WORKER-CONTROLLED MEDIA IS WORKER-FRIENDLY MEDIA LEARN ALL ABOUT IT WITH FLAMING HYDRA'S @ntnsndr.in www.start.coop/accelerator

Technology as "an all-purpose agent of change": https://nathanschneider.info/2026/07/technology-as-an-all-purpose-agent-of-change/

Are you building a cooperative newsroom or media project? Apply to be part of Start.coop's Accelerator for Worker-Friendly Media, including financial and technical support, plus a week with my lab here in Boulder. Learn more here: https://www.start.coop/accelerator

A lot more opportunities for taboos in this gem: futurism.com/artificial-i...

often the things we assume are easiest to automate are the things we understand the least

Yes yes YES!! I've been working (for far too long, I am v slow) on a piece on this, but maybe now I can point to yours. STOP GIVING HUMANITY THE LEFTOVERS! We are not valuable in the negative space of other things. Our value is inherent, & sharing capabilities with other things is actually beautiful

Humanity without superiority—or, why it is a lost cause to ground our value in what seems to make us unique or better: nathanschneider.info/2026/06/huma...

We're proud to be used by NYC DSA - Large scale online voting - Anonymous member voting - Clear record of every decision - Full data control via self-hosting

Humanity without superiority—or, why it is a lost cause to ground our value in what seems to make us unique or better: https://nathanschneider.info/2026/06/humanity-without-superiority/

Listen! My lab's radio show this month features the extraordinary Dr. Naim Aburradi. He and his friends have risked their safety to document life in Gaza, with a 360-degree camera, before and since the ongoing genocide: https://lookslikenew.net/podcast/how-can-vr-tell-the-story-of-genocide/ Gaza is

I'm already using this post on AI taboos as a way to respond to slop emails: nathanschneider.info/2026/06/a-ca...

What do you wish people would stop doing with AI?

A colleague just pointed me to the University of Edinburgh's AI infrastructure—open source, ecologically aware, privacy protecting: information-services.ed.ac.uk/computing/co... A great starting point for the university AI approach I've been calling for: nathanschneider.info/2026/06/an-i...

A case for AI taboos: https://nathanschneider.info/2026/06/a-case-for-ai-taboos/

The first night after the encyclical came out I had this theory of a subtweet against Thiel in my draft essay for America but then got squeamish the next day and removed it. Maybe not so crazy!

If I have any Boulder, Colorado online pals, join me IRL this Thursday as I talk about The Undertow & slow civil war at Trident Books with my old comrade @ntnsndr.in, who brings the informed hope to organizing. www.tridentcafe.com/events/2026/...

Our governor

The department I'm part of—a community of students, faculty, and staff that has been the anchor of my professional life—has a unique opportunity for gift-matching. Please consider helping advance media literacy and the radical interventions it requires today.

This strikes me as important, creative and definitely worth sharing across all levels of the university for dialogue and debate - thanks for the work in putting it together @ntnsndr.in

Students and academics especially, I'd love your feedback on this proposal: "an inference cooperative for academic AI" https://nathanschneider.info/2026/06/an-inference-cooperative-for-academic-ai/

Just walking by Trident and am so looking forward to sharing space here Thursday with @jeffsharlet.bsky.social Register here, in-person only, no recordings: magicmountaintalks.org/event/jeff-s...

"The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort.”

At a fundraiser just now, @philweiser.bsky.social suggests we need to consider reducing work time alongside any automation gains. I would add: let's build on the strongest employee ownership policies in the country and ensure workers reap their equity, not just wages.

After a meeting with largely right-leaning religious thinkers on AI, I am getting more of a sense of how broad and deep the movement against corporate AI is poised to be.

In preparation for an event w/ @ntnsndr.in in Boulder next week I’m reading his recent book Governable Spaces, about what online democracy might look like. It starts with this great definition of “democracy.”

Beautiful new post by my @medlabboulder.bsky.social colleague Júlia Martins Rodrigues on her journey to the Mondragon cooperatives: www.colorado.edu/lab/medlab/2...

Academics: would you feel better about a campus AI contract if it went to a nonprofit co-op, controlled by universities, that runs inference with diverse models on renewable energy and follows university-governed data protection? An OCLC for AI?

The release candidate is working really nicely for me on my @fairphone.com!

Three questions on AI for you, from Pope Leo: https://nathanschneider.info/2026/06/three-questions-on-ai-for-you-from-pope-leo/

Toward a durable writing stack—some notes on the tools I currently use: nathanschneider.info/2026/06/towa...

"We lack even a vocabulary of care." We need new social, legal, financial infrastructure to create thousands of caring enterprises — a new social safety net. https://youtu.be/jzsHlEjbx30 #SocialCoops #RMEOC

Compendium of my Magnifica Humanitas takes: The Dueling A.I. Apocalypses—and What Pope Leo Has to Say about Both https://www.americamagazine.org/short-take/2026/05/29/the-dueling-a-i-apocalypses-and-what-pope-leo-has-to-say-about-both/ Pope Leo XIV Compares AI to the Industrial Revolution—as New A

They were published with the help of Mark Twain to get Grant's family out of poverty. Grant finished the book just days before his death. I can't put this book down.

This is a great history lesson on co-ops and social reforming Popes named Leo, and the imperative to democratize ownership of AI while we still have a chance. @ntnsndr.in @cooperatives.bsky.social

If you're looking for a way to hold the anniversary of this troubled United States, the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant are on @gutenberg.org: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4367

New in America, I argue that a central thread of Pope Leo's encyclical is to counter the secular apocalypses that have spread in AI culture: https://www.americamagazine.org/short-take/2026/05/29/the-dueling-a-i-apocalypses-and-what-pope-leo-has-to-say-about-both/

Pope Leo, inspiring a renaissance in sharing.😍 For gov nerds, this is dreamy for Collective Decision Making (check out the MetaGov list in this article to monitor examples) @ntnsndr.in @theconversation.com @metagov.bsky.social theconversation.com/pope-leo-xiv...

Deadline extended to May 30! Submit your abstracts for "Why We Come Together: Media, Religion, and Community" and come visit us in Boulder this October, along with Fred Moten, Jen Deerinwater, and more: https://www.colorado.edu/cmrc/2026/03/26/why-we-come-together-media-religion-and-community

Just out in The Conversation, I explore how Pope Leo XIV's AI encyclical could reshape the AI industry, akin to what his predecessor did in the Gilded Age: https://theconversation.com/pope-leo-xiv-compares-ai-to-the-industrial-revolution-as-new-alternatives-to-big-ai-firms-take-shape-283249

I miss all the references to Global South sources in Francis's encyclicals. I'm surprised there wasn't more of that from Leo given his history.

Okay, just drafted encyclical take #1: About how encyclicals can change industries, based on how the earlier Leo's Rerum Novarum helped establish labor rights and social democracy. Now this Leo is coming for AI, and he's not alone.

At the heart of Magnifica Humanitas is a rebuke against attempts to replace the Christian apocalypse of hope with secular idolatries of technological perfection.

For those who don't pray Catholic-ly: The pope's ending of the encyclical with the Magnificat prayer is beyond moving. There is no greater, deeper expression in our tradition of God's love for those farthest from the seats of power, and of hope for their triumph.

What a beautiful read 💖

"The tech industry as a grass fire"—new post on a metaphor I've found useful: nathanschneider.info/2026/05/the-...

I'd you're willing to believe that cooperativism can be a form of capitalist entrepreneurship, check out this @acquiredfm.bsky.social epic on Vanguard: www.acquired.fm/episodes/van... See also their VISA episode. Oh and join the fight for Vanguard climate divestment:https://eqat.org/campaign/

Pope making a media studies move from the joint lens of anthropology and philosophy

What a thrill to be at the blessing of the new building for @kgnu.bsky.social, lifted up by Amy Goodman on @democracynow.org today!

The tech industry as a grass fire: https://nathanschneider.info/2026/05/the-tech-industry-as-a-grass-fire/

I am co-organizing "Beyond Interaction, Toward Cooperation and Commoning," an @acm-dis.bsky.social workshop on solidarity, democratic governance, and shared ownership! 📍 Date and Time: Singapore, June 13, 2026 (aft) 🗓 Submission Deadline: May 25, 2026 👉🏼 More info: sites.google.com/view/coopsco...