iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Michelle Johnston

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 16/06/2026

Step Three: Claim victory. Announce that the nuclear sites have been completely destroyed. Do not worry if your intelligence officers tell you otherwise. Prematurely declaring "mission accomplished" signals to the enemy that you are well-versed in American military tactics.

buff.ly

The Art of the Nuclear Deal

Step Seven: Threaten to destroy their entire civilization, preferably via your own social media platform. Make it clear that you do not want that to happen, ...

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Deal news! So delighted to announce @eleytherius.bsky.social's debut non-fiction book, Fifty Beating Wonders: a Doctor's Search for Meaning, a fabulous deep dive into the wonders of the human body & those called upon to fix it. Out this November! www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/202...

booksandpublishing.com.au

HarperCollins acquires Johnston nonfiction title “Fifty Beating Wonders” | Books+Publishing

Purchase a subscription to view job ads and other premium content on Books+Publishing.

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Mobius Stripper @mobiusstripper.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

This damn post has absolutely ruined my brain every time I hear someone mention "for the time being." Major kudos to the poster, if I ever meet you in person I will congratulate you and then punch you in the face.

Troutman @robotrowboat

Boss: Let's put this matter aside for the time being

Me: [looking around nervously] Can only you see the time being?

Boss: Huh?

Me: Is it standing near me?

Boss: Who?

Me: [on verge of panic attack] The time being

6:33 PM 06 Jan 18

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

so, is the arc of the moral universe long and bendy?

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

When times are weird & inexplicable, remember the f block of the periodic table, the dark alley, the shadowlands of strange: the lanthanoids, the actinoids, Lawrencium, Thorium, Promethium, a rag-tag bunch of fizz. All a little unhinged, or brief, or unstable. Weird, sure, but beautiful.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Book 21/30. Death Valley. Melissa Broder. A glorious surreal wander through Death Valley, the mind and a magical cactus. Another unhinged masterpiece (my preferred genre, it might appear).

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Book(s) 16/30 Assorted poetry. 'Twas a fool's errand to choose the poetry book I loved most over this year. How different poems will speak to you at different times, with their perfection of language, JUST when you need or desire them. Clever universe. Anyway, here is a selection of books I adored.

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 02/12/2025

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Book 10/30 Field Notes from Death's Door. Katie Treble. One of the most compelling medical memoirs I have read (and I have read a few). A rare wonder, surging with humility & humanity. The unfettered, uplifting, harrowing truth of the MSF experience in the Central African Republic. I stand in awe.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Book 2/30. Arborescence, by @rhettsdavis. Entrancing, otherworldly & sharp as an axe, it's a transporting story of people deciding, or not deciding, to turn into trees as a sideways answer to the Anthropocene. Startling dialogue, intense characters. PLUS a little hat-tip to Lumen? Loved it.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Book 1/30 Dear Lord, I loved this book. The buzz & hum of the Sydney restaurant scene. Characters alive with the sadness & wonder of reality. Cracking dialogue. Light & shade co-existing within the sentence. The complexity of women's relationships with their bodies. The Big Merino. Supreme.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Book lovers. Life lovers! Forthwith I shall post a book a day, books I’ve read this year. Books I’ve loved & have intrigued me, changed me, occasionally books I’ve wondered if I could marry. Maybe books YOU might love. And remember, dearests of the world, how GREAT books make for Christmas presents

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

I would reach for the word "masterpiece" too! "Powerful, intelligent and beautifully written, it’s likely to attain future status as a culturally-resonant literary classic. @eleytherius.bsky.social reviewed over @artshub.bsky.social www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews...

artshub.com.au

The Revisionists review: Michelle Johnston's third novel is a masterpiece

Michelle Johnston's The Revisionists, is a powerful book about the complex responsibilities of journalism.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Mad thrilled to have The Revisionists as Apple's 'What To Read This Month' book. Want a story about love and war and Dagestan and bad decisions and money and the malleability of memory? You could do worse :-) apple.co/WhatToReadThisMonth apple.co/new-release-...

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Book lovers, friends, countrypeeps, if anybody was out and about on these dates and wanted to come and talk The Revisionists and all things bookish - writing, war (!), bad decisions, New York, Dagestan, language, memory - I would LOVE to see you at one of these events! Come say hello!

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

I'm teaching an intimate, online creative writing class through Varuna from 22 July. It's all about writing with humour and heart, the two great threads of life. It's not about being a comedian but having a zest for the incongruous. Apps close tomorrow! www.varuna.com.au/for-writers/...

varuna.com.au

Writing with Heart and Humour with Rick Morton — Varuna, The National Writers' House

Applications close 18 June This eight-session masterclass for writers in any genre will develop your skills in positioning yourself as an observer, and bringing nuance and humour to the story you wo...

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

No Kings, except for this one - King of the bins, screeching out at his subjects, opening his massive birdy bowels over all his lands.

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

One for your calendars: two shining stars of the OZ literary firmament are sharing the stage! Namely Angela O'Keeffe is interviewing @eleytherius.bsky.social regarding her (stunning!) new novel at Kinokuniya on July 17 events.humanitix.com/an-evening-w...

events.humanitix.com

An Evening with Michelle Johnston | The Revisionists

Join us for an evening with Michelle Johnston as she discusses her new book, 'The Revisionists'.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Sweet bluesky. Coming into blossom on this election night. Realtime, old twitter-feel rant and roar and right up-to-datedness.

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

KAFUI 🇬🇭 @mykafuiohkafui.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

It’s so important to not let yourself become bitter or disheartened or cynical. To not let the news of the world break your spirit. Because I’m already doing that. It’s my thing. Find your own, stop copying me.

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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

So great to see @eleytherius.bsky.social’s #TheRevisionists as one of the key titles from OZ for this week’s #LBF25 www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/202...

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

which crazy cat came up with the ESR? oh yeah, how about how fast your blood falls means how sick you are? like a party trick for illness

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

reading the news each morning with an 'is it cake?' vibe. Is it stupidity, or is it rank cruelty? Neither tastes any good, though.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Seems a tad unusual to be displayed on the counter of the little old lady volly lolly shop, but who am I to judge?

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

This all *she gestures around* seems like a very bad vaudeville. I don’t recall buying tickets for this.

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Life Is Amazing publisher @lifeisamazing.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

DEI is not about choosing someone who is worse at a job but from a minority, it's about ensuring people who are equally good or better qualified aren't overlooked because they're from a minority.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

There is always art. There is always love. *chants to self while hiding phone under a pillow*

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Syringes in the stairwell, police lining the corridors, resolutions becoming undone in the waiting room; it must be New Year’s Day in the emergency department.

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Hadas Weiss @hadas.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

sorry about that, i asked it to make sense of my life choices

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Doing some research today and discovered the heart of a grasshopper is a tube as thick as a strand of spaghetti and my day is infinitely better

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Casey Parker @broomedocs.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

If you work in a hospital outside the metro centres … this is the conference for you to learn some sick skills cos: critical illness doesn’t respect geography @thesgem.bsky.social @eleytherius.bsky.social @first10em.bsky.social

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

The super gorgeous Rochelle launching the Perth phase of her book Double Happiness. She is authentic, courageous and that little bit sassy. Thank you @thebooksdesk.bsky.social for the introduction of the thoroughbred in your stable.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

donning the hairnet and taking a place on the belt, having clocked on at the tragedy factory #emergencymedicine

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Reposted by Michelle Johnston

Caustic Cover Critic @causticcovercritic.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

I've always had a lot of time for Julian Barnes: even more so reading his manifesto for Barnes's Benign Republic... (from his 'Changing My Mind', due next year from Notting Hill Editions)

The historian A. J. P. Taylor, applying for a fellowship
at Oxford, was asked an anxious question
by one of the dons interviewing him. He had heard
that Mr Taylor regrettably suffered from a dubious
condition known as Strong Opinions: was this the
case? Yes, Taylor confirmed, he did indeed have
Strong Opinions, but it was all right, because they
were Weakly Held. (And he got the job.) Some of
us have strong opinions weakly held, others weak
opinions strongly held. I’ve always assumed that
liberals like me have moderate opinions, moderately
held. But I’m not sure that’s any longer the
case. When asked my view on some public matter
nowadays, I tend to reply, ‘Well, in Barnes’s
Benign Republic . . .’. The other day a friend asked
for details of the BBR’s main principles. For a start,
I replied, public ownership of all forms of mass
transport, and all forms of power supply – gas, electric,
nuclear, wind, solar. Major reform of the House
of Lords, which has weirdly engrossed itself into the
second largest legislative body in the world, second
only to the national congress of the Chinese Com

munist Party; also, with its twenty-six bishops,
the only chamber to have theological input apart
from Iran (and if reform doesn’t work, then Abolition).
A referendum on the future of the monarchy,
which I would expect monarchists to win; but after
that, and in any case, the institution would have to
become self-funding and fully taxable, with absolute
financial transparency (no more bags of cash
for the King’s private charities) and no government
support. Immediate application to rejoin the
European Union; permission for Scotland to hold
another independence referendum if they want to;
encouragement for the island of Ireland to reunite.
Massive investment in the National Health Service
on both moral and economic grounds; the market
to be completely removed from the NHS, and foreign
health-care companies banned from buying
up GP practices. Immediate unilateral nuclear disarmament,
plus a dismantling of the arms industry;
no export of arms would be permitted, and only
the manufacture of those necessary for the country’s
defence. Absolute commitment to carbon net
zero sooner than other countries. A ban on any
foreign country or institution or individual from
owning any newspaper or television station, or any
sporting institution, in the BBR.

And yes, there’s more. Absolute separation of
Church and State, and the laicisation of all education.
Immediate abolition of the charitable status
of public schools; then, in stage two, abolition of
the schools themselves. A fifty-year ban on any Old
Etonian from becoming Prime Minister; a twentyfive-
year ban on one becoming a cabinet minister.
A complete prohibition on foreign missionaries
entering the country; and a ban on domestic missionaries
travelling overseas. Responsibility for the
prison services to be returned to the state. Immediate
legalisation on assisted dying. Universal right
to roam on public land, greater access to private
land for walkers and ramblers. All major sporting
events (as defined by me) will be returned to freeto-
air TV channels and websites. Anonymity on
social media will be banned: all contributors to be
immediately identifiable, which might reduce the
insane level of verbal violence, and make it easier to
identify and prosecute criminal posters. Full restoration
of all arts and humanities courses at schools
and universities (every child must learn a minimum
of one foreign language); and, more widely,
an end to a purely utilitarian view of education. At
least one of the royal palaces to be turned into a
museum of the slave trade, with full explanations

of its profitability and beneficiaries. Education
(and re-education, and re-re-education) of young
males to diminish violence against and coercion of
women. Oh, and while we’re about it, I think we’d
better just close down the Daily Mail, don’t you?
Inevitably, such measures would be denounced
by ‘those who know better’, who ‘understand the
real world’ as unaffordable, untested, absurdly
utopian, blindly socialistic, certain to cause a disastrous
run on the pound, and so on. ‘Not even
Liz Truss, whose seven-week premiership cost the
country thirty billion pounds . . .’ op-ed columns
might begin (if they didn’t prefer to ignore such
blatant lunacy). Whereas I consider these proposals
to be reasonable, gentle and quite possibly popular.
‘Ah, but the markets won’t stand for any of it . . . ’.
No, they probably wouldn’t. But a spokesman for
the BBR (me) will reply by quoting Charles de
Gaulle. When he was president, a particular policy
was put forward at his council of ministers. No, no,
replied some of his more cautious and traditional
advisors, we can’t possibly do that, it will cause a
run on the Franc – the markets won’t stand for it. To
which the General replied, with an hauteur appropriate
to one of his height, ‘The policy of La France
is not made on the trading floor of the Bourse.’

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Having an absolute follow-fest here. Hammering the follow button with abandon in the glorious knowledge this is not the malodorous sinkhole the other site has become. #WhatFun

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

I scramble over to Blue Sky and immediately do a self-promotion post. Michelle! This is NOT TWITTER!

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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Deal news! It's a great thrill over here @shawliterary.bsky.social to announce that the extraordinary "The Revisionists", the third, completely unputdownable novel by @eleytherius.bsky.social, has been acquired by Fourth Estate/Harper Collins Australia! www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/202...

booksandpublishing.com.au

HarperCollins acquires Johnston novel ‘The Revisionists’ | Books+Publishing

Purchase a subscription to view job ads and other premium content on Books+Publishing.

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

@drdayasharma.bsky.social Thank you, my good man, for the push. Now. How does one go about finding one's posse over here??

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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 31/10/2023

@eleytherius.bsky.social on her amazing recent trip to - of all places after the events of recent days! - Dagestan. All in the cause of research for her new novel (that I have the strong feeling is going to be utterly phenomenal...) www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

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Michelle Johnston @eleytherius.bsky.social · 09/10/2023

is this like twitter? tell me this is like twitter. Somebody take pity on a terminally confused social-media chump.

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