Ben Werdmuller
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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Longtermism, or How to Get-Out-Of-Caring While Feeling Moral and Smart

“MacAskill begs us to ask questions like: Do you care about the specter of climate catastrophe? Definitely. World War III complete with nuclear annihilation? Yikes, yeah. How about population stagnation and potential collapse because rich people stopped having enough babies? Wait, huh? What do you think about lowering the probability

10 Oct 2022

Papa John's sued for 'wiretap' spying on website visitors

“Session replay tools have been a privacy concern due to their indiscriminate capturing of data, sometimes poor security, and failures to get user consent to track and store this data, not to mention having analysts going over your every move to see how they can optimize their webpages and boost

10 Oct 2022

In praise of small stories

I’ll follow Doctor Who anywhere - I’ve been a fan since I was five years old - but the trailer for the BBC Centennial episode left me cold, even despite the welcomed presence of Ace and Tegan. It’s had some criticism, and there were some clunkers (hello,

09 Oct 2022

How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails

“SNCF was very angry. They told the state they were leaving [California] for North Africa, which was less politically dysfunctional. They went to Morocco and helped them build a rail system.”  #Democracy [Link]

09 Oct 2022

Chelsea Manning: ‘I’m Still Bound to Secrecy’

“I came to see that the classification system exists wholly in the interest of the U.S. government — in other words, it seems to exist not to to keep secrets safe but to control the narrative.”  #Democracy [Link]

08 Oct 2022

The future of cars

January, 2030. After a long journey, I finally climb into my rental car. It’s a nice ride: comfortable bucket seats with built-in heaters, plenty of leg room, good visibility on all sides, and a large dashboard screen. As soon as I get in, the car notices I’m sitting

08 Oct 2022

After 187 years, the Cherokee Nation wants its seat in Congress

“The 1835 treaty included unequivocal language that a delegate “shall” be included in the House for the Cherokee, a provision that was essentially forgotten as they and other tribes tried to survive and rebuild after forced removal.”  #Democracy [Link]

08 Oct 2022

What is Dovetail from PRX?

“From a birds-eye view, Dovetail does three main things: podcast distribution, data collection, and ad inventory management.”  #Media [Link]

08 Oct 2022

State abortion bans are preventing cancer patients from getting chemotherapy

““I don’t know anybody that would feel comfortable treating a pregnant patient with cancer because I don’t feel like they’re nearly dead enough,” Zahedi-Spung said. “The threshold that I am holding in order to provide abortion care is basically almost dead to try to avoid being arrested

08 Oct 2022

Why Do Rich People Love Quiet?

“The people complaining clearly thought they were trying to enforce a sonic landscape that they deemed superior, but what they were really doing was using shame to exert control. Over the restaurant, the building, the borough. Us.”  #Society [Link]

08 Oct 2022

Most people on Twitter don’t live in political echo chambers — but mostly because they don’t care enough to bother building one

“Most people don’t follow a bunch of political “elites” on Twitter — a group that, for these authors’ purposes, also includes news organizations. But those who do typically follow many more people they agree with politically than people who they don’t.”  #Media [Link]

08 Oct 2022

3 Reasons Why I Think 50% Coding 50% Marketing is the Best Framework for Solo Tech Founders

“Usually when a solo founder thinks they need to do more coding than marketing, it's because they don't want to do marketing, not because they genuinely think they need to spend more time on product.”  #Startups [Link]

08 Oct 2022
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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.