Science & Technology

"The nineteenth century believed in science but the twentieth century does not." — Gertrude Stein

Monsters of the Anthropocene
Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’ reduces Mary Shelley’s novel to a one-dimensional warning about technological hubris.
Deborah R. CoenFeb 9
Medical Education and the Harm of ‘Goodly Heritage’
In the 12th essay of the Legacies of Eugenics series, three researchers describe how eugenic ideas linger in the institutions and practices of contemporary healthcare.
Daniel Martinez HoSang, Marco Antonio Ramos, Alana SlavinFeb 8
The End of Psychiatry (Kind Of)
Neurologist Pria Anand lauds Khameer Kidia’s new dissection of Western psychiatric imperialism.
Pria AnandFeb 3
- Science & Technology
- Cultural Studies
Ascetic Ghosts in the Machine
M. D. Usher on Paul Kingsnorth’s impassioned and flawed new manifesto against the pervasiveness of technology in modern life.
M. D. UsherJan 24
- Philosophy & Religion
- Science & Technology
Learn to Love Engineers
New books by Dan Wang and Hu Anyan depict ‘both the achievements and the costs of China’s technological rise,’ and why Americans should take note.
Afra WangJan 22
- Politics
- Science & Technology
Science on Ice
Neil Shubin’s stories of polar exploration tell us about the losses ahead.
Marissa GrunesJan 13
- Science & Technology
- Environment
The Mysterious Eugenics of Aesthetic Taste
In the 11th essay in the Legacies of Eugenics series, Michael Rossi shows how American scientists and artists used their discovery of racial ‘types’ to buttress eugenicist notions of aesthetic taste.
Michael RossiJan 11
The Globalization of US Healthcare
Eram Alam’s new book uncovers the ways that immigrant physicians have propped up the American medical system.
Kim AdamsJan 6
- Science & Technology
- History
Energy from Heaven, Not from Hell
Bill McKibben makes the case for combating the climate crisis by transitioning from fossil fuels to solar power.
Miyo McGinnJan 5
- Science & Technology
- Environment
The Womb and the Web
Isabel Davis considers Amanda Hess’s new book about bringing a baby into a world of smart technology and data harvesting.
Isabel DavisDec 23, 2025
- Science & Technology
- Gender & Sexuality
Is There Anything “Artificial” About Artificial Intelligence?
Julien Crockett speaks with Blaise Agüera y Arcas about the various ways that LLMs keep surprising scientists and how our definition of intelligence should be more complex than people generally think.
Julien CrockettDec 1, 2025
- Science & Technology
Giant Platforms of Shit
Dave Mandl catches a whiff of Cory Doctorow’s anatomy of platform “enshittification.”
Dave MandlNov 5, 2025
- Science & Technology