"There is no positive vision of AI that has been offered in the US as a way to anchor what people’s relationship to this technology should be,” D&S Program Director Ranjit Singh tells @csmonitor.bsky.social . www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/...

Piketty et al propose a world sovereign fund holding 10% of the world capital stock, a global wealth tax rising to 20% a year on billionaires and a global income tax rising to 90% at the very top. Global Justice Report: globaljusticeproject.wid.world

Live from Cambridge: AI and Existential Risk Nir and J dig into existential risk at Long Now Boston. J takes catastrophic AI outcomes seriously, even absent consciousness, while Nir worries about the erosion of what makes us distinctively human. prostheticgods.podbean.com/e/live-from-...

This is puzzling. There is no basis for either divine Creationism or intelligent design in canonical Buddhism. In fact Buddhism specifically rejected Vedic claims of divine creation of the universe. (see the Aggañña Sutta)

Lots more work to do

Anti-billionaire politics has become an organizing principle for the Democratic Party www.axios.com/2026/05/29/a...

"Condoning AI for research but forbidding any use of its prose might be the most intuitive stance. It is certainly the most convenient" www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

"Fascist systems don’t remove people for being wrong; they remove them for insufficient loyalty." theconversation.com/the-warrior-...

On Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss GLP1 drugs. Their use has reversed the obesity epidemic and they have myriad medical and psychological benefits. But also some risks. Are GLP1s another step to the posthuman body, and is that a good or bad thing? prostheticgods.podbean.com/e/glp-1s/

Sociology and philosophy are increasingly indistinguishable: they use the same language, address the same themes, and arrive at the same critical diagnoses of society. In this consensual assimilation, philosophers have  taken the lead www.socialeurope.eu/sociology-is...

LOL aebioetica.org/revistas/202...

We're All Standing With Ted Lieu....

I believe the technological assumptions are wrong, but I think it captures well not an inherent danger as much as a political affordance: the largest AI investors, by and large, have personal politics at best neutral to democracy - this scenario isn't a risk but a goal. via @adamposen.bsky.social

Why is Palantir, the former employer of congressional candidate Alex Bores, running attack ads against him...for working at Palantir? Bores voices a technoprogressive openness to acceleration, tech unemployment, UBI and public ownership of beneficial AGI. youtu.be/pydNtjE03sc?...

IEET News for May 15, 2026 - David Shapiro appointed as fellow and granted book award - Sarah Shahed joins as summer intern - New collaboration with the Vatican and European universities - Affiliated podcasts - Upcoming conferences ieet.substack.com/p/ieet-news-...

If the trade off for teens was social media for less booze and church, maybe social media addiction looks a lot better

I want the Democratic Party to be committed to imprisoning Trump and expropriating his family of their ill-gotten gains.

In a Dem +15 election a lot of the Repuglican gerrymanders become "dummymanders," handing more districts to the Dems not fewer. They are making the blue wave bigger.

More than nine out of 10 workers surveyed expressed support for policies on AI that unions may fight for, including 95% supporting a requirement that a human be the final decision maker on any issues affecting individual workers and their employment. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in my life, and a big thank you to all our foremothers. We should be making it easier to have children.

Thailand has become a global hub of queer media production. But the commercializing of parasocial relationships with the actors/couples compounds issues of toxic fan behavior. Listen to us dig into the politics of #boyslove and #girlslove media. open.substack.com/pub/technopr...

Her advice, over all, is to be wary of predictions and prophecies. Approach them with due skepticism; try to avoid making them yourself (“prepare, don’t predict”); and, if subjected to them, begin evasive maneuvers. www.newyorker.com/culture/open...

Find more on health and wellness influencers here:

A new paper challenges the view that higher education liberalizes students (N = 400K) English & arts students move left, while business and engineering actually shift right. These changes are unrelated to the type of school students attend. psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-...

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J discuss the role of disgust in morality. Neuroscience suggests that feelings of disgust underlie many moral judgments, especially in the treatment of sexuality. Can we suppress disgust? Should we? prostheticgods.podbean.com/e/disgust/

Globally people on Left support freedom of expression more than people on the Right osf.io/preprints/ps...

Cory on Comrade Trump craphound.com/news/2026/05...

56 years ago today, four dead in Ohio. Students protesting the bombing of Cambodia shot at Kent State University by the National Guard.

Press freedom has declined... “over half of countries now fall into the ‘difficult’ or ‘very serious’ categories for press freedom.”...The US is now in 64th place globally, falling seven spots in one year. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...

The Trump administration did some genuine stormtrooper garbage earlier this week when it arrested David Morens, a 78-year-old research scientist who served as an aide to Anthony Fauci

May Day demonstrations are expected to draw crowds across the country on Friday, with organizers calling for a boycott of work, school and shopping to protest the Trump admin policies — and what activists describe as a billionaire takeover of government. www.npr.org/2026/05/01/n...

Thanks to Adam for inviting me to speak last night on “Tech Oligarchs, AI Fascism, and the Prospect of a Technoprogressive Social Democracy” www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNGD...

Nir and I appeared on WGBH's Curiosity Desk this afternoon. Our segment starts at 2hr03m: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX6K...

I signed actionnetwork.org/petitions/th...

I will speaking tonight in this live event on AI's impacts on democracy, technofascism and the prospects for a technoprogressive social democracy www.facebook.com/events/85404...

"There are countless Marxists, anarchists, eco-socialists or socialist feminists who are appalled by the emergence of left authoritarianism... the most effective left force in the world – social democracy – has been immunised against this mind-garbage." open.substack.com/pub/htsf/p/n...

Most political killings in the U.S. are committed by white right-wing men

So far Alex Bores and Ro Khanna are charting the technoprogressive policy agenda for the post-fascism Democratic Party. www.axios.com/2026/04/20/a...

The topic is AI and Existential Risk

Upcoming live talk for Science, Technology and the Future - AI Enabled Democracy - James Hughes - Scheduled for Apr 28, 2026 6pm ET www.youtube.com/live/UNGDDtm...

Dan LaBotz: "It is time to say goodbye to Lenin and Leninism. One needs only socialist principles, democratic discussion and members’ commitment and self-discipline. ...There is no socialism without democracy, and no democracy without socialism." links.org.au/goodbye-leni...

ALL YOU FASCISTS (Bound to Lose) - Bette Midler youtu.be/uBj57ivPsxQ

This photo should be on the front page of every single newspaper in America today.

Progressives need to "develop our own striking visual language close to people’s lived reality: intelligent, witty, and clear... people worldwide wish to live in justice and freedom — a progressive narrative ..." www.ips-journal.eu/topics/futur...

@paulmason.bsky.social : Public policy should aim for "hours of work (X) toward zero and hours of leisure (Y) towards 16; in which remuneration in kind (goods, services and information) replaced wages; and in which voluntary, unpaid work replaced compulsory work." htsf.substack.com/p/postcapita...