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Literature & Culture

Haneke and the Technology of Intimacy

‘Happy End’ is the culmination of Haneke’s obsession with how technology mediates our desires.

Francey Russell

Class & Inequality

Rooting for Elon

A public-private partnership in the green economy sounds great, so why isn't it working?

Andrew Elrod

Global Justice

The App that Makes You a Terrorist

In the Turkish government’s rush to root out conspirators, the threshold for guilt is low.

Umar Farooq

Science & Nature

Democracy vs. the Algorithm

As it turns out, self-government and social connection are not the same thing.

Clara Hendrickson

Science & Nature

Headset Hypocrisy

By the 2020 election, the market for virtual reality is projected to increase twentyfold. That's great news for VR's proponents who relish the technology's persuasive powers, but what does it mean for those inside the headset? 

John Tinnell

Literature & Culture, Podcast

The Instagrammable Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The modes of perception and living that we attribute to Instagram are rooted in a much older aesthetic of the picturesque.

Daniel Penny

Science & Nature

Gamifying the Ocean

Silicon Valley has turned the problem of marine plastic waste into yet another avenue for “disruption.” But why should clean oceans have to make good business sense?

Matthew King

Class & Inequality

Monopoly Men

After an eventful summer in Silicon Valley, there is blood in the water. At stake is democracy itself.

K. Sabeel Rahman

Podcast, Science & Nature

Know Thy Futurist

Many visions of the future proliferate in Silicon Valley. Which one is worth fighting for?

Cathy O'Neil

Literature & Culture

Tweeting @ Thoreau

Walden is often championed as an anti-technology manifesto. But this misses the value Thoreau found in conversations spread across vast spans of time and distance.

John Tinnell

Science & Nature

The Man Who Invented Information Theory

Of the pioneers who drove the information technology revolution, Claude Shannon may have been the most brilliant. A new book resurrects his legacy.

Tom Rutledge

Class & Inequality

Will Amazon Take Over the World?

What the rise of megaplatforms means for the rest of us.

Frank Pasquale

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