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Lydia Laurenson

@lydialaurenson.bsky.social
535 followers 222 following 99 posts

“unrelentingly honest” • fascinated by media, art, culture, community, technology, and spirituality • blog: lydialaurenson.substack.com/about • print magazine: thenewmodality.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I was cited in the New York Times today! Follow-up post (linked below) gives a bunch more links and context about my work. open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
Today I’m Cited In The ‘New York Times’ On “How a ’70s Improv Book Became Silicon Valley’s Required Reading”
Thank you Tara Isabella Burton for citing me!
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JK @miniver.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I see that @lydialaurenson.bsky.social has made a free PDF available for the book I recommended upthread (plus more)
lydialaurenson.substack.com
Some Of My Old Books In PDF (2012)
'The S&M Feminist' and 'Confessions Of A Pickup Artist Chaser,' written under the name Clarisse Thorn, plus one more
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JK @miniver.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I never got involved in that scene because •yikes• but I read a lot of it and a lot about it, early. Strauss’ ‘The Game’ is mostly about “pickup” not make making men happy. I recommend an even stranger, gutsier book about the texture of that scene from an explicitly feminist perspective. 9/
amazon.com
Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser: Long Interviews with Hideous Men
Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser: Long Interviews with Hideous Men - Kindle edition by Thorn, Clarisse, Beautiful Disasters Photography. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser: Long Interviews with Hideous Men.
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rainey reitman @reitman.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
This will be fun! I hope to see folks there
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
New post for the media-tech and depolarization nerds, about the new media startup @aemula.bsky.social lydialaurenson.substack.com/p/new-depola...
lydialaurenson.substack.com
New Depolarization Media-Tech Startup: Aemula
It uses blockchain but maybe that's okay
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
I wrote this post about Epstein last year, but it seems that many people are re-finding it now open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
"It's Just Politics:" The Time I Met Jeffrey Epstein, Twice
The single most bizarre meeting of my life
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
My talk from @hope.net 2025 was just posted this week! "Media, Vibe Coding, And The Long Tail" www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEZA...
youtube.com
HOPE_16 (2025): Media, Vibe Coding, and the Long Tail
YouTube video by Channel2600
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JK @miniver.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
❝ “The club” let newcomers run into the cancellation buzzsaw while watching to see if they survived ❞ Laurenson’s memoir reflects her characteristically thoughtful ambivalences, so I added a link to it to my post on the subject
miniver.blogspot.com
“Cancel culture” and criticism
Personal blog of Jonathan Korman
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Some spots just opened up at this event Friday evening. If you're in the Bay Area, come out and meet us - I'll be reading from my piece "Canceled Left and Right," which was originally published in The Ick by @emilybynight.bsky.social :) partiful.com/e/Z4BlVOQNTf...
partiful.com
RSVP to The Ick Magazine launch party | Partiful
The Ick Magazine print issue debut: come celebrate the launch of our first-ever print edition. We’ll have snacks, a big cooler of drinks, party favors, magazines to purchase, readings from contributo...
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Today is possibly the biggest divergence I have ever seen between my timeline here and my timeline on Twitter/X
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Jenny Holzer @jennyholzer.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE
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JK @miniver.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I recall reading an interview with a fella a few years ago in which he said, “Yeah, I met Epstein once. Vibes were off.” I am acquainted with @lydialaurenson.bsky.social. She is not exaggerating about living a Weird Stuff life, such that her Vibes Were Off account here is terrifying. 2/2
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
(screenshot of text posted with permission)
screenshot of a text saying “Dunno about you but D/s sex where men top has utterly been destroyed by this political situation.”
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
I wrote a post-Slutcon update! Also reposted an old interview that I did a while back, with an anthropologist who studies poly families. Plus some links to other stuff I mentioned in my Slutcon session, including a post about intergenerational co-living communities open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
Poly Family Anthropology: Interview with Eli Sheff (2018), Plus A Slutcon Update
Decades of research into polyamorous families
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Jesse Farrell @jfarrell.eurosky.social · 02/10/2025
"If you think merely being brilliant is enough to make a person successful — or even good at surviving — then you haven’t met enough brilliant people. On the other hand, what is survival? What is success?"
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
A poignant, immensely courageous and most thought provoking essay, by a fellow alumna. College at Age Sixteen: What Is Intelligence For? Simon's Rock College, and the Center for Talented Youth, and the challenge of gifted children. By Lydia Laurenson open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
College at Age Sixteen: What Is Intelligence For?
Simon's Rock College, and the Center for Talented Youth, and the challenge of gifted children
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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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R.U. Sirius @rusirius.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
seen on fbook this morning
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
You would think I’d already know this, but I don’t: Is there any process whatsoever by which an individual mentioned in the media can complain to the media organization in question, about how a journalist handled the situation? Or is the only recourse a defamation lawsuit?
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Hackers On Planet Earth 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @hope.net · 15/08/2025
Whoever is giving out the bunny stickers and things, bring some to reg? 🥺
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
My talk at @hope.net went well :) I’m happy to be meeting so many interesting people here - and I’m lucky my talk was on the early side, so I can now chill and watch other people’s talks :) I’ll post the talk recording link soon!
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
While refactoring a lot of my personal security protocols, I recently started using privacy dot com. This is a service that connects to your bank account and generates individual “card numbers” you can use to pay for things without giving your main credit card number, which means that…
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Thrilled to be giving a talk at @hope.net in August in NYC. And also so excited to be coming back to that great city 💗
Description of Lydia’s upcoming talk at HOPE (also available at HOPE website) - title: “Media, Vibe Coding, and the Long Tail”
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are you not infotained @alopex-ii.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Supreme Court justices trying to recreate feudal monarchy entirely within the framework of a constitutional republic like a bored programmer trying to run DOOM on a smart fridge
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
open.substack.com/pub/betterco...
open.substack.com
Does Protest Even Work?
Yes. If it's big enough and non-violent — BCB #144
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
I’m at the Norman Rockwell Museum @normanrockwellm.bsky.social today. I was today years old when I learned that this picture, often used in memes, (a) was painted by Norman Rockwell and (b) is actually titled “Freedom of Speech”
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Laurel @balancecraft.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Worthwhile account of what it was like to start questioning our ability to know what's actually going in our own country in the current media landscape. Not explicitly stated, but I read this as partly about death of local news removing an empirical check on national outlets
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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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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
ok fine I wrote something about the New Yorker article open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
About the Curtis Yarvin "New Yorker" Profile
A statement on my ex-fiancé
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Just posted my interview from yesterday with @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social about his book, “The Reactionary Spirit.” 💫 Audio, background notes, and transcript are all here: open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
"The Reactionary Spirit:" Interview with Zack Beauchamp of Vox
Zack and I discuss reactionary politics, polarization, and hints of cultural transformation
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Lynda Carter @lyndacarter.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
One of my husband Robert's favorite quotes comes from Horace Greeley, a newspaper man who founded the New York Tribune so many years ago. I think of it often: “Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character.”
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JK @miniver.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
I have a deep aversion to local TV news, but now I am ON it because last year, the power company Arizona Public Service cut off electricity to my mother’s house outside of Phoenix, killing her.
12news.com
82-year-old APS customer died after power was shut off in May 2024
An 82-year-old woman died in May 2024 after her power was cut off on a very hot day. Her son and an advocate say this shows an issue with state policies.
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
I learned to vibe code and made an artificial intelligence fact-checker in an afternoon. Now I have new thoughts about the future of media lydialaurenson.substack.com/p/vibe-codin...
lydialaurenson.substack.com
Vibe Coding and The Future of Media: I (Sort Of) Built An AI Fact-Checker
How I learned to stop worrying and love what artificial intelligence will do for journalism
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
I have an ongoing fascination with how it’s affected Twitter/X for all users to infer that the website owner can probably see their private likes on posts
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
My latest Substack post is a throwback to my early career as a roleplaying game writer: A mystical martial art inspired by shattered mirrors, made for an anime/wuxia game I’ll probably only do this once :) but I got some surprisingly good feedback for it already! open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
The Obsidian Shards of Infinity: A Mythic Martial Art (2006)
A fantasy martial art inspired by shattered mirrors
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
So this just happened over on X
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
@tehlorkay.bsky.social I LOVED your story “Tell Them” in @therebis.com - I picked up a copy of the magazine at a literary event last night and paged through it this morning. When I landed on your story it gave me chills and made me cry. Thank you for writing it. Is the story online anywhere?
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
New post: “The Time I Joined Peace Corps and Worked With an African HIV Program for Sex Workers in eSwatini” I’ve waited over a decade to tell these stories. It’s maybe strange that I feel like now is the right time, given everything that’s happening. But I do. open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
The Time I Joined Peace Corps and Worked With An African HIV Program for Sex Workers in eSwatini
Once upon a time, I joined the Peace Corps
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evacide @evacide.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Secret UK order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users. Some of us have been waiting for this showdown since 2016 when the Snoopers' Charter was passed. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts
Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple’s privacy pledge to its users.
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noodlesons.bsky.social @noodlesons.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Conscious ungoverning
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Ben Werdmuller @werd.io · 01/02/2025
Hi, friends. Here's what I want you to do: four simple things. It's not going to take long. Let's go. werd.io/2025/i-want-...
werd.io
I want you to do these four things right now
Four simple steps to keep yourself safe online.
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
My favorite author Tanith Lee is suddenly getting recommended a lot because Neil Gaiman reportedly stole a bunch of her stuff. So I seized the day and wrote a tribute to her. She’s brilliant and complex and worth reading, whether Gaiman stole her material or not. open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
Tanith Lee, Neil Gaiman, BDSM, Feminism, Et Cetera
This is really just the Tanith Lee tribute post I've been seeking an excuse to write
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Jane Friedman @janefriedman.com · 02/01/2025
I have overhauled my cornerstone article/handout on key book publishing paths. For the last 10 years, it's been 1 page. Now it's 2 pages. It better covers the finer distinctions writers now encounter in the market. Free to use/share/distribute, no permission required. Link below.
2025–2026 Key Book Publishing Paths by Jane Friedman (traditional publishing)2025–2026 Key Book Publishing Paths by Jane Friedman (other paths, non-traditional)
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Post you from a different era
Pic of Lydia Laurenson in her twentiesPic of Lydia Laurenson in her twenties
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
I reposted an interview about spirituality that I originally did years ago with Abraham Burickson, the artistic director of Odyssey Works. It was illuminating to learn more about this great artist’s spiritual worldview. His words still come often to my mind. open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
Spirituality, Art, and Architecture: Abraham Burickson, Conceptual Artist and Sufi Dervish (2017)
An interview with a brilliant conceptual artist about his personal spiritual history
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Italo Calvino’s "Invisible Cities" is, deservedly, a classic of magical realism. I recently heard a friend-of-a-friend was posting recordings of Calvino’s cities, with each city read by a different person. I volunteered. We chose for me the city of Raissa. cities.quipsoteric.com/episodes/49-...
cities.quipsoteric.com
Invisible Cities Cast
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Lydia Laurenson @lydialaurenson.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
I wrote a very short piece on the phrase “a translation is a betrayal” open.substack.com/pub/lydialau...
open.substack.com
"A Translation Is A Betrayal"
Is it?
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Sensitive Skin Magazine @sensitivemag.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Love this!
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