Two more years of this is going to be just great. Or Kamala can take the reins, her braying laughter haunting our stunned minds.

 

Hannah Gadsby returns to Netflix after blasting boss Ted Sarandos over Dave Chapelle

Time (and probably a tidy sum) must heal all wounds. Hannah Gadsby, a one-time Netflix darling for their breakout special Nanette and a one-time Netflix critic, has brokered a multi-title deal with the streamer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes nearly a year after Gadsby’s scathing note to Netflix boss Ted Sarandos over his support of Dave Chappelle’s transphobic comedy.

The deal includes Gasby’s next standup show, Body Of Work, as well as a showcase for multiple international comics. “In an effort to further open a door that I had to fight to get through myself, I will curate and host a lineup show on Netflix featuring six new, gender-diverse comedians,” Gadsby said in a statement (per THR). “In a notoriously transphobic industry, I am looking to broaden the scope of opportunities for genderqueer performers from around the globe, as well as expand the diversity of offerings to audiences on one of comedy’s biggest platforms. Coupled with a mentorship initiative for these up-and-coming comics, the program aims to foster the professional development of a demographic that is still struggling to have their voices heard. Recorded in a single run in the U.K. in 2023, this will be a chance for the world to hear these voices for the first, but definitely not the last, time.”

Not content to just be excruciatingly unfunny, thems throws even more unfunny our way.

 

Want More Women in Tech? Read Better Sci-Fi

Some years ago I was excited to be a part of an “alternate” sci-fi project by the organization/responsible-technology think tank Doteveryone. They asked: How many times have we heard about the female perspective in science fiction – a woman’s experience of being an astronaut or how a woman would find living on Mars? What would it mean if babies could gestate outside a woman’s body? Or if you had to choose between bearing children and exploring deep space? What if it turns out that women’s bodies are more suited to space travel than men’s?

So many of the stories of our history are male-centred. What if we had a positive, female-centred view of the future? Why does it need to be the terrifying Handmaid’s Tale? We should explore more positive outcomes, and use them as motivation for why women should be engaging with tech, and aiming to be in the room.

We are part of the future too, yet so much of the current forecasting doesn’t include us. This is in spite of the fact that there are times when only we, as women, with the journeys we’ve had, can be the ones to suggest an idea, or dare to dream. It’s a negative that we can turn into a positive. Much bad tech is the result of a lack of perspective or experience, which limits the imagination of the person creating the tech. Often, whichever of the dreamers secured the most funding at the time becomes the person most likely to turn those dreams into something tangible. We recognize these innovators as mainly men, who can speak to only a narrow interpretation of progress.

OK, let’s go to the goddamn tape:

In 2018-2020, 144 works of science fiction were nominated in the categories of novel, novella, novelette and short story for the Hugo Award. How many men in that pool? 10. 10 out of 144, or 7%. I guess that’s just not acceptable. Those last 10 men are holding back progress and keeping girls out of STEM careers, I guess.

I fucking hate these people.