Companies making machine learning and generative software aren’t just metaphorically ripping off books. In at least one case, they’re rather literally shredding millions of physical books to feed to their chatbots. As uncovered last month by The Washington Post, AI Read more >
It’s almost too on the nose for me, but I completely forgot that this weekend was the Super Bowl. If you’re watching, hope it’s a fun one! And if you’re not, it’s a great excuse to break out all your Read more >
Happy Friday, readers! Here at Lit Hub, we’re determined to keep fighting the good fight. As cold fronts continue to pummel the East coast and craven billionaires and mad kings continue to play pickle-ball with our rights, lifting up the Read more >
Everyone I know is becoming a bit of a conspiracist. It’s hard not to, when the powerful are unrestrained and as unrepentant, and when everything seems corrupted by disturbing associations. There’s less and less subtext, fewer cover-ups. The assholes are Read more >
Earlier today, Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post laid off hundreds of its employees, in what one staffer called “an absolute bloodbath.” As The Guardian reported this morning, editor-in-chief Matt Murray told his masthead that the paper was due for a “strategic Read more >
Maybe it’s the generally dismal vibes, or the looming specter of Valentine’s Day—but something’s going on with rejection. Note the big screen, where our big February romance is shaping up to be Wuthering Heights—a Gothic horror that hinges on Catherine’s Read more >
And we’re on to the next frigid winter month: February has been waiting like a savior at the end of a long January, but we may just find it doesn’t bear all that dissimilar an energy to the month we Read more >
It’s a dizzying, humbling, ages-you-a-year-in-a-minute experience to come across the name of a public figure you don’t recognize, and then discover that the name belongs to one of the most popular people in the entire world. What I’m saying is Read more >
I’m speaking to you, freaky ecclesiastical femmes. If you left Mona Fastvold’s strange epic singing hymns at the top of your lungs, and spent last week shaking with anger at the Academy’s oversight, please come testify by me. The Testament of Ann Read more >
February is upon us, and, after a month of seemingly unending horrors, it is difficult not to feel a need for something else, for the quiet company of art, for something to relight our lanterns. Books cannot stop the world’s Read more >
Our friends at Verso have prepared this ultra thorough ABOLISH ICE reading list, featuring a number of excellent titles that can help explain how we got here. Histories of American immigration, or the origins of the Department of Homeland Security, Read more >
Renee Nicole Good, 37, mother to a six-year-old boy, was murdered earlier today by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a few blocks from her home. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune: [An ICE agent] shot and killed a woman in Read more >
As ICE agents continue to terrorize the Twin Cities, indie bookstores are stepping up. As Claire Kirch reported in Publishers Weekly last Friday, booksellers in Minneapolis and St. Paul have joined community efforts to fight the feds. As the cities Read more >
The struggle against ICE that is happening on the ground in Minnesota is nothing short of historic. The spontaneous organization, reflexive care, and decentralized resistance has protected a city and caught the attention of the world. Inspired by the ICE Read more >
In further news of book people showing up for each other, and for the rest of us, a dedicated group of publishing and culture workers has organized an auction to raise funds in support of communities terrorized by ICE and DHS. Read more >
Greg Ketter of DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis never intended to be a face of the movement. But after he was photographed walking through a cloud of tear gas to a protest following Alex Pretti’s murder, he and his store became Read more >
This week marks the 40th birthday of the Baby-Sitters Club, that ragtag team of business-minded eighth graders, who first appeared on our doorsteps in Ann M. Martin’s Kristy’s Great Idea (1986). Publisher Scholastic is launching three new books to celebrate. Read more >
A new George Saunders out today: what more could anyone possibly want? And yet, that’s just the beginning of our week’s delivery of thrilling new titles: there’s another rigorous and deeply investigated work about the Bernie Goetz subway shootings, a Read more >
Over here at Lit Hub, we’re so in awe of the strike today in Minneapolis, and all the organizations, communities, and individuals who are mobilizing collectively to oppose state occupation and violence. If you’re looking to support the fight against Read more >
Given: it’s another tough one out there, people. In the Northeast, there’s talk of a world-historical blizzard. Meanwhile actual ICE is hunting our neighbors—or they will be, very soon. I still think it’s crucial to lift up the light in Read more >
