From exploding Ford Pintos to racist algorithms, all harmful technologies are a product of unethical design. Yet, like car companies in the ’70s, today’s tech companies would rather blame the user.
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Ursula K. Le Guin, Literary Legend and Cat Blogger
Ursula K. Le Guin may no longer publish fiction, but that hasn’t stopped her from writing.
Demonology: A Woman’s Right to Fury
In an excerpt from her new book, Darcey Steinke investigates — and debunks — the demonization of anger within the female body.
Mama Looks for Melanin
Harmony Holiday remembers her mother’s years of trauma-bonding in search of new love, after the death of her mercurial yet brilliant father.
Chimayó
Esmé Weijun Wang discovers a new interpretation of faith while on two kindred pilgrimages: one to find an accurate medical diagnosis, one to a sacred site in New Mexico.
Casting Out Satan and Your Religious Upbringing
How one woman struggled to make sense of the exorcisms she witnessed as a child.
The American Worth Ethic
Like so many of our lofty ideals, the “American Work Ethic” is actually two different standards — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — with two different interpretations of what work looks like.
The Growing Power of Prosecutors
An unintended consequence of mandatory minimums has been to concentrate too much power in the hands of prosecutors. Journalist Emily Bazelon talks about how some cities are pushing back.
America’s Plastic Legacy
A father and daughter tour landmarks in the early history of modern plastic and assess the toxic legacy of petrochemistry.
Swabbing Filthy Surfaces for Tomorrow’s Cures
As the world faces a global health catastrophe from drug-resistant microbes, one scientists is searching the natural world for the antibiotics of the future.
