@weblogsky.com
Co-host of Plutopia News Network. Digital culture maven, cyberpunk, dharma punk, cyberactivist. Wrote for FringeWare, Mondo 2000, Factsheet Five, Whole Earth Review, Wired, 21C, bOING bOING, Austin Chronicle, etc.
Dr. Roy Casagranda discusses Iran’s modern history, the rise of the Islamic Republic, and the rapidly escalating conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. youtu.be/1t7Z0hgntJQ?...
I see that @bajablastoise.bsky.social has added me to the "AI slop" moderation list. I'm flattered that somebody thinks I'm an AI.
I hope you're right!
I'm relieved to see it, whatever it is...
Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: "Paradise" season 2 begins on the post-apocalypse surface of earth, where there are a few survivors, and where Xavier Collins has gone to search for his wife Teri. Mayday! youtu.be/wQfqQ-oIXiA?...
I can imagine them talking about Democrats this way... just a matter of time.
Are they better than Pre-Toasties? Or just later?
Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: Set in the post-Burn 32nd century, "Starfleet Academy" follows the first new class of cadets in over a century, led by 400-year-old chancellor Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter). The show's commitment to decency riles anti-woke conservatives. youtu.be/rHDDzcyNWGs?...
Via NY Times, Johnson says he “was briefed in detail earlier this week that military action may become necessary to protect American troops and American citizens in Iran.” He says he's getting ongoing updates from rubio and will stay in close contact with the Prez and the "Department of War."
Not too far off? "Sterling treats ideology as something that must evolve or die, just like organisms. Stagnation, not evil, becomes the ultimate failure."
There are more contemporary versions of those crab-kaiju...
Gareth Branwyn discusses “Dreaming for Creatives,” which focuses less on dream interpretation and more on mining the “dream-time mind” for creative material.
youtu.be/ydATw6jinr0?...
On the Plutopia podcast, Shira Chess, author of "The Unseen Internet: Conjuring the Occult in Digital Discourse," discusses how online culture has always been shaped not just by code and commerce but by myth, ritual, and “enchanted logic.” plutopia.io/shira-chess-...
This year's "State of the Union" should be very interesting. Maybe closer to "State of the Onion."
Jon Lebkowsky sits down with @Doomscroll for a thoughtful Mastodon interview on digital culture, healthy online communities, decentralization, platforms vs. humans, and the fragility — and resilience — of democracy in the internet age. Read the full Q&A: plutopia.io/jon-lebkowsk...
Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: A young predator, considered the runt of the clan by his father, stalks the invincible Kalisk on planet Genna with the help of a legless and seemingly stranded corporate synth. A furious, alien coming-of-age tale: "Predator: Badlands." youtu.be/43R9l7EkJwE?...
It was probably written by Shumer's AI companion. The prompt: "Create a written piece that attempts to sound reasonable while freaking out about all things AI."
Any idea when "Loss Protocol" will be available in the USA?
Humans to take the blame when the car smashes into the circus wagons...
Sales of party balloons are down along the border. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
In this interview I reflect on digital culture, online community, platform design, and the fragility of democratic norms in a wide-ranging Mastodon interview. He emphasizes real human hosting over tech fixes and explores what makes healthy spaces online. plutopia.io/jon-lebkowsk...
The immigrants we should be deporting are the Russians that live inside Donald Trump's head.
Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: "Repo Man": A suburban punk named Otto finds himself in pursuit of the inexplicable. "It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness."
youtu.be/3nPEM5d-MtQ?...
From @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy - Piketty’s insight: social arrangements that last a generation feel eternal, yet vanish fast. From primogeniture to politics, tech, and energy, history shows everything changes. pluralistic.net/2026/02/05/c...
He's supposedly a proponent of religious liberty, which in his case means the freedom to reject any of Christ's teachings that don't fit his views.
Ken MacLeod joins the Plutopia News Network to explore politics in science fiction—failed systems, rising nationalism, and fractured societies—while reflecting on the hardest part of writing as he finishes his 21st novel: plot. plutopia.io/ken-macleod-...
Plutopia News Network Sci-Fi Saturday: For a break from authoritarian apocalypso, see the full-length "Creature from Galaxy 27,” a 1958 potboiler, a fun terrible film. Alien invasion would feel quaint right now. youtu.be/b36ZW8xOSII?...
Worked for me...
I read Adam Roberts' "Short History of Fantasy" to prep for our interview recently: plutopia.io/adam-roberts... I'd read a couple of his science fiction novels, "The Thing Itself" and "The Lake of Darkness." Really appreciating his work.
Just a reminder that Plutopia News Network is raising money to fund our 2026 podcast expenses. Even a small contribution helps - we want to stay ad-free. gofund.me/d3f9e327f