Society

On April 4, 1968, when I learned with the rest of the world that Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated, I immediately thought that the civil rights movement, which King had led, had just bee…

The Cluetrain Manifesto will turn 25 in two months. I am one of its four authors, and speak here only for myself. The others are David Weinberger, Rick Levine, and Chris Locke. David and Rick may h…

If you have a problem with maintainers getting paid then you have a problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate.

Unpacking the positives and negatives of tech, innovation and our future

Jon Stewart’s fascinating late-career return to The Daily Show is further evidence that linear television is no longer what it once was.

Mayor Harrell is seeking to quickly roll out gun-shot detectors and closed circuit cameras to feed into real-time crime center software, raising privacy concerns. Claims that this major expansion of the surveillance state will curb serious crime are largely unsubstantiated.

Earlier this month, a mystery vessel began leaking oil and ran aground on a reef off the coast of Tobago. Open source evidence points to a potential answer.

AI doesn’t have to be a tool of prejudice. But unless disabled people become key stakeholders in its development, it’s almost certain to be.

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The negative income tax (NIT) sometimes seems like the carbon tax of social policy. Both are irresistibly appealing to economists and have l...

You were made to generate corporate profits. You live at the mercy of abstract concepts. Why can't you accept this?

All Landlords Are Terrible Landlords As an object lesson in support of his thesis that “government is a terrible landlord,” Steven Greenhut (Reason, Dec. 1) recounts his experience trying to get action from his county government over complaints of a poorly maintained, overgrown vacant lot owned by the fire department.  I started making calls to...

I watched every snap of the game. The result of which was fine. I'm not mad about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs already being on pace to catch up to Tom Brady and the Patriots' legacy this quickly. I'm not mad about that at all. I watched the whole thing.

When the worst effects of COVID had appeared to pass, many companies started implementing return-to-office mandates for their knowledge-workers, which have been controversial at best. The decision to do this was based on gut reactions from managers who, having no actual data, made the best guesses they could with what they knew.

by Patrick Kuklinski This piece was originally sent out to paid subscribers but I'm taking it from out behind the paywall for a bit today. Please subscribe to get every issue and access to all of the archives please and thank you. Subscribe now :)!! For many trans people, changing the

Despite criminal conviction, René Benko tapped into family dynasties and sovereign-wealth funds to raise billions for Signa; a stake in the Chrysler Building.

The decision rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment.

The Metropolitan King County Council unanimously approved a temporary new levy that will provide hundreds of millions in funding to arts, heritage, science and historical preservation nonprofits.

For decades, frustrated towns and cities all over the country have responded to telecom market failure by building their own fiber broadband networks. Data routinely shows that not only do these ne…

The term describes the slow decay of online platforms such as Facebook. But what if we’ve entered the ‘enshittocene’?

Men and women with shovels or keyboards? Doesn’t make a difference—it’s all the same for the enterprise.

If I ruled the world …

The chief hurdle in constructing a Death Star is not the energy, materials, or even knowledge needed. It’s the long time needed. A society can change their mind mid-way over centuries, and simply move on. The galaxy is likely strewn … Continue reading →

This question is not just about legal rights or corporate ownership; it’s about the very trajectory of our future as a society.

...Who Would You Be Able to Blame? I suppose I registered the fact that, late in 2023, a self-driving car in San Francisco had hit a pedestrian, leaving her in critical condition. But it wasn't until listening to this week's Hard Fork podcast that I became aware of all the