Sign in

So Mayer

@suchmayer.northsky.social
5.8K followers 2K following 8.8K posts

They/them. Overthinker. Reads things, writes things. BAD LANGUAGE out now with Peninsula Press 🐉 THE WORD FOR WORLD (co-ed) out now with @silver-press.bsky.social 🌳 Website & newsletter: somayer.net. Won't age-verify so no DMs.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by So Mayer
Rowayat @rowayat.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
🪞 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗥 When we launched Issue 14, 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑠, in July, we said it would unfold as a rolling publication. Then our social channels went quiet. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁. Behind the silence, our editorial family kept reading, editing, translating and building.
221
Reposted by So Mayer
PEN International @peninternational.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#Mexico: We are concerned by a ruling in the restricting Karla de la Cuesta's book Todo a la luz, which documents survivors' testimonies of abuse. We call on authorities to guarantee editorial freedom and annul all sanctions. Full statement: www.pen-international.org/news/mexico-...
pen-international.org
Mexico: PEN International calls on Mexican authorities to guarantee editorial freedom and freedom of expression — PEN International | Promoting Literature & Defending Freedom of Expression Worldwide
‘A name mentioned in an investigation in the public interest is not a trademark. The use of industrial property rules to prevent Karla de la Cuesta, a survivor of abuse, from documenting what she and ...
195
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 20h
Hahahahhahahahahhahahhahahahahhahhahahhaah. I won't look back in anger (except at the toilets).
010
Reposted by So Mayer
The Heathen Historian 🔻 @heathenhistory.bsky.social · 22h
The fact that the tree is as old as the United States should not be lost on anyone. What a metaphor.
392372907
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 21h
Based on the absolute floodedness of the toilets on the train back from the Oasis show in Edinburgh last summer (I was not at the Oasis show), I'd say it was more like Relieve the Event.
140
Reposted by So Mayer
Sabrina Imbler @sabs.bsky.social · 23h
wrote about one of the craziest worms of all time defector.com/this-worm-ha...
defector.com
This Worm Has No Ifs And Many Butts | Defector
In the 1870s, as the research ship HMS Challenger passed through the Philippines during its circumnavigation of the Earth, it dredged up a sponge from the gray sludge 95 fathoms (nearly 600 feet) belo...
1115646
Reposted by So Mayer
Hammer and Hope @hammerandhope.bsky.social · 23h
A Gazan journalist documenting the Israeli genocide says every time a witness is killed, another is there to take up their work. hammerandhope.org/article/how-...
Graphic: How the Truth Survives in Gaza. By Hassan Herzallah. Photo showing a bomb crater in Gaza, with Palestinians lined up along its edges, looking into the bottom. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto, via AP
14015
Reposted by So Mayer
Bertha DocHouse @berthadochouse.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Our Christine Choy retrospective continues on 17 October with her newly restored 1984 film, Mississippi Triangle. An rare and intimate portrait of the Mississippi Delta, where Chinese, African American and white locals live in a complex world of cotton, labour and racial conflict.
012
Reposted by So Mayer
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"The reductive idea that R&B and hip-hop are the only genres legible to contemporary Black audiences is continuously perpetuated by the mainstream music industry." Kelela and Sesali Bowen on the music industry hammerandhope.org/article/kele...
hammerandhope.org
Kelela’s Guide to Surviving Men and Raves
The writer Sesali Bowen sits down with the artist to discuss sonic racism, “niggas who refuse to read,” and her latest album, “new avatar.”
24018
Reposted by So Mayer
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Hammer and Hope Issue #12 is out now, available for free in its entirety here. A short thread featuring a few of the articles: hammerandhope.org
hammerandhope.org
Hammer & Hope
A magazine of Black politics and culture
313765
Reposted by So Mayer
claire biddles @msclairebiddles.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
new wire! i rly enjoyed talking to tiiva about imbuing sampled vocals with emotion, sound-making as stimming, and their excellent new album on @bluetapes.bsky.social! i also reviewed releases by julia holter, dina maccabee + sarah belle reid! buy a magazine!
1203
Reposted by So Mayer
Maggie Hennefeld @hennefem.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Hot off the press!! New open-access issue of @jcmsjournal.bsky.social w/ a special dossier celebrating the 60th anniversary of DAISIES! 🎊🎂 quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jcms/oa-is...
2126
Reposted by So Mayer
Yvonne Lam @yvonnezlam.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
aha! acceleration arguments create an environment that makes it easier to ignore issues of consent. bsky.app/profile/such...
3299
Reposted by So Mayer
DJ, I presume? @computeloop.blacksky.app · 06/10/2026
From Meshell Ndegeocello's new album "Synonym": Be Real Black for Me - Meshell Ndegeocello, Lizz Wright, Emily King What a cover 🔥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmx9...
youtube.com
Be Real Black For Me
YouTube video by Meshell Ndegeocello - Topic
132
Reposted by So Mayer
Rachel Cordasco @rachelcordasco.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
So much great #SFinTranslation out this month! www.sfintranslation.com?p=17750
074
Reposted by So Mayer
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 06/10/2026
Really proud that my friend Naoko Kurahashi Neilson has played such a pivotal role in IceCube science, including leading the way on mapping the Milky Way through neutrino eyes! She's stellar! Leaders like Naoko helped make today's Nobel a possibility. 🧪⚛️🔭
physics.aps.org
Milky Way Viewed through Neutrinos
Using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, researchers have generated the first neutrino image of the Milky Way.
217637
Reposted by So Mayer
Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Working on this reported essay, just published, increasingly took over my life for the last two months. PEN America did a terrible disservice with its sloppy reporting about American Jews and Israelis in publishing in July. Josh Lambert and I tried to do better. jewishcurrents.org/what-pen-ame...
jewishcurrents.org
What PEN America Got Wrong About Antisemitism in Publishing
Misleading anecdotes, flawed data, and oversimplified analyses are at the heart of a narrative of Jewish exclusion promoted by the free expression…
822184
Reposted by So Mayer
Institute of English Studies @ies-sas.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Join our online short course aimed at staff handling rights for literary agencies and publishing houses, covering the rationale for selling rights as well as the practicalities ⏰ 12-17 November 2026, 14:00-17:30 UK time 📍 Online (via Zoom) Registration closes on 3 November 2026 BOOK NOW 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk
Selling Rights Short Course
021
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 06/10/2026
A good day to watch Anocha Suwichakornpong's second film BY THE TIME IT GETS DARK, which centres on an indie film crew making a film about the Thammasat massacre & goes hypnotically into the effects of trauma on memory and the present: player.bfi.org.uk/subscription...
player.bfi.org.uk
Watch By the Time It Gets Dark - BFI Player
Anocha Suwichakornpong's mesmerising and innovative treatise on memory, politics and cinema.
03914
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 06/10/2026
It's not about what we accept or don't accept, it's their framing, which is writing the historical narrative that we did indeed accept it & all sequelae are our fault, not theirs.
0100
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 06/10/2026
My point is that they are deliberately using the language of violent domination, which works to attribute false agency ("you accepted it") to those it coerces, while also removing any real agency & laying blame for not resisting (enough bc no resistance is ever enough in their narrative).
190
Reposted by So Mayer
Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This is why I love tchg in public libraries. Of course surveillance creeps in thru security apparatae + digital vendors’ user tracking, but the proprietors of these spaces are generally committed to autonomy + privacy. They’re places of non-compulsory, intergenerational, non-extractive learning.
04710
Reposted by So Mayer
Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
all infrastructure erodes consent, sometimes it bypasses it completely this is uncomfortable (& often problematic), but it should not be controversial to point out this fact
513039
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 06/10/2026
As I've said, the language/framing of commercial LLM techbros is the same as that of colonial occupation & of rape culture: "accept this is happening (against ur will bc we don't give a fuck about consent), accept bad things (happening to you not us), & be grateful for the supposed positives."
13212
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 06/10/2026
I think this is context-specific: in a chain bookstore, most books on genre shelf will be from commercial publishers only, with a heavy focus on canon & immediate frontlist. In an indie bookstore, there's more interfusion between genre and fiction shelves & more indies/cult/curated titles on both.
140
Reposted by So Mayer
JuliJess @julianajess.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Book Launch for "Thinking from Black: A Lexicon" hosted by The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church. Opening remarks from Kaiama Glover and readings from several contributors. Truly a revolutionary work of art. "Poetry sustains people and place." I'm very grateful to have been here tonite.
0114
Reposted by So Mayer
Lakeer @lakeermag.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Omair Danish spoke with Ali Baluch, a Baloch lens-based artist from Malir, Karachi. They talked about the impact of the Malir Expressway on the Malir River, sandmining, and how development projects have affected the lives of people and animals in the area. lakeermag.com/death-and-fl...
011
Reposted by So Mayer
Annick Ecuyer @annickecuyer.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I love how the answer in the article is to give your employees access to AI tools, because then they won't use the more insecure ones. How about a clear policy to not use AI and sanctions if you do? And it's easy to block the main AI websites.
161
Reposted by So Mayer
Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Romani language radio goes online and gets archived globalvoices.org/2026/10/05/w...
globalvoices.org
When radio finds a new digital voice: Bringing Romani language and culture online in Kosovo
Digital transformation does not always require expensive infrastructure or complex solutions. For community media, it can begin by taking valuable content that already exists and giving it a longer li...
1141
Reposted by So Mayer
Wagatwe Wanjuki @wagatwe.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"they're crazy" guess what rape does to your mental health! "she's broke" guess what rape does to your finances! "he's bitter" guess what surviving rape does to your vision of the world!
71298265
Reposted by So Mayer
Words Without Borders & WWB Campus @wwborders.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Next up in our 2026 series of National Book Awards interviews, @vicenteluismora.bsky.social and @rahulbery.bsky.social on CENTROEUROPA, a “brilliant and unsettling” story set in 1820s rural Prussia. Read their interview on the longlisted novel here: wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...
At the top, “Words Without Borders” in white text and “77th National Book Awards” in red text over black textured background. On the right side, images of the book cover of CENTROEUROPA, author Vicente Luis Mora and translator Rahul Bery. Blue and white text on the left reads: “National Book Awards Interview: Vicente Luis Mora and Rahul Bery on CENTROEUROPA.” White text on the bottom left reads: “Other visions followed over the next few weeks, and then I met Redo, the main character, in a luminous corner of my mind. And I said to Redo, ‘Do you want to write a novel?’ Redo accepted, and then it all started.”
043
Reposted by So Mayer
Lex McMenamin (they/them) @lexmcmenamin.com · 05/10/2026
it is interesting that I can't find any mainstream media coverage of Altman's sister Annie going viral on social media over the weekend for uploading footage of the first hour of her deposition in her lawsuit against him (one of two) in which she is alleging years of CSA
theguardian.com
Accept ‘bad things’ in return for benefits of AI, says Sam Altman
Boss of OpenAI calls for a regulatory light touch because of the ‘good stuff’ the technology can deliver
282072809
Reposted by So Mayer
nicole froio @nicolefroio.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
whats the point of building a life if these extractivist far right motherfuckers can just set up a social media account, get millions of views in months, and then get elected into office and given permission to destroy everything? what is the point?
2112
Reposted by So Mayer
Ruthanna Emrys @r-emrys.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I was reminded by an AI scam that my last Seeds of Story post was about exactly the tech dynamics that lead to AI scams: reactormag.com/artisanal-te...
reactormag.com
Artisanal Technology and Mechanical Brides: Ursula M. Franklin’s The Real World of Technology - Reactor
Exploring how tech and engineering interact with power, belief, and structures of freedom and control.
122
Reposted by So Mayer
Alex Brown 🇵🇸 (they/them) @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It's Banned Books Week. My fellow librarians, listen carefully: your book displays should be almost exclusively writers who are alive. Yes, I know classic literature is also being banned, but most of those authors are dead. They aren't suffering financially from bans and challenges.
12971385
Reposted by So Mayer
tuck woodstock @tuck.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The 12th(!) Gender Reveal grant cycle is now open for applications! As always, these funds are for organizing / community projects led by trans people of color. We are particularly interested in funding existing projects that materially support trans folks, queer people of color, immigrants, etc.
Are you a trans person of color doing rad art or community organizing work? we want to give you $1000! applications for the gender reveal podcast's 2026 grant program are open now through October 31. apply and learn more at genderpodcast.com/grant.We are specifically looking for projects that materially support trans folks, queer people of color, and/or other marginalized communities, as well as projects that foster exploration and celebration of gender diversity and trans lives. 

We accept applications from anywhere in the world. Collectives/groups are welcome to apply.

Grant recipients are chosen by a paid panel of trans judges of color. Winners will be announced by December 31, 2026. 

AI-written applications will be deleted.
111399
Reposted by So Mayer
Bertha DocHouse @berthadochouse.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
On 21 Oct, as part of #BloomsburyFestival, we’re hosting the World Premiere of What We Were and What We Are, a programme of docs made by first-time directors from the Sahrawi Refugee camps. Followed by a Q&A with filmmakers and members of IRSAAn, a health-based Sahrawi charity.
011
Reposted by So Mayer
Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
"Those who build walls are their own prisoners." --Ursula le Guin
231359
Reposted by So Mayer
Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
WELL NOW, would you look at that? A massive, 4-YEAR-LONG study of NEARLY 30 MILLION people in France found that individuals who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine had a 74% LOWER risk of death from severe COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated individuals and ZERO increased risk of all-cause mortality.
4838781215
Reposted by So Mayer
Josh Cook @joshthelibromancer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One of the things I loved about @dannycaine.com How to Defend Books and Why is how broadly he understands the freedom of expression, spending time on right to read in prison & the impact on the genocide in Palestine on books, things often sidelined during #BannedBooksWeek
portersquarebooks.com
How to Defend Books and Why: Book Bans and How We Fight Them
A small group of well-funded, well-organized extremists are trying to decide what you read, but we won't let them. Caine's latest is a clear-eyed exploration of book banning, sets todays censors in historic & political context, while laying out strategies for fighting back.
075
Reposted by So Mayer
Palestine Festival of Literature @palfest.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
One night only: Noura Erakat and John Reynolds launch "Confronting Zionism" in London, in conversation with Rafeef Ziadah. Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., Friends House.
palfest.org
Noura Erakat: Confronting Zionism - UK Book Launch — The Palestine Festival of Literature
Join us for Noura Erakat’s only UK event for 2026. She will present her new book, Confronting Zionism, alongside the book's co-author John Reynolds, followed by a conversation with Rafeef Ziadah.
0115
So Mayer @suchmayer.northsky.social · 05/10/2026
Not wanting to be all Bluesky on Bluesky but as a survivor I'm being triggered enough by global rape culture and genocide w/o "share your kiddie nightmare fuel." I don't think you guys wanna hear about my kiddie nightmares lol.
080
Reposted by So Mayer
Éibhear Ó hAnluain @eibhear.gibiris.org · 05/10/2026
Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaase tell me that all those "you should need a government ID to access the internet" people are rethinking this position now. [We know they aren't. Ed.]
The first two paragraphs of the linked-to story:

"Denmark has suffered a major data breach that has given unauthorised individuals access to names, addresses and personal identification numbers belonging to about 8.8 million people registered in the country’s central population database.

"The breach occurred after unidentified individuals misused a private Danish company’s legitimate access to search the Central Person Register (CPR), the government said in a statement Monday."
7526338
Reposted by So Mayer
nico @nicodelort.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
i dont want to download an app i don't want a qr code menu i dont want to talk to an ai assistant i dont want ai summaries for my searches i dont want to optimize my workflow i dont want to jump on a call i dont want to rate anything i don't want to create an account LEAVEME ADLONEe
1034591132
Reposted by So Mayer
southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A nonfiction book written in, let’s say, the year 1795, is most likely still around in a library somewhere and every other work it referred to is probably accessible in some archive as well. A nonfiction book written in 2007 probably cites a bunch of urls that are dead or rotted beyond recognition.
14674101
Reposted by So Mayer
Phil M 🦻🏼💚 🍉 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @phillm.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
When they talk about reducing red tape, remember this image.
Grenfell Tower, a black smouldering carcass of the building shorty after the fire, in 2017.
5328001078
Reposted by So Mayer
Anthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 05/10/2026
PSA
04813
Reposted by So Mayer
(VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve @braak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We're not suffering a breakdown of the social fabric because we've lost the ability to have reasonable disagreements with each other; we've lost the ability to have reasonable disagreements because some people are trying to deliberately rend the social fabric.
226866
Reposted by So Mayer
Robin James @robinjames.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
“slop assumes a different kind of relationship between general and particular than is assumed in most of the political philosophy grounding US law” www.its-her-factory.com/2026/10/slop...
its-her-factory.com
Slop as a vector of private interest: abstraction, songwriting, and extraction after the public/private divide
198
Reposted by So Mayer
isabeltranslates @isabeltranslates.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Kornélie by Beata Balogová. All the world is crammed into a small village in southern Slovakia. Autofiction meets magic realism in one of the most beautiful books I have ever read... ...and I delivered the translation to the publisher an hour ago. Out next year from @jantarbooks.bsky.social 🌐 💙📚🇸🇰
Photo of the front cover of the novel Kornélie, by Beata Balogová. The cover is pale blue with an outline image of a sprig of forget-me-nots; a white face with blue eyes is visible behind the top of the sprig. The author's name and book title are in coral pink.
282