Sign in

James Bridle

@jamesbridle.bsky.social
3.6K followers 282 following 364 posts

Artist, author of New Dark Age (2018) and Ways of Being (2022). Free Palestine, Protect Trans Kids, for ever and ever. mastodon.social/@jamesbridle / jamesbridle.com

PostsRepliesMedia
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Occasionally I would like to remind people that I wrote a whole book about this. Intelligence is multiple, embodied, and relational, and what matters is different intelligences working together for mutual flourishing.
The brightly-coloured cover of "Ways of Being" by James Bridle, with a quote from the Washington Post: "Read this important book. Read it twice. Tell everyone you know."
2568
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I hadn't listened to any David Holmes for a while, so his show on NTS on Monday was a bit of a revelation. Two house of music and agitprop. Have a listen. www.nts.live/shows/david-...
nts.live
God's Waiting Room w/ David Holmes 28th September 2026
Playing Electronica, Spoken Word, Synth Pop. God's Waiting Room: a round-about selection of the cinematic, library music, rock 'n' roll, psych, experimental, unclassifiable and independent. From the m...
041
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
For a while, all those inflight maps displayed the locations of famous shipwrecks from history - the RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania, etc - which I for one found extremely reassuring.
1220
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Have we called it the cognitive kessler effect yet? Should we? It's not a coincidence that it's the same people filling the sky and our headspaces with junk.
14815
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Added this to my website. Very much doubt it will make any difference, but at least, having a disclaimer, I can disregard sloppy emails with less equivocation.
A screenshot of website text reading: "Please note: I do not respond to AI-generated messages. Please use your own voice if you would like a response."
0120
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ugh, two emails from students on the same day, saying how important my work is to them and asking for help and collaboration. Both 100% AI-generated verbiage, referencing disparate works no human would put together. Because they don't, in fact, know my work. What a waste of everything.
1223
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Really enjoying the latest (to me) issue of Translator. So good to read an in-depth magazine with a genuine plurality of voices and a global purview, which I feel like I've been looking for forever. Strong recommend translatormag.co
A hand holds a copy of a large-format magazine, with the title TRANSLATOR in large orange type.
090
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I checked, and obviously: www.instagram.com/man_utd_chri...
150
Reposted by James Bridle
Jacob Wren @jacobwren.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means." - Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
13713
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Nail it to the doors.
051
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Realising that I hadn't heard of solarpunk yet when I made a call for "starpunk" (*punk / ecopunk) in ... 2011 :/ ... and it's pretty weird to look back and think I nearly got there fifteen years ago. booktwo.org/notebook/sta...
booktwo.org
Starpunk | booktwo.org
140
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
It's always been a paperclip maximiser. You can notice now or later, as you like.
150
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The amount people are willing to believe that corporations and capitalism was responsible or ethical before AI appeared is quite staggering. They've always hated and wanted to eat you. If it wasn't AI it would be something else. They are setting fire to the earth. Refuse. Revolt.
1200
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
We've watched it on loop!
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Saw a peregrine falcon in a city square, soaring and pecking at its kill. Only my son and I saw it, and we sat on the kerb and stared until it swooped away. Two hours later I'm still buzzing, unable to sleep. This world.
3150
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Microsoft also asked me for a sample of my handwriting and signature for their graphic design. I demurred. That's why at the bottom of the article you will find a picture of a darkling beetle, drawn by my kid.
A child's drawing of a beetle.
0160
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
For Microsoft's new publication, The Humanist Review of AI, I wrote about living on what feels like a different planet to AI boosters, the friends I've made over there, and the fatal limits of what they call "humanism".
Screenshot of text reading: "In January, the undersea pipeline which brings water to our island failed for the second time. There are a few old boreholes on the island, but the water they pump up is contaminated with saltwater and household waste. We were advised not to drink the tapwater, or shower, or brush our teeth with it. Fifteen thousand people, in Europe, on a small island, surrounded by ocean, without access to mains water, for months. Reading, as I often do, about technological advances happening elsewhere, and promising so much, I sometimes feel like I live on a different planet entirely."Screenshot of text reading: "I am learning from the darkling beetle and the primrose, from the slime molds and the hyperaccumulators, how to be better at living in this world, how to be a part of its flow and its flourishing. This is more-than-humanist intelligence: it is embodied, relational and multiple, and it is ecologically beneficial, which means it is good for all of us, Lake Erie included. Any intelligence, artificial or otherwise, which acts in the opposite direction—which concentrates power and wealth, which demands ever greater amounts of scarce energy and water and requires the violent extraction of material from the earth, while degrading our natural, cognitive environment and our collective agency—is no intelligence worthy of the name."
1335
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Probably unhelpful nostalgia, but yes, the fact that my mum had an "office"/fax line alongside the home line allowed me to spend significantly more time online (dial-up) than would otherwise have been possible, probably changing the course of my life.
120
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
So many terrible things are possible in The Moustache.
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Drillfights.
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
More info at vessel-aegina.com/en/activities/aegina-seagrass-map, where we're use creative processes to address local and global ecological issues, starting with where we live. The only future we have is the one we learn to build together.
050
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
To make the map, we developed our own drone and underwater survey processes, and worked with scientists to ground truth large-scale satellite mapping data - an approach to art-science collaboration we want to develop further in the future.
A screenshot of mapping software showing a section of coastline with drone photographs of seagrass beds overlaid.
150
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
We spent nine months surveying local seagrass meadows. Then we made a traditional taverna tablecloth map showing the seagrass alongside rivers, wildlife, and ecological info. Now we've distributed it to restaurants across the island for the summer season. Pretty damn proud of this piece of work.
A stained tablecloth depicting a map of Aegina, a Greek Island, in blue and white, with local seagrass meadows in green. The same tablecloth on a restaurant table, with a moustachioed man and a wall of pictures in the background. The tablecloth on a table in a taverna. The tablecloth surrounded by food.
2333
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Appropriate VPN connection selected.
A photograph of a flatscreen TV balanced on a pair of wooden chairs. The screen shows a VPN connection to Wembley, UK.
050
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Fuck it, think I'm going to try and see the Tour live this year. There are two Alpe d'Huez stages, July 24 and 25. Anyone with tour experience and/or local knowledge got tips on campsites, viewing spots, party villages, etc?Kid-friendly important - sadly won't attempt the summit in the saddle...
020
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
God I'm angry. And so hot. My phone just went off with another wildfire alarm. My kid is swimming with the pufferfish. We'll go home soon and I'll teach him to build an air filter. Because we're going to need it. Learning is better than anger, and more useful. I guess.
171
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Helena Smith, a close friend of the right-wing gov party and the current President, has form here, but the issue is wider. Change is happening, maybe it's happening south of you now, but it's coming. Change, prepare. The pufferfish aren't here to bite us, they're here to warn us. Pay attention.
120
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Mayors who can't provide basic services or, god forbid, address climate resilience in meaningful ways, are portrayed as proactive because they install pointless fish barriers to appeal to tabloids. And, apparently, the Guardian. (Others will follow)
110
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Unfortunately, like a lot of pieces in the media, systemic climate issues (again, like wildfires, or extreme heat) are treated as summer interest stories, light on facts, heavy on the colourful local characters.
140
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Pufferfish are very toxic if ingested. They are entirely harmless otherwise, as absolutely every single marine biologist and local diver will tell you (and is loudly trying to).
110
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The Greek media has fed the panic, people are afraid to swim (but still do). And now the Guardian publishes this wildly uncritical piece: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
‘Better safe than sorry’: Greece installs floating barrier to ward off toxic fish
Climate crisis and warming waters have attracted long-toothed pufferfish to new parts of the Mediterranean
100
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The pufferfish are Lessepsian migrants: they swum up the suez canal, over a decade ago, and have been spreading across the Mediterranean for years. I wrote about another Lessepsian migrant, the Lionfish, for @emergencemagazine.bsky.social a while back: emergencemagazine.org/essay/here-c...
100
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This summer the big panic in Greece (apart from the wildfires) is the pufferfish, Lagocephalus sceleratus, which has been around for a while, but has surged in numbers this year. It's all over Facebook as everyone heads to the beaches, and I've seen them every time I swim.
100
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Del Toro! Pogacar! Carapaz! Vingegaard! It's going to be a great three weeks.
020
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
🔴
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Yes! I found myself in Olimpic last year and it was A Balm.
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Thanks all, but to clarify, I have a website! Just looking for good examples of layout, typography because I'm having an attack of imposter syndrome!
010
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I have to make a single web page with about 1000 words of information and some images on it, designed for easy, casual, impactful viewing on a mobile phone (via QR code). Does anyone have good examples / best practices they could share? There must be tricks.
640
Reposted by James Bridle
Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Some thoughts on the unique and irreplaceable Vjosa-Narta ecosystem at the heart of the #flamingorevolution in Albania right now. Petition against the destruction of the Vjosa-Narta here: c.org/R76Q28MSZY
25842
Reposted by James Bridle
Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
“I call it the place where I go to meet the gods.” ~ Hanais Mhilli Excellent and important piece @mongabay.com on what's happening right now in the Vjosa-Narta area of Albania and the Flamingo Revolution aiming to stop the destruction of these irreplaceable sites. news.mongabay.com/2026/06/flam...
news.mongabay.com
‘Flamingo Revolution’ aims to stop Kushner-backed resort on protected Albanian delta
VJOSA-NARTA, Albania — In late April, heavy machinery began moving into the Pishë Poro-Narta protected landscape on Albania’s Adriatic coast without permits or public notice. Bulldozers and excavators...
22310
Reposted by James Bridle
Ingrid Burrington @lifewinning.com · 15/06/2026
networksofny2026.bigcartel.com/product/netw... hi, did you like my book Networks of New York when it came out in 2016? you might like the updated 2026 edition which I'll be releasing in September and you can pre-order now
networksofny2026.bigcartel.com
Networks of New York, 2026 Edition (PRE-ORDER)
SHIPPING SEPTEMBER 2026! Networks of New York is a book by me, Ingrid Burrington. It helps readers identify indicators of physical internet and telecommunications infrastructure in New York City. Usin...
12237125
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Weirdly, have been invited to speak at both Cambridge and Oxford Unions this year, twice each, by different convenors, on embarrassingly clickbaity AI motions. Each time I questioned the premise and gave my availability, and never heard back from anyone. Confirmed my expectations...
010
Reposted by James Bridle
Alex Prichard @profalexp.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
My new edition of Anarchism. A Very Short Introduction (2022), is out as an audiobook a week today (June 9th). How does it differ from Colin Ward’s edition and what’s new? 1/
rbmediaglobal.com
RBmedia | Anarchism
Listen to the audiobook Anarchism, written by Alex Prichard, narrated by Alex Prichard.
13012
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Good morning from the roof, again.
James Bridle, a person with a mustache wearing sunglasses and work clothes, crouches on a rooftop of corrugated fiberboard panels, which they are in the process of screwing down. In the background: sea, blue sky, small islands.
0200
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Would it help if we just called it Fake Intelligence?
0230
Reposted by James Bridle
Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Tom Gray is amazing at this sort of thing. An impassioned speech to the Ivors Academy. Inspiring stuff.
10414199
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Kottke discovers @stewarthome.bsky.social. 🤯 Worlds collide.
061
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
@dieworkwear.bsky.social this is a photo of John Craxton (left) taken by Joan Leigh Fermor. Please tell me where I can find these shorts, perhaps the whole thing. I will never need anything else.
A black and white photo of two men in conversation, leaning against a white wall on a Greek Island (likely Hydra). On the left, the younger man west's high-waisted shorts, and a dark short sleeved shirt over a white tee; the other wears turned up jeans, a wool (?) shirt, with a pullover over his shoulder, and holds a woolen cap.
150
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Putting the roof on our house.
A young man stands on the partially covered roof of a timber-framed building in the Mediterranean; bright sunshine, blue sky, sea and mountains in the distance.
0160
James Bridle @jamesbridle.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
A spider decided to spin it's web across the kid's bedroom doorway, and I walked right through it and screamed. So we got out the spider book and tried to identify it. A horrifying, teachable moment.
160