Jody DiPerna
@jodydiperna.bsky.social
Lovechild of the Rust Belt & Appalachia.
Reprobate reader. Rogue writer.
Reprobate reader. Rogue writer.
Pinned
Jody DiPerna
@jodydiperna.bsky.social
· Feb 16
I am thrilled to join the crew at University Press of Kentucky.
I've been a fan of Abby Freeland's for a lot of years now and, let's face it, it's pretty humbling to share a publisher with @crystalwilki.bsky.social, Frank X Walker and Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle.
Now I just have to get to WORK.
I've been a fan of Abby Freeland's for a lot of years now and, let's face it, it's pretty humbling to share a publisher with @crystalwilki.bsky.social, Frank X Walker and Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle.
Now I just have to get to WORK.
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
HOUSTON: A church employee pretended to be ICE to extort a masseuse for money who is in the country legally with a temporary visa
November 24, 2025 at 3:19 AM
HOUSTON: A church employee pretended to be ICE to extort a masseuse for money who is in the country legally with a temporary visa
'The True, True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)' by Rabih Alameddine won the National Book Award and I *could not be more thrilled.* It is one of the best novels I've read in a while. Definitely one of my favorite reads of this year. It's funny, weird & unexpected.
November 24, 2025 at 1:18 PM
'The True, True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)' by Rabih Alameddine won the National Book Award and I *could not be more thrilled.* It is one of the best novels I've read in a while. Definitely one of my favorite reads of this year. It's funny, weird & unexpected.
Oh man, I loved Jimmy. Rest well.
Jimmy Cliff, a Jamaican musician who helped popularize reggae around the world, has died at age 81. https://cnn.it/43OcTUN
November 24, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Oh man, I loved Jimmy. Rest well.
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Still thinking about this — b/c how could anyone not JFC?! But also thinking about a BS focus on improving the quality of the input into LLMs, eg by feeding them UP books. But that’s not how these things work. Anyway: all publishers should also watch this.
Holy f@$k!
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
November 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Still thinking about this — b/c how could anyone not JFC?! But also thinking about a BS focus on improving the quality of the input into LLMs, eg by feeding them UP books. But that’s not how these things work. Anyway: all publishers should also watch this.
He attacked six Democratic members of Congress calling them "traitors" and accusing them of sedition that's "punishable by death" after they urged members of the military and intelligence community to "refuse illegal orders."
Shhhhh. Quiet Piggy.
Shhhhh. Quiet Piggy.
November 20, 2025 at 8:38 PM
He attacked six Democratic members of Congress calling them "traitors" and accusing them of sedition that's "punishable by death" after they urged members of the military and intelligence community to "refuse illegal orders."
Shhhhh. Quiet Piggy.
Shhhhh. Quiet Piggy.
His grotesque misogyny is a feature, not a bug. This is exactly why MAGA loves him.
November 18, 2025 at 1:30 PM
His grotesque misogyny is a feature, not a bug. This is exactly why MAGA loves him.
The Biggest Loser, but for billionaires, wherein they give away money either voluntarily or by force to various and sundry vetted organizations. (Anything from food pantries to community libraries, public defenders offices, environmental organizations and small nonprofit newsrooms.) contd ...
November 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The Biggest Loser, but for billionaires, wherein they give away money either voluntarily or by force to various and sundry vetted organizations. (Anything from food pantries to community libraries, public defenders offices, environmental organizations and small nonprofit newsrooms.) contd ...
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
I just want to say there are a lot of journalists and writers who do real, incredible work on topics that matter while maintaining high standards. Many of them do not have stable employment or recognition from major institutions.
November 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
I just want to say there are a lot of journalists and writers who do real, incredible work on topics that matter while maintaining high standards. Many of them do not have stable employment or recognition from major institutions.
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson @biidaasamose.bsky.social wins the $75K #HilaryWeston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction for Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, published by Alchemy by Knopf Canada. The prize is supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. #WTAwards #canlit
November 14, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson @biidaasamose.bsky.social wins the $75K #HilaryWeston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction for Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead, published by Alchemy by Knopf Canada. The prize is supported by The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation. #WTAwards #canlit
I have jury duty. We are in the selection process which basically means hurry up and wait.
I am drinking institutional prison coffee.
I ate a half of a rice krispy treat from the vending machine.
Pray for me
I am drinking institutional prison coffee.
I ate a half of a rice krispy treat from the vending machine.
Pray for me
November 14, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I have jury duty. We are in the selection process which basically means hurry up and wait.
I am drinking institutional prison coffee.
I ate a half of a rice krispy treat from the vending machine.
Pray for me
I am drinking institutional prison coffee.
I ate a half of a rice krispy treat from the vending machine.
Pray for me
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Dear Google, please tell Notebook, the "new" AI powered reseaercher to drop dead, eat shit and die, fuck all the way off and just go the fuck away. Take your AI and shove up your ass.
November 11, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Dear Google, please tell Notebook, the "new" AI powered reseaercher to drop dead, eat shit and die, fuck all the way off and just go the fuck away. Take your AI and shove up your ass.
1/ In my years of covering books for a whole bunch of different outlets, I always ran author interviews and not straight reviews. I also never covered anything that I thought was not good because (a) I didn't want to read books that lacked merit and (b) I didn't want to be in the business of ...
November 11, 2025 at 1:24 PM
1/ In my years of covering books for a whole bunch of different outlets, I always ran author interviews and not straight reviews. I also never covered anything that I thought was not good because (a) I didn't want to read books that lacked merit and (b) I didn't want to be in the business of ...
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
It's like Chuck Schumer wakes up every day by asking "what can I do to make young people despise my party even more?"
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
It's like Chuck Schumer wakes up every day by asking "what can I do to make young people despise my party even more?"
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Tourists! Come to America! Our air traffic controllers haven't been paid, so there's a non-zero chance your flight will crash! Don't worry, if you do get here you could be kidnapped by a masked stormtrooper and held indefinitely in torture conditions! Bring your money to the US!
November 9, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Tourists! Come to America! Our air traffic controllers haven't been paid, so there's a non-zero chance your flight will crash! Don't worry, if you do get here you could be kidnapped by a masked stormtrooper and held indefinitely in torture conditions! Bring your money to the US!
The latest installment of *This Week on My Desk*
(not pitctured -- 'Orange World' by Karen Russell and 'Brawler' by Lauren Groff.)
(not pitctured -- 'Orange World' by Karen Russell and 'Brawler' by Lauren Groff.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The latest installment of *This Week on My Desk*
(not pitctured -- 'Orange World' by Karen Russell and 'Brawler' by Lauren Groff.)
(not pitctured -- 'Orange World' by Karen Russell and 'Brawler' by Lauren Groff.)
For anybody following, I reached out to a few historians who unanimously recommended the book 'The Great Steel Strike & Its Lessons' by William Z. Foster, originally published in 1920. I am also going to check out 'Pittsburgh & the Great Steel Strike of 1919' by @redpgh.com
History dorks, if you are going to recommend one book about the 1919 Steel Strike, what would it be?
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
November 9, 2025 at 1:46 PM
For anybody following, I reached out to a few historians who unanimously recommended the book 'The Great Steel Strike & Its Lessons' by William Z. Foster, originally published in 1920. I am also going to check out 'Pittsburgh & the Great Steel Strike of 1919' by @redpgh.com
History dorks, if you are going to recommend one book about the 1919 Steel Strike, what would it be?
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
November 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM
History dorks, if you are going to recommend one book about the 1919 Steel Strike, what would it be?
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
I've been reading through newspaper archives, but I'm looking to get a more wholistic sense of it.
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Ever feel like the world has gone mad?
November 7, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Ever feel like the world has gone mad?
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
Gov. Shapiro: “America has a president, a vice president, that don't give a damn about all Americans…When I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because of J.D. Vance's bullshit politics, that makes me angry…America deserves better than J.D. Vance.”
November 7, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Gov. Shapiro: “America has a president, a vice president, that don't give a damn about all Americans…When I see hungry people in my state who are hungry because of J.D. Vance's bullshit politics, that makes me angry…America deserves better than J.D. Vance.”
Blessed are the hoagie throwers.
Yesterday, a D.C. jury found the man who threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol officer not guilty on a misdemeanor assault charge.
@mollyroberts.bsky.social reports on the proceedings that led to the acquittal:
@mollyroberts.bsky.social reports on the proceedings that led to the acquittal:
Sandwich Guy, Thrower of Hoagie–Or Hero?
The trial ended in an acquittal. But the proceedings felt like a strange sort of performance art—highly amusing and highly menacing at the same time.
www.lawfaremedia.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Blessed are the hoagie throwers.
Nothing like October mornings in northern #Appalachia. #Pittsburgh
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Nothing like October mornings in northern #Appalachia. #Pittsburgh
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
On the left, the refurbished Lincoln bathroom. On the right, picture I took in Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra in 2005.
October 31, 2025 at 5:57 PM
On the left, the refurbished Lincoln bathroom. On the right, picture I took in Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra in 2005.
Reposted by Jody DiPerna
This IS a winnable fight! And it’s your fight. Stand with Starbucks workers!
Everybody opposed to authoritarianism and oligarchy should needs to stand in solidarity with the Starbucks workers who are likely going on strike starting November 13
This is a winnable fight — but it'll take all of our support to help workers get past the finish line
This is a winnable fight — but it'll take all of our support to help workers get past the finish line
BREAKING: After months of stonewalling by Starbucks, unionized baristas just voted 92% to authorize a ULP strike unless Starbucks finalizes fair contracts & stops union busting.
If forced, our baristas will strike in dozens of cities on November 13 – the company's busiest sales day of the year.
If forced, our baristas will strike in dozens of cities on November 13 – the company's busiest sales day of the year.
November 7, 2025 at 1:00 AM
This IS a winnable fight! And it’s your fight. Stand with Starbucks workers!
I want to listen to a podcast about all of the liars and fabulists, cons and grifters platformed by #Oprah. That shit would be like 4,000+ episodes.
November 6, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I want to listen to a podcast about all of the liars and fabulists, cons and grifters platformed by #Oprah. That shit would be like 4,000+ episodes.