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Calvin

@calvinpollak.bsky.social
60 followers 55 following 9 posts

Assistant Teaching Professor of Tech & Prof Comm at University of Washington. Formerly: USU, CMU (PhD). Producer, co-host of re:verb podcast (reverbcast.com). Posts my own. He/him.

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Reposted by Calvin
Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Scoop: Meta's Muse AI can make phone calls. Internally, Meta has told employees that many of these calls will be made by human beings in a call center: www.404media.co/meta-tests-m...
404media.co
Meta Tests Muse AI Agent Calls That Are Actually Made By Humans in a Call Center
"This has potential for so much negative PR. It could portray us as ‘their AI is not good enough so they still need humans’ kind of coverage for this launch."
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Alex Helberg @dystopamine.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
In which @calvinpollak.bsky.social & I trace the evolution of the anti-woke Intellectual Dork Web out of the fever swamp of the New Atheist blogosphere and set the stage for a full breakdown of the annoyingly influential "Sokal Squared" hoax
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Super proud of this episode, recorded back in mid-May. I think it holds up quite well and captures many of the political dynamics animating geopolitics in the revanchist era of might makes (far-)right.
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Alex Helberg @dystopamine.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
re:verb is back after a brief hiatus! Tune in to hear @calvinpollak.bsky.social & me talk about Trump and Seb Gorka's counterterrorism rhetoric, as well as the new baby that I was still awaiting back in May when this was recorded! 😅
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re:verb Podcast @reverb-podcast.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
🚨 New re:verb episode out this morning! 🚨 On today's show we're taking a look at the auspicious role that so-called "AI" technologies and companies are playing in the military industrial complex. www.reverbcast.com/podcasts/202...
reverbcast.com
E108: AI-Assisted War Crimes? — re:verb
On today's show, Alex and Calvin continue our discussion about the ongoing war in Iran, focusing on the literal use of artificial intelligence in the imperialist campaign being waged by the US and Isr...
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e. @emiliapgh.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
🚨 New @reverb-podcast.bsky.social episode alert! 🚨 👉🏻 www.reverbcast.com
reverbcast.com
re:verb
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Impeach and remove the war criminal president
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
I think the truly damning thing about the Dem comms response is that they had months to prepare for today and there's zero coordination, no unified message. Just every D leader responding like they quickly hammered out a statement in a panic at 6 am this morning
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
No war with Iran
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re:verb Podcast @reverb-podcast.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
🎆re:verb is back in 2026 with our first new episode of the year!🎉 This episode hits very close to home for Calvin & Alex: E106: CMU Coup? (w/ @caevans.bsky.social & @seeshespeak.bsky.social) www.reverbcast.com/podcasts/202...
reverbcast.com
E106: CMU Coup? (w/ Sheila Liming & Catherine Evans) — re:verb
On today’s show, Alex and Calvin sit down with the co-authors of a viral op-ed in The Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the controversial restructuring of the English Department at Carnegie Me...
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onion person @junlper.beer · 13/01/2026
beast mode headline
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re:verb Podcast @reverb-podcast.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Since we're new over here, we've been re-posting some of our favorite episodes featuring friends & past guests we've had on the show who have found a home on BlueSky. It's also a good starter pack for anyone new to the show! Here's a master 🧵...
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Cascadia(PNW) @cascadiarevolting.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
If you have not watched our new mayor, @wilsonforseattle.bsky.social speech, I encourage you to go watch the whole thing. It was incredibly inspiring and hopeful. Here are some short, Bluesky friendly clips. #seattle #pnw #cascadia #washingtonstate #kingcounty #unionstrong #katiewilson
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David Kroman @kromandavid.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Katie Wilson has been elected Seattle's next mayor www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
seattletimes.com
Katie Wilson elected Seattle’s next mayor
Wilson took a 1,976-vote lead over Bruce Harrell. With a maximum of 1,320 ballots remaining, it is mathematically impossible for Harrell to catch up.
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Joe Veyera @joeveyera.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
The Seattle Times has called the mayor's race for Katie Wilson.
seattletimes.com
Katie Wilson elected Seattle’s next mayor
Wilson took a 1,976-vote lead over Bruce Harrell. With a maximum of 1,320 ballots remaining, it is mathematically impossible for Harrell to catch up.
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Joe Veyera @joeveyera.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Mayor Harrell will "provide an address to the people of the city of Seattle," at 12 p.m. Thursday, per a media advisory.
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Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 12/11/2025
KING 5 has called it!
king5.com
Katie Wilson defeats incumbent Bruce Harrell to become Seattle mayor
In Wednesday's ballot drop, Katie Wilson extended her lead to 1,976 votes over Bruce Harrell. KING 5 is now calling this race for Katie Wilson.
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Katie Wilson's public safety agenda hopefully: theonion.com/not-sure-how...
theonion.com
Not Sure How They Deal With Criminals In Your Town, But ’Round Here We Use A Restorative Justice Process
Well, well, well. What have we got here? Another city slicker who thinks he can waltz into my town and start causin’ all sorts of trouble. I’d be careful if I was you, fella. Because however they do t...
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Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 12/09/2023
Pentagon-funded study warns dementia among U.S. officials poses national security threat, as Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein — who enjoy privileged access to highly classified intelligence — suffer health episodes.
theintercept.com
Pentagon-Funded Study Warns Dementia Among U.S. Officials Poses National Security Threat
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein, who have access to top-secret information, recently had public health episodes.
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 27/08/2023
The Messy Murderer erasure
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 27/08/2023
Need to see this still 👀
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 26/08/2023
This has to be one of the funniest posts ever made about Bluesky
Some guy named esoteric something, he’s not the really bad guy named esoteric something but he’s also bad. He writes: So Twitter sucks.

Then I log into Bluesky and the first post I see under "What's Hot?" is "welcome new users! here are the four key blocklists to immediately install to filter out everyone from Nazis to centrists."

I have no home.
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da share z0ne @dasharez0ne.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
THINK ABOUT IT - dashare.zone ADMIN
DA SKELETON OF REASON RISES THROGH DA CLOUDS!! AND AS DA LIGHT OF HEAVEN SHINES UPON THEM THEY SMILE AT U AND GIVE U THE WISEDOM: "THEIRS A REASON THE BAD GUY IN ALL VIDEO GAME'S IS CALLED... "BOSS"" - DASHARE.ZONE ADMIN
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
This screenshot should be going in dozens of sociology, political theory, and rhetorical theory lectures to illustrate folk ideological understandings of class and power. It's just too perfect. Thank you, Rod.
Rod Dreher writes on X: "Trump is rich, but he is totally not the ruling class. It's about culture."
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
I only know how to use social media for self-promotion and am finding this website generally baffling, so I'm just gonna plug some of my work on NSA surveillance rhetoric for the hell of it. doi.org/10.1177/0741...
doi.org
Legitimation and Textual Evidence: How the Snowden Leaks Reshaped the ACLU’s Online Writing About ...
Scholars in discourse studies have defined legitimation as the justification (and critique) of powerful institutions and their practices. In moments of crisis, ...
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Calvin @calvinpollak.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
A common argument for the NSA's surveillance programs, both in gov documents and public advocacy, is: "our enemies do it too -- we can't unilaterally disarm!" Same arg applies to "dignified and respectful" spying. So, this is NSA self-mythologizing to dissociate from the moral valence of its work.
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Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
NSA instructs employees to spy “with dignity and respect,” per new internal directive: theintercept.com/2023/08/25/n...
theintercept.com
NSA Orders Employees to Spy on the World “With Dignity and Respect”
A rights advocate said, “This is like the CIA putting out a statement saying that going forward they’ll only waterboard people with dignity and respect.”
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 25/08/2023
There’s an off-chance Trump tweeting this is a violation of the terms of his bail, which would get him thrown in jail AND make it the funniest tweet of all time
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