iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

You really can set your clock to it. Ed Zitron goes on CNBC and says how titanically unprofitable these AI companies are and how they show no path to viability whatsoever, then come the news stories about how these word-guessing machines could Skynet us next year. Tired-ass fundraising pitch.

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Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I'm old enough to remember when the mainstream media was full of arguments denouncing the notion that settler colonialism had anything to do with what is happening now. It was merely a "woke" concept. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Israel’s Elimination Project

Two languages. Two realities.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

ALEXA PLAY DUALITY BY SLIPKNOT TOCHI'S GOT A NEW NOVEL COMING AND IT'S ABOUT GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS AND HEAVY METAL

Deal announcement for the novel KILL YOUR MASTERS by Tochi Onyebuchi

"Author of RIOT BABY and RACEBOOK Tochi Onyebuchi's KILL YOUR MASTERS, told in the style of an oral history chronicling the unlikely dawn of a heavy metal movement in the Coup Belt of West Africa where postcolonial instability, a corrupt mining operation, and encroaching extremism collide in a decades-spanning political epic, to Mo Crist at Bloomsbury, in a six-figure deal, at auction, by Joanna Volpe and Jordan Hill at New Leaf Literary & Media (NA).

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Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · 29/07/2026

I simply ferally love every thing of @tochitruestory.bsky.social's I've read & this is one of those things "Because they couldn’t come to terms with their guilt, nor could they extinguish it."

tochionyebuchi.substack.com

Got me leanin' even harder with this Nina in my cargos

Mild spoilers for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey to follow.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

The Criterion Collection: "We're partnering with Barnes & Noble for a 50% sa--" Me:

static.klipy.com

Blisskai: I'm Here, Baby

ALT: Blisskai: I'm Here, Baby

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

we are everywhere

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 11/06/2026

SPEECHLESS. LFGK

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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Cast of Laocoön and his Sons (Roman version of a lost Greek original), 100BC-50AD

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

the mind is willing but the wallet is weak

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

What company. What an honor. What a blessed start to the week. #2026IgnyteAwards

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Redactdead Rodriguez 💀🪦 @redactedrodriguez.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

They never want us talking about the low rates or how difficult shoots are. You raise your voice and you risk not being invited back to set. Very happy to see the crew of Obsession slowly talking about their experience

kiwisupreez l've debated this for a long time. I've been holding a lot of weight over the past two years since the production of Obsession, so I'm going to say it as it is.
obssn was made for $750K and is projected to make
$250M.
How much I made: $300/day as Art Director. This came out to $6/41.36 after taxes. No mileage.
I did know the rate beforehand and agreed to it, but atp I was living paycheck to paycheck. This is the reality of most filmmakers especially those who work below the line. We become a line in the budget sheet to keep as low as possible.
There were also crew on obss who were volunteers, getting paid in gas and mileage. This wasn't even paid on time, so to make a $250M grossing film, some of these amazing people had to come out of pocket to work on set.
I kick myself every single day for not flipping this production. I was encouraged not to and I naively listened.
As is the case for most low budget productions, everyone has to wear many, many hats. Though my official title is art director, I was also a PA, set dresser, graphic designer, background actor, driver, swing, and buyer. I was doing runs for the art dept (again, no mileage). I was shopping, loading, returning while the rest of the crew were on set (Thank you Jeff Barker for helping me during those times). I had to wrap Bear's House that was left an absolute mess without water or crafties left behind. I shopped an entire location (lan's house) and loaded the truck the same day for shoot the next day which also happened to be an overnight.
It took such a physical toll on my body that I kept losing weight, weighing 90lbs during this production.

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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Ted Chiang on AI: www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2...

Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript, and that they are awakened every time the document is loaded. Should you consider the possibility that every time you open a Word document you are bringing multiple conscious interlocutors into existence, and every time you close one you snuff their existence out? No. Contemplating that scenario is not a good use of your time. Even if the Microsoft Office team employed a philosopher who said you shouldn’t be so certain, because consciousness is not well understood, that would not be sufficient reason for you to take this idea seriously. We don’t need to fully understand the nature of consciousness to definitively say that certain things are not conscious, and conversational transcripts fall in that category.

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Franklin Leonard @franklinleonard.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Not the Arsenal thobe! My mayor, your smoke too strong. Your swag too different.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

I really don't want to jinx it but if the Knicks go all the way after Arsenal's already won the Premier League, they're gonna make Mamdani Mayor for Life.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

huge W for the continent

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 22/05/2026

As a science fiction writer I really fucking resent tech bros for ruining the phrase "artificial intelligence." 80 years of it being all about cool androids and interesting computers destroyed by five years of "Spicy autocorrect making everything shittier for money." NEVER FORGIVE.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Netflix had that one quarter in 2022 where their subscribers dipped and it turned the whole TV landscape into Pompeii. Mr. Altman, sir, you are eating beans. You are in the theater watching Cars 2 and you are eating beans.

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 15/05/2026

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed. Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Wing, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, Sandrock, Shenlong, Epyon

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 14/05/2026

‘In the 78 years since 1948, I have never ceased to think, plan and strive for my right of return home. I started school in Cairo, where my brothers were already at university. In the summer holiday I returned to Gaza, to scenes I had never imagined.’ Salman Abu Sitta: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

lrb.co.uk

Salman Abu Sitta | Right of Return

The Haganah attacked Beersheba on 21 October 1948. A week later, David Ben-Gurion came to inspect the town. He admired...

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The Rumpus @therumpus.net · 23/04/2026

"...if I can stick my cynicism back into the tube, if I can approach the world in a spirit of openness, of preparedness, then maybe the beautiful thing will happen and I’ll get to see it." A Conversation between R.F. Kuang and @tochitruestory.bsky.social. ➡️ buff.ly/rm4SvrB

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

"I think a real Internet novel isn’t one whose central motif is that the Internet is driving us apart. I think a real Internet novel depicts the hell that is too much connection: like, the body horror of being smushed up against another person so much your souls touch" therumpus.net/2026/04/22/a...

therumpus.net

A Conversation between R.F. Kuang and Tochi Onyebuchi - The Rumpus

“I’m a very mercenary reader. Everything is homework to me.”

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

"I have this digital agent. I call it the Gooch. You know the expression “He couldn’t find his butt with two hands and a flashlight”? That was me. It was like living half a life. A buttless half-life. Now I have the Gooch ping me my butt location. No more losing your butt in this brave new world."

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

omfg this is absolutely going into the novel

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

DLC characters for the next Mortal Kombat finna just be the cast of Squid Game

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Aaron Stewart-Ahn @badideas.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

7 months ago…

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

A day late here but happy book birthday to this essay collection/personal lore drop i had way too much fun writing. Shoutout to @groveatlantic.bsky.social for letting your boy rap. And I hope y'all enjoy. #Racebook groveatlantic.com/book/racebook/

groveatlantic.com

Racebook | Grove Atlantic

From the author of Hugo and NAACP Image Award finalist Riot Baby, an original memoir in essays that interrogates how identities are shaped and informed...

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

If walking right past Iconic weapons in Cyberpunk and missing them forever were an Olympic sport.....

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 01/10/2025

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

I, too, would make sure that all the people who would need to coordinate to halt or reverse my political progress were gathered from across the planet in the same room while I demonstrated why they should probably do that

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Lincoln Michel @thelincoln.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

For real, if you've ever been considering reviewing / interviewing / etc. someone but stopped yourself because the book was released months ago... do it! We love getting coverage after pub day.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

"What if us making physical media cool again is part of the project of repairing the world the Boomers broke?" tochionyebuchi.substack.com/p/cant-see-c...

tochionyebuchi.substack.com

can't see california without marlon brando's eyes

A not-an-essay on looking back

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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 29/08/2025

This story has it all: aquaculture, Black Flag, Bernie Sanders, Star Trek as policy, John Hodgman, male tears, and a candidate citing Luthen’s monologue from Andor. Meet Graham Platner, the Maine oysterman trying to crack the senate. @grahamformaine.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/1996...

newrepublic.com

The Political Awakening of the Oyster Farmer Gunning for Susan Collins

Graham Platner’s campaign launch has been a sudden sensation. But what he’s building now is rooted in the work of a lifetime.

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Tochi Onyebuchi @tochitruestory.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

I have no idea what I'm saving this picture for, but I know the day will come where it will serve as a response beyond perfection, expertly braised, with just the right amount of meme. And when that day comes, I will be so glad of the wisdom and forethought I exercised today.

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