In 2002, still reeling from the dot-com crash, Google realized they’d been harvesting a very valuable raw material — your behavior.
capitalism
Posted inFeature
Born to Be Eaten
What’s at stake in the fight over development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? A caribou herd, and a culture that relies on it.
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Story
Falling Stars: On Taking Down Our Celebrity Icons
Celebrities act as a symbol of capitalism. When we question it, we question them too.
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Food, Profiles & Interviews, Story, Writing
Helen Oyeyemi on ‘Gingerbread,’ Fairy Tales, and What Self-Branding Is Doing to Childhood
“I was thinking a lot about childhood as this special status, an almost endangered status … that is eroded the more that we start thinking of ourselves as these units of value and worrying about what we’re worth.”
Posted inBooks, Business, Current Events, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
Maybe What We Need Is … More Politics?
Recent books by economists who hope to “save capitalism” dismiss popular ideas as “just politics.” But why assume the popular is the enemy of the good?
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, Quotes
This Post Was Originally 200 Words Longer But They Weren’t Sparking Joy
“Instead of homes, we live in commodities.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Quotes
You’ll Dream What We Tell You To Dream and You’ll Like It
Looking for an Instagrammable way to spend your Saturday? Mediate your imagination through the forced whimsy of the Dream Machine.
Posted inNonfiction
Is Your Job Lynchian, or Is It More Kafkaesque?
David Graeber’s “Bullshit Jobs” and Alison Green’s “Ask a Manager” offer differing views — and some good advice.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Unapologetic Women
The Year of the Jumpsuit
A political art project calls for everyone to wear nondescript coveralls.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Only a Fool Buys Kombucha on a Tuesday
“Off-peakers” try to save time and money by avoiding a 9-to-5 schedule.