Sign in

Katherine Firth

@katherinefirth.bsky.social
2K followers 3.1K following 851 posts

Writes about writing, especially for PhDs and researchers: poetry, music, food. Blogs at Research Degree Insider

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Katherine Firth
rabagast @rabagast.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
you might need to zoom in
3176
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Roopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Wow: “To be a librarian is to dance along the cracks of the institution, engaged in a thousand small teaching acts.” Good thing this is OA or I’ll soon be in violation of copyright.
25426
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
There is no kingdom like the forests.
06320
Reposted by Katherine Firth
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 23/09/2026
The U.S. has admonished Australia over a proposed new law that would allow social media users in the country to opt out of algorithms used to decide what content they can see on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
nyti.ms
U.S. Rebukes Australia Over Proposed Limits on Social Media Algorithms
The U.S. Embassy said a draft law allowing users to opt out of systems that choose what they can see in their feeds could amount to censorship.
2710345
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Liz Anderson @lizanderson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
14thC gold seal ring belonging to the powerful Matilda of Lancaster, found by detectorists. Stunning to find something like this that’s been owned by a woman, most similar rings belonged to powerful men. But surprised this wonderful treasure has been auctioned off 😔 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Medieval ring found by Suffolk detectorists to be auctioned
The ring may have belonged to a woman who became the canoness of a priory in the 14th Century.
310118
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Roopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Same here — my diss has absolutely nothing and absolutely everything to do with what I have spent my professional life doing. For a long time, I thought I’d just failed to turn it into a book and yet its fingerprints are everywhere.
2282
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Eryk Salvaggio @eryk.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I wrote about the OpenAI-Hugging Face hack following my conversation with @melhogan.bsky.social on The Data Fix this week - more on how it happened, what it means, and why I still see "stochastic flocks" rather than "artificial hiveminds": mail.cyberneticforests.com/models-dont-...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
Models Don't Go Rogue
Stochastic Flocks & Cybersecurity 'Pandemonium' 💡This essay was drafted from my appearance on Mél Hogan's podcast, The Data Fix, discussing the OpenAI / Hugging Face hack. Embedded below or find it o...
812151
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 19/09/2026
When we talk about the costs that LLMs impose on society we should not forget the fact that nothing works anymore because everyone is so scared of getting their shit scraped. I can't even use google scholar from my university or starlink because they send too much traffic.
Google	
Sorry...
We're sorry...

... but your computer or network may be sending automated queries. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.
See Google Help for more information.
984457966
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Paul Ford @ftrain.com · 20/09/2026
I’ve read some great stuff. Like this younger person realizing why Madonna is an icon: pridesource.com/article/keit...
pridesource.com
Madonna Is a Queer Icon. I Finally Get It.
I have a confession to make. Up until recently, I didn't really understand why everyone loved Madonna so much. I didn't think the Michigan native
1162
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco @joshpizpom.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
EXC: 90 programmes in Edinburgh University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are to be closed. The casualties, which include 48 language and literature programmes, will be 'taught out', w/ no admissions after 2027. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2655839...
heraldscotland.com
Ninety programmes to close at leading university as savings plan takes shape
According to the document, a total of 90 programmes will be “taught out” over the next several years, including 48 in the School of Language.
17111150
Reposted by Katherine Firth
David Daniel @daviddaniel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I was excitedly telling a friend about finally getting Inventing The Renaissance, and explaining who @adapalmer.bsky.social was... which led to me reading her magnificent disability essay for at least the third time. It's where I first learned of Ada's work (and that of @bluejo.eurosky.social).
strangehorizons.com
Writing/Realizing Disability + Power
I chose the photo where I’m with Dad outside the Hugo Losers Party, with my bright blue jacket and my squidgy-handled cane—Dad’s injured hand is in his pocket, not visible, but I know.  So there it…
15719
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Chinook salmon have recolonised 88% of their historic range on the Klamath River, with more than 13,000 fish passing the old Iron Gate Dam site in 2025, up from 7,700 the year before. Two years after the dams’ removal, it’s going better than anyone predicted. buff.ly/pToC9gB #ShareGoodNewsToo
nature.com
Rewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Rewilding the upper Klamath River Basin: rapid recolonization of Chinook salmon following the world’s largest dam removal
182507841
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Feel good short documentary: teens, free rivers, water sovereignty, kakaks.
010
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Rory Blank @roryblank.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
And that's not how inspiration works. You can't brute force it. Just because it generates an idea doesn't make it a good idea, and if all you want is something to bounce off of, you're just as well off buying Oblique Strategies or going for a walk. Just allow yourself to be bored for 10 minutes.
437314
Reposted by Katherine Firth
ABC News Bot (unofficial) @abcnewsbot.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Recent cancellations of major musical theatre productions, including Waitress and Beetlejuice, have raised an obvious question: has Australian theatre become too expensive?
abc.net.au
Theatre audiences still show up. So why do so many shows fail to make money?
Recent cancellations of major musical theatre productions, including Waitress and Beetlejuice, have raised an obvious question: has Australian theatre become too expensive?
054
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This story is wild. Reverse Oceans Eleven about building a graphing calculator for Mac computers.
000
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Tal Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
in which i take a lot of words and quoted wwi diaries to say i like vegemite better than marmite: buttondown.com/theswordandt...
buttondown.com
Notable Sandwiches #149: Vegemite
Welcome back to Notable Sandwiches, the feature where my editor David Swanson and I eat our way through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. This week, an...
2716734
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
'Students are attending less, reading less, participating less, and often treating university as one commitment among many.'
wonkhe.com
Students are not disengaged, they are adapting to a thinner university
For Fredrick Agboma and Andrew Doyle, the question isn't whether students are less committed, but what culture they're asked to inhabit
38337
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 09/09/2026
yoooooo THE BRIGHT AGES by me & @lollardfish.bsky.social is only $1.99 now! that's cheap! grab one #medievalsky bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
bookshop.org
The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe
"The beauty and levity that Perry and Gabriele have captured in this book are what I think will help it to become a standard text for general audiences for years to come….The Bright Ages is a rare thi...
1320984
Reposted by Katherine Firth
CNN @cnn.com · 05/09/2026
The United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt a new world map that reflects countries’ true relative sizes, after African nations urged the UN to right a centuries-old wrong.
cnn.com
UN votes to adopt new map that makes our world look very different | CNN
The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday to adopt a new world map that reflects countries' true relative sizes, after African nations urged the UN to right a centuries-old wrong.
2425964
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 05/09/2026
At the Antimatter Factory at CERN there are vacuum cleaners in cages. Those cages are there because when you vacuum the experiment hall, you might pick up some radioactive material, and so the vacuum has to be in a time out until enough half-lives of the contaminant have elapsed.
A bright yellow cage marked RADIATION with vacuum cleaners inside it
41357209
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Dead Cat Dad @dbeatcatdad.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A lost shipment of synthesizers changed Cabo Verde's musical vernacular forever: www.thevinylfactory.com/films/rebel-...
thevinylfactory.com
Watch our short film on the cosmic sound of Cabo Verde
How a censored music became the heartbeat of resistance and independence. In the spring of 1968, a cargo vessel set sail from Baltimore bound for Rio De Janeiro with a shipment of musical instruments ...
121218
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The END of this video! Perfection (ACTUAL)
1121
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Also, as a writer of books about writing, this sort of case is why I no longer use ‘research says’ to shape my advice. Everything I now say about ‘the best way to’ get writing done is: Hey, only you can know yourself. Run some experiments, try stuff out. Pick whatever seems like it works for you.
010
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Jenny with a Green Ribbon Around Her Neck @readingtheend.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"The missteps in these openings feel so familiar to me. They exemplify a trend in literary fiction that I’ve come to hate: Describing Unimportant Things in Unnecessary Detail In Order to Sound Smart."
2162
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 02/09/2026
So Emma Woodhouse is a pretty girl who is pretty smart, pretty rich, and pretty much has no problems whatsoever. We’re off to a roaring start.
1051519269
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
And as if these six reasons weren’t  enough for my not using AI detectors, this absolutely 100% seals the deal:
0357
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Pat Thomson @patthomson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
This week on patter I’ve written about rereading the things you jot down in your researcher journal patthomson.net/2026/08/23/d...
patthomson.net
developing your research journal jottings
Walter Benjamin works on/with his notebooks Most researchers are told early on to keep a research journal. The journal is a place to record stuff – ideas, possible lines of inquiry, potential…
075
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Apparently river otter are 5ft?? that’s my size! Clearly my mental model is way off 🦦
010
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Stephanie Insley Hershinow @sinsleyh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
It’s here! From the team that brought you Clarissa 2025, join us to read a rollicking delight of a novel. Whether you’re rereading or reading for the first time, there are lots of ways to join. We’ll have weekly Substack posts and bimonthly hybrid meetings.
68734
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Micro SF/F by O. Westin @microsff.com · 21/08/2026
People, young and old, came to the witch for directions. "I seek adventure." "I seek wisdom." "I need a place to feel at home." "I feel like I need to cry, but I can't." The witch listened, and told all where to find what they sought. And the local library thrived. #CrossRepost
1654219
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
So you need to read the whole thread to understand this joke but it is life giving and joyful.
020
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 17/08/2026
1. Recently I’ve received lots of emails from people I don’t know personally, asking for my feedback on their books or papers. They explain the connection between my work and theirs and ask me to take a look. The catch, of course, is that the emails are transparently, obviously, written by AI.
16685152
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Rebecca Blood 🇺🇦 @rebeccablood.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Worth your time.
021
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Jane Howard @janeannehoward.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
"I would 100 percent taste the forbidden fish sauce. I would do it for science."
033
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This article is amazing. The abandoned fish sauce factory is just the start 🐟 defector.com/abandoned-fi...
defector.com
Let Me And A Food Scientist Sample The Abandoned Fish Sauce Terrorizing A Small Canadian Town | Defector
Take capelin, a small silvery fish in the smelt family. Now add salt. Then throw those two ingredients in 110 vats, each of them about 10 feet tall, and let them sit in a defunct factory for over two ...
185
Reposted by Katherine Firth
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Best use of Strava? Mollie the hamster runs almost 10 km every night.
runnersworld.com
A Physicist Rigged His Pet Hamster’s Wheel to Upload to Strava. It Runs Surprisingly Far Every Night
Meet Mollie, the 10-month-old hamster who’s been logging serious mileage.
426053
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Peter Jones @petergjones.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
#TheAtlantic on #TheOdyssey film. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A Trojan Horse Is Supposed to Have Humans Inside It
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is full of contradictions about deceit and violence.
031
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Alyssa Smith @cetaceanneeded.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I'm incredibly honored to be one of the inaugural winners of the Ctrl-Z award. The sequence of events preceding and following this retraction were harrowing (and are honestly still stressful), but I hope this will be an opportunity for more open dialogue about mistakes + self-retraction in science.
513836
Reposted by Katherine Firth
depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
for the first time in two and a half years, a new note was played in this organ performance today!
Organ²/ASLSP (As Slow as Possible) is a musical piece by John Cage.[1]

An organ in St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt in 2001 began a performance that is due to end in 2640. This makes it the longest running non-computerized piece currently being performed.
161960401
Reposted by Katherine Firth
will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
does anyone know of any work that’s been done on career trajectories of (UK humanities) academics who have been made redundant? eg information about how many go into school teaching, early retirement, independent research? appreciate this is complex, sensitive and much data is too recent
108231
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Ahem.
011
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
We are doing 45 minutes of silent reading together online tonight at 10 pm UK time / 5 pm Eastern / 2 pm Pacific. Come along and read with a group of invisibly encouraging strangers! Take back the internet from short-form video! open.substack.com/live-stream/...
open.substack.com
LIVE SOON: Silent reading together for 45 minutes
Starting Aug 2 at 5:00 PM EDT
13310
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Some fabulous shots from the race at the stage when the chicken was just behind me (click on the running photo for full chicken glory 😂🐓
In front of the cathedral. A person walking. A person running. A person in a full sized orange inflatable chicken  suiteA person running in front of the art gallery, pursued by a massive chicken suit
1141
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · 31/07/2026
How to tell AI hallucinated citations I love this www.llrx.com/2025/12/how-... (But also I'm the suspicious person who even pre ai searched for the cited article and read it to see whether it's correctly used I only have part of the librarian special: I'll check some of the context but not all)
llrx.com
How to Spot AI Hallucinations Like a Reference Librarian – LLRX
42710
Reposted by Katherine Firth
Olivia Waite @oliviawaite.com · 28/07/2026
A thread on special editions, luxury books, and publishing history: In 1903, J. M. Dent created Everyman’s Library, intended as a cheap line of hardbacks to make a classical education accessible as mass literacy rates were on the rise.
1355148
Katherine Firth @katherinefirth.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Hurrah for the return of the tight, short literary novel www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...
abc.net.au
Miles Franklin shortlist defies 'shaggy' trend in Australian publishing
ABC experts unpack the shortlist of Australia's biggest book prize: who made it, who missed out and who they think will win.
042
Reposted by Katherine Firth
If you know you know @privatechand.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Hallucination is a built-in hard problem that the technology is not going to solve. For consumer use cases in healthcare, education/research, law, any life or death environment, this is a fatal flaw and means that it cannot and should not be deployed. This is precisely where US Big Tech has focused.
1197