Society

Filterworld author Kyle Chayka examines the algorithms that dictate what we watch, read and listen to. He argues that machine-guided curation makes us docile consumers.

Teachers say mobile phones make their lives a living hell – so one Massachusetts school barred them

The West should provide ordinary people the means to create wealth while supplying our military with sufficient defense capabilities.

29 Palms, California, is home to the world’s largest Marine Corps Training Base. It’s an elaborately built facility with lego-like buildings, a bazaar, a mosque, and people role-playing as civilians, spies, or enemies, complete with costumes and props. It’s all part of an effort coordinated and constructed by the U.S. military to prepare soldiers for

Generative A.I. is the latest in a long line of innovations to put pressure on our already dysfunctional copyright system.

Carroll’s tenure in Seattle was a microcosm of progressivism’s inability to reconcile the contradictions inherent to capitalism.

I find any version about the origins of the cosmos to be implausible and unsatisfactory.  The modern scientific view is that the universe began without any creator, it just sort of emerged from nothing by itself. Or it was hatched … Continue reading →

Why the capitalist ruling class wants you to have as many children as possible.

In the world we want, everyone fits. In the world we want, many worlds fit

Unstaffed tills were supposed to revolutionise shopping. Now, both retailers and customers are bagging many self-checkout kiosks.

Because genius alone isn’t enough!

The Golden Death Rattle

France will build a sodium battery factory with a capacity of 5 GWh. a sodium battery manufacturer spun out of the French National Research Centre CNRS,

When picturing humanity's future, dark visions are everywhere - but are there alternatives? Historian Thomas Moynihan explores what we can learn from forecasters 100 years ago.

Syntax is a magazine about culture and the internet.

The most intractable problem I see in this century is the coming population implosion. (Climate change is a trackable problem; we know what we have to do.) On average, humans are not replacing themselves today, and beginning in a few … Continue reading →

This is who really rules Washington.

In an era where many films and albums are stored in the cloud, "streaming anxiety" is making people buy more DVDs, records – and even cassette tapes.

Platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ were supposed to do away with pirated media. Instead, they may make them stronger than ever.

This wrestling you’re doing is holy work, and I want us to do it as we move towards justice, together.

Today I got a great question from author Joel Dietz, who asked me, “I’m curious why you think California tech culture has never left a legacy of monumental artifacts? The only thing notable in the region is the Stanford mausoleum;  … Continue reading →