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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 12:11 pm
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 04:00 pm
Anyone Can Vote in the Hugo Awards — And Here’s How
You — yes, you! — can nominate work and vote for the winners of the 2026 Hugo Awards!
Published on January 8, 2026
Despite having been an SFF reader for basically my entire life, it was only a few years ago that I learned that anyone can nominate work for, and vote in, the Hugo Awards. The almost-75-year-old Hugos—“science fiction’s most prestigious award,” according to the award website—had a sort of mystique about them, a history that seemed dense, sometimes troubled, and sometimes unimpeachably classic.
I assumed that the Hugos were like the Oscars: Voted on by some sort of body to which one must be invited. I figured that this was an echelon of SFF to which I would never ascend, and was content to follow along with the winners, losers, scandals, controversies, and delights, like any other award situation.
But I was wrong.
There is, from some angles, a bit to unpack about Becoming a Hugo Voter. But first I want to get the tl;dr version out of the way and say simply: Anyone can vote for the Hugos. You register as a member of the World Science Fiction Society for the year, and that gets you voting rights. This year, it costs $50. You can go to the LACon V website and do it, and you should, right now, because the deadline for registration is January 31st.
That’s the important part. If you are willing to spend $50, you—yes, you!—can nominate work released in 2025 for the 2026 Hugo Awards, and you can vote for the winners once the finalists are announced.
I’m telling you this because I think it is good for the award, and for the entire SFF genre, if the pool of people nominating work for and voting for its most prestigious award is bigger and broader and more diverse. I’m telling you this also because I initially found the entire thing, the entire process, the entire World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) universe, a bit baffling and tangled, and if I can encourage just a handful of people to become voters by explaining that it’s really not that hard, that will feel like something good. You just have to register as a WSFS member via each year’s Worldcon. That’s it. That’s the main deal. Then you get to vote.
Now. A few more details.
THE VOTER PACKET
Your $50 earns you a considerable perk: Once the finalists are determined, voters receive the Hugo Voter Packet, which may contain full ebooks, audiobooks, movie or TV scripts, essays, podcasts, and anything else relevant. The Hugo Voter Packet is at the discretion of the publishers of nominated work. I can’t make you any promises about what will be in it. I can say that last year, it was such an abundance of riches that I could not possibly get through it all.
The Voter Packet is brilliant, because if everyone has access to all (or nearly all) the work, it levels the field among the finalists to some degree. It is not a matter of who does or doesn’t have additional disposable income to spend on all the nominated works. (There is still the matter of available time to read, of course.) This also, I think, makes for a certain incentive for publishers to participate: If they don’t, then their nominated works may be read by fewer people, and then voted for by fewer people.
CATEGORIES AND RESOURCES
There are a lot of Hugo Award categories, plus the Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
Do not get overwhelmed by the categories! You don’t have to nominate in all of them. You don’t have to know about all of them. It is perfectly fine to not know everything about everything. I don’t want you to psych yourself out and think that because you don’t know about every SFF fancast, you shouldn’t participate. Your specific knowledge base is yours and it’s valid.
Nominate what you know about. Maybe that’s just novels and dramatic works and podcasts. Maybe it’s every category, Maybe you start small and begin to expand your genre knowledge base as you discover how many more things there are to engage with.
One slightly daunting part of the many categories is that several of them have word counts, and it is not always easy to find out what the word count of a work is. Novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories have different length requirements. Many magazines and websites now list the word count for their short fiction, which is incredibly helpful. If everyone would list the word count, editor, and creator of any accompanying art, that would be grand.
But if that information is not readily available, you can do a couple of things. One is to check writers’ social feeds; they will often have posts about which of their work is eligible in which category. Very helpful. Another extremely useful resource is the Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, which is maintained by Renay, a blogger at Lady Business. It is an absolute pile of information, with tabs for each category. (If you want to find more things to read, or watch, or listen to, you could do worse than browsing the Spreadsheet of Doom.) Sometimes, word count for a work is listed next to its title on the relevant tab; there are also questions and answers on the eligibility tab.
Other places to find useful info: Don’t know who edited your favorite books? Check the acknowledgements; most authors thank their editors. Short fiction can be harder, but some outlets list the editors along with writers, and a magazine’s masthead will also tell you who its editors are.
Don’t know who did that gorgeous cover art? Check the back cover or back flap, or the copyright page. You might also be able to find a cover reveal post somewhere that gives you all the details.
Also—this one is a personal plea—the Lodestar Award is for young adult books. Please don’t nominate or vote for adult books for this award! A teenage protagonist does not mean a book is YA. When in doubt, look at the author’s site, the publisher’s webpage, the description, or the details online (most online retailers will note the age range somewhere). There are other ways to know, and I will happily explain them to you, but perhaps this is not the place for an entire sub-post about publishing categories.
When in doubt about any of this, ask! Ask a librarian, ask a bookseller, ask your friend who knows everything about books. (Don’t ask the chatbots, though.) Read the blogs and social feeds of other readers; lots of people post their nominations lists, their recommendations, their suggestions, and those will generally have been carefully checked to make sure the works are eligible in the proper category.
Really, this is all a conversation. An awards cycle is a conversation about what the readers of a genre are interested in, thinking about, avoiding thinking about, grappling with, falling in love with, falling out of love with. What I want is for more people to be part of that conversation.
PROCESS
The Hugo voting process has two steps: First, nominations. WSFS members can nominate anything they like in the many Hugo categories—anything eligible and published in the relevant year. The nominations generally close in the spring, and after a time, the finalists are announced. Then voters get the Voter Packet and the race to read as much as possible before the voting deadline begins.
I find the nomination period more daunting, because I want to know everything and I want unlikely contenders to rise to the top and I always, always have some book I adore that I know isn’t going to be a finalist but I want it to be anyway.
But the nomination period is also where having a bigger, wider, more diverse voting body could be most meaningful, I think. Sometimes, a very small number of votes can make all the difference. You can read the nomination data from last year if you’d like to see exactly what I mean: A single nomination can be the difference between a Hugo finalist and a work that doesn’t make the ballot. You want the Hugos to be different? This is where you make a difference.
(I think it’s really cool that they release the stats—for the nominations and for the finalists.)
A FINAL THOUGHT OR THREE
I love participating in the Hugos. There’s a sense of excitement throughout the whole thing, whether I’m trying to winnow down my nomination list or perfectly rank the finalists. I wish I’d been doing this for years; I wish I’d known that it was open to all who want to pay their fifty bucks.
On the other hand, it can be frustrating. The process is inconsistent. Every year is different; every year you have to register again. This is not an insurmountable difficulty, but it can be enough to put off some folks. What’s more, at this point, I think it’s fair to say that some number of Hugo watchers brace themselves, each year, to see how well things go, from the nomination process to the ceremony itself. There have been several situations, for the past decade or so, that have not been great for the Hugos.
But the Hugos matter because we, the SFF reading community, care about them, and care about the conversation they are part of, along with the other awards and best-of lists and accolades and tirades and essays and lists and punchy little social media posts that somehow travel far and wide. I vote in the Hugos because I want the best for the books I love—the attention and the accolades and the words WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD on the front cover—and because I want to be part of how this genre is shaped and discussed.
I genuinely hope you will join me.[end-mark]
The post Anyone Can Vote in the Hugo Awards — And Here’s How appeared first on Reactor.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 03:37 pm
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die Trailer Is One Big, Chaotic Sam Rockwell Inspirational Speech
It’s the end of the world as we know it and Sam Rockwell will save us. Maybe.
Published on January 8, 2026
Image: Briarcliff Entertainment
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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-trailer-sam-rockwell/">https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-trailer-sam-rockwell/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836175">https://reactormag.com/?p=836175</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
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<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die</i> Trailer Is One Big, Chaotic Sam Rockwell Inspirational Speech</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">It’s the end of the world as we know it and Sam Rockwell will save us. Maybe.</div>
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<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
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Published on January 8, 2026
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<p>Well, that’s one way to sell your movie. Gore Verbinski’s <em>Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die</em> is about Sam Rockwell time-traveling to save humanity by rounding up just the right gaggle of folks from a diner. The <a href="https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-teaser-trailer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first trailer</a> was delightfully bananas. The second is much of the same, except that most of the dialogue appears to be Rockwell’s character’s semi-inspirational speech to his troops. Not all of it—the other characters do occasionally speak—but enough that it’s notable. How will this play in the actual film? Maybe it’s only one of several inspirational speeches? Maybe he gets better at it?</p>
<p>“It’s gonna be okay! Or it’s not. I don’t know,” he cheerfully tells his ragtag team. Which, you know, given that he’s a time traveler, might not entirely be the truth.</p>
<p>Along with Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson (<em>The White Lotus</em>), Michael Peña (<em>Ant-Man</em>), Zazie Beetz (<em>Bullet Train</em>), Asim Chaudhry (<em>The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin</em>), Tom Taylor (<em>House of the Dragon</em>), and Juno Temple (<em>Ted Lasso</em>) are part of the saving-the-world team, which faces off against screen zombies and what looks like a giant deer. There’s some nefarious sort of AI behind the horrors facing humanity. The movie doesn’t seem to be subtle about screens eating our brains. But it still looks like fun, which is an accomplishment in itself.</p>
<p><em>Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die</em> is directed by Verbinski from a screenplay by Matthew Robinson (<em>Love and Monsters</em>). It’s in theaters February 13th, which is certainly auspicious.[end-mark]</p>
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<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-trailer-sam-rockwell/"><i>Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die</i> Trailer Is One Big, Chaotic Sam Rockwell Inspirational Speech</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-trailer-sam-rockwell/">https://reactormag.com/good-luck-have-fun-dont-die-trailer-sam-rockwell/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=836175">https://reactormag.com/?p=836175</a></p>
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 04:18 pm
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
snowflake_challenge prompt 4 asks the following: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page
Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!
Given that the last non-work website that I looked at was a somewhat grim political podcast, I'm going to reinterpret this as an opportunity to link a weird and wonderful piece of longform journalism that I've had bookmarked for a while: The snail farm don: is this the most brazen tax avoidance scheme of all time?
The title doesn't do it justice, and neither does my summary: a septugenarian who made his money in his family's shoe-selling business empire in the north of England, and has decades-long associations with the mafia in Naples (including hiding mafia members on the run in his properties in the UK) has for the past several years invested most of his time and energy in exploiting an elaborate UK tax loophole by which — if you claim to be running a snail farm on your property (including in residential blocks of flats or office buildings) — you pay no tax. In his telling, he's doing this purely to pass the time and keep his mind active in his later years. It's a wild ride.
This kind of written long-form journalism, essay or interview — with left-field subject matter and larger-than-life personalities — is my absolutely favourite type of nonfiction.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:00 am
Started by a passionate bonsai enthusiast in the mid-1990s, the garden combines landscape design, art, and quiet reflection. Visitors follow winding paths lined with glowing azaleas, cherry blossoms, and fiery maples. Bonsai trees, some over 180 years old, are displayed among stone arrangements, mossy hills, and a pond filled with colorful koi. Stepping stones and small bridges lead to a wooden pavilion that frames the miniature landscape like a painting.
The tea house, overlooking the Zen garden, offers a peaceful stop for visitors to enjoy Japanese teas and sweet treats like Dora Yaki. A small shop nearby sells tea, traditional snacks, pottery, and bonsai supplies, allowing guests to take a piece of the garden home.
At the end of October, the garden hosts a Lantern Festival, when dozens of bamboo and stone lanterns illuminate the paths and trees in a soft glow. Visitors should check the garden’s website for current dates and event details.
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 08:14 am
This was going to be a cheerful post, but then Minneapolis got invaded and a member of my community was murdered and a bunch of others were kidnapped, including local high school students. "Rage" is such a little word, it doesn't begin to cover it. And yes, as with 2020, I'm living blocks away from the epicenter.
But for those worried about me personally, I am living alone, unemployed and taking care of a sick cat who requires regular medical attention. Add into that a bum leg and ice-covered streets and I'm not out much at night except for planned activities where I am meeting with or being driven by friends. Am I going into areas where folks have been targeted? Yes. I was at the Mercado Central yesterday for lunch after a post office run. It was largely deserted because people are justifiably terrified, but I got lunch from the lady making pupusas (one of the very few places that was open) and toiling away to feed the 10 or so people who were there. The front door was locked and building security was much in evidence. This is a reminder to support local immigrant-owned businesses.They need all the help they can get right now. I am also planning on going to the rally this Saturday, but will skip the march. Other than that, I am supporting my good electeds and local organizations, writing emails and will be doing some volunteering on related things (online, etc.) as time permits.
What else is going on? Well, today I'm "auditioning" for a part-time gig at a nearby local bookstore. A long time staffer is leaving and they're hoping I'll be a good fill in option. Not the week I would pick to start a retail gig in Minneapolis, but that fault lies neither with the bookstore or me. It's close enough, I think I can work out the med and event schedule with the store's needs, but we'll see how it goes. Shu is still hanging on, albeit with a few more periodic bad days (no more seizures so far, at least) - he still wants loves and cuddles and food and brushing so I'll try and keep him going until he wants to go. A friend just sent me a Reedsy invite so I need to get my editing info together and post out there as the bookstore gig will not cover all of my expenses. I did get some good financial news recently so not desperate, just want to make sure I don't become so and I need to avoid going on Social Security for a while longer or life will get even more problematic.
Other news:
EDITED: Looks like the bookstore gig will work out once we get schedules and stuff sorted. Which means you'll be able to see me at DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis more often!
But for those worried about me personally, I am living alone, unemployed and taking care of a sick cat who requires regular medical attention. Add into that a bum leg and ice-covered streets and I'm not out much at night except for planned activities where I am meeting with or being driven by friends. Am I going into areas where folks have been targeted? Yes. I was at the Mercado Central yesterday for lunch after a post office run. It was largely deserted because people are justifiably terrified, but I got lunch from the lady making pupusas (one of the very few places that was open) and toiling away to feed the 10 or so people who were there. The front door was locked and building security was much in evidence. This is a reminder to support local immigrant-owned businesses.They need all the help they can get right now. I am also planning on going to the rally this Saturday, but will skip the march. Other than that, I am supporting my good electeds and local organizations, writing emails and will be doing some volunteering on related things (online, etc.) as time permits.
What else is going on? Well, today I'm "auditioning" for a part-time gig at a nearby local bookstore. A long time staffer is leaving and they're hoping I'll be a good fill in option. Not the week I would pick to start a retail gig in Minneapolis, but that fault lies neither with the bookstore or me. It's close enough, I think I can work out the med and event schedule with the store's needs, but we'll see how it goes. Shu is still hanging on, albeit with a few more periodic bad days (no more seizures so far, at least) - he still wants loves and cuddles and food and brushing so I'll try and keep him going until he wants to go. A friend just sent me a Reedsy invite so I need to get my editing info together and post out there as the bookstore gig will not cover all of my expenses. I did get some good financial news recently so not desperate, just want to make sure I don't become so and I need to avoid going on Social Security for a while longer or life will get even more problematic.
Other news:
- Queen of Swords Press is celebrating its 9th birthday this month! Also known as "Holy Shit! We Made it!" Huge thank you shoutout to everyone who's helped along the way! We are having a birthday sale this week - use code BIRTHDAY at check out to get a discount when buying direct from us through 1/11 and you'll get entered in our prize drawing!
- Jennie Goloboy and I are co-teaching "To Market, To Market" at The Loft Literary Center on 2/28. Get help from a prominent literary agent and an award-winning small press publisher on getting your book submitted and potentially published and all that good stuff.
- I just added some things to my Ko-fi store, including a couple of signed copies of an out of print award-winning collection.
- I have a Patreon where I post fiction, nonfiction, Queen of Swords Press news and more. This supports me in the sense of paying me for my publishing work.
- You can hire me to edit, teach, write and all that good stuff! Check out my Professional Editor's Network page here.
- Blue Moon (the next werewolf book) has cleared 18k words, I'm working on a queer Arthurian story for an anthology invite, I'm starting on a nonfiction piece for a successful pitch and I have a novella and a short story in progress. Working on building my nonfiction portfolio and helping people remember that I used to be a pretty well known fiction author so definitely open to more projects!
EDITED: Looks like the bookstore gig will work out once we get schedules and stuff sorted. Which means you'll be able to see me at DreamHaven Books in Minneapolis more often!
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 02:00 pm
Look, bakers, I'll be the firth to admit I'm not so great with numbers...
...but something here just doesn't add up:
Major props for helping "Keydunce" celebrate such a special milestone, though.
The kind of milestone, in fact, that most of us will spend the next few seconds trying to pronounce.
(I'm going with "three-und." Or maybe "Thirnd.")
Hey, is it just me, or have you noticed families having LOTS of kids these days?
Not to mention getting super lazy naming them all.
(Johnny Five's sister? We can only hope.)
Ok, now you're just making stuff up.
Maybe if you skip the number superscript all together...
Nope.
Well, bakers, I guess you're just going to have to spell them out. That way there's no chance of any of these piddly little technical errors, you know?
I don't... how could... WHY... Oh, never mind.
Happy Liberation Day, Kanaan.
Thanks to Kajal, Kailey S., Anony M., Moira B., Beth M., Tyffani C., Alison U., & Crystal T. for putting two and two together... and getting all sixes and sevens. (That one's for you British mates. Smoochies!)
*****
P.S. I found the COOLEST toy for helping kids learn their numbers:
These would make awesome cake toppers; then you can surprise them by showing the number is really a robot. As of this writing they're on sale for over 50% off, too. SCORE.
*****
And from my other blog, Epbot:
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 08:49 am
Another foray into the lost worlds of Unknown.
Unknown Worlds: Tales from Beyond edited by Stanley Schmidt
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 07:29 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 06:59 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 06:44 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 11:00 am
Thanks, Jean, Scott, and bunny Penelope Pollilop! Jean writes, “Which feels better on a bunny tummy, a cool, bare floor or a cushy rug? Penelope Pollilop says, ‘Why choose?’”
Thursday, January 8th, 2026 11:00 am
I only joke, U’na couldn’t be more adorable, see-food or no! Alaska SeaLife Center writes:
Un’a the sea otter pup admitted in May this summer, is officially out of quarantine (has been for a while, actually). What does that mean?
When animals arrive through our wildlife response program, they can carry parasites or diseases from the Gulf of Alaska that could spread to our resident animals. To protect everyone in our care, staff who work with response patients must shower and change before entering the main building.
Being cleared from quarantine is a big milestone for Un’a. Her tests are all clear, her weight is solid, and our veterinary team is confident she can safely join the resident side of the facility. She will still have regular veterinary check-ups and is closely monitored for any changes, but now she can focus on being an otter rather than the lifesaving rehabilitation she first needed.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2026 11:59 pm
The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hannah Arendt. This is the book I chose to read for January, from my resolutions, but having reached page 163 (not quite a third of the way through), I’ve decided to stop. Although it’s a major work of political theory, and I’ve read some of it before, I am having too many issues with it this time.
The book is divided into three sections. The first is a history of anti-Semitism in Europe, then we have a discussion of the European style of imperialism, and finally there’s a section on totalitarianism. I got all the way through part one and started part two. My problems are threefold. First, in at least the first section she’s writing for people who have a much greater familiarity with the history of Jewish Europe than I have – I’m not familiar with the different types of emancipation, for example, although it seems obvious now that I’ve heard of it that each country must at some point have decided to give at least some of its Jews some of the same rights as its Christian citizens. Relatedly, Arendt isn’t organizing her thoughts to develop clear arguments. She doesn’t set forth the points she’s trying to make and explain how she gets there, she just wanders around the theme a lot. As a small example, she refers several times to the now relatively obscure “Panama scandal” long before she bothers to explain what that scandal was. The third problem is that she makes lots of assertions without providing supportive evidence. She is obviously highly familiar with her topics, and presumably she does have that evidence. Because we know her as a philosopher as well as a historian and political theorist, I would expect that she would be clear about assertions, arguments, evidence, potential counter-arguments, etc., but it’s all rather muddy.
Anyway, my rule for myself is that I need to read at least 100 pages of my self-assigned book before I can set it aside, and if I do set it aside, I need to choose a new book for the month. I am thus choosing Theodore Roszak’s The Making of a Counter Culture. Maybe I’ll come back to Arendt later.
The book is divided into three sections. The first is a history of anti-Semitism in Europe, then we have a discussion of the European style of imperialism, and finally there’s a section on totalitarianism. I got all the way through part one and started part two. My problems are threefold. First, in at least the first section she’s writing for people who have a much greater familiarity with the history of Jewish Europe than I have – I’m not familiar with the different types of emancipation, for example, although it seems obvious now that I’ve heard of it that each country must at some point have decided to give at least some of its Jews some of the same rights as its Christian citizens. Relatedly, Arendt isn’t organizing her thoughts to develop clear arguments. She doesn’t set forth the points she’s trying to make and explain how she gets there, she just wanders around the theme a lot. As a small example, she refers several times to the now relatively obscure “Panama scandal” long before she bothers to explain what that scandal was. The third problem is that she makes lots of assertions without providing supportive evidence. She is obviously highly familiar with her topics, and presumably she does have that evidence. Because we know her as a philosopher as well as a historian and political theorist, I would expect that she would be clear about assertions, arguments, evidence, potential counter-arguments, etc., but it’s all rather muddy.
Anyway, my rule for myself is that I need to read at least 100 pages of my self-assigned book before I can set it aside, and if I do set it aside, I need to choose a new book for the month. I am thus choosing Theodore Roszak’s The Making of a Counter Culture. Maybe I’ll come back to Arendt later.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2026 11:54 pm
End Times: Elites, Counter-elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration, by Peter Turchin. In general, I was pleasantly surprised by this book, which reflects the author’s work in the new field of “cliodynamics,” where they the use of complexity science to analyze historical data and identify trends. Turchin’s writing style is congenial, and he’s not out to replace conventional history – since that’s where he gets his data.
His big concern is that the two factors most involved in political instability are happening to us right now, and he’s hoping that their work can tell us what our society needs to fix to avoid serious problems. Those two factors are the “overproduction of elites” – having more people competing for positions of wealth and power than there is space for them, for example by having too many people with advanced degrees – and the “immiseration of the general public,” which is typically associated with big disparities in wealth. Ideally we need to improve the well-being and sense of security of the average American, while making sure that those who are “over-educated” are still reasonably happy. (I’m thinking student loan forgiveness would help with that.) I suspect that there are ways that modern societies may differ from earlier societies that their models may not capture, but it’s still interesting to read about their work.
His big concern is that the two factors most involved in political instability are happening to us right now, and he’s hoping that their work can tell us what our society needs to fix to avoid serious problems. Those two factors are the “overproduction of elites” – having more people competing for positions of wealth and power than there is space for them, for example by having too many people with advanced degrees – and the “immiseration of the general public,” which is typically associated with big disparities in wealth. Ideally we need to improve the well-being and sense of security of the average American, while making sure that those who are “over-educated” are still reasonably happy. (I’m thinking student loan forgiveness would help with that.) I suspect that there are ways that modern societies may differ from earlier societies that their models may not capture, but it’s still interesting to read about their work.
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 03:44 am
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Thursday, January 8th, 2026 10:40 am
My thoughts on the books of the year at Strange Horizons will surely come as no surprise to anyone who has read my summation of the year (https://ttdlabyrinth.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/another-year-and/) on my blog. But I was honoured to find Dan Hartland singling out Colourfields. https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/2025-in-review-part-two/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPMZlNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEezWZ1XPBPKiQJ9PL28DIYp5wv4EIgpRZUpj9rjbIX2no704xStyCoTK5ZIAo_aem_ljWtnL4cAiR7xNfzYbuHIQ