Ben Tarnoff

The Labor Theory of AI

Artificial intelligence may be the first attempt to automate and discipline human labor that even its creators don’t fully comprehend.

More Babies!

Trump and his set act carefree in the face of catastrophe—and they give their supporters permission to do the same.

Antisystemic Times

“Large numbers of Americans have come to believe that their body politic is severely diseased. In Trump, they have found a man ruthless enough to inflict the remedy.”

The Return of Trump—I

On losers, fear, the Supreme Court, the end of the FDR era, antisystemic times, and words without consequences. 

Venture-Backed Trumpism

Why have right-wing ideas found such an eager audience among tech elites during Biden’s presidency?

Ultra Hardcore

If Walter Isaacson’s new book inflates the scale of Elon Musk’s contributions to humanity, it also understates the amount of damage inflicted on actual humans along the way.

A Marx for All Seasons

“An Internet dominated by the profit motive is also an Internet that violates our privacy, amplifies right-wing propaganda, and intensifies various kinds of social inequalities.”

Better, Faster, Stronger

Two recent books illuminate the dark foundations of Silicon Valley.

In the Hothouse

If Elon Musk kills Twitter, what will he have killed?