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Emily

@emilybynight.bsky.social
318 followers 275 following 83 posts

writer, biker, dancer in the bay. editor at The Ick emilybynight.substack.com

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Reposted by Emily
The Long Now Foundation @longnow.org · 19/11/2025
Times of fragmentation call for a legible sense of order. We’re pleased to introduce the 02025 issue of Pace Layers, Long Now’s annual print journal of long-term thinking. It explores the ancient past and distant future of the present moment. A preview of what's inside ->
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
If anyone can teach us about the real-world consequences of cancel culture, it's @lydialaurenson.bsky.social For the season finale of The Ick, her essay brings down the house: www.emilybynight.com/p/how-i-got-...
emilybynight.com
How I Got Canceled by the Left and Right
What cancel culture reveals and conceals about redemption
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
what happens with the radical left kicks you out for being too radical? on The Ick: Kit reflects on fighting for sex worker rights in New Orleans, and the Marxists who turned their backs on her www.emilybynight.com/p/the-left-g...
emilybynight.com
How the Left Gagged on Sex Work
And dismantled a revolution
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
ty!!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
coming out today about having an eating disorder, and how this was related to/ caused by?/ exacerbated by my "tummy issues" aka IBS
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
"hot girls have tummy issues" is a funny meme, sure...but when you learn that 90% of women with IBS also have an eating disorder the meme seems morbidly twisted
emilybynight.com
You Don’t Have IBS, You Have An Eating Disorder
But why not both?
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
what happens when a sidewalk fortune teller performs ego death on stage during an improv occult play? one of the greatest disaster stories of our time! New on The Ick: a story from @joetforhire.com that smashes the gas and doesn't let up www.emilybynight.com/p/the-idiots...
emilybynight.com
The Idiot’s Guide to Mystical Interactive Theater
A fortune teller's attempt at dramaturgy
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
lucky
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Why do you hate the word "moist"? why do wet sounds like teeth-sucking, slurping, and swallowing evoke a sense of disgust and rage? @jakee.bsky.social explains in dazzling detail on The Ick... emilybynight.substack.com/p/the-moist-...
emilybynight.substack.com
The 'Moist' Mind Virus: Why We Hate Wet Sounds
On misophonia and socially transmitted disgust
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Reposted by Emily
‏ deepfates @deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com · 02/07/2025
I lived at an anarchist commune for 3 years and learned a lot about “going viral”. Here's a story in three plagues. Read my new piece in The Ick: open.substack.com/pub/emilybyn...
open.substack.com
The Politics of Contagion
Dispatches from the immune system of a failed utopia
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
It's hard not to agree with that one
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Everyone knows laziness is unattractive.... but why is rolling dice off a table unsexy? running into a screen door? @etirabys.bsky.social has such a fun and interesting explanation Read it here -> www.emilybynight.com/p/is-the-ick...
emilybynight.com
Is The Ick Real?
An investigation of female primatological filters
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
2. Distance from a masculine archetype icks - femininity or neoteny (e.g. wearing lip balm, eating sippy yogurt) - physical fragility (e.g. standing naked waiting for the shower to get hot, blowing on food to cool it down) 3. Shirking work icks (e.g.tried to fob off preparing food he wanted to eat)
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Is "the ick" real? @etirabys.bsky.social investigated and found that women's icks fall into 3 main categories: 1. Raw fitness icks - manual dexterity, tool use (e.g. rolling dice off table, running into screen door) - cognitive inability (e.g. bad at spelling)
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
thanks, I created a midjourney model - I'm generating and graphic designing it myself
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Why do men's feelings about motherhood often feel so idealistic and rigid? Why do they thought police the image of motherhood? what's going on? are men ok? Season 4 of The Ick kicks off today with an absolute banger from @eurydicelives.blogsky.venki.dev -> www.emilybynight.com/p/men-want-t...
emilybynight.com
Men Want to Be Sons, Not Parents
Your assumptions about motherhood give me the ick
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
my non-gardener friends never ask about my bone meal or NKP ratio - like do you even care about me
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
I would love it!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
ty joe! so inspired by the concept country work fr (also do you want to write for this issue???)
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Plus a PRINT magazine and reading event at the end of the season. this is truly my dream come true. tune iinnnnnnn substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Announcing The Ick Season 4: The Magazine
Big news for the new season!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Thrilled to announce Season 4 of The Ick, featuring writing from @eurydicelives.blogsky.venki.dev, @jakee.bsky.social, @lydialaurenson.bsky.social, @ninatummyache.bsky.social, @deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com.deepfates.com + more surprise guests TBA!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
or if you can't, you could contribute to the fundraiser? ily tysm mtyc.co/r7e1kf
mtyc.co
Support Help Emily fight HIV, Homelessness and Hunger on Give Out Day
Help fight HIV, homelessness, and hunger and support SF's most outrageous show of the year!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
ps you should come to the show 💋💋😎😎
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
starting a burlesque career in my late 30s, you can just do things
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
Hiiiii 🥰
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
do you put your elbows on the table, heathen? www.emilybynight.com/p/why-no-elb...
emilybynight.com
Why No Elbows on the Table?
History of a not-so-arbitrary rule, plus updated guidance
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
It's easier and harder than you think to give a good compliment to a stranger. Don't make it weird. Here's some advice, with help from @iwsfutcmd.bsky.social www.emilybynight.com/p/how-to-com...
emilybynight.com
How to Compliment a Stranger
Why this small grace has such big social effects
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Compliments you should NOT give to strangers: - An obvious, striking feature ❌ "You're so tall" - Transactional ❌ "I love your eyes, can I have your number?" - Assumptions about age/gender ❌ "Wow, you look great for your age.” - Body size ❌ "You're so pretty for [body size/shape]"
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Compliments you should give to strangers: Specific ✅ “Your tie and vest are so well-coordinated.” Related to taste/style ✅ “That book is my favorite—great choice.” No strings attached ✅ "You have such a warm smile!" said as you pass walking the opposite direction
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
lil ear rock buddies
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
We have tiny rocks (otoliths) in our inner ear canals that perceive acceleration and gravity They're literally rolling around in our heads helping us understand where the ground is!!
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Can you ghost someone while also respecting their dignity? Here's my take: emilybynight.substack.com/p/how-to-ghost
emilybynight.substack.com
How to Ghost
The modern break-up protocol
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Me too! So many of these surprised me. I had always flattened curiosity to the first dimension only
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
from the research of @toddkashdan.bsky.social here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
(PDF) The Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale Revised (5DCR): Briefer subscales while separating general overt and covert social curiosity
PDF | Curiosity is a fundamental human motivation that influences learning, the acquisition of knowledge, and life fulfillment. Our ability to... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Res...
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
5D curiosity scale: 1. Joyous Exploration - desire to seek new knowledge 2. Deprivation Sensitivity - desire to reduce knowledge gaps 3. Stress Tolerance - willingness to embrace doubt, confusion 4. Social Curiosity - desire to know what other ppl think 5. Thrill Seeking - willingness to take risks
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
I learned recently about the 5 dimensions of curiosity. It's a really interesting constellation of behaviors, not just the flat trait of "high openness" ->
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Absolutely agree. We'll need artists to see it as legitimate partner, right now it's seen as a competitor and a fake to most I think
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
yooooo
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
To recap: x.com/touchmoonflo...
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
People who have taste—those willing to wrestle with the "ambiguity and tension" of art in all forms—will be the curators that determine the rise and fall of trends, markets, and what defines "good art" in the age of AI
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
The takeaway: people have always had bad taste. Ai is just revealing this preference. Do not be alarmed! Instead, recognize we're entering a new era where curators and tastemakers are more important that ever. Read this great piece by @theanu.bsky.social www.workingtheorys.com/p/taste-is-e...
workingtheorys.com
Taste is Eating Silicon Valley.
Just as software ate the world and dramatically transformed industries in the last era, taste is now eating software—and with it, Silicon Valley.
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Next, Nature reports people prefer AI poetry to human poetry. What fooled them? "the simplicity of AI-generated poems may be easier to understand, leading them to prefer AI-generated poetry & misinterpret the complexity of human poems as incoherence generated by AI" www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
AI-generated poetry is indistinguishable from human-written poetry and is rated more favorably - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - AI-generated poetry is indistinguishable from human-written poetry and is rated more favorably
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
@maxread.info argues that people have always preferred kitsch to "good" art: kitsch is accessible, obvious (dental office art, HomeGoods live/laugh/love art), and "good art" is full of "ambiguity and tension"
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Astral Codex Ten publishes survey findings that reveal people prefer AI art to real art. Max Read (@maxread.info) counters with "yeah duh"
astralcodexten.com
How Did You Do On The AI Art Turing Test?
...
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
My current beat: the intersection of AI and taste. Really fascinating insights came out this past week, here's what I've been reading:
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Let's gooooo
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
haha so true
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
3. curiosity builds intimacy & trust - all questions are good, even small talk questions! 4. "self-disclosure", the gradual, reciprocal exchange of personal experiences/feelings, is the most reliable way to build connection More here-> emilybynight.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
emilybynight.substack.com
How to Be a Better Conversationalist Pt. 2
Conversation is one the riskiest things we do every day.
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Emily @emilybynight.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Think you're "not good" at conversation? 4 findings from psychology studies you should know about: 1. "liking gap" illusion: most people are liked more than they know 2. we reliably *over* estimate the awkwardness & *under* estimate the happiness we'll feel after deep conversations w strangers
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