Ben Werdmuller
  • About me
  • Let's build together
  • Notable links
Sign in Subscribe

Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

Democracy

How Do We Tell the Story of Gaza’s Murdered Journalists?

"Now, nearly two years and more than 250 assassinations later, I can count the names of the living journalists in Gaza I follow on one hand."

15 Aug 2025

Technology

Funding Open Source like public infrastructure

"Open Source runs much of the world's critical infrastructure. It powers government services, supports national security, and enables everything from public health systems to elections. This means governments must help fund Open Source."

14 Aug 2025

Technology

Perplexity Makes Longshot $34.5 Billion Offer for Chrome

"Artificial-intelligence startup Perplexity offered to purchase Google’s Chrome browser for $34.5 billion as it works to challenge the tech giant’s web-search dominance."

13 Aug 2025
Lifelogging under fascism

Democracy

Lifelogging under fascism

How self-tracking became self-incrimination

10 Aug 2025
What I owe to August 6

Asides

What I owe to August 6

It was a war crime. And my relationship to it is complicated.

06 Aug 2025

Technology

Japan: Apple Must Lift Browser Engine Ban by December

Japan, the EU, and the UK all now require Apple to support third-party browser engines. That's great news for the open web.

06 Aug 2025

Technology

Silicon Valley’s Dream Tech Job Is Disappearing

“We’re seeing right now why tech needs unions.”

04 Aug 2025

Technology

Ghost 6.0

The new version of Ghost connects every site to an open social network that provides built-in reach without losing independence.

04 Aug 2025

Asides

Small repairs

Drinking Sunday coffee in the hyper-normal

03 Aug 2025

Media

Did Craigslist decimate newspapers?

"Here in six short chapters is the tale of Craigslist’s rise to a business generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year, how Newmark has used that fortune and how newspapers, slow to adapt, failed to respond effectively to the digital shift.”

02 Aug 2025

Media

Curate your own newspaper with RSS

"In a media landscape dominated by algorithmic feeds that aim to manipulate and extract, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is choose to read what you want, when you want, without anyone watching over your shoulder."

01 Aug 2025
Evaluating AI

AI

Evaluating AI

How to think about vendors, technology, and power

31 Jul 2025
See all
Ben Werdmuller

Ben Werdmuller

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

Recommendations

  • Elena Rossini
    Elena Rossini
    news.elenarossini.com

    Elena Rossini is an Italian filmmaker, photographer and activist. Her work focuses on issues of media literacy, digital sovereignty, and harnessing the power of the internet for change.

  • Relay, By We Distribute
    Relay, By We Distribute
    newsletter.wedistribute.org

    A weekly newsletter about the open social web. We Distribute is the best website about the next generation of social networks - their newsletter is a regular dive into what's going on.

  • Internet Exchange
    Internet Exchange
    internet.exchangepoint.tech

    Feminist perspectives on digital justice and tech from some of the most important voices in ethical tech.

  • When The Going Gets Weird
    When The Going Gets Weird
    newsletter.mathewingram.com

    Mathew Ingram, a longtime journalist whose bylines have chronicled the intersection of journalism and the web, shares links that interest him.

  • Point C
    Point C
    pointc.co

    Corey Ford has been a mentor and friend for over a decade. His advice changed my professional life, and now it can change yours, too.

Ben Werdmuller
Mastodon
Bluesky
Threads

Subscribe to new posts

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