Power-hungry, cartoonishly ambitious, proudly ignorant politicians are. This week, we kick off the new year with a veritable onslaught of genuinely disturbing news. Seriously, what is going on in Florida? How concerned should we all be? This seems...bad.

But we temper that potential alarmism with a real supernova of a hot take: everyone is dramatically overreacting to chatbots and it is hilarious, revealing, and a bit sad all at once. That seems right somehow. Books you can't read now but should absolutely put on your radar, thoughts about the perils of two-factor authentication and some much needed friendship and solidarity. This one has "it all", as the kids say.

Further Reading:

"DeSantis's Higher-Ed Push Just Got Bigger. Fresh Resistance is Starting to Bubble Up.", Chronicle of Higher Education

"The College Board Strips Down Its AP Curriculum for African American Studies", NY Times

"The DeSantis Takeover Begins", Inside Higher Ed

"Google is Asking Potential Employees to Test Potential ChatGPT Competitors, including a Chatbot called Apprentice Bard", CNBC

"These Jobs are Most Likely to Be Replaced by Chatbots like ChatGPT", CBS News

"Alarmed by A.I. Chatbots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach", NY Times

What We're Reading:

A Pill for Promiscuity: Gay Sex in an Age of Pharmaceuticals, Andrew Spieldenner and Jeffrey Escoffier (editors)

Queer Then and Now: The David R. Kessler Lectures 2002 - 2020