Tag Archives: Surveillance

REASON MAGAZINE – AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2026

Reason magazine, August/September 2026 cover image

REASON MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘9/11 at 25 Years’….

9/11 and the Surveillance Ratchet

The U.S. government responded in ways that are so integrated into daily life that we no longer recognize them. by Abigail R. Hall

9/11 Turbocharged America’s Worst Foreign Policy Impulses—but Didn’t Change Its Direction

The United States’ shift toward aggressive interventionism was well underway before the 2001 attacks. Emma Ashford

Samurai vs. Squatters: On the Street With the Hired Swords Reclaiming California Property Owners’ Stolen Homes

California has failed to protect private property from squatters. Desperate owners are turning to katana-wielding enforcers to reclaim their homes. Christian Britschgi

AI Is Already Beating Human Doctors in Medical Tests

Robo-docs are not likely to take over healthcare anytime soon, but they could do more to assist human doctors—if we let them. Elizabeth Nolan Brown

MIT Technology Review – March/April 2025 Preview

MIT Technology Review

MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW (February 26, 2025): The ‘Relationships Issue’ features AI, Automation, and Surveillance will improve productivity. Or else.

This issue explores the many ways technology is transforming our relationships, from the AI chatbot revolution that’s changing how we connect with one another to the increasing power imbalance in the workplace that’s happening as monitoring increases and protections fall far behind. Plus animating ancient animals, lab-grown spandex, and adventures in the genetic time machine.

The AI relationship revolution is already here

Chatbots are rapidly changing how we connect to each other—and ourselves. We’re never going back.

Adventures in the genetic time machine

Ancient DNA is telling us more and more about humans and environments long past. Could it also help rescue the future?

Your boss is watching

Monitoring technology is increasing the power imbalance between companies and workers. Protections lag far behind.

Technology Report: “Spycraft” – July 6, 2024

Technology Quarterly: Watching the watchers

The Economist SPECIAL REPORTS (July 2, 2024): The ‘Watching The Watchers’ issue features Tools of the spy trade have changed and so has the world in which they are used, says Shashank Joshi

The tools of global spycraft have changed

Illustration of two magnifying glasses with eyes inside on a background of digital files and pointing cursors.
illustration: claire merchlinsky

And so has the world in which they are used, says Shashank Joshi

Afew years ago intelligence analysts observed that internet-connected cctv cameras in Taiwan and South Korea were inexplicably talking to vital parts of the Indian power grid. The strange connection turned out to be a deliberately circuitous route by which Chinese spies were communicating with malware they had previously buried deep inside crucial parts of the Indian grid (presumably to enable future sabotage). The analysts spotted it because they were scanning the internet to look for “command and control” (c2) nodes—such as cameras—that hackers use as stepping stones to their victims.

Ubiquitous technical surveillance has made spying more difficult

Signals intelligence has become a cyber-activity

Sometimes the old ways of espionage are the best

Artificial intelligence can speed-sort satellite photos

Private firms and open sources are giving spies a run for their money

Arts/Books: Times Literary Supplement – May 12, 2023

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Times Literary Supplement (May 12, 2023) – This week’s @TheTLS, features Peter Thonemann on The Triumph of the West; @joemoransblog on imagination; @michaelscaines on The Motive and the Cue; @DrAliceKelly on graphic novelizations of Gatsby; @helenlpgordon on stones; @rinireg on surveillance – and more.