gabriel burrow
@gabrielburrow
PhD in contemporary literature at Birkbeck (sf modelling; political movements; utopia). Part-time Research Lead for TEAM LEWIS global creative. Editor at MOSF Journal of Science Fiction. Tired. gabrielburrow.com
Here's the trailer for me and my mate Dylan's short film 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦. Part 90s culture documentary, part found-footage horror film, we shot it all in a day with an old VHS camera. It stars Brenda Emmamanus and Aidan Cook. Watch this space for a launch / screening!
So please remember: when you invest in the SpaceXAI IPO, you're backing a fat-rolling grifter.
When Elon shared his Elden Ring build in 2022 it was universally derided. Essentially, he had set up a character to be a magic user carrying WAY too much equipment with little, if any, discernible benefit. Combine this with heavy armour and his character could barely dodge - it had to "fat roll".
The first copies of Andor Analysed Part 2 have hit print! I've got a chapter in it on why a show about someone who will definitely die and some other people who will probably die is actually utopian. Book isn't available to order yet, but I'll share a link to the Red Futures website once it's up.
Palantir chore coat, Anduril Porta Pro. Can't wait for hipster-war-crime summer!
Lots of other great stuff at the conference, from a keynote on stupid Mars discourse (Mars sucks) to a deep dive into Alan Turing's work in the humanities and the women that shaped early discussions of machine minds.
I presented on the Emerging Technologies panel with two pals who research fembots and artificial mothers. We discussed exploitation, AI girfriends, and the role science fiction has in shaping the way technology is conceptualised and created.
The metaverse is dead... Or at least Meta's original vision for the metaverse is. It's down $80 million and phasing out support for Horizon Worlds. At BSLS 2026 I looked at how recent metaverse narratives are moving away from cyberpunk, while retaining a critical (and often satirical) edge.
Back in 2018, David Graeber reflected on fascists attacking @bookmarksbookshop.bsky.social: "Why do they attack a bookshop? Because they don't have any ideas" Same thing when DOGE bro admits "There were no books". They torched research funding because all they have is crypto-bullshit and memes.
Our latest issue of the Journal of Science Fiction is out now! I've got a short thing in there critiquing the relationship between sf and silicon valley. Plus, there's a bunch of neat stuff around cyberspace, neoliberalism, and (unavoidably) AI. publish.lib.umd.edu/index.php/sc...
Given the release of a certain library of heavily-redacted files, there couldn't be a better time for this banger from @maxhaiven.bsky.social and @plutopress.bsky.social to arrive.
Yesterday me and some pals shot our first short film on an old Panasonic M10 VHS camera. It's a horror twist on the BBC culture series Arena - an interview with a fictional photographer who, we learn, has taken his work too far. "Warren Mann: The Dark Room" will be out some time next year.
In December I'll be co-hosting a workshop entitled "Utopia, Dystopia and the Post-Capitalist State" with the wonderful people at @ucl-ccs.bsky.social. This is an open CFP, and we're keen to bring together researchers across multiple disciplines. For more information, drop me a message!
The GenAI ecosystem in two charts. The first covers its (circular) funding - what could possibly go wrong? 👀 The second addresses everything else: the footprint of physical infrastructure, resource use, human labour, etc. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... www.cartography-of-generative-ai.net
Sam Altman last week: Unless we bring more AI-ready compute online, we might have to choose between curing cancer and free global education Sam Altman this week: We've launched an AI brainrot engine lol gizmodo.com/openai-offic...
Was great to catch up with Birkbeck colleagues at this year's CACC conference. So many cool projects underway (mushrooms, Cornish knockers, human compost, a breast cancer memoir, Silicon Valley theology, etc.) Being a humanities researcher in the UK often feels pretty bleak. But not yesterday!
Ok, it's not shit with randoms once you get to the later night lords...
🌌 Our latest issue of JOSF is LIVE 🌌 Lots of cool stuff in there, including an essay on science fictional librarians from fellow editor John J. Doherty. I didn't work on this one – getting stuck into our forthcoming VR special issue. Watch this (virtual) space. publish.lib.umd.edu/index.php/sc...
Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos did a Star Trek cameo without a critical bone in his body...
Jordan from Rizzle Kicks and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. This is my Super Bowl.
