurate headline: "Microsoft announces $7.5 billion investment to strengthen Microsoft's position in the Canadian AI market"
Microsoft announces $7.5 billion investment to strengthen Canadian AI
The company said the new commitment will bring its total investment in Canada to $19 billion between 2023 and 2027.
www.thestar.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
More accurate headline: "Microsoft announces $7.5 billion investment to strengthen Microsoft's position in the Canadian AI market"
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
NEW: An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. A startup jumped in with an outside analysis, estimating that as many 1 in 5 could have been ChatGPT-written. Chaos ensued.
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
The Conference Where ChatGPT Wrote One in Five Reviews (Maybe)
An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:32 AM
NEW: An AI conference was bombarded with complaints about peer reviews sounding AI-generated. A startup jumped in with an outside analysis, estimating that as many 1 in 5 could have been ChatGPT-written. Chaos ensued.
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Now the reviews are being reviewed.
www.chronicle.com/article/the-... #ICLR2026
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
PLEASE SHARE WIDELY
Hello, Bluesky!
We want to fund your research!
Check out our grants and fellowships!
Here: www.hagley.org/research/gra...
We want to fund your research!
Check out our grants and fellowships!
Here: www.hagley.org/research/gra...
Grants & Fellowships
Hagley invites serious researchers to apply for one of our grants to defray the costs of an extended stay intended to use our collections. Grants and fellowships are administered by the Center for the...
www.hagley.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:38 PM
PLEASE SHARE WIDELY
A most excellent cover!
It's time once again for my annual #treebybike post. This is the 12/19/42 cover of @newyorker.com, so one full year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This would be the first real Christmas alone, or without a family member, for millions in the US. Gas and tire rationing had begun earlier that year.🗃️
December 8, 2025 at 3:49 PM
A most excellent cover!
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
I am so excited about this book!!!
In "Atomic Bombshells," Isabelle Held examines the effects of military-industrial science and the emergence of synthetic materials such as nylon, silicone, and foams on the female body. Read the intro for free on our site! buff.ly/Ee58UOa
December 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I am so excited about this book!!!
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Familiar ed-tech pitch on GenAI: we will save you time to focus on what really matters, which is, of course, the relationships you build with students.
But that pitch is cover for what's happening in classrooms, and as this excellent 🧵 makes clear, these products are damaging at multiple scales.
But that pitch is cover for what's happening in classrooms, and as this excellent 🧵 makes clear, these products are damaging at multiple scales.
Any they want to further erode relationships between individuals so that, eventually, we simply decide it’s just easier to cede decision-making to models, which they can sell us.
December 4, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Familiar ed-tech pitch on GenAI: we will save you time to focus on what really matters, which is, of course, the relationships you build with students.
But that pitch is cover for what's happening in classrooms, and as this excellent 🧵 makes clear, these products are damaging at multiple scales.
But that pitch is cover for what's happening in classrooms, and as this excellent 🧵 makes clear, these products are damaging at multiple scales.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
It’s hard to not see the Netflix/WB news as a sort of doomsday scenario. The constant mergers and large scale absorptions of brands might be good for business, in theory, but they are bad for art; they are bad for creators; they are bad for preservation. Which makes it bad for us.
December 5, 2025 at 1:10 PM
It’s hard to not see the Netflix/WB news as a sort of doomsday scenario. The constant mergers and large scale absorptions of brands might be good for business, in theory, but they are bad for art; they are bad for creators; they are bad for preservation. Which makes it bad for us.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Who in their right mind wants that crap back?
Sean Duffy on slashing fuel economy standards: "This rule will actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon. Maybe a little wood paneling on the side. We can bring back choice to consumers."
December 4, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Who in their right mind wants that crap back?
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Today I learned that my book, RENDERED OBSOLETE, was reviewed in AHR by @calebwellum.bsky.social. I'm grateful to Caleb for the sharp, generous review, and for all the work he's been doing in energy humanities. Link to review below, or DM me for a PDF!
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
Validate User
academic.oup.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Today I learned that my book, RENDERED OBSOLETE, was reviewed in AHR by @calebwellum.bsky.social. I'm grateful to Caleb for the sharp, generous review, and for all the work he's been doing in energy humanities. Link to review below, or DM me for a PDF!
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
Wow. Huge news for the Bruce Trail & Beaver Valley. There were fears the old ski resort was to become a sprawl housing development.
BTC purchases former Talisman Mountain Resort lands | Bruce Trail Conservancy
The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) is excited to announce the purchase of the former Talisman Mountain Resort lands in the Beaver Valley. This landmark
brucetrail.org
December 2, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Wow. Huge news for the Bruce Trail & Beaver Valley. There were fears the old ski resort was to become a sprawl housing development.
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
today instead of buying barely discounted crap, get a paid subscription to an independent media outlet! a little $ goes a long way towards supporting a free press. 🗞️
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
November 28, 2025 at 4:36 PM
today instead of buying barely discounted crap, get a paid subscription to an independent media outlet! a little $ goes a long way towards supporting a free press. 🗞️
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
drop links to your own or your faves in the replies so ppl can easily sign up (bonus if you add a couple words about why it’s good!):
Reposted by Caleb Wellum
I have written some reflections on the #energylives fieldwork week we had in Finland in October, for The Current, our project blog. www.uis.no/en/the-curre... #envhist #envhum #energy
November 28, 2025 at 9:46 AM
I have written some reflections on the #energylives fieldwork week we had in Finland in October, for The Current, our project blog. www.uis.no/en/the-curre... #envhist #envhum #energy
It's a good one, as mentioned here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Looking for a holiday gift for that special someone? 🎁 @uchicagopress.bsky.social is having a 30% off sitewide sale, and my book, CARBON TECHNOCRACY, is now available for $19.25 with the promo code HOLIDAY25. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
#histstm #histsci #histtech #envhist 🧪
#histstm #histsci #histtech #envhist 🧪
Carbon Technocracy
A forceful reckoning with the relationship between energy and power through the history of what was once East Asia’s largest coal mine. The coal-mining town of Fushun in China’s Northeast is home to a...
press.uchicago.edu
November 28, 2025 at 3:06 PM
It's a good one, as mentioned here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...