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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix

@melhogan.bsky.social
7.8K followers 3.6K following 3.1K posts

Canadian critical media studies scholar and podcaster interested in the meanings we make of perpetual tech promises. Bilingue. Focused on the environment. I typo a lot. 😷🏳️‍🌈 🎙️ thedatafix.net 📝 heliotropejournal.net

PostsRepliesMedia
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 10h
disjunctionsmag.com/articles/end...
disjunctionsmag.com
The Ends of AI
Sycophancy and psychosis
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 10h
So, it might be easier to act now — to resist the data centre buildouts that usher in their worldviews — than to rebuild a society that has collapsed from a failed social experiment.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 10h
The delusions of the Oligarchs might at first manifest as infrastructure, but we will later have to analyse them as societal ruins.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 12h
this is even more depressing than ai
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 17h
pca.st/episode/e376...
pca.st
The inconvenient truth about convenience culture
In the mid-20th century, convenience was presented as 'the wave of the future,' where revolutionary home appliances would reduce work and save time. Today, convenience drives the success of…
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Reposted by Mél Hogan / The Data Fix
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 20h
open.spotify.com/episode/1HMf...
open.spotify.com
Your Backyard Could Be Worth $10,000 to AI
QR Mornings with Sarah Crosbie · Episode
001
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 17h
www.theverge.com/tech/1003681...
theverge.com
If a data center is camouflaged in the woods, will anyone hate it?
Microsoft wants its data centers to blend in with nature.
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Reposted by Mél Hogan / The Data Fix
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Coming out next Monday on The Data Fix. In the meantime, treat yourself to the TRUST CONTROL series. It’ll change the way you think about everything. You’ll have trust issues!
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Reposted by Mél Hogan / The Data Fix
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 23h
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
First Nation chief says Bell, province bypassing duty to consult on AI data centre | CBC News
Two First Nations are challenging the construction of Bell Canada's AI data centre south of Regina, saying the project is moving ahead without consultation or adequate information about its environmen...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 20h
open.spotify.com/episode/1HMf...
open.spotify.com
Your Backyard Could Be Worth $10,000 to AI
QR Mornings with Sarah Crosbie · Episode
001
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 21h
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-d...
wsj.com
The ‘Country Hicks’ Who Refused $26 Million from an AI Data Center
A Kentucky mother and daughter turned down a life-changing offer for their farmland. The ensuing drama has left the town divided.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 21h
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
wsj.com
Every Household in This Rural Town Receives $10,000 if a Data Center Gets Built
Many Pennsylvania residents in Hazle Township are pushing back against the data center, despite the lure of the cash payout.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 21h
Had a great conversation live on air with Sarah Crosbie of QR Radio in Calgary about the increasing trend in the US of folks being offered $$$ for land by (usually anonymous) companies looking to build AI data centers. Could this happen in Canada?
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 23h
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
First Nation chief says Bell, province bypassing duty to consult on AI data centre | CBC News
Two First Nations are challenging the construction of Bell Canada's AI data centre south of Regina, saying the project is moving ahead without consultation or adequate information about its environmen...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
the same few companies that pushed everything to the cloud are now like oh no everything will be hacked in the cloud as if the cloud wasn't designed for some version of this, total control and total chaos
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
pca.st/podcast/28c8...
pca.st
Reaching Out
Hailed by Ira Glass as the “best new show I’ve heard in years,” and winner of the Audio Memoir Award of the Tribeca Film Festival, Reaching Out is a story about fathers, sons, and the distance between. The story begins on the eve of twin brothers’ Sayre and Connor’s 30th birthday, when they set out to find the biological father who abandoned them before they were born. Their search pulls them through desert raves, drunken nightclubs, and across borders of time and language, forcing the brothers to confront the truths they’ve hidden from each other and themselves. And it’s not long before the twins discover that their father is closer than they ever could have imagined.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF03168
recruit.ap.ucsb.edu
Assistant Professor in Media Industries and AI
University of California Santa Barbara is hiring. Apply now!
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skELLY @ellyzoe.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
* most fancy LLM models now include “agentic” behavior, wherein the ideas suggested by the LLM are verified somehow. This works GREAT for code and some math stuff etc, where there is a checkable Right Answer, and works like shit for other sorts of knowledge, where there isn’t.
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CyborgGoddess.bsky.social @cyborggoddess.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Thank you so much for the listen, and for your comments!! I'm glad that this was valuable and helpful for you. I've been working on the idea of community and connection and relationships with chatbots for years, and it was such a pleasure to talk to @melhogan.bsky.social l about it all!
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Thought of coming up to say hi but the fan line was long 😊
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Anyone interested in this topic might also love archive.transmediale.de/content/exit...
archive.transmediale.de
Exit and the Extensions of Man | transmediale
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Ted Palenski @tedpal.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So refreshing to hear critiques of (gen) AI that start from the idea of interdependence. 'Cognitive offloading' may be a concern, but it is one that can be dealt with via 'critical intervention' at the level of the individual. I shy away from this idea, especially as it continues to circulate
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Kate Kaye @katekaye.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This reminds me of an interview I did yrs ago with a woman in the blockchain world who joked that people attracted to blockchain "have trust issues." Trust Control Ep. 7 discusses assumptions about trust & transparency in blockchain & a blockchain court platform for EU online dispute resolution.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
muse.jhu.edu/resource/8
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - The Johns Hopkins Guide to Critical and Cultural Theory
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NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
2026 Stapleford Lecture with Dr. Mél Hogan - @melhogan.bsky.social - Data Refineries: How Data Centres Make the Politics of AI visible Wednesday – 18 November 2026 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Education Auditorium University of Regina niche-canada.org/2026/10/05/e... #envstudies #AI #tech #envmedia
niche-canada.org
Event - Data Refineries: How Data Centres Make the Politics of AI Visible
18 November 2026 - Regina - 2026 Stapleford Lecture with Dr. Mél Hogan - Canadians increasingly resist AI data centers, framing them as value-extracting "data refineries" while politicians promote loc...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Got to hear @naomiaklein.bsky.social and @astra.bsky.social tonight in Ottawa — everyone should be reading their book and contemplating end times fascism. www.penguin.co.uk/books/480399...
church venue with people waiting for klein and taylor to speak in ottawa
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Coming out next Monday on The Data Fix. In the meantime, treat yourself to the TRUST CONTROL series. It’ll change the way you think about everything. You’ll have trust issues!
1103
Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“Communities will face 33 million tons of harmful air pollution every year—with the power plant using the same amount of energy needed to run more than 1.9 million homes.”” arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
arstechnica.com
Amazon’s $1B plan to combat data center backlash draws more backlash
Amazon praised for ending NDAs but slammed for downplaying data center pollution.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
““For all the claims Amazon makes about investing in carbon-free energy, it conveniently leaves out that it is constructing the single-largest source of climate emissions in the United States in Pecos, Texas,” Stand.Earth said...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
considering almost 70% of canadians are against ai buildouts, you might want to have critics and scholars advising ..
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
just seems like one big conflict of interests www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
cbc.ca
Ottawa launches new national AI council to advise on safety, deployment | CBC News
Prime Minister Mark Carney's new national council on artificial intelligence is meant to provide the government with guidance on the evolution of its AI strategy and on making the technology safer.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
pca.st/episode/2652...
pca.st
The AI Buildout is a Boon for the Fossil Fuel Industry w/ Ketan Joshi
Tech companies are working with the fossil fuel industry to push unnecessary data center projects while misrepresenting the climate impact — and governments are letting it all happen. Ketan Joshi…
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Sure, why not! Thank you
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
If you’re in Regina at this time, consider coming to my talk “Data Refineries” about AI data centres in Canada. Open to all and free.
poster for nov 18 talk at u regina
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Finishing this book by @ceciliarikap.bsky.social - it is so good. Highly recommended.
cover of book The Rulers held by hand
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Vincent E @vincent-e93.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
this piece was written for a class on critical approaches to AI taught by Mél last year and personally two things are important about it for me. 1. the narrative about "poor boys" (aka participants of the colonial war) unfold supported by AI 2. thinking about AI in the context of ongoing war
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
www.heliotropejournal.net/helio/milita... by @vincent-e93.bsky.social
heliotropejournal.net
Military Slopaganda and The Colonial Logics of AI Race  — HELIOTROPE
By Vincent E. In a 10-second video, a man in a military uniform hugs his friends, plays with a dog and then walks up a stairway, leading to a light in the sky, as his friends wave him goodbye.
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Myrna Moretti @myrnamoretti.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Again not footage, but this team might have something! ontariodatacenters.ca/about.html
ontariodatacenters.ca
About — Ontario Data Centre Tracker
About Ontario Data Centre Tracker — an independent public resource for transparency around data centre development in Ontario.
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Worth a reread: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
(PDF) On Half-Built Assemblages: Waiting for a Data Center in Prineville, Oregon
PDF | In 2010 the mega-corporation Facebook finalized an agreement to build a massive data center in Prineville, a small town in central Oregon... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Re...
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New from @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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Kate Kaye @katekaye.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You two are makin' me blush. But seriously, folks, the Trust Control documentary podcast is in your fave pod app or streaming at AITrustControl.com.
aitrustcontrol.com
TRUST CONTROL
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
we’ll be in conversation on The Data Fix before too long 😊
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
pca.st/podcast/fc7a...
pca.st
Trust Control
Trust Control is a documentary podcast series about the weird yet surprisingly expansive world of trust measurement from investigative journalist and researcher Kate Kaye. Based on nearly a year of de...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Recommended: 👇https://youtube.com/@trustcontrolpodcast?si=7zLwOBbcusHXGImW
youtube.com
Trust Control
Trust Control is a documentary podcast about the weird yet surprisingly expansive world of "trust measurement" from journalist and researcher Kate Kaye. If you like Cold War history, weird science, ps...
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
link.springer.com/book/9783032...
book cover 

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
MEMORY STUDIES
Experiences of Nostalgia Politics, Media, Futures
Edited by
Katharina Niemeyer
palgrave macmitlan
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
www.cbc.ca/news/health/... what a reckoning it’ll be if covid also contributes to this
cbc.ca
Researchers are discovering more infections that can cause cancer | CBC News
New global research suggests 12 per cent of cancers were caused by infections, predominantly caused by HPV and H. pylori
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
*Starting
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Staring to think that big ai companies would rather crash the economy this way than admit a big dumb bubble…
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I have a feeling that some company’s “rogue ai” will eventually empty out a few bank accounts somewhere and it’ll cause a major panic and crash the global economy … i just have a hunch it’ll be something so stupid and dangerous that comes out of this ai moment
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Mél Hogan / The Data Fix @melhogan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"I went home, past the gas plants, with that memory in my throat." dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...
dissentmagazine.org
Death by Data Centers - Dissent Magazine
I’m an oncology nurse in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. My patients and I breathe the same polluted air, and we can’t afford the toxic exposure from the gas-fired plants set to power the state’s proposed A...
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