iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

New out of the kiln ✨ Not bad for a newbie potter 🤓

Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Hi friends. It’s been a while. But here is a new piece of writing from my migraine fragment series "an injured gozilla". zizili.substack.com/p/migraine-f... #blog #poem #pain #migraine #rage #godzilla #atomicbreath #helplessness #substack

zizili.substack.com

migraine fragment 3: an injured godzilla

I had one of the worst stretches of continuous migraine days lately.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I started a silly little project this month, which is to take a photo of the tree in front of my house, every day, for a month. #blog #tree #substack #everyday zizili.substack.com/p/look-again...

zizili.substack.com

look again #2: the tree in front of my house

every day, for a month

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Crazy coil bowl is out of the kiln!!! Looks great (except for a few spots that I was too aggressive with when taking off glaze and blend)… happy newbie me 😍

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Finally glazed my shell shaker and my crazy coil bowl 🤪 I LOVE CERAMICS

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

the state of higher ed: AI Tools ABOVE Health & Wellness Resources

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Do you too have a jar of regenerative green onions on your kitchen counter? Today, for reasons that will become apparent, I felt compelled to write a little poem about scallions. #poem #substack #morningwriting zizili.substack.com/p/look-again...

zizili.substack.com

look again #1: green onions

today, I present you with a little poem.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Anyone would be interested in collaborating on co-editing a book in the vicinity of "How to [insert verb] Content" for the NYU Press's "User’s Guides to Popular Culture" series? nyupress.org/series/users... Hit me up if you want to explore this route. DM here or email drzizili@protonmail.com.

nyupress.org

User’s Guides to Popular Culture

Bringing together dozens of tightly focused original essays from today's leading scholars on popular culture, User's Guides offer accessible, engaging cultural criticism across a host of media, past a...

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

indeed...this will be an inspiration when i take a face skull sculpture class 💀

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

alright, alright, alright. i'm scratching the idea of writing "the migraine essay" but starting a new series on my blog titled "migraine fragments." fragment 0 is out now: zizili.substack.com/p/migraine-f... #substack #migraine #writing #blog #personalessay #fragment #journey #read #write

zizili.substack.com

migraine fragment 0

why i can’t write “the migraine essay”

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

I’ve been trying to start processing my long, ever-evolving relationships to migraine and pain. But it is hard to start. Migraine has been the constant present in more than half of my lived life, but its so tangled up with my other (un)processed messesl. Wish me luck on this detangling journey.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

i just signed up for a 4 wk beginner ceramic class starting this monday july 20!!!

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

New blog post dedicated to myself, having just recently celebrated another year on earth. A reflection on strength training, surfing, and healing. (cringe) processing #5: Choosing What Aligns zizili.substack.com/p/cringe-pro... #blog #substack #reflection #sports #healing

zizili.substack.com

(cringe) processing #5: Choosing What Aligns

I dedicate this piece to myself, having just recently celebrated another year on earth.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

A couple months ago, I found an old notebook while cleaning my room. Flipping open this black Muji notebook, I was greeted by my childlike handwriting: “May 1, 2023: Zizi’s return to the gym,” it wrote. Read my new blog post "The Body Knew Before I Did" zizili.substack.com/p/cringe-pro...

zizili.substack.com

(cringe) processing #4: The Body Knew Before I Did

A couple months ago, I found an old notebook while cleaning my room.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

🚨 A new “processing” essay 🚨 Eleven years after a formative summer in New York, I’m realizing that what I’m really trying to recover isn’t a career—it’s the conditions under which I felt most alive. A reflection on memory, grief, documentary film, and designing a nourishing life. #substack #blog

open.substack.com

(cringe) processing #3: that summer eleven years ago

A new “processing” essay. Eleven years after a formative summer in New York, I’m realizing that what I’m really trying to recover isn’t a career—it’s the conditions under which I felt most alive. A re...

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

For years, I’ve written mostly as an academic. Lately, I’ve been trying to reconnect with the writer I was before. This essay began as a letter to my first confidant. It became something else. (cringe) processing #2: Flying Letters open.substack.com/pub/zizili/p...

open.substack.com

(cringe) processing #2: Flying Letters

I dedicate this short personal essay to Xiaohua, my first confidant and one of the most formative persons in my life, who has stayed forever nineteen.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Friends, go watch this amazing Congolese animated short "Machici" and read the story behind.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

This student voluntarily admitted that he missed our Thurs evening classes due to his pregaming. But he stayed once he realized our discussions could be so exciting. I didn’t know I was competing against parties. I am happy that I even have a chance to win 🤣 open.substack.com/pub/zizili/p...

open.substack.com

(cringe) processing #1

It would have been a shame if I don't get to teach anymore.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

From A-list CGI virtual influencers like Lil Miquela and Shudu back in the mid/late 2010s to the vernacular army of digital blackface empathy bait like Aliyahsbuckles reported here.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

What happens when a job is not merely a job? "It would have been a shame if I don't get to teach anymore" is my (cringe) processing of the grief and many emotions surrounding how losing the job feels bigger than losing a paycheck. open.substack.com/pub/zizili/p... #blog #personal #writing

open.substack.com

(cringe) processing #1

It would have been a shame if I don't get to teach anymore.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

I decided to start blogging again after around 10 years. Read my 1st ever post “It was have been a shame if I don’t get to teach anymore” on Substack. zizili.substack.com/p/cringe-pro... Consider subscribing to (cringe) processing 🙏 #blog #substack #teaching #grief #uncertainty #write

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My infrequent timeline cleanse. The absolute joy of being a super beginner surfer trying out tropical water and longboarding in Honolulu in late May 🏄🏻‍♀️🌊

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Rosemary Lee @machineagency.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

As a big Farocki fangirl, I'm ecstatic over the new issue of e-flux: Operativism: Labor, Automation, Agitation edited by Vogman and Pasquinelli 😍 especially Tom Holert's "Beneath the Information, the Operation: Harun Farocki and the Work of Images" SO GOOD www.e-flux.com/journal/162

e-flux.com

e-flux Journal #162 April 2026 - e-flux

with contributions by Elena Vogman, Matteo Pasquinelli, Harun Farocki, Tom Holert, Olexii Kuchanskyi, Alla Vronskaya, Aleksei Gastev, Evgenii Petrov, Aleksandra Selivanova, Devin Fore, Kalindi Vora, N...

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Disjunctions Magazine @disjunctionsmag.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

ISSUE 02 — INFRASTRUCTURES We are looking for contributions to our second issue. Send us your pitches! disjunctionsmag.com/call/

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

professor tools for commensality (red scare edition) @inquiline.myatproto.social · 06/06/2026

same with teaching (higher and lower ed). slow it down. give instructors more time and fewer students. the fact that this is not on offer gives the game away

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Hi friends, I want to share the video essay "Channel Ghost - Episode 1 Digital Media, Technology, and The Supernatural” by my advisee Forrest Wilson. channel6h057.substack.com/p/channel-gh... More video essays coming soon. Please consider subscribing to follow along his journey.

channel6h057.substack.com

Channel Ghost - Episode 1

Digital Media, Technology, and The Supernatural

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Slight tangent, but this reminds me of this symposium at Cal State Long Beach where Bruce Thompson from Microsoft was literally begging profs to get students AI-ready 🤮 + raving about how this Fall semester educators will be building our own agents to interact with students🤮

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Jill Walker Rettberg @jilltxt.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

New dataset published: this is the audio + transcripts of AI-generated podcasts using NotebookLM to analyse how it "translated" source documents from different times and cultures. My favourites are the 20 podcasts generated from an empty PDF. The paper about it is in press. doi.org/10.18710/RNT...

doi.org

A dataset of AI-generated podcasts created using NotebookLM

Audio files and transcripts of AI-generated podcasts created using Google's NotebookLM. Four podcasts were created by uploading specific PDFs. Twen...

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Dr. Holly Walters @manigarm.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

I'm sorry, what? In writing my first monograph, I spent six weeks trying to track down a citation in TWO languages I didn't know. And good thing too, because the citation was wrong. That's scholarship. That's research. You know, the thing we're trained to do?!?

The reactions of some researchers on Twitter finally being held responsible for not having read the very paper they submitted are... something. Mainly, they don't think they should have to check every citation or make sure the data is real and accurate. Because it's too hard, I guess.

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Frankie Huang 黄碧赤 @ourobororoboruo.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Jack Dorsey pictures someday having 6,000 direct reports—the entirety of the employees at his company. Do these people understand how anything works?

After the fintech company Block laid off 40% of its workers, some engineering managers were assigned as many as 175 direct reports under its new Al-oriented structure, according to internal organization charts reviewed by the Guardian. That gets Block closer to the ideal goal of its CEO, Jack Dorsey, of someday operating with all 6,000 employees reporting directly to him, minus the management layers. Previously, managers typically operated with an estimated six to 12 direct reports, said Freeland Abbott, a former technical lead at Square, Block's digital payments service, who was laid off in February.

Several former Block employees' responses have been "Wow, thank God I was laid off," he
said, admitting laid-off employees are slightly
"biased" against their former employer.

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Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 25/04/2026

What does digital capitalism look like beyond Silicon Valley? Andrea Pollio talks to Tinhinan El Kadi about the five years he spent among renegade Chinese entrepreneurs, Kenyan state planners, VC analysts, and engineers in Nairobi's Silicon Savannah, the subject of his new book, 'Silicon Elsewhere'.

globalchinapulse.net

Silicon Elsewhere: A Conversation with Andrea Pollio

What does digital capitalism look like beyond Silicon Valley? Andrea Pollio’sSilicon Elsewhere: Nairobi, Global China, and the Promise of

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I've spent years interviewing data workers who are the lifeblood of the AI industry in places like Kenya & Colombia. Now it's the #4 fastest growing job in the US. AI is coming for your job and not in the way you think. My latest for @moreperfectunion.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aooi...

youtube.com

These Workers Are Training AI to Take Their Own Jobs. Yours Could Be Next.

YouTube video by More Perfect Union

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Social Science Research Council @ssrc.org · 07/05/2026

The Just Tech Fellowship supports rigorous, original, and community-grounded work that addresses pressing questions about how technology shapes society and public life. Apply for the 2027 cohort by June 28: www.ssrc.org/programs/jus...

ssrc.org

Just Tech Fellowship

The Just Tech Fellowship supports researchers and practitioners investigating the intersection of technology and social justice.

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

the public has already paid ransom to corporate welfare when we could have nonprofit low fi local ed tech

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Palantir “shamelessly used mock-MoMA branding for the logo + as a leitmotif for the entire [AIPcon] event… The conference employed, as a projected stage backdrop for Karp, Abstract Expressionish painting simulations… Flashing above their heads was the tagline THERE IS ONLY THE ARTIST AND THE WORK.”

artforum.com

Epic Fury: The Dark Art of Defense Tech

Artist Simon Denny offers a close reading of the dark art of defense tech in an essay for Artforum's May issue.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It’s been a minute. But here are two pics of me surfing in action. It’s cool to see myself captured. I’m a true beginner, and haven’t been able to go surfing much at all lately. But yay to the tiny progress and the bit of time in ocean. Plus, looking forward to the summer break ☀️🌊

A female surfer in black wetsuit laying belly down on a cream soft top surfboard with her arms pushing her up like at the beginning of a push up. The background is greenish blue ocean.

A female surfer in black wetsuit squatting about to stand up on a cream soft top surfboard. The background is greenish blue ocean.

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Zizi Li, Ph.D. @zizilizizi.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Adding this to my reading list 🤓

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

TechEquity @techequity.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

In order to train ChatGPT, OpenAI outsourced labeling of toxic content to workers in Kenya who were reportedly paid less than $2 per hour to trawl through vast quantities of traumatizing text, images, and videos. www.youtube.com/shorts/L_8Z5...

youtube.com

Guilting workers into accepting poor working conditions???

YouTube video by TechEquity

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Chris Hanlon @chrishanlon.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Meet “ASU Atomic,” a subscription platform that claims to offer customized learning modules for fee-paying users. None of the ASU faculty whose course materials were harvested for the module I generated were aware that their image, lectures, lessons, or other teaching materials are being used.

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

📣 New! @cariatida.bsky.social, @aihathing.bsky.social & Sanjay Pinto argue for understanding the sprint to create the "AI-first economy" not as the logical march of progress, but as a series of deliberate economic decisions that risk harming workers in ways old & new. datasociety.net/library/last...

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Annie McClanahan @anniemcc.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

it's officially out! :)

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Reposted by Zizi Li, Ph.D.

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 18/03/2026

*breathing into a paper bag*

PDF of book proofs:
SEEING LIKE A SUPPLY CHAIN
The Hidden Life of Logistics
MIRIAM POSNER
Yale University Press
New Haven and London

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