Science & Technology

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

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  Giant Platforms of Shit

  Dave Mandl catches a whiff of Cory Doctorow’s anatomy of platform “enshittification.”

  Dave MandlNov 5

  • Science & Technology

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  The Return of the Luddites

  Erik J. Larson considers “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want” by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna.

  Erik J. LarsonOct 31

  • Science & Technology

  • Philosophy & Religion

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  Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities

  Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.

  Rachele DiniOct 31

  • SF

  • Science & Technology

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  Power Hangs by a Literal Thread

  Ian Kumekawa dives into Samanth Subramanian’s “The Web Beneath the Waves: The Fragile Cables That Connect Our World.”

  Ian KumekawaOct 23

  • Science & Technology

  • Politics

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  A Network of Global Incinerators

  Rob Arcand reviews Hito Steyerl’s new essay collection, “Medium Hot: Images in the Age of Heat.”

  Rob ArcandOct 19

  • Science & Technology

  • Art & Architecture

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  From Domination to Derision

  W. Patrick McCray surveys Matthew Wisnioski’s description of the United States’ evolution—and devolution—into a nation obsessed with innovation.

  W. Patrick McCrayOct 16

  • Science & Technology

  • History

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  Pills Have Legs

  Julia Lloyd George interviews Rebecca Kelliher about her new book “Just Pills: The Extraordinary Story of a Revolution in Abortion Care.”

  Julia Lloyd GeorgeOct 14

  • Science & Technology

  • Politics

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  What Isn’t Intelligence?

  Patrick House is inspired by Blaise Agüera y Arcas’s “What Is Intelligence?” to think about what might constitute the difference between artificial and natural intelligence.

  Patrick HouseOct 14

  • Science & Technology

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  Everything You Think Is Physical

  Julien Crockett discusses cognition and metaphors with George Lakoff and Srini Narayanan, authors of “The Neural Mind: How Brains Think,” in a new installment of the series The Rules We Live By.

  Julien CrockettOct 6

  • Science & Technology

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  Control Freaks

  Arjun S. Byju employs Emily C. Bloom’s “I Cannot Control Everything Forever: A Memoir of Motherhood, Science, and Art” to investigate how tools of empowerment set us up for disappointment.

  Arjun S. ByjuOct 3

  • Science & Technology

  • Memoir & Essay

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  The Microchip Titans

  Mason Wong reviews three books related to US-China tech industries and global competition.

  Mason WongSep 28

  • Science & Technology

  • Politics

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  Does One Size Fit All?

  In the 10th essay in the Legacies of Eugenics series, Jay S. Kaufman shows how the science of human body size is suffused with cultural assumptions.

  Jay S. KaufmanSep 27

  • Science & Technology

  • Politics