The Best Books Threaten the Powerful – My Video Message on Banned Books Week
19 Sep, 2014
My old friend Derek Wolfgram asked me to record a video message for Banned Books Week, on behalf of the California Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee. So here are some thoughts about the global brain, censorship as brain damage, and why the books that are…
R e a d M o r eActually: You ARE the Customer, Not the Product
18 Sep, 2014
Don’t believe the hype. You’re the customer, whether you pay directly or by seeing ads. Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: “On the internet, if you’re not paying for something, then you’re not the customer. You’re the product.” This meme, and its various…
R e a d M o r eThe Campbell Award – and Why I’m Optimistic About the Future of SF
17 Aug, 2014
Sofia Samatar has won the Campbell Award for Best New SF Writer! Huge congratulations, Sofia! Her victory makes everything about the post below, written before I knew the outcome, even more true: — This has been a challenging year for SF. It’s a year we’ve…
R e a d M o r eNexus is a Finalist for the Endeavour Award!
23 Jul, 2014
I’ve just found out that Nexus is a finalist for the 2014 Endeavour Award, for the best SF or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest author in the previous year. Wonderful! The full list of finalists is: King of Swords by Dave Duncan (47North) Meaning of Luff by…
R e a d M o r eNexus and Cory Doctorow’s Homeland Tie for the Prometheus Award
13 Jul, 2014
My novel Nexus and Cory Doctorow’s novel Homeland have tied for the Prometheus Award! The award is given to the best pro-freedom science fiction novel of the year. I love the Prometheus Award because it’s focused on a particular criteria: Science fiction novels that both examine…
R e a d M o r ePolitical Polarization: Seek First to Understand
12 Jun, 2014
America is now more politically polarized than at any point in the last 20 years. This isn’t just Congress – this is the American people. That polarization shows up in beliefs about politics, about everyday life, and even in where conservatives and liberals live. And…
R e a d M o r eCan We Beat the Surveillance State? My Keynote at CFP 2014
10 Jun, 2014
I was honored to be one of the keynote speakers at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2014 Conference this year. My talk gave an overview of the surveillance state we’re building today, and then used lessons from the past to show how incredibly dangerous that…
R e a d M o r eReducing Carbon Emissions Will Be Cheaper Than Expected – It Always Is
2 Jun, 2014
With the announcement of EPA’s proposed cuts to carbon emissions from existing powerplants, there’s already tremendous argument about how much they’ll cost. Some will argue that they’ll destroy the economy. How has that argument worked out in the past? To those claiming new climate regulations…
R e a d M o r eNominated for the Campbell, Clarke, Prometheus, and Kitschie!
23 Apr, 2014
I’m up for some awards, and on those lists with some fantastic people. 1) The Campbell Award On Saturday the finalists for the Hugo Awards and Campbell Award for 2014 were announced. So now I can reveal that I’m a finalist for the Campbell Award…
R e a d M o r eIs the US an Oligarchy? Not So Fast.
17 Apr, 2014
There’s a new study out which, press outlets are telling me, shows that the United States is now an oligarchy, ruled by the rich and powerful, and perhaps that the US has been sliding in this direction for decades. You can see coverage of it…
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