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Big Frickin' Swede

@bigfrickinswede.bsky.social
381 followers 393 following 756 posts

Neal Gilbert Redman: Creative writer, English and Writing professor, occasional blogger extraordinaire, VCFA alum, and, you guessed it, Swede(ish-American). Profile picture by jammyness.bsky.social Spouse to @mlisrevenge.bsky.social, kitty-dad to Ronan.

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Reposted by Big Frickin' Swede
Jessica & the Revenge of the Librarian 💉 @mlisrevenge.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's time for the public to learn that public services cannot run on the concept of doing more with less. When there are large cuts to services that rely on public monies, people should feel the results. Libraries, universities, etc. need to stop trying to lessen the visibility of funding cuts.
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Ignacio Gallup-Diaz @igallupd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender, "Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month"
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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Brian G. aka urbanbohemian 🪩🥂💖 @urbanbohemian.com · 30/09/2026
We're on Bluesky, put the link in your post. Put the link in your post. Put. The. Link. In. Your. Post. Links in posts aren't buried or de-prioritized here. This is one of the last platforms you don't have to make interested users do detective work to find the link. Just put it in the post.
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Charles Moss - Commissions are Open @mossanimation.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Once again, if you want more original and culturally-diverse animated entertainment, put your money where your mouth is and go support it.
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John Halski @johnhalski.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“Once. I once said that orbs are nice. ONE TIME. Now, every year on my birthday it’s the same…”
Pope with thought bubble
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Dr. Syntax @drsyntax.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Sad news. But so grateful for her writing, which I discovered as a college student. Thank for your words, Annie Dillard.
nytimes.com
Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81 (Gift Article)
Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I often have one of the Grand Slams on while I'm grading or doing something else. But I'm at home and I didn't pay thousands to fly and see the event in person: the sight of so many fans staring at their phones mid-match is a bizarre one.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I get the distinction this article blurb is trying to make, but at the same time... saying death is rarely the major focus of fiction kind of flies in the face of a lot of fiction. Most fiction is like Harry saying to Sally: "I spend hours, I spend days thinking about death..."
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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Given that we’re currently in a situation where any use of AI in published writing workflow risks severe reputational damage (inadvertent plagiarism is more or less baked in) this seems, uh, not well thought through.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Yes.
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Victoria Strauss @victoriastrauss.com · 03/09/2026
I know I already posted about this...but to reiterate: Anthropic copyright settlement authors, PLEASE contact me (Writer Beware) if your publisher is making a claim on a book whose rights have reverted, or claiming anything other than a 50/50 split on an in-contract book. beware@sfwa.org
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
@mlisrevenge.bsky.social and I made the hop to Bitwarden after 1Password's costs ballooned. Then we heard about this and felt it was an even better choice!
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Rear Window's one of my favorite movies ever and a blast to watch. So many fun details in this thread on how it was made.
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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Monthly reminder: Many people have a book in them, but it takes a special kind of freak to leave the Land of Laziness, cross the Plains of Procrastination and Insecurity Mountain, find the Blade of No One Made You Do This, and use it to cut your chest open and yank that book out.
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Susan Snow @susansnowy.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I can't believe I was moaning about the clouds at the time 😁 #eclipse
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
You cannot watch any sport without having the announcers remind you of ways to gamble on what you're watching, and then have the ads do the same. The sheer vampirism sports and states are willing to unleash on their fans and citizens for some more dollars is absolutely abhorrent.
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RogerEbert.com @ebertvoices.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
“The most powerful legacy [of the film] is to fight the fatalism of tomorrow, and to remember its refrain, 'no fate.'" @brendanhodges.bsky.social offers a reappraisal of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY on the eve of its re-release:
rogerebert.com
We Were Warned: On “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” at 35
A reappraisal of an action masterpiece on the eve of its re-release.
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
There’s way too much slop, fake animals and misinformation around, including the example Franz is highlighting below. So here’s a thread about spotting the fake stuff and reducing this crap on your timeline. (1/?)
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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 11/08/2026
And now that I'm back home, it's time to break out the reminder that we are in the midst of a subscription drive to increase staff and contributor pay to celebrate our 20th anniversary issue in October. Subscribe here: clarkesworldmagazine.com/subscribe/
Text reads: We're running a subscription drive!
Clarkesworld will publish its 20th anniversary issue in October and we'd like to recognize this milestone by giving our staff and contributors a raise. Each new subscriber brings us one step closer to reaching our goal.

We are within 200 new subscribers of our target!

On the right, there is a cover of the recent issue. Clarkesworld robot looks up at the text from the bottom left corner.
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Chernobyl 'not great, not terrible' meme, caption: "steep learning loss in only 80% of AI users, not great, not terrible
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Really identifies what is wonderful about writing. Writing is thinking, revealing things you didn't know you knew, or allowing you to clarify and actually say what you always wanted to say. I look at old things I wrote and am often surprised by how smart, knowledgeable, and/or wonderful I was.
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Trip Kirkpatrick @triplingual.myatproto.social · 18/08/2026
On a recent college visit, the admissions rep warned against using AI to fabricate application essays because it would make them sound like everyone else and that's not what the college wants. This advice applies to everyone not wanting to sound like a statistically average imitation of writing.
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Assignment Understander @90sslowjamz.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The Anakin/Padme meme with Anakin saying “Well, here we are in the catacombs.” And padme says “For the Amontillado?” And Anakin looks back at her and she is partially covered by a brick wall
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 17/08/2026
wrote about America’s sports betting epidemic and how it is, like most bad things, Justice Sam Alito's fault ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...
ballsandstrikes.org
How the Supreme Court Kicked Off America’s Sports Betting Addiction Crisis
Like many things in this country, the omnipresence of DraftKings and FanDuel is largely the Supreme Court’s fault.
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Jessica & the Revenge of the Librarian 💉 @mlisrevenge.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The amount of money being poured into useless technology that is not improving lives all while people cannot afford food is absolutely heartbreaking. northdakotamonitor.com/2026/08/06/g...
northdakotamonitor.com
Great Plains Food Bank sees record numbers seeking food assistance • North Dakota Monitor
More than 186,000 people accepted help from the Great Plains Food Bank’s network of food pantries in the past year, a new record for the organization.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
static.klipy.com
Jimmystewart in Rear Window with Camera
ALT: Jimmystewart in Rear Window with Camera
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
A fascinating, well-developed and written article that makes me appreciate "Those Who Walk from Omelas" even more.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Important petition re CCCC "If you are currently a CCCC member, we ask that you commit to cancelling your NCTE membership should these changes be made." Petition: "Join us in calling on the NCTE to halt any actions leading to the dissolution of the CCCC member group." www.change.org/p/halt-disso...
change.org
Sign the Petition
Halt Dissolution of CCCC and Call for Transparency from NCTE #SaveCCCC
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Kiku @ SPX W15A @kikuhughes.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Jimothy is here!!!
Drawing of a raccoon wearing a hapi coat and carrying kachi kachi
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
@ncte.org More than dismayed to see the news about potential actions in eliminating CCCC. I teach both literature and writing classes, and the two are distinct and different. 4C's is needed for students and educators.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Regular Publishing Advice: Never pay someone to publish your work. Academic Publishing: You'd like to publish an article in this preeminent journal? That will be thousands of dollars, thank you very much.
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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Kazuo Ishiguro: In my book Never Let Me Go I invented Hailsham as a cautionary tale Tech Bro:
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
How about a jet-lagged live posting while I read? Trying to read this because I keep getting tagged in posts about it, but the first paragraph already contains synthetic text (a quote from Claude). I will skip that bit and persevere... www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Could AI be conscious?
Experts believe it’s at least possible. We urgently need a plan to navigate the ethical implications
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
When I saw the first X-Men movie in 2000, a woman just down the row kept going, "Damn!" every time Magneto did something crazy with his magnetic abilities.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Okay, @kikuhughes.bsky.social , I have read A Pale View of Hills and am also feeling the need to talk about it! I keep debating how real Sachiko and Mariko really were. Unlike some of his other novels, this one feels much more open to interpretation (not that any of them are simple).
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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 11/07/2026
Chapter 38 begins with Mr Collins delivering the longest, most comprehensive, most meandering goodbye you have ever heard. And I mean that as a Minnesotan.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Weirde & obscure wordes are not an elitist control thinge. Thei have hidden all thys tyme, & thei carrye wyth them great poweres & unforeseen futures. Wordes you have to looke up are wordes that businesse hath not bent ynto sad smooth chains to harness desyre. Lookinge up wordes ys rebellion.
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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 09/07/2026
I went into a fugue state and cartooned my feelings at reading this passage. I have floppy dark hair and round glasses. My head is tilted back, my mouth wide open, steam billowing out of it looking like a smoke stack. Mr Darcy’s words hang prominently around me. 

“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 02/07/2026
my essay this week was, icymi, on the people who wielded the declaration as a weapon against bondage (gift link)
nytimes.com
Opinion | Five Words That Changed America
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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
GOOD NEWS! A personalized mRNA vaccine, known as mRNA-4157, has shown promise in keeping melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, from returning. FIVE years later, NEARLY 70% of people in the vaccine group are CANCER-FREE. The vaccine also cut a person’s risk of the cancer metastasizing by NEARLY 60%.
nbcnews.com
A personalized vaccine for melanoma cut the risk of cancer returning after five years
If the vaccine is effective in a late-stage trial, it would be “paradigm-shifting,” one expert said.
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Ceinwen Langley @ceinwenlangley.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
I know Calvin’s dad is already having a moment, but every terrible “outsource precious and fleeting moments with your children to tech so that you can spend more time on your work” pitch makes me think of that one strip I never really cared about as a kid, but care a lot about as an adult.
The Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin asks his dad to come play in the snow with him. His dad initially says no, because he has to work. Then, angry at himself, his Dad goes out to build a snowman with Calvin. As the Dad works into the night to make up for it, we see Calvin’s mum lifting him up to give one of the few, if only, kisses he ever gives his dad in the Calvin and Hobbes run. His dad is content. It’s a textless comic, and it’s lovely.
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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Happy Father's Dad! www.smbc-comics.com/comic/number...
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Jake Wright @bcnjake.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I’m saying this as someone who’s in a 90% teaching position. Teaching vs. research is a false choice. Robust public funding of higher ed that existed without controversy until Reagan is the answer. The answer to “solving” whatever “problems” exist in higher ed is literally “throw money at it.”
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✨Kirm✨ @antonballdeluxe.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Given all of the recent genAI discussion, I wish to repost this.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
On the ballot was a measure limiting how North Dakotans can change the state constitution via referendum. Whether you agreed with the measure or not, this was a fundamental change and less than a quarter of voters in the state said yes or no to it. Absolutely bonkers turnout for something like that.
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RogerEbert.com @ebertvoices.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
“That he could have such a long, comfortable career juggling sex appeal and silliness feels like a rare achievement." @clintworthing.bsky.social writes about the late British actor, Anthony Head, who, from coffee to demons, organs to football, lent class and sex appeal to his 50 years of roles.
rogerebert.com
Once More, With Feeling: Anthony Head (1954-2026)
From coffee to demons, organs to football, the venerable late actor lent class and sex appeal to his 50 years of roles.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Everyone: How about that French Open final? Me, catching up on recordings after being on vacation: How about that 3rd round match between Fonseca and Djokovic?
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Not a major basketball fan anymore but... play like this could make me one.
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Big Frickin' Swede @bigfrickinswede.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is still one of the best novels of the 21st century, and I'm finding it absolutely criminal that Storygraph's zeitgeist reviews are only rounding it out to 3.86/5. Don't let the simple narration fool you. app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/7bc8...
app.thestorygraph.com
Review by bigfrickingswede - Never Let Me Go
Like, what are we all doing here, Storygraph? 3.86 average on one of the best books of the 21s...
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