An occasional newsletter on tech, politics, & democracy.

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

Unreal Bird #1: I'm Starting A Newsletter

It's 2026, and I'm starting a newsletter. Why? ̶B̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶e̶l̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ Because there's more to write about than I can reasonably publish in any given week,