173 - Wrong Road by David A. Banks
The auto industry used political leverage to remake the physical world and embed future demand...
24:23
If trauma seems ubiquitous online, that’s because it has become the authentic experience par...
27:15
171 - Kids’ Stuff by Richard Woodall
The main strategy of the children's culture industry — transforming free play into a mania for...
20:27
170 - Sneak Peeks by Rob Horning
The social app BeReal promises respite from the pressure to perform, but its gimmick of forced...
16:18
169 - Masters of the Userverse by Grafton Tanner
A fantasy life of push-button convenience and technological coddling is just as much a “virtual...
15:39
168 - Speech Bubbles by Lauren Collee
So far, audio-based social apps have not had major success. Perhaps this is because the human...
25:04
167 - Insomniac Technologies by Sierra Komar
Although sleep wearables seem to promote rest, what they actually promote is rest reconfigured as...
17:56
166 - New Normal by Robin James
As algorithms are deployed across society to assess and predict behavior, older modes of control...
21:08
165 - Chimp City by Drew Austin
The sales pitch of "Web3" depends on its having its own aesthetic to counter the...
16:13
164 - Suspension of Belief by Colin Dickey
Images of suffering compel a reaction. "Crisis actor" conspiracy theories show that it's...
18:42
163 - Target Practice by Robert W. Gehl and Sean T. Lawson
Against the self-reinforcing metaphor of communication as penetration — the hypodermic needle by...
16:39
162 - Feel For You by Mitch Therieau
Reaction videos are pleasantly numbing — they ease the constant pressure to "react" to people and...
17:13
161 - Prosperity Gospel by Evan Malmgren
The NFT hype is not about present-day utility or novelty but an experience of collective faith in...
21:29
160 - Naming Storms by Lachlan Summers
To refer to a disaster by name is to be guided by an imaginative infrastructure that sets these...
18:24
159 - Tipping the Scale by Kevin Munger
Stafford Beer, a cyberneticist who worked with Chile's socialist government, sought to find a...
24:06
158 - Balance of Terrors by Zachary Loeb
Amid renewed anxieties about the prospect of nuclear war, we might consider the Cold War theorist...
19:00
157 - Roving Eyes by Tracy Valcourt
Adding a networked surveillance camera to a work truck takes all the problems and incipient...
16:18
For many years, readers have loved to declare the death, or demotion, of narrative itself. What...
18:51
155 - Taking Stock by Rob Horning
"Creator" has emerged as an all-purpose aspirational descriptor for people who make internet...
18:52
154 - What Lies Beneath by Laura Maw
Our online spaces are littered with ruins, dead websites, and broken links. The attempt to...
19:41
Premium
Plus