Ben Werdmuller
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Health

This Physicist Says We Don’t Take COVID Seriously Enough

The pandemic isn't over, and there's still much to fear from the COVID-19 virus.

02 Nov 2025
How can I be most useful to you?

Ask a newsroom technology leader

How can I be most useful to you?

A short reader survey about the challenges you’re working through and the support you wish existed.

02 Nov 2025
Facebook's sign in Menlo Park

Future of News

There's no such thing as neutral technology

Why organizations must evaluate values, not just features

31 Oct 2025

Technology

Trump Administration's Arrival on Bluesky Highlights Growing Pains for Open Networks

"It’s no accident that US political operatives have been singling out Bluesky as a target for political control and retribution for months." But the result puts protocol developers and the users of their networks in opposition.

22 Oct 2025

AI

This Is How Much Anthropic and Cursor Spend On Amazon Web Services

AI at scale isn't scaling.

20 Oct 2025

Notable links

Russell Vought: The Shadow President

Reporter Andy Kroll explains Vought’s rise from a congressional staffer to the man piloting everything from Trump's layoffs and agency closings to his shutdown strategy, controlling the fate of trillions of dollars and millions of federal workers.

17 Oct 2025

Technology

Europe Can’t Defend Democracy on US Servers

MEP Alexandra Geese argues that Europe needs its own infrastructure, social networks, and software. Rising US authoritarianism means the clock is ticking.

17 Oct 2025

Technology

What Made Blogging Different?

Blogging was a different medium - and there's still a need for it more than ever.

16 Oct 2025
Why the open social web matters now

Technology

Why the open social web matters now

The needs are real – and you have so much power.

14 Oct 2025
Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.

Future of News

Build what makes you special. Buy the rest.

A framework for newsroom build vs buy decisions.

13 Oct 2025

Media

What AI means for the business of: journalism

"[An] archipelago of high-trust communities [is] where journalists are uniquely capable of building thriving businesses."

09 Oct 2025
Telomeres at the end-caps of an X chromosome

Asides

Telomeres, my son, and me

I bawled my way through Nowhere Special, a 2020 movie about a terminally ill man who needs to find a new family for his four year old son. I’ll be thinking about it for years. It’s the story of a window cleaner with a terminal illness who needs

04 Oct 2025
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Writing at the intersection of technology, journalism, and community.

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Ben Werdmuller explores the intersection of technology, democracy, and society. Always independently published, reader-supported, and free to read.