An occasional newsletter on tech, politics, & democracy.

Special Edition: Why is Cleveland's Mayor palling around with tech bros and defense contractors in Detroit?

This is a joint post with Upbeat Nonsense, a Cleveland newsletter about pop culture and politics. Is warfare the future of economic development in the Midwest?  Last week, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb attended the Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit, where he was the only current public official outside the Trump administration

Unreal Bird #12: Middle Way

Remember how I had to put an editor's note in my last issue after the Trump administration backed away from its "anti-weaponization" fund for paying out J6 rioters and others afflicted with fake aggrievements? The Atlantic reports it's an idea that just won&

Unreal Bird #11: Insult

I've published a new working paper on "Lessons for Safer Digital Spaces," drawing on insights from online video games, written with Samantha Bradshaw for the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. Plus, thoughts on Trump's $1.77 billion anti-weaponization slush fund.

Unreal Bird #10: Audience

I spent most of last week at an AI and Journalism conference in Baltimore; serendipitously, my latest piece for Tech Policy Press, an interactive timeline covering the transatlantic far right, started as a Claude Code experiment. Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine

Unreal Bird #9: Polycrisis

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing. Subscribe to Unreal Birds In this issue: * I'm helping curate a second newsletter, the Gaming and Governance Brief (don't be jealous, you can sub to

Unreal Bird #8: Landslide

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing. Subscribe to Unreal Birds In this issue: * I have two new publications to share: an article in Information, Communication, & Society offering a retrospective on election disinformation responses in

Unreal Bird #7: Investigative Agenda

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Today's newsletter is on the shorter side; I've been travelling. More on that below. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing. Subscribe to Unreal Birds In this issue: * Reflections on a week

Unreal Bird #6: Premortem

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. Forwarded this newsletter? Consider subscribing. Subscribe to Unreal Birds In this issue: * Watch my remarks to the Northeast Ohio Indivisible chapter on "Citizenship in the AI era." * Last issue, I wrote about

Unreal Bird #5: Thoughtless

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. As usual, events have overtaken me; I prostrate myself before the march of time. We're at war with Iran—read Nate Schenkkan always, but especially here on Trump's illiberal interventionism

Unreal Bird #4: Vibe Shift

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. In this issue: * I'm continuing to report on the Trump administration's shenanigans toward Europe, and I have a few forthcoming pieces on democracy, civic engagement, and pluralism. * Is the left

Unreal Bird #3: Homo Remotus

Thanks for reading Unreal Birds, a newsletter about how tech, media, and capital undermine democratic accountability. I was prepared to devote much this issue on the deployment of ICE agents to Springfield, OH, where a Haitian community waited on tenterhooks for the end of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Ultimately,

Unreal Bird #2: Rogue State

Thanks for subscribing to Unreal Birds! Extra special thanks for all the messages and other signs of support. They mean a lot. Some readers may wonder why this issue does not say more about the ongoing state terrorism in Minnesota. The truth is that the news comes too fast and