Lee Vinsel
@leev.bsky.social
I do technology studies, make the Peoples & Things podcast, co-founded The Maintainers, and profess Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech.
Maybe the answer is that there isn't one yet?
What is the best published argument we have yet - including reasonable theoretical and strong empirical bases - for the idea that Generative AI is an especially "authoritarian" technology?
February 12, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Maybe the answer is that there isn't one yet?
What is the best published argument we have yet - including reasonable theoretical and strong empirical bases - for the idea that Generative AI is an especially "authoritarian" technology?
February 12, 2026 at 3:24 PM
What is the best published argument we have yet - including reasonable theoretical and strong empirical bases - for the idea that Generative AI is an especially "authoritarian" technology?
Jacob Bruggeman has a neat new article out, "Phreaking Politics in Modern America," which covers telephone hacking, AT&T's status as an icon of American technology, and the New Left-to-libertarian pipeline in modern American political order
doi.org/10.1017/mah....
doi.org/10.1017/mah....
February 12, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Jacob Bruggeman has a neat new article out, "Phreaking Politics in Modern America," which covers telephone hacking, AT&T's status as an icon of American technology, and the New Left-to-libertarian pipeline in modern American political order
doi.org/10.1017/mah....
doi.org/10.1017/mah....
It was a lot of fun.
Many thanks to @leev.bsky.social of @virginiatech.bsky.social for an inspiring Blixrud Memorial Keynote on “Innovation Delusion”!
#ARLPI26 #innovation #libraries
#ARLPI26 #innovation #libraries
February 11, 2026 at 11:37 PM
It was a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed Jon Lindsay's LONG rant of a review of Yudkowsky and Soares dumb _If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies_ book. What I most appreciate about it is how it attacks the book from *so many* different angles
dolos.substack.com/p/if-anyone-...
dolos.substack.com/p/if-anyone-...
If anyone reads it, everyone laughs
The seriously bad assumptions of Yudkowsky and Soares
dolos.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:37 PM
I really enjoyed Jon Lindsay's LONG rant of a review of Yudkowsky and Soares dumb _If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies_ book. What I most appreciate about it is how it attacks the book from *so many* different angles
dolos.substack.com/p/if-anyone-...
dolos.substack.com/p/if-anyone-...
Bob Charette has given a new talk, "Trillions Spent, Still Failing: Why IT Needs Human-Centered Thinking," building on his recent IEEE Spectrum article and decades of work on how and why software system developments, modernizations, etc. so often fail.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FslT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FslT...
Trillions Spent, Still Failing: Why IT Needs Human-Centered Thinking
YouTube video by IEEE Richmond Section
www.youtube.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Bob Charette has given a new talk, "Trillions Spent, Still Failing: Why IT Needs Human-Centered Thinking," building on his recent IEEE Spectrum article and decades of work on how and why software system developments, modernizations, etc. so often fail.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FslT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FslT...
Neat article shared on The Maintainers list, "Army surveys existing contracts to expand right to repair access." The US federal government has been using procurement to do regulation by fiat at least since the 1920s. See my _Moving Violations_.
federalnewsnetwork.com/army/2026/02...
federalnewsnetwork.com/army/2026/02...
Army surveys existing contracts to expand right to repair access | Federal News Network
The review will assess all programs and determine next steps — whether it's renegotiating contracts or "figuring out a way" to qualify a second source.
federalnewsnetwork.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Neat article shared on The Maintainers list, "Army surveys existing contracts to expand right to repair access." The US federal government has been using procurement to do regulation by fiat at least since the 1920s. See my _Moving Violations_.
federalnewsnetwork.com/army/2026/02...
federalnewsnetwork.com/army/2026/02...
A friend nicely let me know my old essay, "You're Doing It Wrong: Notes on Criticism and Technology Hype," where I coined the term criti-hype, had become inaccessible. So I've reposted it for now on my Ghost newsletter.
peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-...
peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-...
You're Doing It Wrong: Notes on Criticism and Technology Hype
I'm reposting this essay I wrote in 2021 because the online blogging platform Medium has apparently changed its policies and people are having trouble accessing the original. Hopefully, I'll find a be...
peoples-things.ghost.io
February 8, 2026 at 4:29 PM
A friend nicely let me know my old essay, "You're Doing It Wrong: Notes on Criticism and Technology Hype," where I coined the term criti-hype, had become inaccessible. So I've reposted it for now on my Ghost newsletter.
peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-...
peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-...
Man, this is beautiful. I'm going to use this image in a lot of future talks when I critique idealist forms of explanation in the humanities and social sciences that act as if ideas move and do things on their own. ChatGPT FTW.
February 2, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Man, this is beautiful. I'm going to use this image in a lot of future talks when I critique idealist forms of explanation in the humanities and social sciences that act as if ideas move and do things on their own. ChatGPT FTW.
My buddy and soon-to-be podcast cohost @benwaterhouse.bsky.social has written one of my favorite pieces yet critically connecting 1960s counter-culture to the rise of "neoliberalism" - "Big Brother and the Holding Company: What the 1960s Did for Neoliberalism."
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:41 PM
My buddy and soon-to-be podcast cohost @benwaterhouse.bsky.social has written one of my favorite pieces yet critically connecting 1960s counter-culture to the rise of "neoliberalism" - "Big Brother and the Holding Company: What the 1960s Did for Neoliberalism."
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
Very excited about this week's Peoples & Things episode featuring historian of computing Tom Haigh talking about his forthcoming book with the working title, _Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand_.
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
111 Thomas Haigh on the History of “AI” as a Brand - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Very excited about this week's Peoples & Things episode featuring historian of computing Tom Haigh talking about his forthcoming book with the working title, _Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand_.
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
New Peoples & Things episode this week features Verena Halsmayer talking about her award-winning book, _Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact_, including how it relates to the economics of technological change.
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
Verena Halsmayer on Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New Peoples & Things episode this week features Verena Halsmayer talking about her award-winning book, _Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact_, including how it relates to the economics of technological change.
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
I enjoyed Bob Charette's new piece at IEEE Spectrum, "Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing." I've long believed this is one of many factors at play in the "productivity paradox" of computing.
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing
AI won’t solve IT’s management problems
spectrum.ieee.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I enjoyed Bob Charette's new piece at IEEE Spectrum, "Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing." I've long believed this is one of many factors at play in the "productivity paradox" of computing.
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
Hey, y'all! This week we have a special episode of Peoples & Things - a recent livestream featuring very special guest host danah boyd talking with Cory Doctorow about his new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Hey, y'all! This week we have a special episode of Peoples & Things - a recent livestream featuring very special guest host danah boyd talking with Cory Doctorow about his new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Excellent to have danah boyd on the same call as Cory. Lovely chat. So many analogies, “further complications”, and wry laughs per minute!
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification, with danah boyd and Lee Vinsel
YouTube video by Peoples & Things
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Excellent to have danah boyd on the same call as Cory. Lovely chat. So many analogies, “further complications”, and wry laughs per minute!
Great episode of Peoples & Things today featuring Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, talking about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. A history of standards oooh la la. 😍😍
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse
Podcast Episode · Peoples & Things · 11/10/2025 · 1h 10m
podcasts.apple.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Great episode of Peoples & Things today featuring Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, talking about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. A history of standards oooh la la. 😍😍
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification, with danah boyd and Lee Vinsel
YouTube video by Peoples & Things
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:34 PM
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
#ICYMI: Tonight at 7 PM, ET (6 PM, CT), @zephoria.bsky.social & Cory Doctorow discuss the #enshittification 💩 of the Internet on a special live edition of @leev.bsky.social's Peoples & Things podcast!
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
November 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
#ICYMI: Tonight at 7 PM, ET (6 PM, CT), @zephoria.bsky.social & Cory Doctorow discuss the #enshittification 💩 of the Internet on a special live edition of @leev.bsky.social's Peoples & Things podcast!
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Kate Epstein discussed her new book, ANALOG SUPERPOWERS, with @leev.bsky.social on Peoples & Things! Listen to learn about the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual property, and government secrecy in Great Britain and the United States.
107: Kate Epstein on How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State” (U Chicago Press, 2024) – Peoples & Things
In this episode I sit down with Kate Epstein, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden, as she details her research on the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual…
buff.ly
October 31, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Kate Epstein discussed her new book, ANALOG SUPERPOWERS, with @leev.bsky.social on Peoples & Things! Listen to learn about the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual property, and government secrecy in Great Britain and the United States.
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
October 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak” from actual, sustainable #innovation? Come to the 2026 ARL President’s Institute #PI26! @leev.bsky.social will foster realistic conversations around necessary changes to truly unlock innovation in #libraries bit.ly/PI26Vinsel
ARL PI26: Keynote Announcement—Lee Vinsel — Association of Research Libraries
February 11–12 ᐧ Chicago-Rosemont Be honest: Do you hear people use the term “innovation” without fully appreciating what it entails? Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak”.....
bit.ly
October 27, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak” from actual, sustainable #innovation? Come to the 2026 ARL President’s Institute #PI26! @leev.bsky.social will foster realistic conversations around necessary changes to truly unlock innovation in #libraries bit.ly/PI26Vinsel
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Read an enlightening interview with Lee Vinsel about "Using Podcasts to Humanize Scholars" in the new issue of Technology and Culture via @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
October 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Read an enlightening interview with Lee Vinsel about "Using Podcasts to Humanize Scholars" in the new issue of Technology and Culture via @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
Hard for me to put into words how touched I was when the editors of Technology & Culture, which I've been reading for half my life, interviewed me about Peoples & Things, the technology studies podcast I make with a production team here at Virginia Tech.
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
October 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Hard for me to put into words how touched I was when the editors of Technology & Culture, which I've been reading for half my life, interviewed me about Peoples & Things, the technology studies podcast I make with a production team here at Virginia Tech.
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
Folks, asking for a friend: Are there any good, short, clear pieces that you use to teach students about the history of the Dot-Com bubble and bust?
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
October 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Folks, asking for a friend: Are there any good, short, clear pieces that you use to teach students about the history of the Dot-Com bubble and bust?
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.