Pat Kane

Been refreshing my professional-personal site... It's now patkane.global. Contains most of the ways I can be useful to the world. Looking forward to saying hello to you.

My Omnipedia trends-letter returns, the solar eclipse clearing my head... Today: AI says, “you’re not so special”; play says, “you always are”—& the rest is sheer thrival. Also: Indy from below, China from above, Yoruba all over. RT, support, thnx! patkane.substack.com/p/omnipedia-38…

My latest Omnipedia trends-letter: SF giant Ted Chiang on taming AI, Scottish land (and film culture) seizes itself, eco-apocalypticism and its discontents, neuroscience & new animals—& more! Enjoy, RT, support! patkane.substack.com/p/omnipedia-37…

In the 20th anniversary year of my book @theplayethic, great to begin with this interview I did with Jane & Ronan of howmightwe.design. Really summarises my play thinking in 2024. Video here: youtu.be/Vw5TkWW3UOE

Proud of my bro Greg and the team at @nohalfmeasures for putting together “Labours of Love”—first episode of 12-part history of @hueandcry, to celebrate our 40th anniversary year. Below, 1984-85. RT, comment, enjoy! #hueandcry40 youtu.be/9cukURX7-2g?si…

Here’s the first of my Omnipedia trend-letters of 2024. Lots of AI glories/horrors, some Edinburgh meditations, travel futures & Indy big-pictures & electric Miles (pictured below)—& much more! Share, support! patkane.sub-stack.com/p/omnipedia-36…

I scoured the 2024 world calendar, and found enough arts, sports and space travel to counter the political shitshow that’s surely falling upon us this year. My @ScotNational column thenational.scot/politics/24018…

Well that’s one thing X is useful for—a map of what you found interesting & moving in 2023. For me it was AI (in all forms), climate disaster, direct action, the persistence of the Yes vote, & Barbenheimer. And war, always rumbling… My @ScotNational col: thenational.scot/politics/24009…

Latest Omnipedia trends-letter, at my E2 writer’s site. Psychoanalysis & Gaza, Genius Club ≠ Boys Club, the post-humans at OpenAI, the glory of early Simple Minds, & more. Enjoy, share, support! open.substack.com/pub/patkane/p/…

As UKGov’s AI safety summit gets underway [gov.uk/government/pub…], here’s my open access, fully-linked column on it, at my E2 writer’s site. Sunak’s vainglory shouldn’t distract us from this epochal moment for technology. Share, support, enjoy! patkane.substack.com/p/pk-in-the-na…

Yes, Sunak’s AI safety proposals are partly about polishing his CV, at the fag-end of a Tory regime. But the issue is real. What happens when we have artificial superintelligences among us? That depends on what we’ve taught them… My @ScotNational column thenational.scot/comment/238854…

Fully research-linked & open access version of my Sat @scotnational col, on my E2 writers’ site… The net can both be a source of fun & profit, and raw exploitation. And sometimes the former (in the form of @Oobahs Butler) can subvert the latter (Amazon)… open.substack.com/pub/patkane/p/…

Very proud to be launching ticket sales—and monthly content flow—for our (@hueandcry)’s FORTIETH anniversary. Rarities, memories, performances… It’s the time of our lives—and yours… See you out there! hueandcry.co.uk/live/

Elizabeth El-Nakla, mother-in-law of @HumzaYousaf, gave me a path thru the horrors of Gaza/Israel. Where are “people’s hearts”, ie the intertwined traumas of all parties, here? A brilliant Israeli sociologist, Eva Illouz, also helped. My @ScotNational col thenational.scot/politics/23855…

Here’s the latest trends-letter Omnipedia #31 from my E2 writers’ site. Actuaries actually want to save the planet; how William Blake can help us with radical tech; “human animals” at their extremes. And the Scotgeist trembles… Pls RT, support, enjoy! patkane.substack.com/p/omnipedia-31…

I dug into @SuellaBraverman’s new term of abuse - the “luxury beliefs” of the (no doubt) “tofu-eating wokerati” - & found another sump of US hard-rightism, feeding into the increasingly desperate UK Tories. Free & open access to my @scotnational col at E2 patkane.substack.com/p/pk-in-the-na…

So what’s a “luxury belief” then, Cruella De Braverman? I researched it, and it’s another sign of the Tories’ future as a “culture wars” party—the idea imported directly from the US. Here’s the background, in my @ScotNational column: thenational.scot/politics/23840…

Trendsletter Omnipedia #30 is now out on my E2 writers’ site. @elonmusk’s scary gaming, @OpenAI’s Star Trek economics (& SF as a compass), not to mention Scots excellence in Momus & Angus Deaton. RT, support, enjoy! patkane.substack.com/p/omnipedia-30…

Two open-access, fully research-linked Sat columns from @scotnational, now on my E2 writers’ site. 1: Talking about the economics of Scots indy in a new way patkane.substack.com/p/pk-in-the-na… 2: “news avoiders” are a problem—& I’m one of them: patkane.substack.com/p/pk-in-the-na… Pls RT, support, enjoy!

Leading UK media-establishment figures blaming their tumbling ratings on “news avoiders” is…not a good look. But I’m an avoider myself—or I’m blanking the rubbish, and focussing on the big three stories. Which are? Read my @ScotNational col to find out: thenational.scot/politics/23824…

Next chapter in my follow-up to 2004’s @theplayethic, SUPERPLAY. When moguls & oligarchs set up “antagons” for us to fight ourselves in, we should build our own “paxiums”, to live in peaceful creativity. Please support, share, enjoy! patkane.substack.com/p/sp-312-from-…