librarypunk

This week we’re joined by Mariame to talk about zines in NYC in the 80s, DIY, youth culture, organizing, middle age, yelling at clouds, and building models of the world we might want to live in. Support needed: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Rebuild25 REBUILD provides free therapy for justice-involved and formerly incarcerated people of color. Media mentioned Black Zine Fair https://blackzinefa...

We have Katie Freeway on to talk about self-publishing comics and music, algorithms, baseball, the importance of creativity, handshakemogging, SEO, Resident Evil, if cats are kinda gay, transsexualism, and more!   Buy Katie’s album: https://anti-spectacular.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-this-flesh   Patreon for I Don’t Sleep Well and other comics: https://patreon.com/hausofdecline   https://bsky.app/pro...

We’re joined by Dan again to talk about Carnegie libraries, which expanded into a larger discussion of consensus, hegemony, and the future of philanthropy/public funding. We also introduce Maoist Dusty Rhodes. Media mentioned Stevenson, S. (2010). The Political Economy of Andrew Carnegie’s Library Philanthropy, with a Reflection on its Relevance to the Philanthropic Work of Bill Gates. Library &am...

We’re doing a movie night, where the National Archives and the city of Philly stock footage are main characters. We also pitch our own Hallmark movie directed by Bruce LaBruce about mismanagement set at the Mütter Museum.  Transcript: https://pastecode.io/s/q6fbce2p   Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/qWPTurTnkT

We’re talking about that bad article on critical confabulations in archives. We talk about history as a process, the archive, gaps in our knowledge, language as a conveyor of reality, and The Watermelon Woman.  Media mentioned THE ARTICLE: Critical Confabulation: Can LLMs Hallucinate for Social Good? https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07722 Guillaume Cabanac, “How a Tortured Conference Becomes a Series: A...

Our second live show! Only Justin could make it to ALA but we’ve got THREE great guests plus very good audience questions. We talk about AI through discourse analysis, refusal, STS, and more.  Guests’ writings Transcending Binaries of Agency through Librarians’ Discursive Constructions of AI https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/961342   Discourses of fear around AI and their implications for library...

Media mentioned Radical Infrastructure | University of California Press   https://luminosoa.org/books/m/10.1525/luminos.261 (Open Access) Radical Infrastructure 2023 paper: Radical Infrastructures NMS - BRITT S. PARIS    Podcast w/ 404 Podcast: The Physical Politics of the Internet with Britt Paris   Muskism book https://www.harpercollins.com/products/muskism-quinn-slobodianben-tarnoff Railroad Lu...

We’re back after a break! We’re talking about our backburner episodes. Episodes we haven’t gotten to yet, guests we’d like to have on. Also: the AI booing at commencements which was very funny.  Media mentioned Violet’s AI zine https://violetbfox.info/against-ai/ Exposing Ex Libris zine https://librarianswithpalestine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ExLibris1Color.pdf Fight Like Hell: The Untold Hi...

We’re talking with Abby and Hal about NYC Public Library Action Network (PLAN)! Learn about what they’re doing, how you can help, how you can copy them, and what’s working for them by having a community-led library advocacy group that is separate from the library itself.  How can people get involved? nycplan.org   Email your city councilmember https://actionnetwork.org/letters/city-council-we-dema...

We’re joined by the authors of Organize Your Library to talk about library labor, the future, the ALA union drive, and more!   Media mentioned Organize Your Library! Developing the Collective Power of Library Workers https://alastore.ala.org/oryrlib ALA union letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v8ACD_ltC3ZW1JBJX6qdheD11xq7tBdR/view   ALA union announcement: https://afscme31.org/news/american-...

This week we’re joined by Steph to talk about fashion and librarianship: how it works, how they intersect, and how fashion is interdisciplinary. We also learn about how you get into this gig! Media mentioned Good general article: Frederiksen, Linda. “Fashion by Design.” Library Journal, vol. 131, no. 10, June 2006, pp. 79–81. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=297645b9-2580-3b4f-...

Part 2 of our discussion with Jonny and Jez about SciOp, a torrent-focused data preservation project that encourages academics to help with the act of making data available. It’s distributed, it’s robust, and SciOp is working on making it easy to do. contact@safeguar.de   Contact Jonny:  Fedi: https://elektrine.com/remote/jonny@neuromatch.social Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/jo.nny.rip Media ment...

We’re talking with Jonny and Jez about SciOp, a torrent-focused data preservation project that encourages academics to help with the act of making data available. It’s distributed, it’s robust, and SciOp is working on making it easy to do. contact@safeguar.de   Contact Jonny:  Fedi: https://elektrine.com/remote/jonny@neuromatch.social Bsky: https://bsky.app/profile/jo.nny.rip Media mentioned https...

This week we’re joined by Hagen to talk about their new book on AI and labor/power/knowledge/eugenics. We also discuss some library Reddit developments.  Media mentioned https://juandavidcampolargo.substack.com/p/naperville-library-spy   https://www.juandavidcampolargo.com/projects/naperlibspy   https://www.commonnotions.org/buy/why-we-fear-ai Transcript: https://pastecode.io/s/gesekv6i   Join the...

It’s a fun one! We’re talking with Jessamyn about the public domain, new and old technology, blogging at the DNC, and lots of inside baseball. Media mentioned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessamyn_West_(librarian) https://www.librarian.net/stax/5566/the-mining-of-the-public-domain/ https://jessamyn.com/tweets/   https://tararobertson.ca/2016/oob/   Request to Verify Eligibility for Free Ebooks fo...

We’re back! We’re talking about weeding and library collections as government speech.  Media mentioned https://www.techdirt.com/2025/07/25/is-including-hidden-ai-prompts-in-academic-papers-gaming-the-peer-review-system-or-keeping-it-honest/   https://buttondown.com/wellsourced/archive/CREW-Method-Manual/ https://bookriot.com/little-vs-llano-county-fifth-circuit/   Transcript: https://pastecode.io/...

We’re talking with Kevin again about workers inquiry as an organizing tool and the example of the pamphlet The American Worker from 1947.   Twitter: https://x.com/AmericanWork47   readingstruggles.info notesfrombelow.org     Media mentioned The American Worker on COVER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikphd5bNza4&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Ff9eaa73e-0b64-4316-a994-c97369b4e555.usrfiles...

This week we have Kay back on to talk about AI and what the refusal of AI means in terms of library practice and theory.  Bsky: @ kslater.bsky.social Media mentioned Kay’s article in Library Trends: Against AI: Critical Refusal in the Library The AI Con (book) https://thecon.ai/   “Synthetic literacy” forthcoming from Dr. Kishonna Gray https://www.kishonnagray.com/     librarians doing infolit ses...

This week we’re talking with Young Adult author and children’s librarian Hal to talk about hir new book, vampires, monstrosity, the Old Internet, and the publishing landscape.    Pre-order Fawn’s Blood here: https://www.sevenstories.com/books/4753-fawn-s-blood   halschrieve.com   Media mentioned https://www.tumblr.com/librarycards https://www.tumblr.com/gatheringbones   Books/Literature Small chan...

This week we’re talking about workers’ inquiry with the Blue Bottle Independent Union for cafe workers! Learn about workers’ inquiry, organization, and how you can do it too! Media mentioned Part 1 (on what cafe workers think and do while at work): https://notesfrombelow.org/article/class-composition-in-the-cafe-sector-part-1     Part 2 (exploring how cafe workers are organizing at work): https://...

Recording of our first ever live show! Guests Alison and Jennie talk with us about organizing, contracts, AI nonsense, updates, and more! You don’t want to miss the audience participation either!  info@libraryfreedom.org Email for LFP mailing list.  Media mentioned SPARC contracts library: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/big-deal-knowledge-base/contracts-library/   Data Cartels, Sarah Lamdan - http...

We have David Demchuk on to talk about his new book The Butcher's Daughter. We also talk about more Canada updates, including how the backlash against queer and Black literature is evolving in the Canadian landscape with US backing.  Media mentioned https://www.techdirt.com/2025/03/19/youtube-apparently-unsure-if-shakespeare-is-in-the-public-domain/ Get the book here: https://sohopress.com/books/t...

We’re talking with Kelly about the IMLS executive order and fallout.    Kelly on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/heykellyjensen.bsky.social   Literary Activism Newsletter: https://bookriot.com/newsletter/literary-activism/   Media mentioned https://mn.gov/mmb/budget/federal-investments/data-and-reporting/ https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-beach-moca-museum-of-contemp...

We're doing a commentary track for Party Girl! Download this and manually sync up while you listen. You can also download a version with the Party Girl audio ducked while we talk here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/krw8v6bq8hh5d6b2svmif/149final.mp3?rlkey=925eywxqlana90acil7eeaqsd&st=hbgjxs3n&dl=0   You can also join the discord to see other ways to enjoy this track! Join the Discord: htt...

This week we’re talking with the editors of the new book Censorship is a Drag. We talk about putting yourself on the line, personal and professional risks, and reacting to the latest administration’s onslaught against queer people.  Order Censorship is a Drag here: https://litwinbooks.com/books/censorship-is-a-drag/ Media mentioned The Joy of Gay Sex: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-joy...