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#PopMatters20: Tech Is Evil and TechKnow Kinda Told You So

How deluded we were about our devices being labor-saving, productivity-increasing cure-alls! And other realizations of how the rise of technology has affected our lives.

Technology

Tribeca 2018: 'Netizens' and 'Every Act of Life'

These important documentaries about online abuse and the works of Terrence McNally attempt to illuminate empathy and social awareness at a time when it is being woefully ignored.

Film

Don't Google It! How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

Algorithms of Oppression addresses the growing concern about the consequences of commercial control over information and the harm it does to communities.

Books

Is Journalism's Fear of Bias Worse Than Bias Itself?

Linda Greenhouse, one of America's top journalists takes aim at some of the field's worst and most outdated habits in Just a Journalist.

Books

Are You Paying Attention? 'The Distracted Mind'

Multi-tasking on your smart phone consumes too many resources, including memory, and can cause the system to "choke". Imagine what it does to your brain.

Books

Consider the Troll

The pressing question isn't so much what a troll is and how he came to be, but what to do when confronted with a troll.

Science

If We Lose BBC Three, Will We Lose Our Sense of Humor, Too?

With the apparently inevitable closure of BBC Three, comedy lovers will mourn the loss of an important television ally. Will the Internet save it?

Internet

Who Made the Machines That Remade the World?

Walter Isaacson's The Innovators explores the history of the digital age as told through the intertwined lives of the men and women who created it.

Reviews

Cassette Fever in the Age of Bandcamp

The cassette tape is a miniature monument to a lost age of music; a small casket in which to hide memories and last hopes.

Technology

Who, What, Where, When and Wi-Fi

People are customizing their network names, knowing full well that friends, neighbors and passersby are scanning for free wi-fi all the time.

Internet

From Chile to China, an International Look at the State of the Internet: 'Consent of the Networked'

From technologies intended to block pornography sites to legislation putting business interests before citizens’ rights, Rebecca MacKinnon delivers a pointed report on the state of the Internet that should prompt all of us to speak up for the future of the web.

Books

Pop Ten

MetalMatters: June 2019 - A Month Full of Long-Awaited Returns

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Short Stories: The 12 Best Collections of 2018

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Mixed Media

Collapse Expand Mixed Media

PM Picks

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#PopMatters20: Tech Is Evil and TechKnow Kinda Told You So

How deluded we were about our devices being labor-saving, productivity-increasing cure-alls! And other realizations of how the rise of technology has affected our lives.

Don't Google It! How Search Engines Reinforce Racism

Algorithms of Oppression addresses the growing concern about the consequences of commercial control over information and the harm it does to communities.

Is Journalism's Fear of Bias Worse Than Bias Itself?

Linda Greenhouse, one of America's top journalists takes aim at some of the field's worst and most outdated habits in Just a Journalist.

Consider the Troll

The pressing question isn't so much what a troll is and how he came to be, but what to do when confronted with a troll.

If We Lose BBC Three, Will We Lose Our Sense of Humor, Too?

With the apparently inevitable closure of BBC Three, comedy lovers will mourn the loss of an important television ally. Will the Internet save it?

Who Made the Machines That Remade the World?

Walter Isaacson's The Innovators explores the history of the digital age as told through the intertwined lives of the men and women who created it.

Cassette Fever in the Age of Bandcamp

The cassette tape is a miniature monument to a lost age of music; a small casket in which to hide memories and last hopes.

It's Just What's Next: Art, The Internet, Then Whatever

Shouldn't people be able to opt out of providing personal data to cash hungry tech companies?

Who, What, Where, When and Wi-Fi

People are customizing their network names, knowing full well that friends, neighbors and passersby are scanning for free wi-fi all the time.

From Chile to China, an International Look at the State of the Internet: 'Consent of the Networked'

From technologies intended to block pornography sites to legislation putting business interests before citizens’ rights, Rebecca MacKinnon delivers a pointed report on the state of the Internet that should prompt all of us to speak up for the future of the web.

MetalMatters: June 2019 - A Month Full of Long-Awaited Returns

Black Midi's 'Schlagenheim' Is Technically Proficient But Emotionally Shallow

Rewards of a Lifetime: An Interview with Dionne Warwick

Do Canadians Think They're Morally Superior to Everyone Else?

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Short Stories: The 12 Best Collections of 2018

Sunny War and Edith Crash Head to "The Place" (premiere)

Gomez Share Nearly Forgotten "Someday" from 20th Anniversary Edition of 'Liquid Skin' (premiere)

Joining ANTI-, Boy Scouts Drop New Music Video for "Get Well Soon" (premiere)

Molly Mikhael Says Goodbye to Her Mom on Margy's 'Where Are You Now' (premiere + interview)

Belize's Garifuna Collective Shares Video for "Hamala / Let Him Fly" (premiere)

With "New England Song", Ryan Martin Returns with a Tale of Self-Realization (premiere)

Laura Jean Anderson Drops New One-Take EP, 'Live from Hotel Studio Earth' (album stream) (premiere)

Rising R&B and Reggae Artist Analea Brown Says Not to "Lie to Me" (premiere)

DJ Chillz Pulls You onto the Dancefloor on "1111 Accord" (premiere)

Jaron Lanier says we should delete our social media accounts, yet it's not social media per se, but the way in which it presently exists, that Lanier is concerned about. But Lanier is overlooking a critical factor in our social media addiction.

How deluded we were about our devices being labor-saving, productivity-increasing cure-alls! And other realizations of how the rise of technology has affected our lives.

These important documentaries about online abuse and the works of Terrence McNally attempt to illuminate empathy and social awareness at a time when it is being woefully ignored.

Algorithms of Oppression addresses the growing concern about the consequences of commercial control over information and the harm it does to communities.

Linda Greenhouse, one of America's top journalists takes aim at some of the field's worst and most outdated habits in Just a Journalist.

Multi-tasking on your smart phone consumes too many resources, including memory, and can cause the system to "choke". Imagine what it does to your brain.

To those who would deny the Google burger because it's messy, I say, get a napkin and get over it.

If Eggers' The Circle gave us a glance at the inimical nature of social media via Orwell’s idea of “groupthink”, then Reagle takes us even deeper into why we love to comment on anything and everything.

The pressing question isn't so much what a troll is and how he came to be, but what to do when confronted with a troll.

With the apparently inevitable closure of BBC Three, comedy lovers will mourn the loss of an important television ally. Will the Internet save it?

Walter Isaacson's The Innovators explores the history of the digital age as told through the intertwined lives of the men and women who created it.

The cassette tape is a miniature monument to a lost age of music; a small casket in which to hide memories and last hopes.

Shouldn't people be able to opt out of providing personal data to cash hungry tech companies?

People are customizing their network names, knowing full well that friends, neighbors and passersby are scanning for free wi-fi all the time.

From technologies intended to block pornography sites to legislation putting business interests before citizens’ rights, Rebecca MacKinnon delivers a pointed report on the state of the Internet that should prompt all of us to speak up for the future of the web.

Clay Shirky's 'Cognitive Surplus' is presently the #1 selling book on Amazon in three categories. Sound smart at your next cocktail party by reading this review instead of the book.