Steph Brown

“Navigate” manuscripts…like it’s the dangerous wide open sea and not a genre we’re experts in

Springer Nature@springernature.com

How can AI support researchers in peer review? Springer Nature and Google DeepMind are partnering to co-design an AI peer review assistant that helps reviewers navigate manuscripts and focus on where their scientific judgement matters most. Learn more: spklr.io/63320EVgT8

(or “they’re” — I’m not a scientist, so I’m just gonna assume they know how to read an article in their field)

One of the things that’s interesting to me (of a million things) about You Can See Everything is how Nathan Fielder, by way of being on screen, is forefronted as our focalization point in the film, but he’s a co-director with Lance Oppenheim.

What we’re seeing is a co-project, but we’re mostly refracting our experience of it through an assumption about Fielder’s centrality to the creative decision-making. Even in the credits, Oppenheim was listed as playing himself in the re-enactments, but was Fielder? I can’t remember.

I (and Nathan Fielder fan) brought my husband (not a Nathan Fielder fan) to You Can See Everything with me, and there were a few parts in which I looked over at him and his glasses were fully off his eyes he was cringing so hard. 10/10 movie experience (he liked it)

It’s a great week for me in terms of “people in my life asking for my professional opinion about misogyny in comedy”! I even had a student stay after an exam to get my opinion on the “SNL situation.”

I keep worrying the thousands of tweets I collected for my book (that’s taking me forever to finish) in the wake of Gillis being fired by SNL in 2019 are going to be irrelevant, but unfortunately for society they remain very relevant.

Anyway, I’ve been aware of that man for too long and it’s weird to have people like my mom now aware of him. Will it lead to any actual accountability? History says no, but I keep a glimmer of hope alive.

Tomorrow I get to give a guest lecture about the history of women comedians in a high school “History of Feminism” class (a class I wish I’d gotten to take when I was in high school!) I asked their regular teacher if they liked any specific comics and they apparently said “Tina Fey and Dropout”

Steph Brown reposted

Mo Ryan

@moryan.bsky.social

there is an entire chapter about SNL, specifically centered on Lorne Michaels, in my 2023 book Burn It Down. Because the echoing silence about the man has always bothered me too. Sure there are profiles of him, but they are puffery & follow a formula. Anyway, fyi: bookshop.org/p/books/burn...

bookshop.orgbookshop.org

This post is unavailable.

@dorsalstream.bsky.social

I love screening this show for students when we do TV history just to see their horrified reactions. (saving for next semester)

the worst of all possible worlds@worstpossible.world

THIS WEDNESDAY: we're talking about the original reality show, and we're bringing @slowpuke.bsky.social along for the ride. Before Mr Beast, Oprah, Richard Simmons, Extreme Makeover and all the other weepy stuff you've seen on TV, there was the wretched 1940s abomination of QUEEN FOR A DAY

Steph Brown reposted

Blue sky nice ghost

@rajandelman.bsky.social

Slowly reinventing the normal-sized library

Steph Brown reposted

RedruM

Love knowing I’ve got a meeting where coffee will be provided. The coffee will be bad, assuredly, but how much can I drink? At what point in the meeting will I most enjoy leaving the table to refill my cup? And the choice of milks!

Can’t wait to see all the $15k bird-on-the-wall-that-isn’t-for-sale at State of Play / Kelly Clarkson couples costumes in a few weeks at all the Halloween parties.

I saw a few posts on reddit arguing that Gillis’s monologue wasn’t supposed to be funny, that he just wants to “troll the libs.” The defense used to be that offensive jokes were OK *so long as they were jokes*. The humor part was necessary to undercut the hate speech. This seems like a shift?

these guys feel they have enough power they don’t even need to hide behind the liminal rhetoric of jokes anymore. Or maybe edgelord internet non-joke comedy is just hitting mainstream venues now.

nymag.comThe Problem With Facebook Was FacebookIn The Social Reckoning, Aaron Sorkin is fighting, and somehow losing, the last social-media war.

“The film is most useful as a portrait of a defeated, reform-minded liberalism that proved inadequate to the task of responding to or even thinking clearly about the rise of social media big tech (among other things).”

Steph Brown reposted

Mary Gillis

@marygillis.bsky.social

I don't think BOB'S BURGERS gets enough credit for still being an incredible show long into its 2nd decade. And this video gets at why it's still so good and watching it never feels like a slog or something you just do out of habit: it likes its characters.

youtu.beWhen A Show Actually Likes Its CharactersYouTube video by Nowhere To Land

ladylaughsphilly.comThe Myth that Won't Die: A Brief History of "Women Aren't Funny" | My Site 3As soon as the concept of "a sense of humor" entered the cultural conscious, women have been accused of not having one.

I’m so excited to be doing an event with Lady Laughs Philly next month! I’m giving a brief overview of feminist comedy studies research and then moderating a panel of comics talking about their experiences in stand-up. Check it out if you’re in the greater philly area!

buttondown.comThe Joke ThiefThe AI Powered Joke Thief (or Fine, Somebody Wants This)

I feel like I should have something smart to say about this, but I’m just too forlorn at the moment.

Nate Bowling@natebowling.com

Tiffany Sloan is a joke stealing AI generated stand-up comedian that has amassed a following of 350K users on Instagram. AI is supposed to transform the world and it's doing it in the worst and dumbest possible ways. buttondown.com/natebowling/...

This music video- watching Vh1 before school when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade.

Sleepy Hollow Reviews 🎃🐎@sleepingvillage.bsky.social

In honor of scary media month: what is the first piece of media you remember truly frightening you as a child?

I saw Primetime last night, and it was useful the way it showed how a lot of men react to sexual violence with revenge fantasies and not, like, treating women and kids with actual respect or breaking down the systems that encourage and protect the violence in the first place.

I also appreciated the film’s background commentary on the post-9/11 militarization of the cops and the way it connected sexual violence and state violence.

It was a film I thought about a lot afterward, despite some flaws.

Other profs are using AI to make their class materials while I accidentally spent 30 minutes looking up native plant climate zone info for a series of quiz questions about providing evidence in an informational speech. (unclear whether this was the best use of my time, but I used my brain!)

The man next to me at this coffee shop is on his third zoom meeting and he sounds just like that TikTok guy who pretends to be a business guy doing a zoom meeting.

finally, some good news

Richard Lawson@rilaws.bsky.social

I just fainted

21 Sept

My one take about the NYT TV list so far is that I literally forgot about The Queens Gambit five minutes after I finished it and on the other hand the town I used to live in is “turning into” Stars Hollow this weekend.

21 Sept

ok, two takes: Dexter was a bad show with two pretty good seasons.

@tanyagoldman.bsky.social

21 Sept

Liane Moriarty’s author’s note before Big Little Truths (sequel to Big Little Lies) talks about the TV’s shows affect on her thinking about the sequel and would be a *great* example for a class discussion of adaption and paratexts (noting for myself for next semester).

Steph Brown reposted

Tanya Goldman

16 Sept

Join @scmspedagogy.bsky.social on September 18 @ 1pm ET for our "Pedagogies of Care" virtual roundtable! Sign up via original post. ❤️

SCMS Critical Media Pedagogies SIG@scmspedagogy.bsky.social

Please join us for our first virtual roundtable of the school year "Pedagogies of Care" on September 18 @ 1pm ET / 10am PT. This will feature contributors to the JCMS Teaching Media dossier Pedagogies of Care in an Age of Anxiety. Sign up below! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com"Pedagogies of Care" Virtual Roundtable RegistrationPlease join the SCMS Critical Media Pedagogies SIG for a virtual roundtable on "Pedagogies of Care" on September 18 @ 1pm ET / 10am PT. This event brings together contributors to the JCMS Teaching Med...

defector.comHow Do I Avoid Becoming A Doomsday Prepper? | DefectorI knew I had gone too far when the question of whether we should buy a gun crossed my mind. This came at the apex of a weeklong anxiety spiral triggered by a New York Times feature about the…

13 Sept

I fell into a doomsday prepper rabbit hole a few years ago on TikTok and panicked about living in an apartment and not a rural, self sustaining homestead…..so this hits real close to home

Defector@defector.com

"It was in this miasma of paranoia, anticipation, and horror that a self-preservation instinct began to take over, one grounded deeply in my ability to purchase comfort and safety." defector.com/how-do-i-avo...

8 Sept

gonna make a poster of this for my office

andy™@andylevy.net

werner herzog on AI filmmaking (from here www.indiewire.com/features/int...)

7 Sept

I have an extremely rough and 4,000 words too long draft of an article I’ve been working on forever, that has felt so much harder to write than usual. But at least I’m starting to believe in a reality in which I finish it.

vulture.comAdults Has Outgrown Its Awkward PhaseIn its assured second season, the FX comedy graduates from imitating a great hangout sitcom to actually being one.

It took me a bit to warm up to Adults its first season, but I’m loving the second, and trying to space the episodes out. I agree with Vulture that I’m begging networks to bring back longer seasons for sitcoms. We need more time to hang out!

There’s even a perfect bottle ep this season that is also a wonderful nod to classic sitcom plotlines: characters talking past each other/misunderstanding each other and going in and out of rooms as the tension keeps heightening.

I’m helping @scmspedagogy.bsky.social crowd source some tips for grad students (and beyond) who struggle start writing a teaching statement. I’d love anyone’s thoughts, especially about biggest mistakes you see.

ugh, there’s a typo! first tip: proofread

2 Sept

The @scmspedagogy.bsky.social is excited to bring back our virtual roundtable in conjunction with the JCMS Teaching Media dossiers! Our first one of the fall will be feature contributors to the recent issue on "Pedagogies of Care" on September 18 @ 1pm ET / 10am PT. Sign up below!

rollingstone.com25 Most Influential Creators of 2026From breakout comedians and beauty experts to fashion newcomers and political stars, here are some of the biggest voices shaping the internet in 2026.

I’m an elder millennial AND I have at least a passing familiarity with most of these folks. And I’m a big fan of a few (Anania, in particular, is great). Funny that a list full of lots of young(ish) people and people of color inspires such vitriol in the replies!

dame@dame.is

it’s that time of year again, Rolling Stone released their list of the top 25 content creators, which is actually a test of how old and out of touch you are… the lower your score, the more out of touch i’ve heard of 11 out of 25

Also funny to think of Ms Rachel as a creator, though she is creating content outside of traditional channels. I more think of her as my nephew’s celebrity idol.

techcrunch.comMapQuest's app surges to No. 1 in Navigation after refusing to rename Lake Ontario | TechCrunchMapQuest is getting an unexpected boost from its decision to defy President Trump’s renaming of Lake Ontario.

You also get to pick a cute little avatar that bops around the map! And it works with Apple Car Play!

Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca

"MapQuest’s app surges to No. 1 in Navigation after refusing to rename Lake Ontario" techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/m...

Every podcast ad I’ve heard this week is for AI and/or weight loss. Every search I’ve tried to do for images or video is full of AI nonsense. I guess this era’s upside is that it’s going to quickly wean me off the internet.

30 Aug

Fat jokes about bad people just further associate body size with morality, which hurts all fat people! Who are not more likely to be evil than thin people! And in fact, are more likely to be marginalized in other ways! Why is it so hard to just make jokes about the bad things bad people do?

npr.orgChris Christie And Pulling The Red HandleEvery time Chris Christie is in the news, we wind up hearing the same jokes. Maybe we could get some new ones.

30 Aug

anyway here’s a poignant article about this very thing from a decade ago. www.npr.org/2014/01/13/2...

Steph Brown reposted

James Hell Brooks

@kleinman.bsky.social

26 Aug

Every hour there's a story of like a Norwegian death metal guy saying hey I never met Dolly Parton but she sent me a handwritten note saying she loved our song Corpse in the Copse and to keep speaking our truth