Blog Posts

Book cover: Child of Light

Love and electricity: The novel ‘Child of Light’

By Kate Blackwood / August 13, 2025

Without breaking out of the character of 1896, Jesi Bender’s CHILD OF LIGHT gives an eerie premonition of electricity’s progress in the past 125 years.

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A person descending a staircase with a background of rows and rows of books rising several stories high

‘So-called’: Media Objects podcast thinks critically about AI

By Kate Blackwood / August 3, 2025

Two episodes, broadcasting this week on KALW’s Bay Made show starting August 4, put AI into historical context and re-center human intelligence.

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A stack of books

What to read on vacation

By Kate Blackwood / July 4, 2025

Never bring nonfiction about the arctic on vacation to Albania. Especially if it’s a library book.

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Time for the Swatch

By Kate Blackwood / June 1, 2025

Which watch to wear? It’s a question I have to answer every time I run a race. Last November, I wore my smart Apple watch during a 10K. It insisted (inaccurately) I was running a slower pace than I wanted, goading me forward to a personal best. But in April, I chose instead my unsmart…

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