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Baratunde Thurston

A best-selling author, Emmy-nominated television host, producer, podcaster, and cultural critic focused on the intersection of technology, democracy, race, and climate change in America.

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NEWSLETTERS
SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during the Vivatech technology startups and innovation fair at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, on June 16, 2023. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP) (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)
SILICON VALLEY • September 17, 2023
Elon’s Star Power & Apple’s New Era
Musk’s interventions in Ukraine are just one example of the risks of allowing private enterprise to replace public goods. Plus, three takeaways from Apple’s latest product showcase.
The White House and others estimate the IRA will help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions 41 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. That’s still 10 percent short of our pledges.
WASHINGTON • September 3, 2023
America’s Carbon Bill Is Coming Due
One way or another, we’re paying for climate change.
If anything, what the indictments truly emphasize is that Trump was never a solo act.
WASHINGTON • August 20, 2023
Trump Fatigue & the Slow Arc of Justice
A fourth indictment of the former president doesn’t appear to be moving the needle on public opinion. But it is finally providing an accounting, if not accountability, of Trump’s most pernicious crimes.
For Elon’s super app to thrive in the U.S. today, it would have to wrangle meaningful market share from specialized services that consumers rely on, a devilishly difficult task.
SILICON VALLEY • August 6, 2023
Silicon Valley and the Race for the Everything App
Elon Musk is the latest tech brainiac hoping to build a Chinese-style super app, this time on the bones of Twitter. Too bad Apple already got there first.
The threat A.I. poses to the livelihoods of Hollywood’s writers goes beyond the mere existential threat of being replaced by auto-generated text.
HOLLYWOOD • July 25, 2023
A.I.: A Hollywood Odyssey
There are ways that these tools can enhance storytelling, support labor, and improve the industry. But that has to be determined in collaboration—not by a handful of big tech companies dropping random, unvetted digital tools on an industry. Not again.
WASHINGTON • July 9, 2023
The End of Affirmative Action and the Attempt to Erase Race
A candid conversation with Anurima Bhargava, a top civil rights litigator and education advisor, about a Supreme Court earthquake.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign has arrived at a perfect moment of deteriorating social trust.
WASHINGTON • June 25, 2023
R.F.K. Jr. & the Latest Kennedy Tragedy
Why would someone with so much, and who has previously done so much good, give it up to become a conspiracy-hawking Connor Roy?
Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset.
SILICON VALLEY • June 11, 2023
Apple’s Beautiful, Lonely Vision
At its best, technology brings us together around shared screens and communal experiences. The Vision Pro headset, a huge leap forward for spatial computing, threatens to make us more isolated than ever.
Tristan Harris, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Humane Technology.
SILICON VALLEY • May 29, 2023
The Case for (Temporarily) Unplugging A.I.
When I first heard calls for a pause on the development of advanced A.I., I was skeptical of the benefits. Now, I fear we are running out of time.
Tim Scott relies on the coded notion of “personal responsibility” to shift the burden of society’s failures onto the individual.
WASHINGTON • May 29, 2023
Tim Scott’s Audience of One
A donor class sensation, Scott perpetuates a fantasy about American self-reliance that tells you everything about his candidacy.
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