Wednesday Afternoon Sugar Links – High Voltage

by | Sep 28, 2022 | Daily Links | 223 comments

Two more years of this is going to be just great. Or Kamala can take the reins, her braying laughter haunting our stunned minds.


 

Hannah Gadsby returns to Netflix after blasting boss Ted Sarandos over Dave Chapelle

Time (and probably a tidy sum) must heal all wounds. Hannah Gadsby, a one-time Netflix darling for their breakout special Nanette and a one-time Netflix critic, has brokered a multi-title deal with the streamer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes nearly a year after Gadsby’s scathing note to Netflix boss Ted Sarandos over his support of Dave Chappelle’s transphobic comedy.

The deal includes Gasby’s next standup show, Body Of Work, as well as a showcase for multiple international comics. “In an effort to further open a door that I had to fight to get through myself, I will curate and host a lineup show on Netflix featuring six new, gender-diverse comedians,” Gadsby said in a statement (per THR). “In a notoriously transphobic industry, I am looking to broaden the scope of opportunities for genderqueer performers from around the globe, as well as expand the diversity of offerings to audiences on one of comedy’s biggest platforms. Coupled with a mentorship initiative for these up-and-coming comics, the program aims to foster the professional development of a demographic that is still struggling to have their voices heard. Recorded in a single run in the U.K. in 2023, this will be a chance for the world to hear these voices for the first, but definitely not the last, time.”

Not content to just be excruciatingly unfunny, thems throws even more unfunny our way.


 

Want More Women in Tech? Read Better Sci-Fi

Some years ago I was excited to be a part of an “alternate” sci-fi project by the organization/responsible-technology think tank Doteveryone. They asked: How many times have we heard about the female perspective in science fiction – a woman’s experience of being an astronaut or how a woman would find living on Mars? What would it mean if babies could gestate outside a woman’s body? Or if you had to choose between bearing children and exploring deep space? What if it turns out that women’s bodies are more suited to space travel than men’s?

So many of the stories of our history are male-centred. What if we had a positive, female-centred view of the future? Why does it need to be the terrifying Handmaid’s Tale? We should explore more positive outcomes, and use them as motivation for why women should be engaging with tech, and aiming to be in the room.

We are part of the future too, yet so much of the current forecasting doesn’t include us. This is in spite of the fact that there are times when only we, as women, with the journeys we’ve had, can be the ones to suggest an idea, or dare to dream. It’s a negative that we can turn into a positive. Much bad tech is the result of a lack of perspective or experience, which limits the imagination of the person creating the tech. Often, whichever of the dreamers secured the most funding at the time becomes the person most likely to turn those dreams into something tangible. We recognize these innovators as mainly men, who can speak to only a narrow interpretation of progress.

OK, let’s go to the goddamn tape:

In 2018-2020, 144 works of science fiction were nominated in the categories of novel, novella, novelette and short story for the Hugo Award. How many men in that pool? 10. 10 out of 144, or 7%. I guess that’s just not acceptable. Those last 10 men are holding back progress and keeping girls out of STEM careers, I guess.

I fucking hate these people.


 

About The Author

SugarFree

SugarFree

Your Resident Narcissistic Misogynist Rape-Culture Apologist

223 Comments

  1. Rebel Scum

    Or Kamala can take the reins, her braying laughter haunting our stunned minds.

    And she’ll be committed to the things we are committed to and she’ll do it every day.

    • SugarFree

      It’s not even anti-comedy. It’s like someone reading out of their therapy journal.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Andy Kaufman found a new gig?

    • Ted S.

      No audience reviews because the movie hasn’t been released to theaters yet.

    • Nephilium

      Got to love the 100%/26% reviews.

      • The Other Kevin

        I LOL’d at that. Apparently Netflix is more concerned with a few critics over the thousands of people who pay for their service.

      • Nephilium

        Look, listen to the experts, they’ll tell which shows and movies are good!

      • rhywun

        And the critics are terrified of delivering the “wrong” opinion.

      • Certified Public Asshat

        “Nanette isn’t for someone who wants to laugh a lung out, and yet it’s something everyone should see.” -one of the critic reviews, on a comedy special.

  2. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    In a notoriously transphobic industry

    Yes, the notoriously transphobic entertainment industry.

    • SugarFree

      Them is probably just taking a swipe at Dave Chapelle.

    • rhywun

      *peers five years (month? minutes?) into the future*

      “In a notoriouly minorattractedpersonphobic industry…”

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        They’ll probably end up with some asinine euphemism like “child-affirming sexuality” to aid the concept being spoonfed to the TMITE drones.

      • thrakkorzog

        They already have Minor Attracted Person. (MAPs) And you’re not allowed to judge them. Couldn’t make that one up if I tried.

      • Lackadaisical

        Five years? More like 2 at this rate.

  3. Not Adahn

    NPR ran an interview with Hannah Gatsby where she said that expecting comediolx to be funny was male entitlement and white supremacy. And that funny jokes were literal violence, hence the term “punchline.”

    • Nephilium

      Futurama was right?!

    • Tonio

      Please, nobody tell her about physical comedy, which is all based on literal violence, ie a man tripping on a banana peel.

      Lucille Ball, famously, did all her own stunt work well into her her career. But for people like Gadsby it would be a lose-lose. Lucy gets her face covered in soot — violence against women (and probably accusations of blackface). Cut those scenes, or write them for male actors, and Gadsby and her ilk would complain that women never get the good comedic roles.

      • Raven Nation

        “Gadsby it would be a lose-lose.”

        More like a win-win, right?

      • Gender Traitor

        …physical comedy, which is all based on literal violence, ie a man tripping on a banana peel.

        Buster Keaton hardest hit. Literally.

      • Ted S.

        Is breaking a bone in one’s neck (Keaton) getting hit harder than losing multiple fingers when a prop bomb goes off (Harold Lloyd)?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Lloyd’s was worse, because Buster didn’t realize his injury at the time.

      • Gender Traitor

        Ok, I’ll give Lloyd that one. But I like Buster Keaton better. The General is a masterpiece. ( https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0017925/ for the uninitiated.)

      • SDF-7

        To each their own. I have The General, and it is okay — but I have a lot more Lloyd movies I go back to often. Particularly fond of The Freshman and (of course) Safety Last!.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        One Week, Seven Chances, The Cameraman

        Speedy, Number Please

      • Ted S.

        I like both Lloyd and Keaton a lot more than Charlie Chaplin.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Ditto, Ted, although the bread-roll dance, and the monkey in The Circus…

      • Nephilium

        There’s several articles out there about one of the changes that the actress who plays Dee on It’s Always Sunny forcing her way into the physical comedy parts.

      • thrakkorzog

        Yeah, as originally written Dee was supposed to be the straight woman, a Margaret Dumont type of character. The problem was that as the actress pointed out, “OK, if she’s so smart, why is she hanging out with these assholes?” So they started giving her more comedic stuff to do to make her as horrible as the rest of the characters because of The Implication.

      • rhywun

        Smart choice. She’s a great asshole.

      • rhywun

        Am I going to have obtain Lucy on hard media now? Love that show.

        There is soooo much wrong going on there.

    • The Other Kevin

      So she expects people to tune in for hours and NOT be entertained. And then it will be the patriarchy’s fault when nobody watches.

      • Bobarian LMD

        If the Patriarchy worked like it was supposed to, we’d all be forced to watch this at our quarterly HR training.

      • Pope Jimbo

        The Patriarchy is so fucking pathetic nowadays that even Pakistan isn’t holding up its old traditions.

        How did the Pakis not light these chicks up?

        In Eagan, Rachel Stienstra only learned to ride her motorcycle six years ago. But in that time it’s taken her on rides across Iceland, Canada, and Mexico. This week she is just back in town after riding across Pakistan, with a good cause in mind.

        “We were there for 20 days, we left on the [Sep.] 7 and got back last night,” Stienstra told FOX 9 on Tuesday.

        At times Steinstra found herself in the extreme heat, in the bitter cold, and at high elevations that took her breath away. But for her traveling party of a dozen women from different biking groups, it was a small price to pay towards their ultimate goal of raising money and awareness for the needs of women in a patriarchal society.

        Steinstra says the locals were just as generous, with only one ask in return: “Please go home and tell America that we educate our daughters and we’re not all terrorists,” she said. In the end, her journey was also a reminder that it’s never too late to get out and follow your dreams.

        Think they rode around Pakistan all by themselves? Or that maybe they hired some men with guns for security?

        * to be fair, I think the Pakis thought she was a man (based on the pic of her).

      • DrOtto

        She looks like Bill Clinton.

      • Bobarian LMD

        It said right there in the title “Minnesoda Woman”.

      • Tres Cool

        Good Lord. She does.

      • thrakkorzog

        Would have gone with Meat Loaf in Fight Club with his hair bleached.

  4. Rebel Scum

    In a notoriously transphobic industry

    Sure…

  5. KK the Porcine Pearl-Eater

    My Ma is in the afterlife right now saying “See???”

    She and my dad used to live in Punta Gorda.

    • SugarFree

      “Fat Whore” (?)

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        You’re confusing her with Winston’s Mom.

      • Bobarian LMD

        That’s Punta Grande!

      • Spudalicious

        “Fat” whore.

    • rhywun

      My grandma lived in Punta Gorda with her 3rd or 4th husband.

      First time back north she told us how she hated the heat and the bugs. Mom was gonna relocate her and me down there and thank god she changed her mind.

  6. The Late P Brooks

    “Entertainment” “news”

    Who gives a shit?

  7. The Late P Brooks

    Just for laughs, I decided to eyeball the spark plugs in the Elefent. They look like they could be the ones it left the factory with. That’s probably not true. Somebody has been in there, because they apparently lost two of the coil hold-down screws.But it’s not burning any oil, so I’ve got that going for me.

    I’ll put a set of plugs in, anyway, just for the hell of it. Maybe an air filtro, too, as long as I have the hood open.

    • Ted S.

      I’m not brave enough to look down an elephant’s throat to see the spark plugs.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Who says he was looking from that end?

      • Gender Traitor

        Inexplicably remembered line from a promo for George Peppard’s old TV series Banacek: “Only a man with nothing to fear smiles back at the rear of an elephant.” 🐘😁

  8. Rebel Scum

    In come the sharks.

    somehow a shark ended up in a Fort Myers neighborhood during Hurricane Ian..

    • Ted S.

      So it really is a sharknado.

    • Urthona

      Carpetbaggers

      • SDF-7

        Florida lawyers.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Please, nobody tell her about physical comedy

    There’s an old silent Fatty Arbuckle clip I have seen, wherein he accosts a lovely young woman at a bus stop. A dancer, I suspect. She, from a flat-footed start, kicks him in the face and knocks him on his ass. If that’s not funny, what is?

    • Spudalicious

      Knowing the story of Fatty Arbuckle…

      • thrakkorzog

        I mean the Coke bottle bit is kind of made up.

      • Homple

        “Arbuckle was the defendant in three widely publicized trials between November 1921 and April 1922 for the rape and manslaughter of actress Virginia Rappe. Rappe had fallen ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel in September 1921, and died four days later. A friend of Rappe accused Arbuckle of raping and accidentally killing her. The first two trials resulted in hung juries, but Keaton testified for the defense in the third trial,[citation needed] which acquitted Arbuckle, and the jury gave him a formal written statement of apology.”

        From Wikipedia.

        Something, something prosecutor itching for higher office.

    • The Other Kevin

      Damn, he was only an American flag away from becoming one of our cover images.

      • Bobarian LMD

        What is Brett doing today?

      • Tres Cool

        Right? I was thinking….”wheres the giant flag?”
        MURICA!

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      FREEDOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM

    • Pope Jimbo

      This proves my theory that jetskiers are like cockroaches. Vile creatures that can survive just about anything.

      My main beef with jetskiers is that they get bored of pointlessly zooming around the lake and decide to do some racing using my fishing boat as a pylon to turn around at. The Minnesoda DNR continues to ignore my suggestion that it should be legal to shoot at them (with nothing larger than a .410).

      • Bobarian LMD

        I might suggest some very high test spider-wire tied to significant casting weights.

        With some treble hooks attached.

      • Animal

        The Minnesoda DNR continues to ignore my suggestion that it should be legal to shoot at them (with nothing larger than a .50 BMG 410).

        Fixed.

  10. Bobarian LMD

    I fucking hate these people.

    News Flash: Not as much as they hate you.

  11. Toxteth O'Grady

    Oh, and the Tom Hanks movie #4 is A League of Their Own.

    • Rebel Scum

      I saw that for the first time recently.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        A bit more feminist than was historically factual; e.g., they weren’t actually booed, because the public was eager to watch sports again.

      • Shiny Nerfherder

        It was truthy.

  12. Sensei

    Not even CNN is running cover.

    Biden asks if deceased congresswoman is present at White House food insecurity conference

    The WH spin is hysterical.

    When asked by reporters about the comment later on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was, in fact, referencing Walorski.

    “The President was naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work. He had already planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House on Friday. There will be a bill signing in her honor this coming Friday, so, of course, she was on his mind,” Jean-Pierre said. “She was top of mind for the President. He very much looks forward to discussing her remarkable legacy of public service with them when he sees her family this coming Friday.”

    • MikeS

      What a fucking clown show (apologies to 🤡)

      Another reporter asked, “The confusing part is – why, if she and the family (are) top of mind, does the President think that she is living and in the room?”

      “I don’t find that confusing,” Jean-Pierre responded. “I think many people can speak to, sometimes, when you have someone top of mind – exactly that.”

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      At what point do television reporters start to wonder if they’re going to die in a nuclear holocaust because the guy with the football can’t find his own dick without help?

      • The Other Kevin

        Some day they will have to look around and say, shit, we enabled this! Right?

      • Bobarian LMD

        HA!

    • Urthona

      Here’s the thing.

      I don’t think it’s that bad.

      It’s the lying about in such an Orwellian and ridiculous fashion that’s bad.

      For fuck’s sake, just say he forgot.

      These people are horrendous.

      • The Other Kevin

        Admitting he forgot would counter the “sharp as a tack” narrative. And also admit that he didn’t take five minutes before an event to prepare for it, kind of like a competent person would.

      • rhywun

        This. They literally can’t do anything but worship the ground he walks on.

      • R C Dean

        Let’s not overlook that a competent staff would have programmed some short memorial remarks. Ol’ Joe isn’t the only idiot in the White House.

    • Pope Jimbo

      He should go with this theory (it is more plausible) and he would get to see Nessie.

      Now, one paranormal investigator, Scot Ron Halliday, has come out with one of the most abstract theories yet – and it involves the Netflix nostalgic hit.

      He said: “Scientists have suggested there could be other universes. And somehow our world interacts with these other worlds through portals.

      “With the Loch Ness monster, people could be seeing a dinosaur that existed in the past. They may see something that looks solid but isn’t actually in our world. That can spread across a whole range of things, such as UFO sightings.”

      “Some people are more psychic than others. They can pick up these experiences while others may not. It’s possible that some may walk into these portals without realising it, then they can see these things.

      “They are having genuine experiences. In a way, this is speculation. But to my mind, it does provide an explanation to a whole range of paranormal phenomena.”

      • SDF-7

        “Ancient alien theorists believe these portals were set up by those once worshipped as gods…”

        (aka — “I’m not saying it was aliens, but…..”

      • UnCivilServant

        Turns out it was time-travelling humans.

      • Bobarian LMD

        In a dinosaur costume.

      • Tonio

        STEVE SMITH SEE PORTAL AND WANT TO ENTER IT. AND BY “ENTER,” MEAN RAPE.

      • Spudalicious

        He wasn’t satisfied with Nord 2?

  13. Timeloose

    I was shocked as hell when I looked at the past few years of Hugo awards. How is it possible that there were so many good women sci-fi writers and so few men all of the sudden? I wonder what happened after 2018?

    The Electric Six are touring I believe.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XNFokmDKrE

    I want to take you to gay bar, lets start a war, an nuclear war, at the gay bar, gay bar, gay bar.

    • rhywun

      Heard the Hugos went woke a few years back. I haven’t really followed in more years than that, but from all the infighting I’ve heard about, I’m better off ignoring them. Some of my favorite recent authors are still busy if no longer welcome there.

    • R.J.

      They are. I hope to see them in DFW Tx soon. Great group live.

  14. DEG

    I fucking hate these people.

    I hate them too.

  15. MikeS

    The “Women In Tech” link is about tortured monkeys. Intentional?

    • Bobarian LMD

      The first sign of Monkey-Pox is linking to tortured monkeys.

    • SugarFree

      It’s fixed. That Gizmodo infinite scroll shit. The URL changes when you get past the end of the story to a different one.

    • Pope Jimbo

      Doh! Edged out at the wire!

      • Bobarian LMD

        Nero fiddled and Lizzo blows.

  16. Pope Jimbo

    Time to cancel Lizzo. She’s openly supporting slave holding Presidents.

    Does she not know that is NOT Ok?

    If Lizzo’s shining, even James Madison’s crystal flute is gonna shine.

    When the singer’s “The Special Tour” stopped at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., Tuesday, she accepted an invitation from the Library of Congress to play a 200-year-old flute that was once given to former President Madison. The flute may have been among a few things first lady Dolly Madison saved after British troops set fire to the White House in 1814.

    Lizzo said she was the first person to ever play the instrument.

    • R C Dean

      Lizzo said she was the first person to ever play the instrument.

      I very seriously doubt that. In 200 years, not one single person gave it a go?

      • Tundra

        Not a twerking, modestly talented, obese black woman, so…

        Unprecedented!

        Time for a Lizzo intervention, too. Poor girl is gonna die at 50.

  17. The Other Kevin

    I guess it could be worse if he actually saw and talked to Jackie.

    • SDF-7

      Or awesome.

      “Jackie? Jackie are you here? Where are you Jackie?”

      “Here I am, Joe! And I brought a few friends that would like to talk to you folks about what they meant when they wrote certain founding documents….”

      Phantom George Washington proceeds to go Trenton on the current swamp….

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      +1 Harvey 🐰

  18. Count Potato

    “A 20-year-old road rage suspect who was left bedridden when the parked patrol car she was detained in was struck by a freight train is planning to sue police.

    Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, of Greeley, Colorado, is recovering at home with nine broken ribs, a broken arm, a fractured sternum and numerous other injuries to her head and back, her attorney, Paul Wilkinson, told KUSA-TV.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11255891/Woman-hit-train-police-car-hospital.html

    Damn.

    • Bobarian LMD

      being left in police cruiser parked over tracks

      Yeah… sounds like she’s got a pretty good case there. The Greeley tax payers are about to get corn-holed.

    • creech

      Damn, imagine what these injuries are going to be worth when compared to the $50 million sought because a Sesame character failed to pat a little black girl on the head.

  19. Tundra

    That song is slightly disturbing.

    So, perfect!

    Those last 10 men are holding back progress and keeping girls out of STEM careers, I guess.

    I fucking hate these people.

    My daughter is a junior at an engineering school. The number of her chick friends that washed out is pretty spectacular. Perhaps there is something else skewing the numbers than those 10 sci-fi nerds.

    • thrakkorzog

      I remember hearing an interview with a woman with a CS degree. After college she got a job working for a high-end tech company.

      She said what would happen was everybody was nice, if awkward. But on Mondays she would come in and the conversations would be what did you do over the weekend. She’d say something like, “Oh, I went shopping with friends before a date.”

      Then a male coworker would say something like “Oh I did some work on this Linux kernel.” And everybody in the office was enraptured and asking for details.
      She realized that her coworkers would program for 60 hours a week. And on their time off, they’d program some more. At that point she looked for the exits, because well, that’s kind of crazy. And everybody else in the office considered that normal. And there was no way she could catch up with those hardcore nerds.

      • Sensei

        Nowadays with diversity at large firms all she needs to do is go the manager route.

      • rhywun

        Ugh I wouldn’t like that kind of office, either.

        Not that I don’t fuck around in my spare time learning new stuff, but… yeah, I’m not surrounded by “that type”.

        She would probably be happier doing the same thing but in a different industry with more normal people.

    • whiz

      Apparently it’s not a big problem to current cosmology.

      FTA: The irony is that JWST’s observations are actually supporting the Big Bang model, showing that the first galaxies were smaller and grew larger over time, just as Big Bang cosmology predicts. The surprising finding that galaxies in the early universe are more plentiful, and a little more massive and structured than expected, doesn’t mean that the Big Bang is wrong. It just means that some of the cosmology that follows the Big Bang requires a little bit of tweaking.

      Although they also pooh-pooh climate and COVID vaccine skeptics.

      • trshmnstr the terrible

        Ah, space.com. Beyond getting launch windows correct, I doubt the accuracy of everything they write. They are the most toxic combo of smug wokesters and IFLS science journos.

      • grrizzly

        Covid vaccines are garbage. And obviously so. If someone doesn’t understand it, why should I care about their opinion on more difficult scientific issues?

    • SDF-7

      “Totally preposterous. Obviously a portal to a parallel universe where Putin decided to go nuclear on Ukraine opened, and the ensuing global exchange bled through as the recorded explosions, shattering the pipelines.

      Or Nessie tried to mate with them, thinking they were SEA SMITH.

      One of the two.

      Now where’s Jackie?”

    • SDF-7

      I like the Domino sequence, but overall the second one sure didn’t, yeah. So not holding my breath for a third one.

      But then again, that’s pretty much true of all the superhero movies these days.

      • R.J.

        #sequelssuck
        My usual take on anything.

      • slumbrew

        *‘Aliens’ waves hi*

      • SDF-7

        I was thinking Wrath of Khan — but in general I can’t argue with RJ.

      • Shiny Nerfherder

        Game over man, GAME OVER!

        /Bill Paxton was the king

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        Aliens 3 was good. I cannot watch Aliens 2 at this point, way to overblown.

      • slumbrew

        The fuk?!

        De gustibus, I suppose.

      • Count Potato

        Although that’s usually true. The second one wasn’t bad. I like the Princess Bride version.

      • Urthona

        I thought the second one was hilarious.

      • MikeS

        I generally agree. Young Guns 2 is an outlier.

    • Bobarian LMD

      I’m worried that Did-knee could fuck this up royally.

    • Tundra

      I’ll watch it, but I doubt anything could top the first one.

      I’m not a superhero movie guy, but that was really good. I tricked my wife into going (because Ryan Reynolds), but she didn’t like it as much as me!

      • SDF-7

        Rent The Voices for her, really mess with her.

        “Its a romantic film with Ryan Reynolds!”

      • Tundra

        Lol.

        I already did that with Waiting. She’s starting not to trust me.

      • slumbrew

        I love Waiting.

      • Shiny Nerfherder

        That’s nothing. I took mine to Boogie Nights when we were dating.

      • Sensei

        You too?

      • Shiny Nerfherder

        She was not amused

      • Sensei

        Neither was mine.

      • DEG

        “Boogie Nights” is a good movie.

      • Tundra

        Nice.

      • Sean

        Lol.

      • Lackadaisical

        ‘starting’?

  20. Count Potato

    “Why is there a $40,000 disbursement from the Occupy Democrats Election Fund PAC to Mitch McConnell for ‘fundraising/digital’ in their FEC filing on 10/30/20? If this is a ‘clerical error’, it’s the mother of all clerical errors.”

    https://twitter.com/H_MitchellPhoto/status/1575183501695291392

    RT IF YOU AGREE!

    • UnCivilServant

      Given that Mitch is very much their ally, I don’t see what’s off about that.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      The actual recipient was some company called Blue Deal, which does pro-Dem signs and t-shirts and stuff. My guess is that they paid Blue Deal for some anti-McConnell stuff.

  21. Spudalicious

    “In 2018-2020, 144 works of science fiction were nominated in the categories of novel, novella, novelette and short story for the Hugo Award. How many men in that pool? 10. 10 out of 144, or 7%.”

    No wonder I don’t like modern sci-fi.

    • SugarFree

      Male SF writers have been taught not to bother to try publishing, so it makes sense that the Hugos would be female-heavy. It is the implication that the few remaining high-profile male science fiction writers are holding back women in STEM is what really pissed me off. It’s like kicking a dog you’ve already almost starved to death.

      • SDF-7

        The ones I read that are current are either military SF (which seems to be more immune) or are self-published. Or at least, have never had an editor grace their data stream — so I assume self-published.

      • SugarFree

        Neal Asher and Martha Wells are the only living ones I can think of off the top of my head. (As in eagerly await their next work.)

      • SDF-7

        I’m still enjoying the work of Jack Campbell (aka John G Hemry) and Evan Currie. They’re not Classic Hugo level, but they work for me — and what else can I ask for?

      • one true athena

        Well, see if Elon Musk had just read a book about endometriosis as a kid he would’ve been putting his money toward a cure, not doing dumb things like launching a bunch of satellites to create communications that evade the Iranian regime’s internet shutdown so the people could protest the murder of a woman.

        It’s always the same shit. “why don’t they do what I want them to do?”

      • SugarFree

        That was just a wonderful paragraph, wasn’t it?

      • Animal

        Male SF writers have been taught not to bother to try publishing…

        Helps when your wife runs a publishing company.

    • R.J.

      I only grok the old stuff.

      • SugarFree

        I’ve retreated into the past as well. There’s maybe only three living writers I bother with. Maybe two, now that Stross has wrapped up The Laundry Files.

      • slumbrew

        I started to really hate The Laundry books, to the point I didn’t even get the last couple from the library (used to be “instant buy” a few years back).

        Maybe I’ll suck it up for completeness.

      • slumbrew

        I’ll pass on those, for sure.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        That happens to a lot of writers, but the fans won’t let them stop. At least not for the money they get offered. I know Michael Connolly hates Bosch at this point, but it’s a cash cow.

      • Mojeaux

        I wouldn’t be able to do that. I stopped because I had nothing left to say.

      • The Hyperbole

        An author I read used to say that no series should be longer than three books, he was talking mainly about detective/cop books, since they get beat up and shot and then are right back all healthy the next book, and it buggers belief that one detective/cop would be involved in a couple dozen book level investigations over their career. Of course he hit on a good cop character and is now writing book eight of that series.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        That, and they have shot about a dozen people.

      • slumbrew

        I’m still salty he abandoned the Eschaton series.

    • SugarFree

      Fun Fact: In 2019, no male writer was nominated for any of the 24 slots.

    • Semi-Spartan Dad

      I can’t think of any modern sci-fi I’ve read other than maybe some recent books in continuing series from older authors. CJ Cherryh probably heads the list of my favorites… The Faded Sun Trilogy, The Cyteen series, The Chanur series, and the Foreigner Series. Louis McMaster Bujold, another woman, had some good ones with the Vorkosigan series (the earlier books at least… the latter not so much). Speed of Dark from Elizabeth Moon was good… although I don’t know that I’d really call it SF.

      And of course a very long list from Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Gordon Dickenson.

      • Semi-Spartan Dad

        David Drake if you count Hammer’s Slammers.

      • Gender Traitor

        As I’ve mentioned here before, my sister gave me the entire Broken Earth trilogy by the demographically-correct N.K. Jemisin for Christmas a year or two ago. Hugos in 2016, 2017, and 2018. My biggest beef is that one of the three main plot lines is written in second person, which I find annoying, so I’ve never finished the first one.

  22. Tundra

    Dave Smith on Rogan again.

    Dave is getting better. Rogan is having trouble keeping up.

  23. MikeS

    Sobering news at work today. Likely won’t surprise anyone here, but thought I’d share to drive the point home:

    At my day job we produce parts for three international makers of construction and ag equipment. One (based in Germany) was burying us in RFQs only one month ago. Now they are telling us that they likely won’t be resourcing anything through 2023, unless it is to move product from the US to other countries. The dollar is too strong. Another is a US based company; they are consolidating suppliers and preparing the company for a recession.

    Here we go.

    • Hyperion

      “construction and ag equipment”

      They have to burn all their hemp products to heat their homes this winter.

  24. Brochettaward

    Weathermen are no Firsters. They should not be out in these elements.

    I was born for this. Today I take Firsting to another level. Watch for my sign…

  25. R C Dean

    the program aims to foster the professional development of a demographic that is still struggling to have their voices heard

    If there is a single demographic more over-represented in entertainment these days, I can’t think of it.

    this will be a chance for the world to hear these voices for the first, but definitely not the last, time

    Only if they don’t suck. Which is unlikely, as they were selected for their oddly uniform “diversity”, not their talent.

    They asked: How many times have we heard about the female perspective in science fiction – a woman’s experience of being an astronaut or how a woman would find living on Mars?

    Female protagonists (and in misc. supporting roles) in science fiction are so common as to be completely unexceptional.

    I, too, hate these people. I hates them, I do.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      Gays are probably far more overrepresented. You’d think they make up about 1/3 of the population based on a lot of shows these days.

      • slumbrew

        About 1/2 of all couples are mixed race as well.

  26. Rebel Scum

    The status quo has been conserved.

    Senate just passed—without even the pretense of a fight—CR authorizing $12B to defend Ukraine: $3B to resettle randomly-airlifted Afghans in US; and a blank check for Biden to keep mass releasing illegal aliens.

    But don’t worry, GOP bravely held the line on permitting reform.

    • Drake

      Democracy in action! Surely these measures would have passed a nation wide plebiscite.

    • Hyperion

      War mongers to the left of us, jokers to the right, here we are stuck in the… the libertarian moment never really happened, did it?

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      That’s ok. Taxpayers will bail them out so they can build on the beach again.

      • Hyperion

        If Abbott and new bad orange man super villain, DeSantis, keep sending undocumented migrants to the beach, it’s going to tip over like Guam.

  27. Rebel Scum

    Muy caliente.

    Spanberger’s screaming fits are because boys can’t go into girls restrooms or dominate girls sports in Virginia.

    Spanberger is out of touch with #VA7.

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      Damn CIA spook is what she is

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      And Vice was too stupid to leave it out

    • rhywun

      Female voiceover: “After this interview, Asheef sent a picture of his penis to our producer.”

      LOL

      • Ted S.

        I mean, who hasn’t done that?

      • slumbrew

        I had a full on belly laugh when I watched that.

      • Stinky Wizzleteats

        It’s like the parable of the scorpion and the turtle but dirtier. It’s just in his nature.

      • Mojeaux

        Quoting one of my characters: “You know why the tortoise bet the hare to race? It’s not because he thought he would win. It’s because he knew the hare would fuck it up. It was just his nature.”

      • Spudalicious

        So how did the scorpion get through the shell?

      • MikeS

        He was feeling froggy.

    • Stinky Wizzleteats

      He’s just mad they can’t impose transit fees. The Poles have lost their fucking minds.

    • Shiny Nerfherder

      And that was meant to be a reply to my previous comment.

      I should probably just drink more.

  28. Tundra

    I don’t recall if it’s Netflix or Prime, but we watched a few episodes of News Radio last night. I forgot how goddamn funny it is!

    • The Hyperbole

      It’s on Prime, although I guess it may also be on Netflix.

      • Zwak. who's suit is as ragged as his nerves.

        I think it is also on Youtube.

        And, yes, great stuff.

    • rhywun

      Used to be cable recently. It isn’t any more. Good show.

    • thrakkorzog

      Wow Joe Rogan got a new show? Why did no one tell me?

    • rhywun

      I keep seeing commercials for little bro’s new show.

      These types don’t know anything else.

      • Sensei

        Nope. And sympathetic people give them these shows.

        In the old days it would have been the Rotary circuit.

  29. Old Man With Candy

    Wednesday Night Zoomies.

    Zoom Zoom

    Log into zoom first, then use that link.

  30. The Late P Brooks

    I don’t recall if it’s Netflix or Prime, but we watched a few episodes of News Radio last night. I forgot how goddamn funny it is!

    I was watching Robot Chicken on the roku channel last night. There was some really funny stuff on that show.