I’m at a bit of a loss for what to read online lately.
In May, the Autism Hub disbanded itself. One of the bloggers who had been a hub member was bullying others on the hub and many of my favourite bloggers removed themselves from the group a few days before it was officially disbanded. I’ve tracked down most of the blogs I enjoyed reading there, but find it much more difficult to keep up to date with them now. I’ve tried using an RSS reader, but I’m not very good at remembering 1. to add blogs and 2. to visit the reader to see if they’ve posted. The Autism Hub had been a really great website for a few years, a respository of science-based blogging about autism by people on the spectrum, parents of kids on the spectrum, and professional researchers and educators. It introduced me to many of my favourite blogs. After the hub came down, most of those bloggers have stopped writing.
In June, Jezebel got a new EIC. With her came bannings, destarrings, and general discord. I stopped reading. I’ve been to groupthink off and on, but I haven’t been on the main page much at all. In the past two or three days there’s been a few articles of substance, the most worthwhile writing in months. I’m really hoping that this trend will continue and Jez will return to its former glory as my absolute favourite website. In its heydey, Jez was full of smart, feminist writing with an eye to intersectionality. It discussed the political and personal with humour and research, and the commenters were snarky without being mean (except to trolls) (this is a difficult line to walk and one they’ve lost entirely). Corrections were issued if the Editors made an error, often quickly. The new EIC calls commenters assholes and seems to encourage bodysnarking.
In July, ScienceBlogs had its own implosion. I missed it; as I’ve noted before, when I’m feeling spoonless I can’t muster the energy for SciBlogs, even though it often renews my spoon pile. What appears to have happened is Pepsi bought a blog spot there without clear distinctions being made on said blog that it was a paid spot (Sciblings are invited and paid for their efforts, usually). Many of my favourite Sciblings have left the website as a result, though the Pepsi blog has been pulled. There’s a disaspora of science writing, now, and, again, RSS is not my friend.
Please, gentle readers, suggest places for me to read. I’m looking for political and sciencey blogs with a liberal, feminist bent, preferably explicitly anti-racist and anti-ableist. Hubs or group blogs are very welcome.