Society

My syllabus is a mess of half-remembered intentions. I re-use icebreakers that I know don’t work. I forget to grade the first assignment until Week Four. I write emails that begin with “So sorry for the delay!” and I mean it. I use “This reminded me of something I once read—” as a stall tactic. I say “I don’t know” more times than I should. I also say “I love that” when I don’t. Because I want to encourage them. Because I do love that they showed up. Because showing up is a miracle.

As AI asserts its power to shape social evolution, regulation is decried as ‘state control’ rather than the expression of our collective will

“Winning” means prioritizing independence from outside influence over being right.

Why choosing what we want is not a technical problem requiring expert solution

Inside Trump’s second term, Silicon Valley’s surrender, and the moral awakening that followed.

Keeping the tent open, the light on, and the work honest

Understanding How People Choose to Become Worse Than They Could Be

The Democratic Party’s problem isn’t which faction dominates—it’s that both factions think domination by experts is how democracy works

Readers: I’ve done a very generous “free” portion of this newsletter, but I do recommend paying for premium to get the in-depth analysis underpinning the intro. That being said, I want as many people as possible to get the general feel for this piece. Things are insane, and it’

Microdemocracy offers a concrete path beyond capitalism by promoting direct local participation in decision-making. It opposes multiple systems of domination and social enclosure by restoring real …

Yesterday I asked my subscribers a simple question: What are you most worried about in your life right now?

Here are just five of the (many) ways that women have powered the global economy from the Stone Age to the present day.

How austerity and privatization have killed state capacity

If futarchy ends up as successful as I hope, the world will have to choose explicit ex-post-measurable goals to assign to their governments, and political talk and activism will turn to focus more on fighting over such goals.

Why Defending the Founders’ Republic Requires Taxing the Rich, Breaking Up Monopolies, and Calling the Bluff of Power

In a 2014 preface for his 1978 book The Ohlone Way, a description of how the indigenous peoples of California’s Bay Area lived before Europeans arrived, Malcolm Margolin shared a list of what he thought constituted a healthy society: Sustainable re

Despite a recent surge in demand, the US is a laggard in EV sales compared to much of the rest of the world.

Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and what we can do about it

The Fusion of Plutocracy and Fascism—And the Fight to Rebuild Democratic Capitalism Before It’s Too Late

The country leads the world in newly installed industrial robots, far ahead of Japan and the US.

Güney Işıkara and Patrick Mokre have published an insightful book that explains how Marx’s theory of value operates to explain the trends and fluctuations in modern capitalist economies. Called Mar…

No.373 — At The Edge of Here ⊗ The Next Four Years ⊗ There will always only be one Jane Goodall ⊗ The cross-section king

If we want anything from our governments – roads, drinkable water, an education system, health care, a pipeline, postal service, safe working conditions, air traffic control, security –…

If enforcing the Constitution is “insurrection,” then refusing to defend it is surrender.

"We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure."

Azhdarchid: So, if you're online poisoned like me, you may have noticed that Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has been having sort of a slow motion, low-key public meltdown for the past several weeks. [...] For the record: I think Jay Graber is a transphobe; I think there's just too much evidence in her behavior to not read that into her actions at this point. No normal person would go out of their way

You've heard ICE is arresting Black Americans in Chi town. Is it true? Sit down because we have answers.