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Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

For Centuries, English Bakers' Biggest Customers Were Horses

“But in pre-industrial England, horse bread carried the taste of shame. The dark bran bread sat at the bottom of a hierarchy that gave brown bread to farmers and servants and reserved white bread for the elite. Indeed, Englishpeople turned to horse bread during times of strife, and the abject

30 Jul 2022

Bank of America Memo: “We Hope” Worker Power Worsens

“A Bank of America executive stated that “we hope” working Americans will lose leverage in the labor market in a recent private memo obtained by The Intercept. Making predictions for clients about the U.S. economy over the next several years, the memo also noted that changes in the percentage

30 Jul 2022

Web3: The hope for protocols over platforms

“Let’s experiment in ways that let us slowly deconstruct platforms, by replacing some of the core primitives that they own with open protocols that are collectively owned and governed by their own communities.”  #Crypto [Link]

30 Jul 2022

After 37 Years, the Sunny World of ‘Neighbours’ Comes to an End

“At that time, the world of “Neighbours” offered an antidote to the contentious impact of conservative, Thatcherite legislation in Britain, Carr said, which supported “do it yourself” economic policies that its opponents said widened inequality. “Neighbours” offered “a different, wildly positive vision of what a community could be,” Carr said.

29 Jul 2022

San Francisco Mayor Wants PD To Be Able To Commandeer Cameras Owned By Residents Because Reasons

“Having dumped its “progressive” District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, the city of San Francisco has decided it’s going to be far more Dirty Harry in the future. The alleged justification is (perhaps temporary and anomalous) increases in crime. It’s time to run roughshod over constitutional rights again.”  #Democracy [Link]

29 Jul 2022

Announcing the Shortlist for the Inaugural Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

“The nine shortlisted books will be considered by a panel of five jurors—adrienne maree brown, Becky Chambers, Molly Gloss, David Mitchell, and Luis Alberto Urrea. The winner will be announced later this year on October 21st, 2022, Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday.”  #Culture [Link]

29 Jul 2022

Is accepting the end of humanity the key to climate action? This scholar thinks so.

“Accepting that human civilization is finite, he says, will challenge us to change our priorities, from worshiping extraction and growth to uplifting the most marginalized in society.”  #Climate [Link]

29 Jul 2022

Wildfires Are Setting Off 100-Year-Old Bombs on WWI Battlefields

“The area where the fire rages was the site of 12 battles during World War I. More than 200,000 people died and untold numbers of explosives were used. It’s a major problem across Europe that lingers to this day. The Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air

28 Jul 2022

Vice President Kamala Harris was criticized for using visual descriptors. Why?

“The ongoing dustup over Vice President Kamala Harris describing herself during a meeting with disability rights leaders this week is much ado about an increasingly common practice and a distraction from the substance of the gathering, advocates say.”  #Society [Link]

28 Jul 2022

Meta officially cuts funding for U.S. news publishers

“As the company moves forward with sweeping changes to the Facebook experience, news has become less of a priority.”  #Media [Link]

28 Jul 2022

A radical attack on the First Amendment

“Prohibited topics include endorsing the concepts of white privilege or male privilege. Specifically, employers cannot conduct trainings that state an individual can be "privileged" or "oppressed" due to their "race, color, sex, or national origin." Further, trainings cannot suggest that anyone should "feel

27 Jul 2022

Who Is Collecting Data from Your Car?

“The Markup has identified 37 companies that are part of the rapidly growing connected vehicle data industry that seeks to monetize such data in an environment with few regulations governing its sale or use.”  #Technology [Link]

27 Jul 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.