Ben Rempel
@benrempel.bsky.social
Migration (human circulation) policy, voluntary migrant to Vancouver Island, should play guitar more often, stravaiger, pilgrim; the trail is always better on foot; minds, like borders, books and windows, are better when open; time moves crabwise.
Reposted by Ben Rempel
New weather & soil monitoring is now live at the wildfire-impacted Twaal Valley Research site!
Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, UBC MTPP & the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence are combining cutting-edge science with Indigenous leadership to support forests.
Read More: mothertreeproject.org/2025/11/05/c...
Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, UBC MTPP & the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence are combining cutting-edge science with Indigenous leadership to support forests.
Read More: mothertreeproject.org/2025/11/05/c...
Cook’s Ferry Land Guardians and UBC Forestry Launch Groundbreaking Post-Wildfire Study - The Mother Tree Project & Program (MTPP)
New weather and soil monitoring stations track forest recovery in wildfire-impacted Twaal site on Cook’s Ferry territory.
mothertreeproject.org
January 6, 2026 at 10:49 PM
New weather & soil monitoring is now live at the wildfire-impacted Twaal Valley Research site!
Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, UBC MTPP & the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence are combining cutting-edge science with Indigenous leadership to support forests.
Read More: mothertreeproject.org/2025/11/05/c...
Cook’s Ferry Indian Band, UBC MTPP & the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence are combining cutting-edge science with Indigenous leadership to support forests.
Read More: mothertreeproject.org/2025/11/05/c...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Roscoe Mitchell’s advice to his younger self. (From a Mellon Foundation website documenting a recent NYC gathering of 16 Jazz Legacies Fellows) www.mellon.org/grant-story/...
December 28, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Roscoe Mitchell’s advice to his younger self. (From a Mellon Foundation website documenting a recent NYC gathering of 16 Jazz Legacies Fellows) www.mellon.org/grant-story/...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
‘Our tech overlords like the idea of being Thomas Edison, genius inventor-businessman, but they often have more in common with P.T. Barnum, genius of marketing and hype. Altman could go toe-to-toe with Barnum, and I wouldn’t want to pick a winner.’
John Lanchester:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 8:32 PM
‘Our tech overlords like the idea of being Thomas Edison, genius inventor-businessman, but they often have more in common with P.T. Barnum, genius of marketing and hype. Altman could go toe-to-toe with Barnum, and I wouldn’t want to pick a winner.’
John Lanchester:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10
The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.
December 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10
Reposted by Ben Rempel
“If there is still a Gaza, there will continue to be a Gaza Sky Geeks.”
Gaza’s tech community reflects on two years of war and looks to the future:
https://restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sky-geeks-bombing-rebuilding/
Gaza’s tech community reflects on two years of war and looks to the future:
https://restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sky-geeks-bombing-rebuilding/
November 23, 2025 at 5:22 PM
“If there is still a Gaza, there will continue to be a Gaza Sky Geeks.”
Gaza’s tech community reflects on two years of war and looks to the future:
https://restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sky-geeks-bombing-rebuilding/
Gaza’s tech community reflects on two years of war and looks to the future:
https://restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sky-geeks-bombing-rebuilding/
Reposted by Ben Rempel
China’s media suppression campaign is reaching around the globe to silence environmental journalists reporting on polluting Chinese companies.
How China Silences Environmental Reporters Beyond Its Borders - Inside Climate News
Journalists who report on the harms caused by China’s overseas infrastructure buildout in Africa face intimidation, surveillance and police pressure.
insideclimatenews.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
China’s media suppression campaign is reaching around the globe to silence environmental journalists reporting on polluting Chinese companies.
Reposted by Ben Rempel
At today’s plenary of the American Anthropological Association #TheDawnOfEverything was awarded the Staley Prize for ‘outstanding scholarship’ by the School for Advanced Research🙏
It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...
It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...
J.I. Staley Prize - School for Advanced Research
sarweb.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:01 AM
At today’s plenary of the American Anthropological Association #TheDawnOfEverything was awarded the Staley Prize for ‘outstanding scholarship’ by the School for Advanced Research🙏
It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...
It would have meant so much to David Graeber, as it does to me
sarweb.org/awards/j-i-s...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happen” and that he did not hold Mohammed responsible for the murder despite a U.S. intelligence report assessing the opposite.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia was branded a pariah in 2018 after the killing of a Washington Post columnist. Now, U.S.-Saudi relations are nearing a high point.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happen” and that he did not hold Mohammed responsible for the murder despite a U.S. intelligence report assessing the opposite.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Ecuadorians vote overwhelmingly to maintain their “ecological constitution” that recognizes the rights of nature.
Ecuador’s Voters Protect Rights of Nature, Reject Proposal to Rewrite Constitution - Inside Climate News
Ecuadorians handed their Trump-allied president a resounding defeat, choosing to maintain their “ecological constitution” and rejecting an attempt to allow foreign military bases in the country.
insideclimatenews.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Ecuadorians vote overwhelmingly to maintain their “ecological constitution” that recognizes the rights of nature.
Reposted by Ben Rempel
BC's forests are among the most diverse and carbon-rich in the world, but we’re still watching irreplaceable old-growth get cut down.
Sign the petition to demand action from the BC government
👉 lnkd.in/gBu-Ef8t
Sharing my work and reflections in a personal capacity — views are my own.
Sign the petition to demand action from the BC government
👉 lnkd.in/gBu-Ef8t
Sharing my work and reflections in a personal capacity — views are my own.
November 18, 2025 at 12:27 AM
BC's forests are among the most diverse and carbon-rich in the world, but we’re still watching irreplaceable old-growth get cut down.
Sign the petition to demand action from the BC government
👉 lnkd.in/gBu-Ef8t
Sharing my work and reflections in a personal capacity — views are my own.
Sign the petition to demand action from the BC government
👉 lnkd.in/gBu-Ef8t
Sharing my work and reflections in a personal capacity — views are my own.
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Academic books don't often have covers worth revealing, but this one is pretty good. Samia Ounoughi & I have been working on this for about 100 years, but we've just sent the final proofs, so here's the cover & contents. Writing on the Move, due out from Berghahn early 2026. #travelwriting studies
November 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Academic books don't often have covers worth revealing, but this one is pretty good. Samia Ounoughi & I have been working on this for about 100 years, but we've just sent the final proofs, so here's the cover & contents. Writing on the Move, due out from Berghahn early 2026. #travelwriting studies
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Shahd Shamali was given 20 minutes warning before the I.D.F. struck her building. She describes her home and the life she made there, before it was erased, and the choices she and her family made in the brief evacuation window. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/s_uZDZ
In Gaza, Home Is Just a Memory
After the ceasefire, many Palestinians who were displaced during the war are still grieving the homes they can’t return to—and which they often had to evacuate in minutes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Shahd Shamali was given 20 minutes warning before the I.D.F. struck her building. She describes her home and the life she made there, before it was erased, and the choices she and her family made in the brief evacuation window. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/s_uZDZ
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Mary Halvorson's Amaryllis is the bomb. Herein, a new podcast episode, a Jazzfest Berlin review, and some additional thoughts.
Supracoracoideus
The mighty Mary Halvorson, in action and in conversation
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Mary Halvorson's Amaryllis is the bomb. Herein, a new podcast episode, a Jazzfest Berlin review, and some additional thoughts.
Some good recs here and in case it’s paywalled: Amitav Ghosh: Pod by Laline Paull, Maddy Thien: The Swan Book by Alexis Wright; Eric Puchner: Orbital by S. Harvey; J. Jezewska: The Vegetarian by Han Kang; M. Majumdar: Mobilty by L. Kiesling
foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/07/c...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/07/c...
5 Novelists on Their Favorite Climate Fiction
Sometimes, literature meets the moment better than diplomacy.
foreignpolicy.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Some good recs here and in case it’s paywalled: Amitav Ghosh: Pod by Laline Paull, Maddy Thien: The Swan Book by Alexis Wright; Eric Puchner: Orbital by S. Harvey; J. Jezewska: The Vegetarian by Han Kang; M. Majumdar: Mobilty by L. Kiesling
foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/07/c...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/07/c...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
@willdalrymple.bsky.social
Love your work
William Dalrymple: rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey share.google/QlsDStzZ9RJn...
Love your work
William Dalrymple: rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey share.google/QlsDStzZ9RJn...
William Dalrymple: rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey
Forty years after he first visited as a student, the historian takes a road trip across Eastern Anatolia, finding restored monuments, new museums and archaeological digs that shed fresh light on the r...
share.google
November 2, 2025 at 1:42 PM
@willdalrymple.bsky.social
Love your work
William Dalrymple: rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey share.google/QlsDStzZ9RJn...
Love your work
William Dalrymple: rediscovering the ancient wonders of eastern Turkey share.google/QlsDStzZ9RJn...
“A philosopher who doesn’t think about science is not willing to engage with the knowledge we have, and that’s just silly. And a scientist who refuses to look at philosophy is trapped in ways of thinking from which there may be an escape.” Carlo Rovelli
In 1977, Carlo Rovelli was detained for refusing compulsory military service. His work as a theoretical physicist entails a radical rethinking of what our theories are really telling us. www.quantamagazine.org/carlo-rovell...
October 31, 2025 at 3:38 AM
“A philosopher who doesn’t think about science is not willing to engage with the knowledge we have, and that’s just silly. And a scientist who refuses to look at philosophy is trapped in ways of thinking from which there may be an escape.” Carlo Rovelli
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Beyond the headlines, why did manufacturing move to East Asia, who are the workers, and what are the social costs? I'm so honored to have Anru Lee and Ya-Wen Lei on Ep.5 of 开门见山 | Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com to discuss gender, labor, and (de)industrialization in China and Taiwan:
Episode 5 | Labour and (De)Industrialisation in East Asia | Made in China Journal
Over the past few years, industrial policy and manufacturing capacity, especially in the high-tech sector, have been at the centre of great power rivalry between the United States and China. The White...
madeinchinajournal.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Beyond the headlines, why did manufacturing move to East Asia, who are the workers, and what are the social costs? I'm so honored to have Anru Lee and Ya-Wen Lei on Ep.5 of 开门见山 | Gateway to Global China @madeinchinajournal.com to discuss gender, labor, and (de)industrialization in China and Taiwan:
Reposted by Ben Rempel
@yangyangcheng.bsky.social has written insightful and powerful pieces on science, culture, and current events as it relates to China and the U.S.
Most recently, she traced the stories and struggles that face Chinese women in science for @madeinchinajournal.com madeinchinajournal.com/2025/10/08/b...
Most recently, she traced the stories and struggles that face Chinese women in science for @madeinchinajournal.com madeinchinajournal.com/2025/10/08/b...
Beyond Representation: On Being a Woman in Science in China | Made in China Journal
In the autumn of 1995, Ye Shuhua made a speech. During the NGO Forum at the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, the 68-year-old astronomer took to the microphone and cal...
madeinchinajournal.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:01 PM
@yangyangcheng.bsky.social has written insightful and powerful pieces on science, culture, and current events as it relates to China and the U.S.
Most recently, she traced the stories and struggles that face Chinese women in science for @madeinchinajournal.com madeinchinajournal.com/2025/10/08/b...
Most recently, she traced the stories and struggles that face Chinese women in science for @madeinchinajournal.com madeinchinajournal.com/2025/10/08/b...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Here, she reviews two of Fang Fang's novels, Soft Burial & The Running Flame, tr. @bairuiwen.bsky.social for @chinabooksreview.com, on how women in China have suffered abuse, silence and erasure.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/09/f...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/09/f...
No Country for a Woman | China Books Review
Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang Fang show how gendered oppression persis...
chinabooksreview.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Here, she reviews two of Fang Fang's novels, Soft Burial & The Running Flame, tr. @bairuiwen.bsky.social for @chinabooksreview.com, on how women in China have suffered abuse, silence and erasure.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/09/f...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/09/f...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature, “received what he called a ‘rather curious love letter’ from the American authorities, that he read from in Lagos on Tuesday.”
The U.S. has revoked the visa of Nobel winner Wole Soyinka.
The American government has revoked the visa of Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature, according to Al Jazeera. The writer received what he called a “rather c…
buff.ly
October 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author who won the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature, “received what he called a ‘rather curious love letter’ from the American authorities, that he read from in Lagos on Tuesday.”
Reposted by Ben Rempel
For over a century, major companies liquidated forests from First Nations’ territories without consent. Now they're leaving.
In their wake, First Nations are working to reshape the industry that long excluded them, but it won't be easy.
My latest for @thenarwhal.ca
In their wake, First Nations are working to reshape the industry that long excluded them, but it won't be easy.
My latest for @thenarwhal.ca
What does First Nations ownership mean for B.C. forestry? | The Narwhal
More First Nations are buying B.C. forestry tenures. With old growth dwindling, can they nudge the industry to a more sustainable future?
thenarwhal.ca
October 15, 2025 at 6:27 PM
For over a century, major companies liquidated forests from First Nations’ territories without consent. Now they're leaving.
In their wake, First Nations are working to reshape the industry that long excluded them, but it won't be easy.
My latest for @thenarwhal.ca
In their wake, First Nations are working to reshape the industry that long excluded them, but it won't be easy.
My latest for @thenarwhal.ca
Reposted by Ben Rempel
Scientists recently found two evolutionarily distinct mushrooms converged to produce the same psychedelic molecule—psilocybin.
The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose.
#Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms
New at @science.org 🧪🏺
The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose.
#Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms
New at @science.org 🧪🏺
In mind-bending twist, ‘magic’ mushrooms evolved twice independently
Study identifies entirely new suite of enzymes that can make psilocybin
www.science.org
October 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Scientists recently found two evolutionarily distinct mushrooms converged to produce the same psychedelic molecule—psilocybin.
The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose.
#Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms
New at @science.org 🧪🏺
The “surprising” results underscore the significance of the hallucinogen but leave questions about its ultimate purpose.
#Psilocybe #MagicMushrooms
New at @science.org 🧪🏺
Reposted by Ben Rempel
With grocery giants ripping off Canadians, it’s time for a bold alternative: public grocery stores.
Food analyst Aaron Vansintjan explains how a publicly-run grocery option could solve the crisis of skyrocketing food costs.
youtu.be/RPuEhQl8Cxo
Food analyst Aaron Vansintjan explains how a publicly-run grocery option could solve the crisis of skyrocketing food costs.
youtu.be/RPuEhQl8Cxo
Why Canada needs public grocery stores
YouTube video by The Breach
youtu.be
October 9, 2025 at 8:22 PM
With grocery giants ripping off Canadians, it’s time for a bold alternative: public grocery stores.
Food analyst Aaron Vansintjan explains how a publicly-run grocery option could solve the crisis of skyrocketing food costs.
youtu.be/RPuEhQl8Cxo
Food analyst Aaron Vansintjan explains how a publicly-run grocery option could solve the crisis of skyrocketing food costs.
youtu.be/RPuEhQl8Cxo
Reposted by Ben Rempel
It is 1.15am and I have just finished the indexing for this cursed edited collection that has been haunting me for a hundred years ahead of tomorrow's deadline. I hope someday someone actually does go looking in there for "geopoetics" on page 151, I really do...
October 10, 2025 at 12:20 AM
It is 1.15am and I have just finished the indexing for this cursed edited collection that has been haunting me for a hundred years ahead of tomorrow's deadline. I hope someday someone actually does go looking in there for "geopoetics" on page 151, I really do...
Reposted by Ben Rempel
"Countless Yingzhis live among us, while the Zitaos of China are fading away with time. The tears of Chinese women, if unleashed, could drown a nation."
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
No Country for a Woman | China Books Review
Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang Fang show how gendered oppression persis...
chinabooksreview.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"Countless Yingzhis live among us, while the Zitaos of China are fading away with time. The tears of Chinese women, if unleashed, could drown a nation."
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):
For @chinabooksreview.com, I write about gendered violence and illusions of liberation through two novels by Fang Fang (tr @bairuiwen.bsky.social):