Why You Should Think Twice Before Sharing a Covid Diagnosis
I know three people recovering from Covid at the moment. I know this because they told me. That might not seem like a big deal these days, when a Covid…
The Concrete Jungle Is Turning Green Again
In 1973, Lee set up the Garden City Action Committee and sent out green missions across the globe. “Our botanists brought back 8,000 different varieties and got some 2,000 to…
How the Battle Over a Pesticide Led to Scientific Skepticism
Bate’s strategy pulled threads from the scientific debate about DDT and spun them into a tale that warned against Western-led public health. Malaria rates were climbing globally, he wrote, especially…
For Refugees in Detention Camps, Smartphones Are a Lifeline
In Dhar-el-Jebel, a migrant detention center deep in Libya’s Nafusa Mountains, detainees sang and recorded a song on a smartphone. The year was 2019, and deaths—from poor conditions, a lack…
The Deadly Cyclone That Changed the Course of the Cold War
Frustrated, Frank got back in the Vauxhall to get to his next meeting. The car inched with the traffic past walls full of political slogans splashed in red paint in…
The Birth of Spy Tech: From the ‘Detectifone’ to a Bugged Martini
Eavesdropping technologies of various sorts have been around for centuries. Prior to the invention of recorded sound, the vast majority of listening devices were extensions of the built environment. Perhaps…
How Shame Defines Our Digital Lives
Let’s say you open Facebook and see an alert. You click, and to your horror you see that someone has posted a terribly unflattering picture and tagged you. That tag…
Silicon Valley’s Sex Censorship Harms Everyone
On Instagram, sex workers have reported their accounts and images being removed, even when they contain no explicit content. They’ve documented instances of Facebook discussion groups being shut down for…
Tony Hsieh’s Unrelenting Pursuit of Amazon’s Billion-Dollar Idea
By 2019, a decade had passed since Amazon purchased Zappos, and its executives had been patient. As Jeff Bezos had promised, the company had largely left Zappos, and its then…
Sandy Hook and the Troubling Psychology of Conspiracy Theories
Sandy Hook Hoax was a closed Facebook group; you needed an invitation to join. Its page was topped with the image of a child ghoul, her eyes ringed in black,…