Stephen Harrison
@stephenharrison.com
Current paper pusher (print advocate). Longtime Wikipedia beat reporter (Slate, NYT, WIRED). Author of THE EDITORS, a Wiki-inspired novel. stephenharrison.com
At first I avoided O’Dell’s book, assuming it was mostly about chilling out. It covers that, yes, but it’s really a defense of *all* activities that aren’t commercially productive but “produce” value which can’t be measured or exploited. Bird-watching, contemplation, wandering through a labyrinth…
December 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
At first I avoided O’Dell’s book, assuming it was mostly about chilling out. It covers that, yes, but it’s really a defense of *all* activities that aren’t commercially productive but “produce” value which can’t be measured or exploited. Bird-watching, contemplation, wandering through a labyrinth…
At the local coffee shop this morning, reading “Non-things” and thinking about why sitting with a physical book feels so different from scrolling. There’s a calmness to print that the feed can never give you.
November 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
At the local coffee shop this morning, reading “Non-things” and thinking about why sitting with a physical book feels so different from scrolling. There’s a calmness to print that the feed can never give you.
Needed a break from thinking about Wikipedia so I’m reading this. The author is a rare books librarian at Oxford’s Bodleian and her little guidebook is delightful.
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Needed a break from thinking about Wikipedia so I’m reading this. The author is a rare books librarian at Oxford’s Bodleian and her little guidebook is delightful.
wasn’t my most out-there take, but still… called it
October 28, 2025 at 12:22 AM
wasn’t my most out-there take, but still… called it
Seems likely that Grokipedia will suffer from Grok’s, um, issues…
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
October 27, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Seems likely that Grokipedia will suffer from Grok’s, um, issues…
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Excellent @willoremus.com piece about the launch of Grokipedia, Elon’s historical relationship with Wikipedia, and whether AI language models (as opposed to humans) are good enough to write a trustworthy encyclopedia. On that point, I agree with @jimmywales.bsky.social
Gift link: wapo.st/47PKzTd
Gift link: wapo.st/47PKzTd
October 27, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Excellent @willoremus.com piece about the launch of Grokipedia, Elon’s historical relationship with Wikipedia, and whether AI language models (as opposed to humans) are good enough to write a trustworthy encyclopedia. On that point, I agree with @jimmywales.bsky.social
Gift link: wapo.st/47PKzTd
Gift link: wapo.st/47PKzTd
“The landscape thinks itself in me, and I am in its consciousness.” —Paul Cézanne
October 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
“The landscape thinks itself in me, and I am in its consciousness.” —Paul Cézanne
The biggest Wikipedia news this week? Amazon sold out of “The Editors.” Don’t worry, it’ll be back in stock soon and in the meantime, you can grab a copy other places.
October 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The biggest Wikipedia news this week? Amazon sold out of “The Editors.” Don’t worry, it’ll be back in stock soon and in the meantime, you can grab a copy other places.
no one tells you that a huge part of being a Wikipedia beat journalist in 2025 is people emailing “the Wiki page for Tylenol is really weird right now,” detailing the debate over disambiguation links, then acting surprised you haven’t landed the Wikitylenol story on the front page of The NY Times
September 29, 2025 at 9:27 PM
no one tells you that a huge part of being a Wikipedia beat journalist in 2025 is people emailing “the Wiki page for Tylenol is really weird right now,” detailing the debate over disambiguation links, then acting surprised you haven’t landed the Wikitylenol story on the front page of The NY Times
Thomas Mallon with an unexpected benefit of keeping a diary.
September 20, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Thomas Mallon with an unexpected benefit of keeping a diary.
Last week, the leaders of Meta, Alphabet, OpenAI, and Apple took turns praising Trump at a White House dinner.
Not in the room: the leaders of Wikipedia, the volunteer editors who curate and maintain the internet's knowledge.
Not in the room: the leaders of Wikipedia, the volunteer editors who curate and maintain the internet's knowledge.
September 7, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Last week, the leaders of Meta, Alphabet, OpenAI, and Apple took turns praising Trump at a White House dinner.
Not in the room: the leaders of Wikipedia, the volunteer editors who curate and maintain the internet's knowledge.
Not in the room: the leaders of Wikipedia, the volunteer editors who curate and maintain the internet's knowledge.
quick notes from @biblioracle.bsky.social’s book:
-automation ≠ artificial intelligence
-writing is thinking
-writing is feeling
-framework for thinking about AI: resist, renew, explore
-remember that we are embodied creatures, not machines
-automation ≠ artificial intelligence
-writing is thinking
-writing is feeling
-framework for thinking about AI: resist, renew, explore
-remember that we are embodied creatures, not machines
September 4, 2025 at 2:43 PM
quick notes from @biblioracle.bsky.social’s book:
-automation ≠ artificial intelligence
-writing is thinking
-writing is feeling
-framework for thinking about AI: resist, renew, explore
-remember that we are embodied creatures, not machines
-automation ≠ artificial intelligence
-writing is thinking
-writing is feeling
-framework for thinking about AI: resist, renew, explore
-remember that we are embodied creatures, not machines
I miss the old em dash discourse.
2011: They disrupt the flow and should be used sparingly—like javelins hurled across the page. Modern prose has too many interruptions.
2025: They prove you cheated with AI. Leave in typos so we know you're human. Good writing is inherently suspicious.
2011: They disrupt the flow and should be used sparingly—like javelins hurled across the page. Modern prose has too many interruptions.
2025: They prove you cheated with AI. Leave in typos so we know you're human. Good writing is inherently suspicious.
August 26, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I miss the old em dash discourse.
2011: They disrupt the flow and should be used sparingly—like javelins hurled across the page. Modern prose has too many interruptions.
2025: They prove you cheated with AI. Leave in typos so we know you're human. Good writing is inherently suspicious.
2011: They disrupt the flow and should be used sparingly—like javelins hurled across the page. Modern prose has too many interruptions.
2025: They prove you cheated with AI. Leave in typos so we know you're human. Good writing is inherently suspicious.
An older woman in a D.C. book club annotated my Wikipedia-inspired novel like it was a spy dossier.
"Political websites - biased propaganda"
"Recruitment! Bribery! Double agent!"
"How can we TRUST anything?"
"Political websites - biased propaganda"
"Recruitment! Bribery! Double agent!"
"How can we TRUST anything?"
August 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
An older woman in a D.C. book club annotated my Wikipedia-inspired novel like it was a spy dossier.
"Political websites - biased propaganda"
"Recruitment! Bribery! Double agent!"
"How can we TRUST anything?"
"Political websites - biased propaganda"
"Recruitment! Bribery! Double agent!"
"How can we TRUST anything?"
Audie Cornish (CNN host): Why would the generation that was raised on TikToks and hashtag activism turn to paper?
Kennedy McDaniel (zine maker): Do I want my reach to be broad? Or do I want it go deep?
Kennedy McDaniel (zine maker): Do I want my reach to be broad? Or do I want it go deep?
August 19, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Audie Cornish (CNN host): Why would the generation that was raised on TikToks and hashtag activism turn to paper?
Kennedy McDaniel (zine maker): Do I want my reach to be broad? Or do I want it go deep?
Kennedy McDaniel (zine maker): Do I want my reach to be broad? Or do I want it go deep?
If you’re curious, THE EDITORS is still out there, both online and in a few brick-and-mortar stores. Cheers to the long game of writing and reading. 3/3
August 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
If you’re curious, THE EDITORS is still out there, both online and in a few brick-and-mortar stores. Cheers to the long game of writing and reading. 3/3
But the real magic of books is private, when someone discovers them in their own time. A year later, I’m still getting emails from first-time readers asking: “How much is real? Is Wikipedia really like this?” 2/3
August 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
But the real magic of books is private, when someone discovers them in their own time. A year later, I’m still getting emails from first-time readers asking: “How much is real? Is Wikipedia really like this?” 2/3
One year ago today, my debut suspense novel THE EDITORS hit the shelves. Launch week was a whirlwind—interviews, events, celebrating with many of you. 🧵 1/3
August 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
One year ago today, my debut suspense novel THE EDITORS hit the shelves. Launch week was a whirlwind—interviews, events, celebrating with many of you. 🧵 1/3
“The good readers of a society are both its canaries—which detect the presence of danger to its members—and its guardians of our common humanity.”
August 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
“The good readers of a society are both its canaries—which detect the presence of danger to its members—and its guardians of our common humanity.”
Lawrence Wright on fiction/nonfiction
June 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Lawrence Wright on fiction/nonfiction
Ezra Klein: I used to conceptualize knowledge the way you see it in 'The Matrix.' I thought reading was downloading information into your brain.
Now I think that what you're doing is spending time grappling with the text. Making connections through the process of grappling.
Now I think that what you're doing is spending time grappling with the text. Making connections through the process of grappling.
June 2, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Ezra Klein: I used to conceptualize knowledge the way you see it in 'The Matrix.' I thought reading was downloading information into your brain.
Now I think that what you're doing is spending time grappling with the text. Making connections through the process of grappling.
Now I think that what you're doing is spending time grappling with the text. Making connections through the process of grappling.
Is this true, Gen Z? (The Revenge of Analog, David Sax)
May 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Is this true, Gen Z? (The Revenge of Analog, David Sax)
Wikipedia page for the new pope just now
May 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Wikipedia page for the new pope just now