Academia is just downloading PDFs that you’ll never read

After the madness of 2020, I'm hesitant to make any grand commitments for 2021, except for this one: In praise of shared conversations. Join me? adammccauley.substack.com

Protests and public health: What Italy might tell us about political mobilisation in pandemic times. Excellent thread/explanation of recent findings by my colleague Andrea Ruggeri (w/ Giuseppe Spatafora / F. D’Aguanno)

A few notes on the "Wreckoning" and what I'm thinking about this week. // adammccauley.substack.com/p/thewreckonin…

The American political project is broken. What can be done to fix it? A few thoughts in The Man With The Megaphone. adammccauley.substack.com/p/manandthemeg…

For the latest issue of Open Canada, I wonder (in words) whether Biden's proposed "Summit for Democracy" is an idea whose time has passed. #Biden #Democracy

We should think of trust as a kind of matter: it cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed. As it leaks from our traditional institutions, it finds home in micro-monopolies of peer-to-peer influence. My latest newsletter is here: adammccauley.substack.com/p/betrayaloftr…

“Who knows? Who decides who knows? Who decides who decides who knows? Surveillance capitalists now hold the answers to each question, though we never elected them to govern. This is the essence of the epistemic coup.” ⁦Shoshana Zuboff⁩ in New York Times Opinion nytimes.com/2021/01/29/opi…

Magical Thinking // How science showed us the world without explaining what mattered. adammccauley.substack.com/p/magicalthink…

Last week's newsletter — Rage Against The Machine —could have been titled: When "Techlash" was a capital crime - or - What can history tell us about the political power of technology? -- Don't hesitate to read/share. #tech #governance #politics adammccauley.substack.com/p/rageagainstt…

Something different this week. Let's call it personal atonement. My mad (and misguided) search for #productivity. Mentioned (and w/ all due respect): David Allen Cal Newport Ryan Holiday JohnKaag.eth 💯 #essentialism #howtolive adammccauley.substack.com/p/the-odyssey?…

Was a pleasure to discuss Jemima’s paper today. Thanks to all organisers at UCL Conflict & Change for hosting!

I’ll bookmark this in the “good intentions, flawed analysis” category. Most notable: the assumption that because Putin has been “rational” (pulling troops back under duress) this restraint (re: chem/nuclear weapons) would persist as threat to Putin = existential (total defeat)

A note to close out 2023. adammccauley.substack.com/p/happy-holida…

Some thoughts on 斎藤幸平's jolting book, Slow Down. adammccauley.substack.com/p/c-capitalism… #climatechange #capitalism #futurescape

The Intelligence Squared podcast will be LIVE at Web Summit Lisbon this Thursday, discussing how AI is changing warfare, with Adam McCauley Kenneth Cukier Agnes Callamard Join us 12:00-13:00 on stage 10!