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pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel *Picks and Shovels*.

Catch me in #PDX with BUNNIE HUANG at Barnes and Noble on FRIDAY (Jun 20):

https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780062183697-0

And at the #TUALATIN Public Library on SUNDAY (Jun 22):

https://www.tualatinoregon.gov/library/author-talk-cory-doctorow

More tour dates (#London, #Manchester) here:

http://martinhench.com

eof/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

These three tales stand alone, so there's no need to read the previous volumes before diving into this one. But you *should* read the other two, because they're great:

* *The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion* (2017):

https://reactormag.com/excerpts-margaret-killjoy-the-lamb-will-slaughter-the-lion/

* *The Barrow Will Send What It May*: (2018):

https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-barrow-will-send-what-it-may-margaret-killjoy/

9/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Killjoy's really onto something with this series. She's tapping into the deep roots of fantasy - maybe the socialist parables woven into William Morris's stories. She's also connecting with the roots of urban fantasy (I was delighted to see a reference to Terri Windling's *superb*, absolutely *amazing* Borderland series).

8/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Pratchett did one of these (*Lords and Ladies*), and so have many others - but no one's done it where the resistance comes from a motley band of queer punk club-owners in a rural town, who team up with local shitkickers to hunt the elves and banish them to their realm.

The final tale is "The Battle of Miami," a story about a streetfighting anti-globalist battle. It's a tale of Black Bloc tactics and true queer love, that lights up with joy.

7/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

It's ultimately a story about how the competent people who have their shit together in our lives are just as broken as the rest of us, and about the many ways that release, fulfillment and actualization can take place. It's spooky as *fuck*.

The middle story is "The Fairies of the Spring," which summons up the old, mean roots of the Fair Folk, the cruelty behind their beauty and merry laughter.

6/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

This is a great setup: a group of endangered comrades, huddled together against the darkness without, telling tales to buoy up their bravery. It's the framing device that makes *The Decameron* an enduring classic after 800 years and counting. In Killjoy's hands, it sings.

The first story is "The Troll King's Court," a ghost story about a Norwegian troll cult that came to America in a failed Manhattan-Adjacent Project to create a mystical superweapon with which to win WWII.

5/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

To save themselves, they must court their own dead, welcoming them to their circle. They pile a camp-plate high with food for the dead to eat, build the fire up, and begin the tell the stories of their dead comrades, summoning them as a defense against the monstrous forces that stalk the All Saints night. This is the setup for the three linked short stories that make up this short book.

4/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Danielle Cain is a freighter-hopping, anarcho-queer hero whose adventures are shared by solidaristic crews of spellcasting, cryptid-battling crustypunk freaks and street-fighters. In *Immortal Choir*, the action opens with Danielle and a motley band around a campfire in a dark Idaho woods, surrounded by the night-screams of some distant demonic presence. It's Samhain, and the veil between the realm of the living and dead is as thin as it gets. Bad things are stalking the night.

3/

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Her 2024 YA novel "The Sapling Cage" is a queer coming-of-age epic that *motors* with all the narrative energy of a genderbent Conan epic:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/24/daughters-of-the-empty-throne/#witchy

Today, Strangers In a Tangled Wilderness Press publishes *The Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice*, a collection of three linked short stories set in Killjoy's celebrated Danielle Cain series, which Alan Moore called "ideal reading for a post-truth world":

https://www.tangledwilderness.org/shop/p/the-immortal-choir-holds-every-voice

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pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Margaret Killjoy writes fantasy stories of relentless tension, boundless wonder, thrilling adventure...and completely radical, unflinching anarchist politics.

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/18/anarcho-cryptid/#decameron-and-on

1/

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

I don't think we're going to miss the trash Mike Lindell is selling. We've got dollar stores.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/minnesota-has-lost-a-thriving-business/

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
beyondmachines1@infosec.exchange ("BeyondMachines :verified:") wrote:

"Works on my machine", oil on canvas.
Unknown artist, 2025

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
broadwaybabyto@zeroes.ca ("Broadwaybabyto") wrote:

I’m seeing a lot of people posting about how sick they are with a “summer flu”

Main complaints? Fatigue, extremely sore throat, fever and loss of smell.

It’s Covid. The Nimbus variant is here & appears to be more transmissible.

It’s time to wear a respirator, clean the air & stay home when sick!

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
randahl ("Randahl Fink") wrote:

Afghan man gets a VISA to the US after assisting the US army in Afghanistan as an interpreter.

Now, without a warrant, Trump's ICE goons have arrested him and put him in detention to get him deported to meet their deportation quotas.

That is your reward for being an ally of the US.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/afghan-ally-detained-by-ice-immigration-court/

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
davidrevoy@framapiaf.org ("David Revoy") wrote:

🎉 I'm happy for Peertube! The campaign has ended and they have reached their final goal: https://support.joinpeertube.org/en/

#krita #peertube

Attachments:

• gifv: A gif loop of a very simple black-and-white animation that I drew by hand in Krita. It's only four frames long, so the movement isn't very fluid. It shows Sepia the Squid, the Peertube mascot, bouncing happily and launching confetti.

pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow") wrote:

Rand Paul, a "#Libertarian", on being disinvited from the President's cake party:
"This is an outrage!"

Rand Paul, a "Libertarian," on Trump sending people to an offshore slave labor camp for life: "..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0MbR4uHPho

pzmyers@freethought.online ("pzmyers 🕷") wrote:

I collect spiders, and some people give me the side-eye. But in America, stuffing your car with guns is considered normal.

https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2025/06/18/run-if-you-see-this-in-a-car/

Mastodon wrote:

Mastodon is happy to be recognised as a #DigitalPublicGood by @dpgalliance - alongside many other incredible #OpenSource projects. Find out more in our blog post. #UNOpenSourceWeek

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/06/mastodon-dpga

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
secretgeek@mastodon.cloud ("Leon Bambrick") wrote:

@pluralistic What a wildly predictable turn of events, that Larry David ended up regretting his involvement with crypto. Absolutely no one saw that not coming.

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
TheBreadmonkey@beige.party ("Ben") wrote:

This morning I am enjoying macro photography of moths. Derpy little guys.

jsonstein@masto.deoan.org ("Jeff Sonstein") wrote:

a modern version of ‘Sound of Music’

Attachments:

• video: a681159161c6aeb9.mp4

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
futzle@old.mermaid.town ("Deborah Pickett") wrote:

Link: Trans Music Archive opens, dedicated to physical preservation

« Trans communities are organizing and acting, building on an ongoing long-term struggle. And it’s time to go physical. Trans Music Archive is working on physical editions of some terrific music, and they’re asking for your support. »

https://cdm.link/trans-music-archive-opens-dedicated-to-physical-preservation/

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
sudorandom@infosec.exchange ("Kevin McDonald") wrote:

Long before the internet, the global phone network was hackable by playing a single tone at 2600Hz.

Whistled into a payphone, it could grant you unrestricted access, a skill made famous by legends like Cap'n Crunch. Do you have the vocal chops to be an old-school phone phreak?

I built a web app to test your ability to produce the legendary frequency. You won't get free long distance calls but you will get some honor in the knowledge that you could have been a cool hacker. 😎

I am sad to say that I can only whistle up to 1100Hz... But my wife (a long time woodwind player) is able to consistently get it.

Give it a try: https://phreak.kmcd.dev/

#phreaking #2600Hz #bluebox #RetroComputing #hacker #infosec #Tech

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
robinadams@mathstodon.xyz ("Robin Adams") wrote:

@inecas @Axolotl1 @davidgerard In Gulliver's Travels, the Laputans had a machine called The Engine that put words together randomly, with scribes writing down any meaningful phrases that happened to be formed.

"Every one knew how laborious the usual method is of attaining to arts and sciences; whereas, by his contrivance, the most ignorant person, at a reasonable charge, and with a little bodily labour, might write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics, and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study.”

The Wikipedia page for The Engine currently says "See also Large Language Model".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FEngine

Boosted by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):
takmatsuoka@vivaldi.net ("松岡さん@散歩記録(写真)垢") wrote:

2025.06.17 姉小路通
寺町通～烏丸通間からアジサイ2点。

#photography #flowers #マストドン写真部

Boosted by slightlyoff@toot.cafe ("Alex Russell"):
dangillmor ("Dan Gillmor") wrote:

Seen on Bluesky:

Guy explains to CEO of Signal (messaging) that it's going to add "AI" to the service. She says no. He insists, not knowing or caring who he's talking down to.

fribbledom ("muesli") wrote:

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/06/trumps-epa-to-reconsider-ban-on-cancer-causing-asbestos/

Breaking: "Trump’s EPA to reconsider ban on cancer-causing asbestos."

Next up: reintroducing lead paint, dial-up internet, and bloodletting for colds.

Boosted by adam@social.lol ("Adam Newbold"):
paulkruczynski ("Pauxlll Kruczynski") wrote:

“Trans people can obtain US passport that aligns with their gender identity, judge rules”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/17/trump-trans-passport-ban-boston-judge

The war for human rights is one of the only wars worth fighting, not Iran.

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
paninid@mastodon.world ("Coach Pāṇini ®") wrote:

A staffer for Senator Tina Smith goes viral for sending an email to Senator Mike Lee after he tweeted-and later deleted-about the assassination of a Minnesota state legislator.

"I knew Melissa Hortman. Many people in this office did. She was a longtime friend of Senator Smith’s, who had seen her hours before she was murdered. So you’ll forgive my candor as I speak through enormous grief," the letter begins.

(1/8)

Boosted by pluralistic@mamot.fr ("Cory Doctorow"):
freedomofpress@freedom.press ("Freedom of the Press") wrote:

Great to see this on file so quickly. LAPD's assaults on journalists must stop now.

https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/news/post/journalists-sue-los-angeles-police-for-unlawful-use-of-force/