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Laura Watts

@laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy
7 followers 1 following 31 posts

Author. Freelance Professor. Writing hopeful energy and tech futures otherwise. Often found on islands. Living in Denmark (she/her). Banner is a segmented heavy […] 🌉 bridged from ⁂ wandering.shop/@laurawatts, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026
#4SToronto #STS folk: You can now Sign Up to play NorthDark at #MakingandDoing on Friday. Only 8 time slots available, so get in there! Message me for details. NorthDark is a simple narrative role-playing game for 1-2 players, where you create a diary of what happens through the night as you […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Dawn Nafus @dawnnafus.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026
Oregon's Data Center Advisory Committee's preliminary findings had major gaps, from reducing environmental impacts to questions of water and air, to omitting grid stability issues, to treating economic impacts as a straightforward question of data center jobs. We wrote our own report to set the […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026
#4SToronto folk: I will be there! Come find me at #MakingandDoing, Friday, Grand East, where you can sit down and play 'Northdark' the narrative role-playing game set in a Nordic data center when the power has gone out... I am also at the #SpeculativePlenary where you can see my short film '4S […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Sebastian Büttrich @ ITU @sebastian.social.itu.dk.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026
#postCollapse #networking workshop at #ITUniversity will start this friday, with #solar basics being the first two week's topic. how to run a balcony server, a mini-mastodon, a solar #network node, etc etc we will certainly have some #fediverse #mastodon […] [Original post on social.itu.dk]
post-collapse networking
a workshop/series

for when nothing is
like it used to be. 
mesh lora reticulum fm solar botanical
satellite, sound, water ... * .  https://dasya.itu.dk/docs/pcn.html
NO SIGN UP NEEDED
fridays 14.00 - .... DASYA LAB 5A56 ... join us ... from Sept 04
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Degrowth or Extinction @ecosurrealism.jorts.horse.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026
#alt4me #planet #humans #degrowth #survive #fightForLife
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Mark A. Rayner @markarayner.mas.to.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026
"A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity." ~Franz Kafka #writing #writingcommunity #amwriting #bookstodon #humor #humour
a woman on a bed reading with a scary monster arm appearing from under the bed with the quote:
A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity. - Franz Kafka
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026
'Serious Solarpunk'-what even is that? This month's hopepunk writing is a bit of an explanation. The longer version: The awesome folk at Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) SUSTAIN RG asked me for a sociotechnical method to build a sustainable internet and power grid together, given the two are […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 30/07/2026
#SeriousSolarpunk - that's my proposed sociotechnical method to design and implement a sustainable internet, grid and place together. It was a response to #IRTF SUSTAIN RG asking me to give a keynote. (Thanks, guys!) When you start by collaborating with a place, and build ingenious […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026
Light summer reading for those who like their SF energy futures mashed up with their data futures, with a dash of astrophysics: 'Energy' is an SF short story about where energy and data go to die... It's just published as #OpenAccess in an edited book from #MatteringPress Predictions (Vol 1) […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026
Details of this exhibition marking the century since the General Strike phm.org.uk/exhibitions/on-the-line
phm.org.uk
On The Line: 100 years of strikes & solidarity - People's History Museum
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Everyday Cyborg @digitalraven.retro.pizza.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026
For the Americans of my acquaintance, this is how far north Edinburgh actually is. Sunset today was a few minutes after 10pm, and it doesn't get properly dark at this time of year.
A map of north america with 56th parallel drawn in red, stretching from hyder alaska, passing over edmonton and through the hudson bay
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Ruth Mottram @ruth-mottram.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026
And here is the video and short summary for those wanting the TL;DR www.frontiersin.org/journals/scienc… fediscience.org/@Ruth_Mottram/11676… Ruth_Mottram - We also wrote a version for kids […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026
'Federated Fair Trade Energy'-- what is that? @dawnnafus and myself have just written a paper that speculates on what this could be. If you want to know more, and hangout with others exploring what 'Computing within Limits' might look like, join us all online at LIMITS 2026 next week […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 02/06/2026
It's out! My monthly dose of #hopepunk writing on #FairTradeEnergy. This is a teaser trailer for the workshop paper that @dawnnafus and myself have written on 'Federated Fair Trade Energy' for LIMITS 2026, the annual online workshop on Computing with Limits, 23-25 June. Read it here […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 07/05/2026
Are there any fellow #Scriptnotes listeners out in Copenhagen? Any other writers in Denmark who are here for Craig and John's public service broadcasting for screenwriters (and Craig's gaming habit)?
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 01/05/2026
Just sent out my May sample of hopepunk writing to my mailing list. It's an extract from the #fanzine I made last week "Zine futures: Going solarpunk with paper" Read the extract here: sand14.com/samples/#may Or just subscribe if you feel like you need more #hopepunk writing in your […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 27/04/2026
Anyone know if there is going to be a LIMITS Hub in Copenhagen?? computingwithinlimits.org/2026 Pinging @sebastian
computingwithinlimits.org
LIMITS 2026 -- Workshop on Computing within Limits
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James Louis Smith @scrivenersmith.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/04/2026
Introducing Deep Maps: Blue Humanities. Coming soon from University of Westminster Press archive.org/details/deep-maps-trail… #ExperimentalPublishing #DeepMaps #Monograph #COPIM #OpenBookFutures
archive.org
Deep Maps Trailer : Copim Community : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Walkthrough video of the # Deep Maps Blue Humanities experimental book. Intro:Deep MapsBlue HumanitiesBy James Louis SmithA deep mapping bathymetric descent...
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Robert W. Gehl @rwg.aoir.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/04/2026
wait, what, Zotero? Zotero version 8 was released a few months ago and today I see they've released Zotero 9. The latest FOSS Academic post is a short note about Zotero -- including changes to my workflow since version 8 came out. fossacademic.tech/2026/04/20/zotero… […]
aoir.social
Original post on aoir.social
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Sebastian Büttrich @ ITU @sebastian.social.itu.dk.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026
Looking forward to two days of Making Sense of Water one day working with data & ideas around open ocean data & sensor-based monitoring of marine ecosystems April 21: 12 - 16 April 22: 10 - 16 .... you are welcome for just part of it, no matter where you […] [Original post on social.itu.dk]
Making Sense of Water

one day working with data & ideas around

open ocean data &
sensor-based monitoring of marine ecosystems

April 21: 12 - 16

April 22: 10 - 16 

.... you are welcome for just part of it,
no matter where you are from!

#sensemakers #MARITIMEHUB #DASYA
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 16/04/2026
What's the cost to research – to an entire discipline – of "AI" living rent-free in our heads? @dawnnafus brilliantly lays out the loss to #STS from so many being focused on AI-hype: 24% of papers at #4S were on AI. 4sonline.org/news_manager.php?page=…
4sonline.org
The Cost of Staying with the Trouble: What Happens When AI Lives Rent-Free in Our Heads
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Daniel Quinn @danielquinn.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/04/2026
@forteller I disagree. While it's true we need "a future we want" as much as a "map to get there", there's considerable value in the former on its own, at least at first. Societies are built on stories, and the first step to building a better future is painting it for others. You may not have […]
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Original post on mastodon.social
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 01/04/2026
This month I am writing with hope about ruined and recycled data centers. 'Legitimate Salvage' is a microfiction written for @Aepasek zine for the conference, Before Ruins, Ruhr University Bochum. She wanted a speculative future of the ruins left behind after the 'AI bubble' pops and what that […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 25/03/2026
[It] and Ecology A found poem on A.I. This ‘found poem’ is my response to the event, AI and Ecology, at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, Oslo. Each line of this 42 line poem is a quote from a presentation or discussions held during the workshop […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 01/03/2026
This month I am writing with hope about a world with dark skies, dark enough to see the Andromeda galaxy. Writing sample from impromptu writing for the public event 'Towards 2100: Imagining a future without fossil fuels' organised by Amber Nordholm and Tomas […] [Original post on wandering.shop]
Back of a postcard with a Danish stamp of candle, and handwritten text that reads "The dark skies at night mean I can watch Andromeda, 2.5 million Light Years away and a ghostly cloud near Pegasus, the winged horse. Excessive light is not needed. We listen and watch with our ears. We do not fear the dark. We are from the stars–we are star stuff, and know it. We all look up at the same stars. Humanity is bound together by the night, Earth's night. Who knew it was the stars, not the Sun, that would hold our future."
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 28/02/2026
"Grid grabbing" (as Julia Velkova and I call it in our paper) exhibit A: www.theregister.com/2026/02/27/data… "The strategy for many datacenter operators is to secure multiple land parcel rights, request a grid load connection for each (often requiring a costly load […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 26/02/2026
I run Writing Futures workshops, have done for a decade. People write the most extraordinary pieces in just a few minutes–when they have the space to find their creative voice. Just uploaded a 'Menu' of different writing workshops that I offer - writing futures, digital energetic futures […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 24/02/2026
RE: mamot.fr/@pluralistic/1161196572961… Yes, but if this is the case (that the cool kids are off the platform and un-monetiseable) then what about all the 'cool kids' who never had a choice? I'm thinking about my long-running interest in places at the network edge, who would quite […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Reposted by Laura Watts
Dr Zoyander Street @zoy.merveilles.town.ap.brid.gy · 21/02/2026
Instead of defending the use of LLMs for polishing up your writing, we could be advocating for unpolished writing. Blog posts with spelling errors and awkwardly repeated words. Emails that sound a bit less warm and professional because you forgot the preamble of "Apologies for the late reply […]
merveilles.town
Original post on merveilles.town
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2026
In the Atacama Desert, one of the world’s driest regions, the Initihuasi Seed Bank is freezing thousands of native plant species to safeguard them against climate change, extinction and disaster. Stored at –20°C in earthquake-proof vaults, the collection now underpins species recovery, supports […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 20/02/2026
Professor Irina Shklovski and I have a great 2-year full time postdoc job opportunity on our interdisciplinary project at University of Copenhagen, ‘Data quality for Responsible AI in Energy Systems’ (DARES). We’re looking for someone who has the potential and enthusiasm to work with us across […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 06/02/2026
I'm sending out a bit of hope(punk) every month: samples of writing i am doing, sometimes published, sometimes raw. Subscription details - sand14.com/samples Come and lurk.
sand14.com
Samples – Sand14
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 16/01/2026
RE: wandering.shop/@adapalmer/115905431… This is lemon-light shining out in words. Thank you for sharing. There are times I feel like I don't belong anywhere and then I read something like this and feel: there we are, scattered but persistent, working quietly at hope...
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025
Come and get it! 'From Flatlands to Livable Futures: Unflattening carbon metrics in the energy and data industries' out now in #BigDataandSociety. #JuliaVelkova and I pack insights about the carbon intensity of electricity in the data industry: how it shapes the electricity grid and data […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 12/12/2025
It's here! #ClimateImagination a collection of hopeful futures, both science fiction and academic reflection... Names you know, some you will want to know... I try to do things, write stories, collaborate with people, that are persistently trying to make the […] [Original post on wandering.shop]
Photo of a book cover showing a sky bright painting of a kite with a wind turbine inside,  flying over a cotton field. Book title is 'Climate Imagination: Dispatches from hopeful futures'
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Jesper Lund @je5perl.eupolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/12/2025
The Danish government is using the upcoming Christmas break to slip through a public consultation for a draft law that would make it an OFFENCE to use a #VPN to access content that would otherwise not be available in Denmark, or to circumvent the blocking of […] [Original post on eupolicy.social]
English translation of the highlighted part:

The term ‘other technical solution’ should be understood broadly. The broad wording is intended to ensure that the proposed amendment covers any technical solution used to provide unauthorised access to media content.
[..]
For example, it will also be prohibited to use VPN connections to access media content that would otherwise not be available in Denmark, or to circumvent the blocking of illegal websites.
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 18/11/2025
The voting papers in Denmark are the size of a film poster. It's fantastic having actual choice! Unlike the British 'first past the post' system with its meagre three or four little boxes. Shout out to the lovely people at the polling station - mit valgsted - who were so welcoming. Eagerly […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 14/11/2025
RE: mastodon.nz/@sy/115545462527722308 "universities wanted free public access to the research their taxes had funded."
mastodon.nz
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 08/11/2025
This is brilliant... My brain bifurcates as i listen into... Eros rock-talking music from #TheExpanse to Anna Tsing's matsutake... This maybe a very limited audience post. From: @kottke mastodon.social/@kottke/11550980321…
mastodon.social
kottke.org (@kottke@mastodon.social)
Mushrooms Playing Music. “The attached sensors measure bio-electrical fluctuations in the mushroom. The fluctuations are converted into signals that control the robotic arms.” https://kottke.org/25/11/mushrooms-playing-music
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stfn @stfn.fedi.stfn.pl.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025
I made a few updates to my solar powered website. Most of all, I fixed the uptime counter. I also made some tweaks to the wording, the gallery and the overall site design. solar.stfn.pl #solarpunk #pv #selfhosting #raspberry
solar.stfn.pl
Hi!
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2025
#LucySuchman #STS From: @davidgerard circumstances.run/@davidgerard/1152…
circumstances.run
David Gerard (@davidgerard@circumstances.run)
this is great https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/book-review-the-great-gatsby-by-the-xerox-914-photocopier
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Emil Jacobs - Collectifission @collectifission.greennuclear.online.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2025
Have to say: solid W for the UN here. skwawkbox.org/2025/09/07/un-general…
skwawkbox.org
UN General Assembly votes overwhelmingly to move from NYC to Geneva after US bans Palestine reps
### 154-2 vote against US-Israeli arrogance The ‘Judging Freedom’ podcast on the vote. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted overwhelmingly to move its September session from New York City to Geneva after the US government refused entry visas to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and dozens of other senior Palestinian officials – a rare show of defiance to the US regime and its relentless support for genocidal Israel. The US State Department had claimed it had denied the visas for “national security,” and that the Palestinian Authority was “undermining peace efforts” because it had dared to appeal to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice at the Hague against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The US ban is a clear violation of the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which requires the host country to provide access for _all_ accredited delegations. The vote carries echoes of the UN’s 1988 decision to move its session to Geneva when the US denied entry to then-Palestine Liberation Organisation head Yasser Arafat. The new move will help a segment dedicated to Palestinian rights, scheduled for 22 September, to proceed without interference and with the relevant representatives present. Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez described the US visa denial as “unjust”. Only the US and Israel voted against the resolution. Britain abstained. The UK ‘mainstream’ media have largely ignored the vote. ### Share this: * Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X * Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook * Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn * Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp * Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email * Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr * ### Like this: Like Loading... ### _Related_
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2025
Launch of NorthDark, narrative role-playing game set in a Nordic data center, when the lights have gone out. Free to download! Data centers are the backbone of online life, from streaming to AI. But data centers require electricity, which is not unlimited. What trade offs will you make between […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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Thomas Berker @thomas.tikatech.org.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2025
Trondheim's Good infrastructures lab is looking for a #PhD student who wants to write about the fediverse as infrastructural hope. Norway treats its PhD students well and we will help you to make your application competitive. For the call, see here […]
tikatech.org
Original post on tikatech.org
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Ruth Mottram @ruth-mottram.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2025
Today is house meeting day for us at DMI as we find out where the state's budget cuts will land and who will be affected (i.e. made redundant). Coincidentally, one of our #Ukraine #AntarcticScience centre colleagues has just sent us a draft deliverable […] [Original post on fediscience.org]
Image of a tall apartment block with most of the windows missing, some boarded up, and fire scorch marks around the middle, Kyiv after a drone attack last week.
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Dawn Nafus @dawnnafus.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/08/2025
Google's claim that each AI prompt uses the energy of 9 seconds of television is like throwing dispersant over an oil slick. The only way to get a number that low is with massive scale, which you should definitely worry about […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Laura Watts @laurawatts.wandering.shop.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2024
Reminder that you can read my SF short story 'Stormpunk Islands' online in the fabulous Climate Action Almanac... open access book. So many great contributors from across SF and academia collaborating on hopeful climate futures - […]
wandering.shop
Original post on wandering.shop
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