Commons
The information age began with dreams of a common language. The internet would let any network speak to any other. It has since been described as many kinds of places to gather: a public square, a mall, a street, a garden, or utopia, which is another way of saying no (real) place at all.
In this issue we explore shared standards and protocols that make possible new forms of civic life, ownership, aid, and their opposites, at the same time that they differentiate us ever more precisely. Online, you are unique like everybody else.
Panopticons and Leviathans: Oscar H. Gandy, Jr. on Algorithmic Life
A conversation about life and death in a computerized world.
Evictor Structures: Erin McElroy and Azad Amir-Ghassemi on Fighting Displacement
A new website is putting eviction data at tenant organizers’ fingertips.
Building Better Technology Together: Audrey Eschright on Open Source and Organizing in Tech
Two’s a magazine, three’s an organizing committee.
Inside the Whale: An Interview with an Anonymous Amazonian
Working in the belly of a beast.
Lines of Sight
A genealogy of one of the most important datasets in AI.
The Fort Rodman Experiment
An inquiry into tech’s long history of failing to diversify.
Enter the Dragnet
An inside look at how the LAPD uses Palantir to spy on virtually everyone.
You Can’t Count Your Way Out of This
Fugitive computing and practices of care.