Joe Litobarski
@joelitobarski.bsky.social
Historian of Digital Technology | PhD candidate in the history of public cybernetics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS), Maastricht University
Pinned
www.euractiv.com
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
just out from @mitpress.bsky.social a new addition to the Engineering Studies series. lots for @engrstudies.bsky.social & especially @thatminesgirl.bsky.social
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
An Engineered World
An Engineered World examines the dramatic and global expansion of modern professional engineering between roughly 1870 and 1950. Over these decades, the numb...
mitpress.mit.edu
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 AM
just out from @mitpress.bsky.social a new addition to the Engineering Studies series. lots for @engrstudies.bsky.social & especially @thatminesgirl.bsky.social
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
mitpress.mit.edu/978026255335...
"When it comes to modernising government you don't really want to run it like a start-up," said Litobarski. "I’m all for experimentation but let’s do it in a controlled, evidence-based way."
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
Albania's new AI bot minister: hype or help? | Context by TRF
'Incorruptible' or 'unconstitutional'? AI bot's appointment as anti-corruption minister in Albania sparks debate
www.context.news
November 28, 2025 at 9:44 AM
"When it comes to modernising government you don't really want to run it like a start-up," said Litobarski. "I’m all for experimentation but let’s do it in a controlled, evidence-based way."
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
www.context.news/ai/albanias-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
Citizens should ask of power five questions: What power have you got? Where did you get it? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you? In the case of Albania's AI minister, the answers are unclear
dlvr.it
November 17, 2025 at 5:10 AM
How can Albanians get rid of their AI minister?
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I wrote another opinion piece for @euractiv.com, this time about Albania's experiment with AI in government:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/how-...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Quick thread on the BBC and the political and societal significance of recent developments:
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
One of the main reasons the UK has historically been so much less polarised than the US, is that Britain has a shared source of information, consumed and trusted by most people regardless of their politics.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
After a week in which Dems exceeded expectations in elections, Trump's popularity continues to tank, the GOP largely abandoned the task of governing (just as Thanksgiving travel approaches), I'm a bit surprised to see many more stories highlighting weakness in the Dem than in the GOP coalition.
This NYT framing is ludicrously overstated. Sure, there are primaries. But if anything, the results showed a lot of Dems that there's a way to unify the factions around anti-Trump and affordability politics (as I try to argue in the piece/thread below).
November 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
After a week in which Dems exceeded expectations in elections, Trump's popularity continues to tank, the GOP largely abandoned the task of governing (just as Thanksgiving travel approaches), I'm a bit surprised to see many more stories highlighting weakness in the Dem than in the GOP coalition.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
one for @nanobubbles.bsky.social. do we at least get to keep Imaginary Friends?
November 5, 2025 at 11:17 AM
one for @nanobubbles.bsky.social. do we at least get to keep Imaginary Friends?
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
"This is not literature as 'entertainment,' no. It’s literature as propaganda." Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/literature-is-not-a-vibe-on-chatgpt-and-the-humanities/
October 31, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"This is not literature as 'entertainment,' no. It’s literature as propaganda." Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/literature-is-not-a-vibe-on-chatgpt-and-the-humanities/
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
The convention to stay out of allies’ internal affairs does not apply. What happens in America does not stay in America, says Paul Taylor of the European Policy Centre
www.theguardian.com
October 28, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Forget diplomatic niceties: it's beyond time Europe denounced Trump's trashing of democracy in the US | Paul Taylor
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Lithuania plans to close its border crossings with Belarus indefinitely, after flights at the capital's airport were repeatedly disrupted by suspected sightings of balloons.
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
October 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Lithuania plans to close its border crossings with Belarus indefinitely, after flights at the capital's airport were repeatedly disrupted by suspected sightings of balloons.
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
PM Inga Ruginienė and her cabinet are expected to decide on Wednesday.
➡️ https://l.euronews.com/6nuk
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
When the dot-com bubble burst, policymakers largely let it collapse, treating it as a market correction. Today’s accelerationist MAGA-AI boom is different
dlvr.it
October 27, 2025 at 5:16 AM
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI
I wrote an opinion piece in @euractiv.com about the history of tech bubbles and the political economy of AI:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
What the history of tech bubbles can tell us about AI | Euractiv
When the dot-com bubble burst, policymakers largely let it collapse, treating it as a market correction. Today’s accelerationist MAGA-AI boom is different
www.euractiv.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:37 AM
I wrote an opinion piece in @euractiv.com about the history of tech bubbles and the political economy of AI:
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
www.euractiv.com/opinion/what...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow at Caerphilly by-election
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow as 'hope triumphs over division'
Reform UK pledged to "throw everything" to win the Caerphilly constituency but Nigel Farage's party was shafted at the by-election in south Wales on Thursday
www.mirror.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Nigel Farage's Reform UK is dealt crushing blow at Caerphilly by-election
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Great piece by @joelitobarski.bsky.social in @ourkindredfuture.bsky.social !
ourkindredfuture.com/the-eu-shoul...
ourkindredfuture.com/the-eu-shoul...
October 3, 2025 at 3:42 PM
New blog post - "The #EU should unplug from US tech": joelitobarski.com/the-eu-shoul...
The EU should unplug from US tech - Joe Litobarski
Imagine the United States had a democratic dashboard to judge the health of their political system. Right now, almost all the lights would be flashing red. Democracy relies on shared norms of civil di...
joelitobarski.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
New blog post - "The #EU should unplug from US tech": joelitobarski.com/the-eu-shoul...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
I enjoy the way people keep remembering that this is the plot of the movie *Elysium*.
People literally saw a science fiction film a decade ago and decided it had to be real.
People literally saw a science fiction film a decade ago and decided it had to be real.
The thing about medbeds as a QAnon conspiracy theory is that the exact same *idea* of magical immortality-granting technology (though in different formats) is a dominant myth in Silicon Valley technofuturism and also taken seriously by many powerful elites in that space
September 29, 2025 at 8:26 AM
I enjoy the way people keep remembering that this is the plot of the movie *Elysium*.
People literally saw a science fiction film a decade ago and decided it had to be real.
People literally saw a science fiction film a decade ago and decided it had to be real.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Pritzer gets the mechanics of authoritarianism – systemic intimidation, seizing control of elections, etc. – in a way others in national democratic leadership don't or won't say out loud.
Pritzker: "One of the reasons Trump wants to send troops into cities is bc he wants to be able to take control of the 2026 elections...if they've got troops in cities, & it becomes a kind of norm for people, then it won't be abnormal for them when they're going to vote having troops at ballot boxes"
September 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Pritzer gets the mechanics of authoritarianism – systemic intimidation, seizing control of elections, etc. – in a way others in national democratic leadership don't or won't say out loud.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again.
Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐
Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐
September 23, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again.
Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐
Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Proud to announce our unnamed tech partners tracked the cell phone locations of hundreds of thousands of people without their knowledge or consent
September 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Proud to announce our unnamed tech partners tracked the cell phone locations of hundreds of thousands of people without their knowledge or consent
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
BREAKING — Notices for the Disney+ price increase went out at noon ET today, confirming my scoop from last night. Details: www.vulture.com/article/disn...
September 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
BREAKING — Notices for the Disney+ price increase went out at noon ET today, confirming my scoop from last night. Details: www.vulture.com/article/disn...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
Five years ago, they warned the River Cam was only ‘one or two dry summers from crisis.’
That crisis has arrived – sewage, pollution, abstraction, and a dying chalk stream.
See why it matters.
Kate Moore reports during
#BigRiverWatch from @theriverstrust.bsky.social
That crisis has arrived – sewage, pollution, abstraction, and a dying chalk stream.
See why it matters.
Kate Moore reports during
#BigRiverWatch from @theriverstrust.bsky.social
Dry summers, dirty water: the river Cam’s slow collapse
The river Cam faces crisis from sewage pollution, over-abstraction, and inaction – locals fight to save its wildlife and natural flow
eastangliabylines.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Five years ago, they warned the River Cam was only ‘one or two dry summers from crisis.’
That crisis has arrived – sewage, pollution, abstraction, and a dying chalk stream.
See why it matters.
Kate Moore reports during
#BigRiverWatch from @theriverstrust.bsky.social
That crisis has arrived – sewage, pollution, abstraction, and a dying chalk stream.
See why it matters.
Kate Moore reports during
#BigRiverWatch from @theriverstrust.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
The false 17th-C science of creating ghosts. PALINGENESIS. A fave topic. Take a living thing, burn it to ashes, grind it to the finest powder, then heat or nourish it. The image of the original would appear. Based on the idea that every molecule contained the imprint of the whole.
September 19, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The false 17th-C science of creating ghosts. PALINGENESIS. A fave topic. Take a living thing, burn it to ashes, grind it to the finest powder, then heat or nourish it. The image of the original would appear. Based on the idea that every molecule contained the imprint of the whole.
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
New article by me for @mitpress.bsky.social on the rise of "Nihilistic Violent Extremists" and why David Brooks is wrong to think that Church and "believing in belief" is the solution to nihilism rather than recognizing such empty rituals as the cause...
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/returning-to...
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/returning-to...
Returning to Church Won’t Save Us from Nihilism
Engaging in ritual for ritual’s sake only deepens nihilism.
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
September 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM
New article by me for @mitpress.bsky.social on the rise of "Nihilistic Violent Extremists" and why David Brooks is wrong to think that Church and "believing in belief" is the solution to nihilism rather than recognizing such empty rituals as the cause...
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/returning-to...
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/returning-to...
Reposted by Joe Litobarski
They are hiding behind their rage and grief to avoid looking at what they are doing
Their grief and rage is real, and it very hard to hold space for that when our grief and rage is belittled and dismissed, every time
Their feelings are treated as facts, ours treated as punchlines. For years
Their grief and rage is real, and it very hard to hold space for that when our grief and rage is belittled and dismissed, every time
Their feelings are treated as facts, ours treated as punchlines. For years
September 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
They are hiding behind their rage and grief to avoid looking at what they are doing
Their grief and rage is real, and it very hard to hold space for that when our grief and rage is belittled and dismissed, every time
Their feelings are treated as facts, ours treated as punchlines. For years
Their grief and rage is real, and it very hard to hold space for that when our grief and rage is belittled and dismissed, every time
Their feelings are treated as facts, ours treated as punchlines. For years