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Chris Kempshall

@chriskempshall.bsky.social

9.9K followers 3.7K following 2.2K posts

President @fwwsoc.bsky.social. Historian & Author on #FWW allied relations, historical games studies, & #StarWars. Rep'd Justin Nash of Kate Nash Literary Agency. Consulting partner @historystudiola.bsky.social. He/him https://linktr.ee/chriskempshall

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Apr 17

An extra fun surprise for everyone - I’ll be on the Celebration Live Stage on Saturday 19th at 3:45pm discussing books alongside the esteemed @adamchristopher.me and @philszostak.bsky.social!

A graphic card showing the schedule for Chris Kempshall across the three days of Star Wars Celebration. The details are as follows:

Friday 18 April:

10:00 am - 11:00 am
Holonet News Stage
Who's the Bossk?

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Galaxy Stage
LUCASFILM PUBLISHING: Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away....

Saturday 19th April:

1pm - 2pm
Lawson's
Book Signing

Sunday 20th April

9:45 am - 10:45 am
University Stage
History in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm
University Stage
Droids, Artificial Intelligence, and Sentience

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Reposted by Chris Kempshall

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7h

Some of those people are currently on the staff of elected Republicans, in fact. They’re part of the present of the GOP.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h

Q: Politico reported on a group chat of young Republicans. Does this just reflect some bad apples?

HOCHUL: Some bad apples? These are the future of the GOP. This is so vile it's hard to find the words to put into context ... there's gotta be consequences ... this bullshit has to stop.

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Reposted by Chris Kempshall

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 8h

Consumer-facing "A.i." fucking sucks and you're embarrassing yourself if you pass it off for your actual thoughts.

Adam Mallinger @bitterscriptreader.bsky.social · 8h

“The humans won hands down when it came to notes, which require actual analysis rather than just distillation. The AI programs were ‘an almost total fail across the board.’”

Nice to know I wouldn’t have been so easily replaced at my old job by an A.I.

variety.com/2025/film/ne...

Hollywood Script Readers Fear They Could be Replaced by AI. They Set Up a Test to See Who Gives Better Feedback

Fearing they could be replaced, Hollywood script readers face off against AI programs to see who gives better feedback.

variety.com

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 8h

Oh that fits in quite nicely then!

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 8h

Yeah it gets pretty messy there!

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 8h

Here's a very good overview of it!

encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/warf...

Warfare 1914-1918 (South East Europe) / 1.0 / handbook - 1914-1918-Online (WW1) Encyclopedia

The main intention of this article is to chronologically present major events on the battlegrounds of South East Europe in the Great War and to demonstrate how it actually represented a continuation o...

encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 9h

Sounds very much like they may have been taken prisoner on Salonika/Macedonian Front!

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Reposted by Chris Kempshall

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 10h

“now we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues” sorry, uh, how exactly have you done that

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 13h

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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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 14h

And who the hell doesn't want to live in that newer and better world?

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 15h

I absolutely love all of that.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 15h

I'll wait in line with you. Signing lines are the best ones.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 16h

Which is absolutely wonderful to hear!

Reposted by Chris Kempshall

👻 Pablo Hidalghost 👻 @infinata.bsky.social · 1d

We wouldn’t have the Star Wars books we have without Carol Titelman and Lucy Wilson getting it started and keeping it running when it mattered the most in the early years.

Tom @darthinternous.bsky.social · 1d

Random fun fact of the day - women are the reason #StarWars #publishing exists. And the reason it has been so successful that it could endure as it has for so many decades.

(I'm an expert on this stuff)

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 19h

I was very fortunate to be given some flavour of Andor S2 to help sprinkle in some bits and get the right sort of vibe for it.

Reposted by Chris Kempshall

Justin Colson @justincolson.bsky.social · 21h

At @ihr.bsky.social we can now offer PhD by Publication in History! For those with a substantial body of existing published research (within past 10 years), but without a PhD, should be of particular interest to #heritage professionals and independent scholars!

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 20h

I love everything about this.

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 20h

Oh that makes me incredibly happy! Wish him a great birthday from me and I hope he really enjoys the book!

Reposted by Chris Kempshall

Ronja 💜💛 Ry Ki-Sakka's nr 1 fan @fivesronie.bsky.social · 21h

This was the most lovely thread! What a beautiful way to see that interaction.

I want to add my own little tale:
Recently Taylor Swift held a Release Party for her new album in cinemas around the world. I went to the premiere with my friend, and then saw it again with my mum (cont)

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

Tom (as ever) makes an amazingly good point here. I also want to add something (along with my musings yesterday) about the Law of Hypothetical Outcomes. I'm going to tell a story that doesn't have an ending (yet) but, like many great stories, it involves @kristinbaver.bsky.social

Tom @darthinternous.bsky.social · 1d

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 21h

Ha!

Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 21h

Ah thank you very much indeed, that's really kind! I'm sure that Wedge Antilles - whoever they are - will forgive me!

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

I also want to watch or read or see something I've either never seen before or, at the very least, not thought about in the way presented to me. It's a blessing and a joy. Embrace it.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

Let them do it. Let thi whole thing breathe and evolve. Even if it turns out to be something that doesn't chime for you, it may well fire an idea in the head of an author or creator that you do like and then suddenly the evolution begins again. We all need each other.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

So maye that young girl will totally change Star Wars one day. I hope so. I hope she then recounts it on a podcast and we get full closure. But inspiration comes in many forms and Star Wars inspires people all the time. Some of them are then going to make new stuff for us and it'll be amazing.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

Anyone can like or dislike whaterver they want. But we need it all. The moment you shut down aspects or fields of historical study the whole thing stagnates and collapses. Research and writing need new ideas and approaches. It is unavoidable.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

I still have to read them because they build my knowledge and understandings. And even in the ones I dislike there's almost always *something*. A new source. A new framing. A new methodology. Something that makes me go 'hmmm' and will power my inspiration. As with history so too with Star Wars.

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Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · 22h

I need to see things through the eyes of people who see topics in ways I can't. I need to think about things in different ways. I need to discover new sources and ideas from different people. Nothing can take place in a vacuum. There are historuy books I really don't like. At all. But...

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