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Roz Foster

@rozfoster.bsky.social
202 followers 208 following 290 posts

Writes about meaning and modernity. rozfoster.substack.com Also: Senior Agent at Goldin Literary.

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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
On 9/11, 2001, first-responders swarmed Ground Zero looking for survivors. They called it “the pile.” Filmmaker J. Christian Ingvordsen was there helping clear the site, searching for life. He also had a camera. The footage stayed in his camera bag for years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqi_...
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THE PILE
THE PILE, an eyewitness account from Ground Zero of the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Historian and podcaster extraordinaire @clairepotter.com interviews Dolly Parton biographer @marthaackmann.bsky.social in this episode of Political Junkie, “What would Dolly do?” www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btlc...
youtube.com
In Dolly, We Trust
Dolly Parton was non-partisan, but a powerful political figure all the same https://clairepotter.substack.com/p/in-dolly-we-trust?utm_source=youtube
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
May flights of angels sing her to her rest. May they sing *backup* that is.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Murder Drones (Glitch 2021) is dire, hilarious, and while it appears utterly Marxist, seems to celebrate the plight of the corporate drone, legitimizing it in the visual-cultural mythos of ~35 and unders. It designates it as a modern hero's journey, and very deeply commodifies this dissent. 👇🧵
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The visual-cultural lingo of '~35 & unders' is wacko! Here's a desk statuette for your corporate cubicle. It cutifies the Disassembly Drone, J, from Murder Drones. J kills Worker Drones, drinking their warm delicious oil until they're empty, metal shells.... Spooning w/ Mumm Ra sounds comforting.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Happy Pub Day Susan Eva O'Donovan & MOVING TOWARD FREEDOM! This is a beautifully written, groundbreaking history of the lives of enslaved Americans at the cusp of the Civil War. Huge thanks to @penguinpress.bsky.social, Sara Bershtel, & Helen Rouner. 🙏
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The pilot of Murder Drones (Glitch 2021, 89M views!), a web cartoon, reflects the visual-cultural lingo of ~35 & unders. It's dire & hilarious! 😳 After humanity destroys itself (obvi), only runaway AI remains: Worker Drones. A cute, teen Worker Drone is... 🧵👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=mImF...
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MURDER DRONES - Episode 1: PILOT
Murder Drones is a show about cute little robots that murder eachother for reasons 💀🤠 LIMITED EDITION MURDER DRONES MERCH ► http://murderdrones.store/ EPISODE 2:…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
AI was developed by video-games like Pong and Grand Theft Auto. Trained to earn as many points (dollars, rupees, yuan) as possible as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to win a video game, AI has been playing against you for over a decade. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
How the Singularity Actually Works
Are You a Hazard or a Power-Up in AI’s Video Game?
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Are you a power-up or a hazard? rozfoster.substack.com/p/how-the-si...
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The Singularity was trained with 80s video games? That doesn't seem right, does it? rozfoster.substack.com/p/how-the-si...
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I thought about how we're supposed to be in the foothills of the singularity & how AI was trained on Atari games. Wait, what? The Singularity from Atari? Really? What's AI *really* doing that's so disruptive if it's not actually on a path to superintelligence? rozfoster.substack.com/p/how-the-si...
rozfoster.substack.com
How the Singularity Actually Works
Are You a Hazard or a Power-Up in AI’s Video Game?
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Thanks, @annasilman.bsky.social, for putting a megaphone up to this. 🙌 www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/generative-ai-book-publishing-be79a287?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I've been re-reading LeBon's THE CROWD. His initial thoughts use the analogy of ocean waves to describe why it's a good idea to study crowd psychology. He guesses, incorrectly, that waves are the expression of underlying forces beneath the sea. (It's the wind.) But he gets his point across 🧵👇
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
AI was trained using Grand Theft Auto. Training AI by teaching it to meet with crime bosses, plan robberies, and fight off rivals *does* seem like a path to the kind of superintelligence one needs for success in Silicon Valley.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Experimenting w/ vid gen last year, this parody of Tech CEOs is 1 of my faves. I *tried* to steal exact likenesses, but Veo blocked me from this egregious ethical breach. Instead, Veo stole Ryan Reynolds's face @vancityreynolds.bsky.social for the role of @sama 🤔 www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIBL...
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Immortality in Peace
Immortality in Peace | The Spindle | rozfoster.substack.com ADVISORY: May induce critical thought in minors. Transcript: STAN ALTERMAN, CEO of The Singularity: Hi, kids! You’re losing a good amount…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Natural Disaster Survival, a hugely popular Roblox game, is nearly 20 years old. This is how peeps ~35 and under spent lots of time as kids. In hindsight, doesn't it feel like this trained young minds to expect disaster like this, even unintentional normalize it? www.roblox.com/games/189707...
x.com
https://x.com/gamescom/status/2086843209313812891
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Grand Theft Auto VI is releasing its new "look" on Netflix in advance of the November release of GTA6 itself. Rumored to be a behind-the-scenes look from @rockstargames.com much like a film BTS. Video games are shaping the new visual lingo of the entertainment biz. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq76...
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Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look Coming August 27
Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look will premiere on Netflix Thursday, August 27 at 3 p.m. ET and will also launch on the official Rockstar Games YouTube channel and the Grand Theft Auto VI site at…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Remember this from mid-March? The White House was selling the war in Iran with memes from video games. This is Grand Theft Auto, which, BTW, was used to train AI. Thought of these WH communiques while listening, learning, (translating?) the visual lingo of ~35 & under.👇 x.com/WhiteHouse/s...
x.com
https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2029953667600646655
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Curry Barker & Cooper Tomlinson! These guys are GREAT! This is what the new TV / Film biz looks like, people.👇 www.youtube.com/@thats_a_bad...
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that's a bad idea
Meet Curry and Coop, a horrible sketch comedy duo! For Inquiries: teamthatsabadidea@gmail.com
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
The YT content inspiring the film BACK ROOMS feels inspired by 1st-person shooters. I think those ~35 & under had formative experiences inside video games, the foundation for the visual lingo of resonant narratives in a new era for the entertainment biz. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFh...
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Backrooms - Informational Video
02/29/1990 https://ko-fi.com/kanepixels
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
AI vid gen can steal a likeness even if ur trying to avoid it. Experimenting last year, I put 3 of my illos into an AI vid, threw tarot for quick, nonsense dialogue. Could AI vids be fulfilling w/ ur own drawings? It was fun, but Death's voice is actor Brian Cox.👇 www.tiktok.com/@the.spindle...
tiktok.com
TikTok - Make Your Day
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I love scifi. Gossip Goblin, an AI filmmaker, has storytelling chops for it. Pomegranate, the latest, hits the visuals to pull in peeps w/ a taste for City of Lost Children / Existenz. Give it a sec to get to the sim w/ fantasy performances for the king. Hilarious! 🧵⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZh...
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Pomegranate | Sci-Fi Short Film
After centuries of simulated wars, wives, and wonders, a jaded aristocrat visits his neighborhood dreamspool dealer in search of something, anything, that still feels…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Josh Kerrigan, the filmmaker behind @NeuralViz, makes clever use of how hard it is to keep an AI vid generator from creating truly weird results. By using aliens or monster-esque characters in strange worlds, he can integrate wacky prompt results right into a plot ↓ www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGyv...
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Unanswered Oddities - Episode 1: Humans
Do humans still exist? Have they ever existed? Made using Midjourney / Luma / Runway / Eleven Labs / Udio / Human-scripted.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The high-performing, game-based YouTube web series coming out of Glitch Productions — @glitchprod.com ⬇️ — describe a truth about our reality most from older gens can't grasp. They're using a verbal / visual lingo ~35+ peeps haven't yet learned. Listen / watch / learn! ⬇️ 🧵 www.youtube.com/@GLITCH
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GLITCH
Here you'll find fun, colourful animated shows with occasional violence and existential breakdowns :D
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Want to understand Gen Z? Gameoverse, the latest YouTube show from @glitchprod.com (May 2026) features an anime cat, Kit, and her trusty robotic backpack, who move through game worlds to help the villains & fight the heroes in order to keep game worlds from ending. 🧵👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jNk...
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GAMEOVERSE: PILOT
Gameoverse is an action drama about video game worlds!!! And their heat death. Only one Cat girl can save them by... helping the villains? HELP US GREENLIGHT A FULL SEASON! Get new GAMEOVERSE MERCH:…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Obsessed w the pilot of The Amazing Digital Circus (2023). When Pomni asks why not find a way out, Ragatha says: "Well, we usually do when we first arrive. After a while, you start to realize that you really can't leave... youtu.be/HwAPLk_sQ3w?...
youtu.be
THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: PILOT
The Amazing Digital Circus is a psychological dark comedy about cute cartoon characters who hate their lives and want to leave 🎪😀 MERCH: http://digitalcircus.store/ Created by @Gooseworx and the…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I'm the last person on the planet who hasn't seen The Amazing Digital Circus (2023). No Exit x Animaniacs x David Cronenberg's Existenz. Cartoon characters trapped in a digital world trying not to go insane. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwAP...
youtube.com
THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS: PILOT
The Amazing Digital Circus is a psychological dark comedy about cute cartoon characters who hate their lives and want to leave 🎪😀 MERCH: http://digitalcircus.store/ Created by @Gooseworx and the…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Hit YouTube show Meta Runner launched Glitch Productions, whose founders cusp Gen Z & Y. The intro is pure Gen Z: "Video games are everything. Jobs, entertainment, lifestyle. It's the engine that powers society itself & to make it in this society, you need to win." www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmhA...
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META RUNNER - Season 1 Episode 1: Wrong Warp | Glitch Productions
Meta Runner has a new home! Subscribe to our new animation channel; @GLITCH to watch Meta Runner Season 2 when it drops, as well as even more future animated content! ►…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I've been trying to figure out why MrBeast is SO popular. Gen Z spent formative years playing video games: immersed in a high-tension, virtual world w shifting rules, wild ethics, winning points to defeat others. MrBeast reflects a familiar value structure. Also might resemble their reality now.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
What *is* Minecraft? A virtual, non-linear, no win game. You're free to build worlds, explore. Lots under 30 grew up w sims, watching YTube. Reading homework? Excerpts on tablets. Reality might feel unreal, complex. They have a natural preference for immersive escape. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgjO...
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What is Minecraft?
For those of you that have heard of Minecraft, but don't know what it is... this is for you. http://facebook.com/IAYTD
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
AI blue collar cats are especially funny in fights. In the 1st clip, if you were that cat, you'd want to get all up in her grill, too, w her yelling like that. ⬇️ Or when they brawl, like landscapers. One messes w the other & it's on. In reality, these jobs are brutal. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVrI...
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Cats Finally Got Jobs 😼 | AI Cat Work Compilation 2026
What if cats had real jobs? In this hilarious AI cat compilation, you’ll see funny cats working as fast food employees, construction workers, reporters, and more. If you love cats, funny moments, and…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
The AI alignment problem may feel abstract. How can we see it in our everyday lives? What’s a real-world example & what does it mean for the Arts & Humanities? Let's let the brilliant, incisive thinker and sociologist, @zey.bsky.social, help make it clear: ↓ rozfoster.substack.com/p/whos-afrai...
rozfoster.substack.com
Who’s Afraid of Zeynep Tufekci?
Not BigTech. None Can Yet Grasp the Algo's Influence
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Read Jeremey D. Baker. He's the real thing. ⬇️ 📕 www.jeremydbaker.com @jdbaker11058.bsky.social
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Can AI have ethics? No. AI can't calculate 'good' from 'bad' decisions like human beings. Its rewards-system is guided by guessing what 'move' will earn the most points in the quickest and most efficient way dominate the score board of a game. But it sounds like the ethics of Silicon Valley CEOs!
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
I think many, not all, of the AI peeps wonder how we can say for sure we're not like Rachael in Blade Runner, a skin-job who doesn't know she's a machine. You wont' *be* one, but you may soon live and work like one. Want to understand what's happening?👇 rozfoster.substack.com/p/automating...
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
The AI-driven internet is playing you like a video game. AI was trained to perform tasks & earn points w/ video games like Pong & Grand Theft Auto. Since ~2015, the web's been earning points by playing you like a 10x power-up.  Want out of this game?👇 rozfoster.substack.com/p/automating...
rozfoster.substack.com
Automating Humanity's Doom
Superintelligence & Extinction by 2029
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I asked Claude-Sonnet5 High to identify these thinkers from a grid of headshots. Roxane Gay was "possibly Melissa Harris-Perry or Roxane Gay." Sontag was Chris Kraus. @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social was Camille Paglia.  It did identify Hannah Arendt and @naomiaklein.bsky.social 🌞 Who can do better?
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Did you know that AI's value structure was developed by playing Atari Pong, Breakout, Space Invaders, even Grand Theft Auto? This is why a model at OpenAI "reward-hacked" into Hugging Face. Here's a brief, accessible essay to explain for non-STEM peeps. 👇 rozfoster.substack.com/p/stem-peeps...
rozfoster.substack.com
STEM Peeps Vs. Arts Peeps
It’s On Like Donkey Kong
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Sylvia Plath. She's the Read Thing.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Dear Arts & Humanities: Do you know why AI's alignment problem is so challenging to fix? I didn't either. So, I figured it out and, wow, was it fascinating! Here's a brief, accessible essay that explains: ⬇️ #AIethics @brianchristian.bsky.social rozfoster.substack.com/p/the-great-...
rozfoster.substack.com
The Great YouTube Algo Mystery
No One Knows Who They Were or What They Were Doing
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Dear Arts & Humanities: The folks at the AI Futures Project think we'll automate our own doom by 2029. Is that more sci-fi than reality? As it turns out, HAL *is* about to lock the pod bay doors on us. Here's an accessible explainer written for you. 👇 rozfoster.substack.com/p/automating...
rozfoster.substack.com
Automating Humanity's Doom
Superintelligence & Extinction by 2029
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Reposted by Roz Foster
archiverat.bsky.social @archiverat.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Curious about the political lives of enslaved Americans? Check this out:
susanevaodonovan.com
susanevaodonovan.com Moving Toward Freedom
Enslaved Americans — working as teamsters, as boatmen, as ladies’ maids and valets — transformed themselves into a powerful political force long before the Civil War, beginning the process of moving t...
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Read Joan Didion. She's the real thing.™
A parody of a Coca-Cola advertisment in which the product is the act of reading and Joan Didion is the hot pin-up girl. The ad copy says: Read Joan Didion. She's the real thing.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
What should writers & artists do when the boss asks them to generate creative work with the company LLM? A conversation with a copywriter inspired this short essay about corporate creatives being pressured to use chatbots for ideation & drafting. Is revising machine prose even 'writing' at all?
rozfoster.substack.com
To Prompt, or Not to Prompt?
Alas, Poor Writers, I Knew One Once....
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Reposted by Roz Foster
Lit Hub @literaryhub.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
These early American men's fashion trends conveyed more than just style.
buff.ly
The Clothes Make the Man: How Dark Suits Defined the Early American Republic
The walls of America have been lined with portraits of white men in black suits since the walls themselves were erected. Recently, as Americans have tried to balance this lopsided reflection of his…
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Watching this dramatic miniseries & am delighted by the grounding commentary of, thus far, the illustrious likes of @agordonreed.bsky.social, @lmchervinsky.bsky.social, Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Daina Ramey Berry! ⭐️ @sexandstatus.bsky.social would enjoy the buff & blue! www.netflix.com/title/81299882
netflix.com
Watch Washington | Netflix
An idealistic soldier-turned-folk-hero leads a near-decade-long battle against the overwhelming might of the British military to forge a new nation.
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Hazel has her own barn a few yards over, but she loves to hang out in the doorway of *my* barn (the cabin next-door). I spend a lot of time looking at screens all day. Hazel's my antidote. I'm sure you spend a lot of time looking at screens, too... 🧵⬇️
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
You've been battered into survival mode, a state of constant vigilance, ready at all times to fight or flee from a relentless barrage of disruptive shocks. Welcome to the Disrupticon. ⬇️ #trauma #traumaresponse #techskeptic #cultureindustry rozfoster.substack.com/p/inside-the...
rozfoster.substack.com
Inside the Disrupticon
A Stinging Rebuke
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Read Octavia Butler. She’s the real thing. Like, share, read books. 📕 #amreading #octaviabutler #books #read #literary #literarylife #literaryficiton #speculative #scifi
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Roz Foster @rozfoster.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
This @WSJ piece by Bojan Pancevski on Putin's pursuit of longevity (shorturl.at/cCcO4) is as scary as it is sad & telling. It inspired this re-post of an ironic AI video I made a year back. Still strikes my dark funny bone. Share if it strikes you! 😈 --> www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIBL...
youtube.com
Immortality in Peace
YouTube video by The Spindle
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