I'm Going Through Changes
I’m moving…to downtown Toledo in June. Very excited to live like a savvy city girl again. This small college town has been good to me, but I’m ready to break free.
Why? This grown-up got a grown-up full-time job. I don’t want to say much here to keep the separation between church and state. Yes, I will still be finishing my dissertation in 2022.
Speaking of moving…Substack is pretty terrible. I’m borrowing this from The Objective, which covers it:
Substack’s CEO, Chris Best, tweeting “defund the thought police,” a reference that both trivializes Black-led movements for community safety and parrots racist provocateur Candace Owens.
Using the paid “Pro” program to recruit writers that have made blatantly transphobic statements in the past and present See Glenn Greenwald’s bizarre rant that tries to arbitrate trans existence or Graham Linehan, who has been warned about harassment and banned from Twitter for repeated rule violations. Put differently: Substack has actively chosen the kind of writing they want to platform. They are not neutral, but aim to tip the scale.
All three of Substack’s co-founders insisting that none of its writers in the “Pro” program “can be reasonably construed as anti-trans.”
Trivializing and not substantively engaging with the critique they received over the last few weeks.
On Thursday, the company further retreated from its content moderation guidelines, narrowing its approach to hate and harassment.
Substack does not make money from little old me, but I’ll celebrate the free market by taking my business elsewhere. I’m not sure yet, but I’ll transfer my list so I won’t lose any of you.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share my Spotify writing playlist. I’ve tried soft classical music to write, but I find synth and electronica to be even better.
What is this? A semi-regular newsletter about culture and academia and academic culture with occasional creative essays.
Regular features: Showgirls: The Novelization, I Miss My MTV; Tales of Tenure Terror