Sign in

Bilbo Yaga

@bilboyaga.bsky.social
9.8K followers 665 following 2.9K posts

Somewhere between a hobbit and a hag. PhD, HCW, writer, organizer, displaced Appalachian. Loves books, nature, science, & all things nerdy, cozy, queer, or spooky. Loud about disability justice & collective liberation. 😷

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 27/10/2024
Seasonal PSA: the activated charcoal often used to dye Halloween treats black (and taken as a supplement) interferes with many medications. This includes birth control pills and some blood/heart meds, HIV meds, pain meds, antipsychotics, and antidepressants. Be spooky AND safe! 🩺 ♿️ #NEISvoid
18969730
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A morning hike to see fall warblers, a pre-nor’easter picnic wth a friend, the smell of a homemade pizza cooking in my oven, chopping apples for a batch of apple butter to gift to friends tomorrow at a n95-required hang, listening to a spooky audiobook… Not a bad first weekend of autumn!
071
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Mike Hoerger, PhD, MSCR, MBA @michael-hoerger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
COVlD-associated hospitalizations are exploding in NYC. This is quite serious. Due to vaccinations and prior mortality, the acute effects of infection are often less obviously apparent in 2026. It's a testament to the high transmission. Screenshot from @datareport.bsky.social via the devil app.
graph, steep rise in C19 hospitalizations
017394
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It’s the first day of autumn! May the equinox bring you cozy and spooky vibes in whatever ratio you prefer 🍁 It’s also day one of Fat Bear Week, a March madness style voting event featuring the grizzlies of Katmai National Park! epic tales of survival, bears with cult followings, cute cubs, etc 🐻
katmaiconservancy.org
Katmai Conservancy | About Fat Bear Week | Join the Conservation Celebration
Discover the story of Fat Bear Week, a celebration of resilience and survival among Katmai's bears. Vote for your favorite and support conservation efforts.
17027
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It’s the first day of autumn! May the equinox bring you cozy and spooky vibes in whatever ratio you prefer 🍁 It’s also day one of Fat Bear Week, a March madness style voting event featuring the grizzlies of Katmai National Park! epic tales of survival, bears with cult followings, cute cubs, etc 🐻
katmaiconservancy.org
Katmai Conservancy | About Fat Bear Week | Join the Conservation Celebration
Discover the story of Fat Bear Week, a celebration of resilience and survival among Katmai's bears. Vote for your favorite and support conservation efforts.
17027
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
JaneLane @nyjanelane.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
get the hell off Meta
21111
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 28/10/2023
If you missed my Sonoma State University Center for Ethics, Law, and Justice seminar series talk "On Bullshit Engines: The Socioethical and Epistemic Status of GPTs and other 'AI.'" (or if you just want to dig into it again), the youtube link is now up: youtu.be/9DpM_TXq2ws
youtu.be
On Bullshit Engines: The Socioethical and Epistemic Status of GPTs and other AI. Dr. Williams.
Forum for Law Ethics and Society (FiLES). Dr. Williams takes a deep dive into the propensity for GPT style AIs to not merely present falsehoods but to perpe...
13310121
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 16/09/2026
Imagine if you spent a quarter of the time yelling at the politicians who are allowing themselves to be radicalized into transphobia as you do yelling at trans people online. with talarico, specifically, he KNOWS what the pro-trans stance is because HE HELD IT BEFORE THE PRIMARY. fucking hell
71165262
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Catbus @catbus.phd · 19/09/2026
posts on Threads are wrong in a way that makes you ask "did HP Lovecraft create this social media platform?"
36914
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
How can I make a living by reading books and eating snacks under a tree?
1385
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 19/09/2026
It's very clear that companies are generating racist and sexist controversy as a brand strategy, e.g., Sydney Sweeney, Converse.
401135240
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Trans News Network @transnews.network · 21/08/2026
"If trans people want a boycott of The New York Times, where's the call to do so?" Here is a declaration laying out how the NYT is a key driver of trans genocide, why boycotts work and why anyone who gives a damn about trans lives and rights must boycott The New York Times.
transnews.network
Boycott The New York Times
For years The New York Times has relentlessly pushed anti-trans propaganda, playing a significant role in the escalating genocide against us. It's far past time for a call to action: anyone who cares ...
3843142555
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
How can I make a living by reading books and eating snacks under a tree?
1385
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
May I remind everyone that there is currently NO cure for rabies. May I also remind everyone there is absolutely NO scientific proof connecting ANY vaccine that we produce today with autism. This is true regarding vaccination in both humans AND in dogs. Vaccinate your pets please.
Worries about vaccination rates in dogs
As rabies seems to be spreading more in wildlife, veterinarians are especially worried about vaccine hesitancy spreading among pet owners, a dangerous trend that could lead to more dogs - and their owners
- becoming infected. A 2023 study published in the journal Vaccine found in nationally representative
sample of Americans that nearly 40% believed canine vaccines were unsafe and 37% believed that vaccines could lead their dogs to develop cognitive issues, such as autism.
28872242862
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I started knitting a color work project. It’s taken AGES to make progress. Now that I have a bit done… I don’t love the way the two colors look together. Should I keep going and see if I like it more over time? Frog it all now and restart with colors I like more? Both options feel bad 😭 🧶
4100
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
So much of my growth in my thirties has been letting myself return to the things I loved and valued as a child, without performance, judgement, shame, or a plan to monetize/optimize.
18615
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
So much of my growth in my thirties has been letting myself return to the things I loved and valued as a child, without performance, judgement, shame, or a plan to monetize/optimize.
18615
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
gamera obscura @ohrobin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Every new Fetterman pants-shitting is treated as evidence that he is now a bad person. But long before this & long before his stroke, he chased an unarmed Black jogger in his truck, detained him with a shotgun, and continued to insist he had done the right thing. That somehow wasn’t disqualifying.
12911196
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · 19/06/2026
For what it's worth, a depiction of "AI" as moral panic is exactly backwards with respect to power: moral panics are promulgated by entrenched power. In contrast, "AI" represents centralization of power and nobody is pushing it harder than existing entrenched powers.
Agents of moral panic

Characterizing the reactions to the mod and rocker conflict, Cohen identified four key agents in moral panics: mass media, moral entrepreneurs, the culture of social control, and the public.[1][8][22]

    Media – especially key in the early stage of social reaction, producing "processed or coded images" of deviance and the deviants.[30] This involves three processes:[8]
        exaggeration and distortion of who did or said what;
        prediction, the dire consequences of failure to act;
        symbolization, signifying a person, word, or thing as a threat.
    Moral entrepreneurs – individuals and groups who target deviant behavior
    Societal control culture – comprises those with institutional power: the police, the courts, and local and national politicians. They are made aware of the nature and extent of the 'threat'; concern is passed up the chain of command to the national level, where control measures are instituted.
    The public – these include individuals and groups. They have to decide who and what to believe: in the mod and rocker case, the public initially distrusted media messages, but ultimately believed them.
37823
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
IGN @ign.com · 09/09/2026
What We Do in the Shadows' Matt Berry voices an IKEA Kallax bookcase in a free official Creation for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. bit.ly/4xMFXIY
1914827
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sometimes it’s too on the nose
1119932
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Another thing no one warned me about as a beginner knitter… 🧶 Sometimes you’re knitting, find a little bit of straw in the yarn, and suddenly feel all emotional about how you’re connected to this adorable creature:
A white sheep gazes into the camera, cute and with sheep buddies in the background. They are all perfect.
0668
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Another thing no one warned me about as a beginner knitter… 🧶 Sometimes you’re knitting, find a little bit of straw in the yarn, and suddenly feel all emotional about how you’re connected to this adorable creature:
A white sheep gazes into the camera, cute and with sheep buddies in the background. They are all perfect.
0668
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Took a shortcut to mushrooms today, and in true hobbit fashion, also took a tumble and am all scraped and bruised now. (It was worth it!) #FungiFriends 🍄 🌿
Three light russet colored bolete mushrooms (Suillus weaverae?) glisten  next to a fallen tree branch covered in lichen, moss, and Stereum complicatum.A cluster of orange fungus (Stereum complicatum?) on a fallen tree A purple mushroom (Cortinarius iodes?) with a gray stipe grows from a forest floor covered in fallen red and brown leaves, with green undergrowth visible in the background On a mossy log speckled with bright orange fungus (Stereum complicatum?), a single brown mushroom with a white stipe grows tall above the rest
1656
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 06/09/2026
nice to see taylor take off the mask and show she’s a complete stooge for the tech industry. if you’re as ai-pilled as she is, you need to minimize the threat posed by the hyperscale data centers the tech requires.
939665
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This is also eugenics. This is how the concepts become deeply entrenched, taken for granted as common sense so that disabled people are disbelieved, denied diagnoses and access to healthcare, and ultimately abandoned to experience increasing disability until they die, much sooner than they had to.
0100
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Zoe Tunnell ➡️ NYCC @zoewithasword.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Absolutely the hell not. It is so exhausting seeing these cis liberal folks with huge platforms go OH I LOVE TRANS RIGHTS SO HERE'S A WAY YOU CAN STILL CONSUME HARRY POTTER AND IT'S OKAY. It isn't. She isn't dead. She is actively harming lives, constantly. She is her work. They cannot be separated.
Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.soci... 3d I've said it before, and I've said it again: the Harry Potter books are terrific, especially when read aloud. They appeal to any child who is told they are special and great things are expected of them, and yet they have no idea how to live up to that.
I heard the author died. Not sure. Too
bad.
86
57
363
Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.soci.. 3d Also, there are complete sets of the books available at most garage sales, every library sale and a lot of antique/ junk shops. Failing that, I recommend your local public library.
671970493
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
David Slack @slack2thefuture.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten… And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - 1984, George Orwell arstechnica.com/health/2026/...
arstechnica.com
A newborn and child reportedly died of measles; CDC isn't counting them
Historically, state health departments determine cases and deaths, not the CDC.
27431
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Now that it’s September… shout out to all my fellow spooky bisexuals who must endure being mistaken for being seasonally appropriate rather than perpetually slightly unsettling.
1251
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Tyler, from the Internet @tylerfromtheinternet.com · 01/09/2026
August 31 Sept 1
Winona Ryder from Heathers Winona Ryder drom Beetlejuice
9753123
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
When I was recently introduced to knitting, I wasn’t appropriately warned about the intensity of yarn addiction, the importance of ergonomics, or the all-consuming urge to knit as soon as it’s cool, rainy, and autumnal. I’m supposed to work, cook, and sleep while a double-knit scarf awaits?? 🧶
151896
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Today, I am disgruntled and my body hurts and the world feels bleak. I would love to see a silly pic of your pet.
11110
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Kathryn Joyce @kathrynajoyce.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
“I mean, what is a utopia?” Margaret Cerullo, a sociology professor from Hampshire, said to me. “It’s a place where you can imagine that the world could be different.” @hannahgais.bsky.social with a lovely, heartbreaking obit for Hampshire College thebaffler.com/latest/class...
thebaffler.com
Class Dismissed | Hannah Gais
Private liberal arts schools were never going to kickstart the revolution. But the closure of Hampshire College further narrows the political imaginary.
02413
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
We aren’t angry enough about all the art not made, the joy not felt, the lives not lived… all because a few people want to hoard wealth.
2306107
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Me after I reject AI, get left behind, and embrace the work of real writers and real artists who have helped me dream up the life I really want since I was a little kid:
An illustration from Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are depicting the protagonist escaping into the wild forest of imagination. An illustration from Milne’s Winne the Pooh, depicting the Pooh, Piglet, and Christopher Robin playing on a bridge. An illustration from dePaloa’s Strega Nona, depicting her happily presiding over her cooking pot. An illustration from Lobel’s Frog and Toad, depicting them riding a two person bicycle through nature.
419048
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Daniel Kim, MD, DrPH @socialepi.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"As students return to classrooms, health officials will be closely monitoring whether the latest increase in COVID activity leads to additional school disruptions & outbreaks. Recent CDC estimates suggest transmission is rising across most of the country, making the virus a continuing concern."
newsweek.com
Map shows 'rapid spread’ of covid cases as school classes canceled
A Texas district canceled classes amid a COVID spread as cases rise in 47 states and outbreaks continue disrupting schools.
15021
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
We aren’t angry enough about all the art not made, the joy not felt, the lives not lived… all because a few people want to hoard wealth.
2306107
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
The conclusion is NOT "we need to debias LLMs" Besides that it's impossible, it also detracts from the point, which is: We shouldn't use machines to offload of the very cognition that is constitutive of the work to be done & supercharge existing inequities and injustices in the process. 🧵
544191
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This isn’t a free article. This is an article for which the cost is being identified, tracked, contacted, advertised to, etc. Remember: when something is free, it’s because you are the product.
Screenshot of a NYT gift article, which is locked behind a screen that reads, “Someone unlocked this story for you.
Log in to read for free” followed by a field to enter and submit an email address.
38127
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The moon is my wife and she’s especially lovely tonight.
0150
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This is a pattern, folks. Public health money being used for policing. During COVID a lot of cities spent their COVID relief money to by drones, robots, and surveillance cameras claiming they could be used to do social distancing or they were being used to fight COVID-related crime spikes.
5229119
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This isn’t a free article. This is an article for which the cost is being identified, tracked, contacted, advertised to, etc. Remember: when something is free, it’s because you are the product.
Screenshot of a NYT gift article, which is locked behind a screen that reads, “Someone unlocked this story for you.
Log in to read for free” followed by a field to enter and submit an email address.
38127
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
What’s on your spooky season reading list this year? 📚💙 👻 So far I’m planning on: 1) The Butcher of the Forest by @premeemohamed.com 2) Make Me Better by @sarahgailey.bsky.social 3) Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker 4) The Staircase in the Woods by @chuckwendig.bsky.social Would love recs!
593
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I just burned through Widow’s Bay in a delightful binge while knitting and am distraught to realize there is only one season so far! I thought there were two 😭
0150
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Tyson @lscpunk.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If Dolly was our constant reminder that it was Good to be Good, Tim Curry was our reminder that it was Good to be Weird. Embrace your strangeness, sing with Muppets, wear your lingerie with a leather jacket, and fuck with uptight people who hate anything that makes them remotely uncomfortable.
51173706418
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Kendra, normal version @kendrawcandraw.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Tim Curry and Dolly Parton have taught us not only that you should be bigger, weirder, gayer, and freakier, but also that those qualities are what people will love about you. The things that make you strange and amazing are the things that will resonate with other strange and amazing people
59220337577
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Carl Wilson @carlzoilus.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I wrote about loving the messy, melodramatic, trashy trickster, come-on artist Dolly more than the Saint Dolly of recent imaginings - and made a playlist to match. slate.com/culture/2026...
slate.com
What We Miss When We Reduce Dolly Parton to a Saint
The queen of country was a much weirder—and more wonderful—figure than the recent flattening of her suggests.
235398
Reposted by Bilbo Yaga
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton was a public health hero. She donated 1M to fund our first COVID vaccines. Even post vax, she said, “I don't think it'd kill anybody to wear their mask and to do their social distancing, especially now that we have new variants going around.” Be like Dolly: get vaxxed & wear an n95.
134264
Bilbo Yaga @bilboyaga.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton was a public health hero. She donated 1M to fund our first COVID vaccines. Even post vax, she said, “I don't think it'd kill anybody to wear their mask and to do their social distancing, especially now that we have new variants going around.” Be like Dolly: get vaxxed & wear an n95.
134264