Ten years ago, I tried to read Norwegian Wood, a semi-autobiographical novel by the author Haruki Murakami. I couldn’t finish it, but for some reason, the first few pages stuck with me. The book begins with Norwegian Wood, the Beatles song,…
My interest in romanticism comes from the way in which it might address some of the key problems of modern technology. Today’s technologies – our phones and gadgets, screens and notifications – disconnect us from the real world, other people…
What does it mean to get lost in the dance? I arrive late in the evening. She opens the door, half shocked that I’m even there. We sit in different chairs with Japanese food between us. Sushi, fish and some…
Imagine a man sitting across from you. He has brown wavy hair, kind eyes and a broad smile. He is dressed in a black suit and talks, very appropriately, as if he is a professor of esteemed learning. Leaning forward…
David Leo Hyde is visiting his family home in the Port Hills of Christchurch, New Zealand. He looks relaxed standing on the balcony, running his fingers through his hair. Politely, he asks me if I found the place okay. The…
In September, more than half of Australia’s environmental scientists working for the federal and state governments reported that they had been “prohibited from communicating scientific information” to the general public. Research on climate change, the extinction of animal species and…
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to interview Jonas Altman, author of the newly released Shapers: Reinvent The Way You Work and Change the Future. Altman, based in Canada, has done a remarkable job of dissecting where we…
Brain implants are such a risky technology that we should consider banning them before they get released. If not, we risk losing a freedom we take for granted every day, our freedom of thought. On August 28, Neuralink, a company…
We often evaluate new technologies based on old standards. How should we update our evaluative tools for the digital age? Our troubles with technology have mythical origins. In the Phaedrus, Plato recounts the tale of the Egyptian god Theuth, who…
In April, I published the following blog post here on my personal blog New Intrigue and on the Oxford Political Review. A few months later, I was told to take down the post or get fired from my then job…