INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “This transfixing debut from journalist Durán investigates the antidemocratic ideologies espoused by tech billi...
Gil Durán Maps the Rise of the 'Nerd Reich'
Naomi Klein’s new book calls out end times fascism. What is this – and what’s the role of big tech?
Two new books, End Times Fascism and Nerd Reich, take a hard look at fascism today – and its intersections with big tech.
Naomi Klein’s new book calls out end times fascism. What is this – and what’s the role of big tech?
Two new books, End Times Fascism and Nerd Reich, take a hard look at fascism today – and its intersections with big tech.
Emily Mills on Twitter / X
Have you read The Nerd Reich yet? I did and it’s *so* worth your time. Support your local indie bookstore and library! It’s also available as an ebook and audiobook. ⬇️ https://t.co/Unw3A7kXWb— Emily Mills (@sf_mills) August 28, 2026
The Woman Who Predicted Tech Fascism — Paulina Borsook Was Right
Data Feminism for AI
Attacks on women and trans people are not happening in a vacuum. Communications scholars W. Lance Bennett and Marianne Kneuer recently argued that we are witnessing the intensification of "illiberal public spheres" around the world (Bennett and Kneuer, 2023). These are characterized by a set of anti-democratic communications tactics that include the denigration and exclusion of minoritized people, targeted attacks on the press and political institutions, and transgression of norms of civil discourse. Such tactics are enabled and amplified by the social media platforms owned by Big Tech, whose business model elevates attention above all other metrics, such that they profit richly off extremism, threats, spectacle, and lies. The success of this corporate partnership with right-wing extremism is evident in the proliferation of book bans (Magnusson, 2024), the demonization of DEI and critical race theory (Crenshaw, 2022), and mob tactics to doxx, intimidate, misrepresent, and otherwise silence people that study misinformation, speak out against racial and gender violence, or rule against insurrectionists (Edmonds, 2024). At the same time, we have seen the continued work of feminists, including Latin American, Indigenous, and abolitionist feminists in the US and globally, doing the work of imagining alternate worlds (Cullors, 2021; Davis, 2022; Ricaurte, 2019; Simpson, 2017). This paper represents our own first attempt to imagine a more equitable, sustainable, feminist world for AI research.
'The Nerd Reich' tracks the 'unmasking of Silicon Valley's true politics'
Journalist Gil Durán argues that a small circle of Silicon Valley billionaires and venture capitalists have concluded that democracy is in their way — and that they should be governing in its place.
'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry
In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directed from the very top and the damage this legitimization of bigotry has done
The Technological Republic: The Sunday Times bestseller from the great minds behind Palantir
The Sunday Times and #1 New York Times Bestseller‘The Technological Republic is far too important to ignore’ Times Literary SupplementSilicon Valley’s brightest minds once collaborated with governments to advance technologies, securing the West’s dominance on the global stage. But that relationship has corroded – with perilous repercussions for us all.Lifting the veil on tech giant Palantir and its broader political project, visionary co-founder and CEO Alexander C. Karp and his long-time deputy Nicholas W. Zamiska offer a searing critique of our collective culture of complacency. To regain geopolitical power and preserve our freedoms, we must tackle the world’s most pressing challenges – including the artificial intelligence arms race – together and head-on. Now is the time for the West to wake up.‘Bold and ambitious ... Essential reading’ Eric Schmidt‘Fascinating’ Financial Times‘A stirring manifesto’ Niall Ferguson‘Provocative and insightful’ Jamie Dimon
Palantir's social media manifesto is a blueprint for technofascism
The surveillance firm’s viral X post calls for hard power, conscription and the end of pluralism. AI expert and academic Mark Coeckelbergh on what happens when technology becomes the gateway to authoritarianism
The New York Times Responds to Criticism of Anti-Trans Bias by Silencing Its Own Reporters
The Times’s coverage reflects its commitment to a flawed version of objectivity that equates balance with accuracy.
Anti-Trans Bills Keep Citing the New York Times
"By any objective measure, the paper seems clearly devoted to advocating against this care."
New York Times Accused of Running AI-Generated Article
People are speculating that an essay published in the New York Times' "Modern Love" was AI-generated. What's definitely real? AI paranoia.
The hacker crackdown: law and disorder on the electronic frontier
A journalist investigates the past, present, and future…
Gil Duran, author of The Nerd Reich, pulls it together: "the real 'innovation' we are seeing is the tech bros using wealth to seize government - in order to break government."
David Fenton
Crypto companies are the largest donors in American politics. Very few Americans use crypto at all. Journalist @gilduran.com calls it a gun to the head of American democracy. If a politician goes against them, tens of millions of dollars land on their head.
