This is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. 95% of content is free, but for the remaining 5% you can subscribe here. Also:

1: I sent Book Review Contest finalists and Honorable Mentionees an email requesting a short biography to use in the announcement post. But because I foolishly included the word “congratulations”, many people said it got caught in their spam filter. If you’re a finalist and didn’t get the email, either retrieve it from your spam filter, or just send me (scott@slatestarcodex.com) a short bio of yourself like the ones here, including however you want me to publicly list your name (pseudonym? etc). I’ll announce winners Friday.

2: Los Angeles will be a late addition to the Ballots Everywhere meetups - they’re holding their meeting this Wednesday, October 9, with a followup planned for next Wednesday. For more information, see the Times and Places post.

3: I went through the last few months of reported comments and banned everyone who needed banning, including Michael Kelly, Humble Rando, J Redding, Gregvp, Carateca, Economicsscream, LearnsHebrewHatesIP (for real this time), Henry Rodger Beck, Joe Potts, and Nonzionism (last one for one month only, I’m having mercy because I like his Substack). Let their fate stand as a warning to us all. And thanks as always to our army of snitches valiant comment reporters who make it easy for me to find rule-breaking material. If you see a comment that needs moderation, click on the […] symbol on the bottom right of the comment, then select Report.