Alex / catilepticMay 3

having a subscription to The Baffler has been really good for the soul (and the experience of reading something short-but-good)

three issues in, the magazine continues to consistently be way better than i expect

i have yet to read an article that i didn't finish

it's well-written, it's entertaining, and the subject matter varies between "wow, i learned something" to "that's an interesting perspective"

i have heaps of admiration for how well put-together this is

#baffler

Follow GOLFAug 20, 2025
https://www.fogolf.com/1036412/baffler-iron-sets-from-cobra-golf/ Baffler Iron Sets from Cobra Golf #Baffler #CobraGolf #GolfClubs
Ben CaudronDec 15, 2023

‘Take It to the Spank Bank’ by #Anabelle #Johnston in The #Baffler.

On #AI and the driver of technology: #pornography.

I got confused by this little observation: ‘it would be nice to produce a gangbang without having to shoot it.’
It’s probably just me and my inner GPU.

Whatever: read it, it’s good for you

https://thebaffler.com/latest/take-it-to-the-spank-bank-johnston

Take It to the Spank Bank | Anabelle Johnston

AI-generated pornography may appear posthuman—but very real people are implicated.

The Baffler
John LastApr 27, 2023
Loved this piece in The #Baffler. Makes you wonder what #evangelical churches would be like if the same energy that went into exorcising the demon of non-heterosexual love was applied to the #demons of hate, pride, and envy. https://thebaffler.com/latest/repossessed-byron?fbclid=PAAaa1D_DL2cBIFcA-pA-2WbVJu8m0Uo0kHflbxS4cDqrdXqJXB7t5VIeYMCQ
StrypeyApr 17, 2019

Remember #YashaLevin's muckraking in the #Baffler on the #EFF and its supposed close ties with Big Tech corporations? Here's how real journalists cover the Silicon Valley lobbying front groups.
https://theintercept.com/2019/04/16/consumer-privacy-laws-california/

Please note, no mention of the EFF. Who were the sources for Levine's hit piece? Perhaps people from some of the organizations mentioned in this story, trying to muddy the waters?

Silicon Valley-Funded Privacy Think Tanks Fight in D.C. to Unravel State-Level Consumer Privacy Protections

Silicon Valley-funded privacy think tanks’ positions on a federal online privacy bill mirror the tech industry’s lobbying priorities.

Show threadStrypeyJan 2, 2019
The third part is also notable for its framing of the internet's role in disinformation. Basically the net = the major #DataFarms (FB etc), and "regulation" of Silicon Valley = increased government control over internet speech (not #AntiTrust action). It's a framing I first noticed in the otherwise excellent Adam Curtis series '... Machines of Loving Grace ...', in #FredTurner's 'counterculture to cyberculture' discourse, and in a hit piece on the #EFF by #YashaLevine, published in the #Baffler.
StrypeyDec 13, 2018
@z428 @bjoern yes, when I see people like #YashaLevine attacking the EFF in left-wing publications like the #Baffler, and claiming that tech corporation are the real threat to our privacy (which they can be), and governments are its saviours (which is so obviously bullshit), I get very suspicious:
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/all-effd-up-levine
All EFF’d Up | Yasha Levine

The lords of the internet care very little about user privacy—what they want to preserve, is their own commercial license against government regulation of any kind.

The Baffler
Show threadStrypeyNov 28, 2018
It reminds me of the similar #Baffler piece about Tim O'Reilly, which all but ignores the existence of RMS or anyone else who doesn't fit into its narrative that #OpenSource is all a conspiracy by O'Reilly and Silicon Valley:
https://thebaffler.com/salvos/the-meme-hustler
The Meme Hustler

While the brightest minds of Silicon Valley are “disrupting” whatever industry is too crippled to fend off their advances, something odd is happening to our language. Old, trusted words no longer mean…

The Baffler