Kristen Koopman
@kkoopman.bsky.social
Ph.D. from VT STS. Studying and writing speculative fiction.
Definitely not two smaller Kristen Koopmans in a trenchcoat.
Definitely not two smaller Kristen Koopmans in a trenchcoat.
...political goals mentioned in the blog post. The Puppies *just happened* to want to go back to pulpy style when a story about a gay romance got awards? Uh-huh. (7/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
...political goals mentioned in the blog post. The Puppies *just happened* to want to go back to pulpy style when a story about a gay romance got awards? Uh-huh. (7/7)
And I think the conflation of all of these dynamics happening at once provides cover to any one of them--'it's not that the Puppies are sexist, they just like the pulps!' 'The Puppies aren't racist, they just want to put the science back in sf!' Not a coincidence that this aligns with the...(6/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
And I think the conflation of all of these dynamics happening at once provides cover to any one of them--'it's not that the Puppies are sexist, they just like the pulps!' 'The Puppies aren't racist, they just want to put the science back in sf!' Not a coincidence that this aligns with the...(6/7)
...to the acknowledgement of works by women and authors of color. History of SF isn't my specialty but that's the armchair history I tend to hear - manly pulps with rayguns, then sociology, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Chip Delany happened and things got soft. Flaccid, one might say. (5/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
...to the acknowledgement of works by women and authors of color. History of SF isn't my specialty but that's the armchair history I tend to hear - manly pulps with rayguns, then sociology, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Chip Delany happened and things got soft. Flaccid, one might say. (5/7)
The other lens is masculinity, because more abstract prose is seen as feminine and girly and presumably has cooties. I've also seen it called "flowery" which feels...pretty unsubtle. I don't think it's a coincidence that histories of sf frequently tie the emergence of soft sf and its prose...(4/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
The other lens is masculinity, because more abstract prose is seen as feminine and girly and presumably has cooties. I've also seen it called "flowery" which feels...pretty unsubtle. I don't think it's a coincidence that histories of sf frequently tie the emergence of soft sf and its prose...(4/7)
I've connected this in the past to the idea that scientific writing for scientists (i.e. journal articles, reports, etc.) aims to make experiments repeatable or at least describe them in ways as if the reader was there (virtual witnessing, h/t Shapin and Shaffer's Leviathan and the Air Pump). (3/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
I've connected this in the past to the idea that scientific writing for scientists (i.e. journal articles, reports, etc.) aims to make experiments repeatable or at least describe them in ways as if the reader was there (virtual witnessing, h/t Shapin and Shaffer's Leviathan and the Air Pump). (3/7)
...I don't think the politics of realism can be disconnected from the politics of science and masculinity Prose that's journalistic or workmanlike is, stylistically, one of the hallmarks of scientific writing, so that prose in pulps ends up feeling more scientific by being more transparent. (2/7)
November 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
...I don't think the politics of realism can be disconnected from the politics of science and masculinity Prose that's journalistic or workmanlike is, stylistically, one of the hallmarks of scientific writing, so that prose in pulps ends up feeling more scientific by being more transparent. (2/7)
Things are getting downright UNHINGED over here*
* brewed a cup of tea and started another YouTube documentary about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
* brewed a cup of tea and started another YouTube documentary about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
November 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Things are getting downright UNHINGED over here*
* brewed a cup of tea and started another YouTube documentary about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
* brewed a cup of tea and started another YouTube documentary about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Delighted and honored to be in such esteemed company! The Scientist Does Not Look Back can be found here: escapepod.org/2024/07/25/e...
Escape Pod 951: The Scientist Does Not Look Back
Feb. 17, 3:40 AM. Audio notebook for new project: revival of a clinically dead patient, 36 year old male, died of hypothermia and shock. The technician at the morgue hesitated when releasing him to me...
escapepod.org
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Delighted and honored to be in such esteemed company! The Scientist Does Not Look Back can be found here: escapepod.org/2024/07/25/e...
Congratulations! Now you have industrial quantities of Cuban mojo pork. Serve with black beans, rice, and optional sweet plantains. Best reheating is on the stove to crisp it up.
November 4, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Congratulations! Now you have industrial quantities of Cuban mojo pork. Serve with black beans, rice, and optional sweet plantains. Best reheating is on the stove to crisp it up.
Diagnosis: Weird Allergy Thing
October 31, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Diagnosis: Weird Allergy Thing
But on the other hand the deprioritization of Ester and her weird eyelid thing is pretty comforting tbh - I freaked out when she sneezed up foam but it hasn't happened again so it's entirely possible she just got a blade of grass up her nose or something
October 31, 2025 at 9:53 PM
But on the other hand the deprioritization of Ester and her weird eyelid thing is pretty comforting tbh - I freaked out when she sneezed up foam but it hasn't happened again so it's entirely possible she just got a blade of grass up her nose or something