The Rich Man and the Sea By Michelle Weber Highlight Laurie Penny spends four days on a boat confronting the archetypal story of “man vs. blockchain.”
You Have to Make Money to Make Money By Michelle Weber Highlight Is that not how the saying goes? Someone tell Amazon.
Sign On the Dotted Line to Ensure Your Own Destruction By Michelle Weber Highlight New York’s court system aids and abets predatory lenders who prey on small business owners.
Bread, Disrupted By Michelle Weber Highlight Bread: it was so terrible, right? Thank goodness the tech industry finally iterated on it so we can make a decent piece of toast after 6,000 years.
A Stimulus Plan for the Mutual Aid Economy By Livia Gershon Feature Policymakers’ neglect of caregiving harms a major force in American labor.
The Minefield of Facebook Support Groups By Krista Stevens Highlight If you’re going on Facebook to join a support group, be wary of trolls and those who want to profit from your misfortune.
Searching for Insights from Her Father’s Delusions By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight When a journalist tries to understand her father’s claims of CIA surveillance, she learns to see her digital world in a very different light.
The Gilded Age of (Unpaid) Internet Writing By Rebecca Schuman Feature How ’90s webzines heralded the best — and worst — of today’s online media landscape.
We’re Not Ready for Mars By Justin Nobel Feature Elon Musk can’t wait to send humans to the Moon and Mars. But before we land ourselves on other worlds, we need to remember how we’ve treated our own.
Facebook Isn’t the Same as “The Internet” Except When It Is By Michelle Weber Highlight What happens when a tool created by a bunch of developers in California becomes the main news source of a country 7,000 miles away? Nothing good.
Not Quite Democracy: Lucie Greene on the Civic Aspirations of Tech Giants By Bradley Babendir Feature Lucie Greene’s new book “Silicon States” is about the danger of concentrating so much power in so few hands.
Russian Malware Is Really Killin’ It Lately By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight When Russia attacked Ukraine with sophicated malware in 2017, it caused over $10 billion dollars worth of damage and revealed the whole world’s vulnerabilities.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger Was the Newest Member of the Gym By Ben Huberman Highlight From his earliest days in California, Arnold was a polarizing, impossible-to-ignore figure.
Happy, Healthy Economy By Livia Gershon Feature Growth is only worth something if it makes people feel good.
Long Live the Oddly Charming Poetry of the Mail-Order Catalog By Ben Huberman Highlight Hammacher Schlemmer, which publishes America’s longest-running catalog, still takes its product descriptions seriously.
The Contradictions of Twitter’s ‘We Care’ Campaign By Jacob Silverman Feature With bots, fake news, and an angry right-wing flank, Twitter is crashing against the limits of ideological neutrality.
The Little Franchise That Couldn’t By Michelle Weber Highlight Ollie Gleichenhaus cooked up a mean hamburger. How come Americans are eating Big Macs and Whoppers instead of Ollieburgers?
How Southern Cities Are Joining the Knowledge Economy By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Greenville, South Carolina has revitalized its city center by incubating start-ups. Can other Southern cities do the same?
Nintendo Can Keep a Secret By Catherine Cusick Highlight The untold art of the fairytale comeback, brought to you by Nintendo.
Can This Tech Company’s Digital Border Wall Secure it More Government Defense Contracts? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight Looking inside the new tech company who is building a cost-effective digital wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
How Amazon Exploits Chinese Workers to Crank Out Its Products By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight How Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, exploits Chinese workers to manufacture Kindles and smart speakers.
The Difference Between Being Broke and Being Poor By Erynn Brook Feature It’s a recognition that comes in the aisle of a grocery store.
The Menace and the Promise of Autonomous Vehicles By Jacob Silverman Feature What does it mean to experiment with technology that we know will kill people, even if it could save lives?
Has India’s Booming IT Industry Finally Plateaued? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight India’s once lucrative IT sector now fears it’s glory years are ending as one of its biggest companie starts downsizing.
