iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The authors of this book identify 3 converging strains of fascism: religious extremists convinced we’re in the end times; tech oligarchs scorching the earth in pursuit of AGI; and white nationalist politicians scapegoating immigrants to win votes. Yet there’s hope. A must-read book! #BookSky 📚 💙

End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein andAstra Taylor

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I read Jenny Erpenbeck’s Visitation (translated by Susan Bernofsky). It traces the life of a house built by a lake in the Brandenburg hills east of Berlin. The characters (some nameless) come and go across time. The gardener is a constant presence. A beautifully executed inventive novel. #BookSky 📚

Visitation by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Finished listening to The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy by journalist Gil Duran on libro.fm. A clear-eyed deep dive into the twisted worldview of the Tech oligarchs who are dismantling democracy and destroying the planet. 🌎 A must-read. 📕 #USDemocracy 💙 #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Emily St John Mandel is a great writer. Just finished reading Station Eleven, a pandemic-apocalypse novel featuring a traveling Symphony and Shakespeare troupe. The narrative deftly weaves between those moments and years leading up to and following the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it. #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Damn, what a timely gut-punch of a novel. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout. “Every day brought something new. On and on it went. Artie watched these things, and he slowly understood that what he felt the day of the election was true: His country was committing suicide.” #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

What a disappointment this book was. My BS detector was on high alert and I found it difficult to get to the end. Ok, SWW establishes that Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are greedy and awful, and that FB is a horrible social media platform. Q: What took her so long to leave? 🧐 #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The lengths to which sociologist Brooke Harrington goes to expose the secretive system of offshore finance are impressive. Using an ethnographic approach, she observes and interviews the wealth managers who protect the fortunes of the global ultra-rich. We should all be outraged. 🤬 #BookSky 📚

Offshore: Stealth, Wealth and the New Colonialism by Brooke Harrington

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI is another insightful book by Cory Doctorow. It cuts through all the hype surrounding AI and helps us understand the technology “not just for what it does, but for who it does it to and who it does it for.” As the bubble grows, be prepared! #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Loved this book. It’s a serious 3-phase framework that explains how big tech companies like Microsoft, Apple, Facebook (Meta), Google (Alphabet), Amazon :( and Twitter (X) have all turned to 💩 I’m now listening to his latest book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI on Libro.fm #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Sorry for the trouble. Received this response from BlueSky.

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Thanks for letting me know. I’ve reported it and BlueSky support tells me it’s a phishing attempt

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I received this from BlueSky support. It looks like a phishing attempt.

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

I listened to this audiobook on libro.fm Former US federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann argues for a new law to hold political liars to account when their lies undermine the institutions of democracy. Fascinating! I’m filled with hope. Brazil did it. Why can’t we? #BookSky 📚

Liar’s Kingdom: How to Stop Trump’s Deceit and Save America by Andrew Weissmann

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar features four voices from one family forced to flee Iran and seek asylum in Germany. Spanning four decades, from the 1979 Iranian revolution to the 2009 Green Movement protests, it’s a powerful account of oppression, resistance and hope. #BookSky 📚

The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar and translated by Ruth Martin.

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Another Ishiguro novel to take my mind off current events. This one, a near-future dystopian novel told from the PoV of Klara, an Artificial Friend. “Klara and the Sun” explores loneliness and obsolescence. It is an investigation of the human heart, of that which makes us human. #BookSky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Revisited “When We Were Orphans” by Kazuo Ishiguro after over 20 years. Christopher Banks, a self-absorbed and unreliable narrator, returns to Shanghai in the 1930s to confront his past and investigate how he lost his parents. Such a rich and multi-layered novel. #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Finished reading Karen Hao’s “Empire of AI”. She tracks the development of Open AI and ChatGPT from an insider’s perspective and reveals some alarming details. We’re in another age of empire and it’s unfolding in real time. Makes me never want to use AI again. #BookSky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Attended an interview with Amitav Ghosh organized by the Hong Kong Literary Festival this evening. He covered a range of themes, including past lives memories, opium’s influence on world history, the evils of capitalism, and the “great derangement”. Look forward to reading “Ghost-Eye” #BookSky 📚

Hong Kong Literary Festival 2026
Amitav Ghosh: Ghost-Eye
Date: 5 March, 2026
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Venue: Central Library

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This is the amazing story behind the Ibis Trilogy, and the main character is a history-altering plant: Opium. Ghosh traces the effects of the opium trade on Britain, India and China, and draws parallels between the Opium Wars in 19C China and the opioid epidemic in America today. 🌺 #BookSky 📚

Smoke and Ashes: Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I listened to The Storm Before the Storm by Mike Duncan as an audiobook while reading the ebook. Duncan chronicles the years 146-78 BC of the Roman Empire, a time of turmoil I knew little about before. Now listening to The History of Rome, the author’s podcast. Very engaging. #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Finished reading Han Kang’s “Human Acts” translated by Deborah Smith. In the violent crackdown of the 1980 student uprising in South Korea, a middle school boy is tragically killed. The events of his death surface through seven painful interconnected narratives. What is humanity? #BookSky 📚

Human Acts by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith (2015)

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Ann Telnaes captures Santa making his list.

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Reading “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here” by Jonathan Blitzer. Great reporting on the crisis at the US-Mexican border bringing together Central Americans fleeing political violence with American activists, government officials and politicians. Sheds light on decades of misguided policy. #BookSky

“Everyone who is gone is here” (2024) by Jonathan Blitzer

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Nothing like a light read to take the mind off current affairs. Grab a coffee and suspend disbelief. “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi explores our desire to revisit the past. We cannot change the past, but we can choose to accept it, and this will alter our future. #BookSky 📚

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

Read The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa between episodes of the Netflix adaptation. Highly recommend both. Sicily, 1860. The unification of Italy has begun. A time of major political and social change. “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” 🇮🇹 #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

An afternoon hike up Ma On Shan to Sai Kung, Hong Kong #hiking 🥾 #HongKong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Interesting. The headline has been rewritten since the article was first published.

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

On my reading list RIP Jane Goodall. We need your message of hope more now than ever. 🕊️ #BookSky 📚💙

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

What’s wild about You Dreamed of Empires is how Enrigue inserts himself and the reader into the narrative through the hallucinations of Moctezuma and Cortes, speculating on a counterfactual history of Mexico City starting with their consequential meeting at Tenochtitlan in 1519. 🌵 🍄 🐴 #BookSky 📚

You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/... Look forward to reading Randi Weingarten’s Why Fascists Fear Teachers #BookSky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Finished reading 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. Published in 2012 and set 300 years in the future, human “spacers” have harnessed technology and colonized the solar system, terraforming planets, moons and asteroids, while leaving an overpopulated, climate-ravaged Earth behind. Far out! 🚀 #BookSky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney is a great story for teachers. It’s set in the west of Ireland and features Jamie O’Neill, a boy with ASD who dreams of inventing a Perpetual Motion Machine. Jamie meets two teachers who help him navigate through his first year of secondary school. 🚣 #BookSky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Finished reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. Appreciated the descriptions of 17th century Amsterdam and the depiction of what life was like for its inhabitants. The story itself was often disappointing though. Too many implausible events. It might work better as a miniseries. 🤔 #booksky

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

I’ve read a number of Australian authors, including Richard Flanagan, Tim Winton and Kate Grenville. Just discovered Gregory Day. Set in 20th Century post-federation Australia, “The Bell of the World” explores nature and the connections between creativity, identity and place. #Booksky #books 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

A great day for cycling along Tolo Harbour, New Territories, HK 🚴 #hongkong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Finished reading Trust by Hernan Diaz, a compelling novel with Capitalism at its heart. Contains four competing narratives — a popular novel, an unfinished autobiography, a memoir and a diary — each uncovering the deceptions of the last and engaging the reader in a quest for the truth. 💵 #Booksky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Today’s walk: Pebbles Beach along Sai Sha Road #hongkong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Went for a stroll this afternoon to clear the mind along the beach in Wu Kai Sha. #walking 🥾 #hongkong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Finally finished Juice by Tim Winton amidst constant distractions in the news. Framed as a story within a story, it presents a bleak vision of our planet in the distant future: ruled by oligarchs, ravaged by climate change, and imperiled by AI tech. And yet there is hope. #Booksky #books 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Ching Ming Festival: A special day when local families sweep their ancestors’ tombs and pay their respects. It also marks the beginning of warm Spring weather. We went hiking on the MacLehose Trail, Stage 7, featuring the Shing Mun Reservoir, Needle Hill and Grassy Hill. #hiking 🥾 #hongkong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Took a short walk today in Ma On Shan. Weird weather for late March. Chilly and overcast, reflecting my mood. #Hongkong #walking 🥾

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

First hike in a long time. 20km around Plover Cove, Hong Kong #hiking #hongkong

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Just started Juice by Tim Winton

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Orbital by Samantha Harvey: One day (16 orbits) in the lives of six astronauts working at the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth. Meditations on life, death, art, science, religion, politics, progress, our fragile Earth, and what it means to be human. Loved it! 🌍 #books #booksky 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Finished reading Playground by Richard Powers. Playground is to oceanography and the mysteries of the deep as Overstory was to forestry and the secret life of trees. Powers is a masterful storyteller of the climate crisis, endangered ecosystems, and the uncertain future of AI. #booksky #books 📚

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. #Booksky #BookChallenge #Books 📚 Round 3: Nonfiction Day 20

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff

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Stephen L Cooley @slcool.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

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