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Vivienne Ming

@socos.org
170 followers 1 following 2.3K posts

Professional Mad Scientist socos.org Professional Mad Scientist My amazing new book, "Robot-Proof": socos.org/robot-proof "It’s fascinating. It’s terrifying. It’s funny!"

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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 30/09/2026
What makes humans remarkable in the age of AI? @guykawasaki [1] and I dug into it on Remarkable People. Short answer: AI should make us better explorers, not better at outsourcing our thinking. Give it a listen: guykawasaki.com/what-makes-h... [1] Yes! That Guy Kawasaki!
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 21/09/2026
I on the 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑰𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 podcast: "Every time AI answers for you, part of your brain may switch off. Theoretical neuroscientist [Me!] explains why, including a striking claim about GPS use and Alzheimer's risk.' Give it a listen; I'm told it's great! open.spotify.com/episode/3Vkm...
open.spotify.com
Is AI Making Us Dumber?
This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg · Episode
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 19/09/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: To dive into speculative explorations of layered cognition, automated minds, and dream engineering, try the previously mentioned Gnomon by Nick Harkaway. libro.fm/audiobooks/9...
libro.fm
Gnomon by Nick Harkaway Narrated by Ben Onwukwe Audiobook on Libro.fm
From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state, that is equal parts dark comedy, gripping detectiv...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 14/09/2026
Look who's headlining at Techonomy26! Come hear me say non-insane things about AI that will nonetheless make some people apoplectic. The theme is "Intelligence at Scale". Buy some tickets: worth.com/event/techon...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 11/09/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: Ex Machina is film that most comes to mind as a study of how an artificial system weaponizes human social expectations, gender dynamics, and empathy to bypass security protocols. Does the artificial feme fatale ever “feel” anything the entire time? Can she?
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 08/09/2026
The tech industry is currently obsessed with an anthropomorphic sleight of hand. Rather than selling AI tools with clear value in augmenting existing employees or as robust automated pipelines, leading AI labs and enterprise software vendors are pitching "autonomous digital coworkers"...
academy.socos.org
Stop Calling It 'Alex': The Theater of Synthetic Coworkers
The tech industry is currently obsessed with an anthropomorphic sleight of hand. Rather than selling AI tools with clear value in augmenting existing employees or as robust automated pipelines, leadin...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 04/09/2026
This week I shared papers on the frequent optimality of decentralized collective behavior. For the exact opposite, try "A Trade of Blood" by Robert Jackson Bennett, Book 3 of the “Ana and Din Mysteries”.
libro.fm
A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett Narrated by Andrew Fallaize Audiobook on Libro.fm
Detective Ana Dolabra must prove a condemned man’s innocence and confront a terrifying magical technology in this fantasy-mystery from the bestselling author of The Tainted Cup, winner of the Hugo and...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 01/09/2026
Most think coordination requires an architect. Whether managing a distributed engineering sprint, migrating a bird flock, or keeping a mammalian huddle warm in a blizzard, our intuition is to search for the command node, a conductor waving the baton, a centralized database holding the global lock.
academy.socos.org
The Thermodynamics of the Hive: How Flocks, Herds, and Bureaucracies Compute Without Managers
Most people think coordination requires an architect. Whether managing a distributed engineering sprint, migrating a bird flock, or keeping a mammalian huddle warm in a blizzard, our default intuition...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 31/08/2026
Argmaxxing
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 28/08/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: From the author of The Midnight Library comes the seemingly unrelated The Midnight Train. It was very cosy, a warm fantasy blanket somewhat in the vein of Life After Life, but with a decidedly uncomplicated attitude about what makes a good life. A literal dream about second chances.
libro.fm
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig Narrated by James Norton Audiobook on Libro.fm
When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop? No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. The chance to re-live the moments that meant most. To see what ...
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Reposted by Vivienne Ming
Sainsbury Library @sainsburylib.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
🤖👨‍💻 If AI can do more of our work, what should people focus on? Robot-Proof by @socos.org, featured in our @financialtimes.com Summer Books display, argues that the future belongs to those who develop the distinctly human qualities that machines can’t replace. Explore the full list: buff.ly/4kM9x26
Bright yellow book cover for Vivienne Ming's "Robot-Proof" showing three walking robots followed by a person carrying a flag and briefcase, with subtitle "When machines have all the answers, build better people," emphasizing the need to develop human skills.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 25/08/2026
Sep 8 at the super{summit} 2026: Come hear me talk about my new research of hybrid intelligence and innovating innovation (w/ Possibility Sciences). The entire amazing event runs September 8–10 at Convene in downtown San Francisco. Get tickets here: rewirecon.com Come for me; stay for the pie! [1]
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 24/08/2026
Hey #Chicago, come see me on Oct 8!
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 21/08/2026
𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒔 delivers more of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s lessons on speculative comparative cognition in a greentech Noir wrapper. libro.fm/audiobooks/9... ps. I like raccoons.
libro.fm
Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky Narrated by John Pirhalla Audiobook on Libro.fm
Philip Marlowe meets Redwall in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 17/08/2026
@forbes.com just named me to their #ForbesOver50 list, in the Innovation category. Keep doing things others are scared to do and you never grow old. [1] This was a genuine surprise, and I’m sincerely delighted. Thanks to Maggie McGrath, @mika-brzezinski.bsky.social and @knowyourvalue.bsky.social.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 14/08/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: Intelligence With Nobody Home. Every time I watch an agentic AI churn through a task, I think about the Scramblers, 9-limbed anaerobic things in Peter Watts' “Blindsight”. They out-think humanity at every turn despite nobody doing the thinking.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 13/08/2026
In Robot-Proof I asked why "nobody is innovating on innovation”. The #AI4Science crowd is finally publishing breakthroughs…that all look weirdly the same. Now it seems like nobody's innovating on innovation innovation. Go deeper with my free weekly research roundup: academy.socos.org/ai4science/
academy.socos.org
AI4Science
Agentic AI and the Automation of Scientific Discovery: Moving beyond task-specific ML: how multi-agent LLM systems are attempting to automate the full closed-loop cycle of hypothesis generation, code ...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 10/08/2026
www.possibilitysciences.org
possibilitysciences.org
Possibility Sciences™ | Explore Possibility Sciences — Innovate Today
Discover Possibility Sciences, the interdisciplinary field that drives innovation and systemic breakthroughs through structured, ethical, and accessible methods.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 10/08/2026
More podcast fun! Here's my episode, “How to Make Yourself and Your Kids AI-Proof with Vivienne Ming”, on the Feel Good Podcast with Kimberly Snyder. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
podcasts.apple.com
How to Make Yourself and Your Kids AI-Proof with Vivienne Ming
Podcast Episode · Feel Good Podcast with Kimberly Snyder · July 13 · 54m
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Reposted by Vivienne Ming
Citizen of Somewhere Else @citizense.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Turns out @cnewf.bsky.social was also making this point! I got to it most directly from @socos.org Robot-Proof and conversations with SUNY and UFS folks; read his case here: isrf.org/blog/no-ai-w...
isrf.org
No, AI Won’t Take Your Job—If Universities Do Theirs
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 07/08/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: This has been strongly recommended to me. Let's give it a try. 𝑮𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒏. www.audible.com/pd/Gnomon-Au...
audible.com
Gnomon
Check out this great listen on Audible.com. From the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state, that i...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 04/08/2026
Four new studies suggest the fertility decline is less about the cost of children than about the connections that come before them. Dive into the research in this week's free newsletter. academy.socos.org/the-teen-fer...
academy.socos.org
The Teen Fertility…Crisis?!?
Four new studies suggest the fertility decline is less about the cost of children than about the connections that come before them. For half a century, the standard explanations for falling birth rat...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 03/08/2026
Sam Altman just called cognitive atrophy an underexamined risk of the AI era. My lab has been measuring what protects against it…and it isn't “AI skill”. I talk about teens and atrophy in 2 new interviews.
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Reposted by Vivienne Ming
Citizen of Somewhere Else @citizense.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Reading @socos.org Robot-Proof has got Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions and @charliejane.bsky.social All the Birds in the Sky rolling around in my head
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 31/07/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: Does anyone else think the Rick & Morty’s “Mortgully: The Last Rickforest” must have been a response to Adventure Time’s “Food Chain”? It begs the question, who’s worse: Magic Man or a selfish Ent?
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 28/07/2026
We worry about AI that is too powerful, too wrong, or too strange. A subtler worry runs through 3 of the most discussed AI papers of the past year: the danger of AI that is too agreeable. Each paper examines a different way today's chatbots sand away friction. academy.socos.org/the-friction...
academy.socos.org
The Frictionless “Friend”
Three of the year's most talked-about AI studies on a single quiet danger: chatbots that are too easy to like. We tend to worry about AI that is too powerful, too wrong, or too strange. A subtler wor...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 26/07/2026
I was truly looking forward to speaking at San Diego ComicCon this year as part of a panel of scientist scifi fans. Unfortunately, the initial tentative invitation never turned into the real thing. I hope everyone is having fun (guessing wildly about Doomsday). Next Year!
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 22/07/2026
For decades, the hippocampus has been cast as the brain's inner GPS. In the 1970s, researchers found "place cells", which fire when an animal is in a particular spot. The discovery earned a Nobel Prize and a tidy story: this is the structure that tells you where you are.
academy.socos.org
Coming Attractions: How Your Brain Previews the Future
Three new studies on the same surprising idea — that the brain's "inner map" is really a planner. For decades, the hippocampus has been cast as the brain's inner GPS. In the 1970s, researchers found ...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 20/07/2026
𝟑 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲. I covered 3 studies this week. Separately, they're interesting. Together, they're a mugging in slow motion.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 17/07/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: This week's pick will surprise exactly no one who follows me: Adrian Tchaikovsky’s newest, Children of Strife. I enjoy nearly everything he writes—sci-fi, fantasy, short stories—and so a fourth Children of Time book was always going to end up in my hands. www.audible.com/pd/Children-...
audible.com
Children of Strife
Check out this great listen on Audible.com. The acclaimed voice of the Children of Time Universe, Mel Hudson, returns for this highly-anticipated fourth instalment.They thought they’d found refuge.But...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 14/07/2026
Signing 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 at MIT (and not looking puffy at all).
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 14/07/2026
In this week's Research Roundup, explore the rapidly growing ecosystem of prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket, Kalshi), analyzing who actually profits, the persistent cognitive biases of retail traders, and the mechanisms driving wealth transfer. academy.socos.org/predicting-d...
academy.socos.org
Predicting Disaster: The Microstructure of Prediction Markets
This week we explore the rapidly growing ecosystem of prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket, Kalshi), analyzing who actually profits, the persistent cognitive biases of retail traders, and the mechanis...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 13/07/2026
Huge news! My working paper behind David Brooks’s Atlantic article and my WSJ & FT op-eds AND the audiobook of 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇 dropped this week!
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 10/07/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: The Subtle Art of Folding Space isn't hard scifi but it is twisty ideas of comfort food and multiversal physics in superposition. I can understand why it won awards even while confounding many readers. I wouldn’t be in the mood for this every day, but it was tasty and twisty to noodle on.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 07/07/2026
My next newsletter focuses on the emerging field of interbrain hyperscanning—recording brain activity from multiple individuals simultaneously—to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of shared learning, collaborative memory, and trauma recovery. Enjoy! academy.socos.org/measuring-th...
academy.socos.org
Measuring the Neural Symphony
We’re focusing on the emerging field of hyperscanning—recording brain activity from multiple individuals simultaneously—to understand the neurobiological underpinnings of shared learning, collaborativ...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 07/07/2026
I had a fun conversation with William Gadea. Here's the video: youtu.be/2edHMD4bs-w
youtu.be
Human–AI Collaboration: Why "Cyborgs" Beat Everyone — with Neuroscientist Dr. Vivienne Ming
YouTube video by What Is Mind?
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 06/07/2026
I’m truly honored to be cited in David Brooks's new 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 essay on thriving in the AI age. My research: signs of cognitive effort drop sharply when we lean on AI. His point: the future belongs to the people willing to do the hard mental work. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The People Who Will Thrive in the AI Age
What will differentiate people is not how smart they are but their relationship to mental effort.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 03/07/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: The Amazing Digital Circus came to me sideways, through an episode of the How Did This Get Made? podcast, with no idea what I was in for.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 02/07/2026
How fancy, schmancy: I'm giving a book talk at the Harvard Club in Manhattan next week (July 8). Join me if you dare!
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 30/06/2026
Let’s explore how technological shifts—specifically AI automation and remote work—are restructuring task allocation, changing the demand for early-career workers, and redefining the premium on human expertise. academy.socos.org/the-career-l...
academy.socos.org
The Career Ladder → The Career Fire Escape
Let’s explore how technological shifts—specifically AI automation and remote work—are restructuring task allocation, changing the demand for early-career workers, and redefining the premium on human e...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 29/06/2026
No, AI isn’t giving you Alzheimer's, but how you are using it…for that matter how we use any technology, is a choice about your cognitive future. I chatted with Thibault Spirlet about “Why [I] worry outsourcing thinking to AI could weaken your brain's defenses against dementia”.
businessinsider.com
Why a neuroscientist worries outsourcing thinking to AI could weaken your brain's defenses against dementia
"How you use AI, not how often, will determine its impact," Vivienne Ming, a theoretical neuroscientist and AI researcher told Business Insider.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 26/06/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: Two for the Price of One Good Time. This week's double feature pairs a snarky SecUnit with a squad of unhinged mages.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 23/06/2026
𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. Our evaluation systems for AI is deeply flawed—vulnerable to hacks, culturally stereotyped, and masking fundamental cognitive deficits behind an illusion of fluency. Dive in to this week’s newsletter at academy.socos.org/benchmarking...
academy.socos.org
Benchmarking Badness
We are racing toward advanced AI using a broken speedometer. As AI integrates into society, we rely on benchmarks to tell us how "smart", "safe", or "aligned" these models are. But these 3 papers reve...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 22/06/2026
Back in Stockholm for the Future of Talent Summit! 🇸🇪✨
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 19/06/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I’ve worked my way through a third of my read/watch list from last week. 1. It’s an unneeded recommendation but narky, neurotic Murderbot and his favorite soap operas continue to make me happy. www.audible.com/pd/Platform-...
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 18/06/2026
…𝐨𝐫, 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨-𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐲𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Famed economists Autor & Acemoglu argue that we are suffering from a pervasive "pro-automation ideology" and they propose a framework separating technologies that merely replace human labor from those that create new tasks and expand human expertise.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 17/06/2026
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐭 [1] Does leaning on AI degrade human reasoning? A randomized trial of law students produced an appropriately messy result.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 16/06/2026
𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞. Imagine you could hear every cry for help on the planet and you had the power to help. This Superman story [1] revealed the price: every moment you took for yourself—every sip of coffee or casual conversation, every night's sleep—was a lost life you could have saved.
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 15/06/2026
I'm thrilled to share that the Financial Times named 𝑹𝒐𝒃𝒐𝒕-𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇: 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑩𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 as one of its Best Books of the Summer. If you too have enjoyed it, please share it with friends! 📚
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Vivienne Ming @socos.org · 12/06/2026
𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆: I’m still looking for some science fiction and fantasy worth recommending. So, I’ll share my reading and watching list: 1. Children of Strife, Children of Time: Book #4 by Adrian Tchaikovsky (I’m starting with a definite win!)
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