Sam Killermann  ·  October 2018

“Progress is born of doubt and inquiry. The Church never doubts, never inquires. To doubt is heresy, to inquire is to admit that you do not know—the Church does neither.”

— Robert G. Ingersoll

Now, in bullets:

Now, in miscellanea:

Now, in prose:

My life, right now, is one full of doubt and inquiry.

Doubt in the efficacy of my work, the efficacy of the movements I’ve been involved in and helped lead. Doubts about the sustainability of how I’ve been doing the work, and how we all do. Doubts about the path forward.

The doubt begets inquiry, and that inquiry has become my public face.

It’s showing up mostly in the form of Heretic, my new (still forthcoming, technically) podcast about “Social Justice, Minus Dogma.” I released a prologue season talking about the show (iTunes, Spotify, Overcast), and am now doing everything I can to recruit guests (Know someone? Send them my way) and get a slate of episodes recorded and produced for release.

The doubt-fueled inquiry has also been peeking through the cracks in my recently published articles & edugraphics at It’s Pronounced Metrosexual; it was shining bright in my piece Funding Online Work in 2018, an Infographic.

And it’s what led to me cease offering IPM campus programs, and to “close” the It’s Pronounced Metrosexual show, leading to me turn down more gig opportunities this fall than the total number of gigs I did in my first two years performing the show. While I knew it was the right thing to do, that decision itself was clouded with doubt: doubts about how I’ll be able to make rent, or afford healthcare for my puppy. (But certitude that I’ll have to continue forgoing healthcare for myself for the foreseeable future, from which I gain, in a twisted way, a sense of comfort in the status quo)

There are other things about which I am certain.

I’m certain that uncopyrighting my work in 2013 was the right decision. That continuing to endeavor to remove barriers of all kinds is worthwhile. I know, somehow, deep within my bones, that we need to adopt computer science’s “open source” in Social Justice Land.

To that end I’ve been working to open-source all my social justice projects (like the Safe Zone Project, and IPM). I’m also finding ways to bring social justice to Open Source Land, like releasing this Wordpress plugin that I created to thank my supporters.

I’m certain that I’m head-over-heels in love with my puppy and my partner/puppy-co-parent. And this season. The air. The smells.

I’m certain that I have work to do. In ever sense of the word. And that I need it to be worthwhile. Meaningful. With feeling.

And I’m certain that I’ve shared more than enough, for now.

<3 sK