Patrick McCray
@patrickmccray.bsky.social
Professor @ UCSB => science + tech + environment
Kluge Chair in Technology & Society @ LoC, 2025-26
New book = https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553483/readme/
Cairn kicker π΅ π£ π§ββοΈβ·οΈππΌββοΈπ in Cali-rado.
More = https://www.patrickmccray.com
Kluge Chair in Technology & Society @ LoC, 2025-26
New book = https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553483/readme/
Cairn kicker π΅ π£ π§ββοΈβ·οΈππΌββοΈπ in Cali-rado.
More = https://www.patrickmccray.com
Pinned
Patrick McCray
@patrickmccray.bsky.social
Β· Nov 9
My new book will be out in early December 2025 via
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books ποΈ
@mitpress.bsky.social
Details at: mitpress.mit.edu/978026255348...
#HistSci #Computing #History #Books ποΈ
Meanwhile = "I like 'em underage, see some say that's statutory (but I say that's mandatory)," Kid Rock sings on his 2001 song...
February 10, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Meanwhile = "I like 'em underage, see some say that's statutory (but I say that's mandatory)," Kid Rock sings on his 2001 song...
Easy to say as sheβs not running for reelection
February 9, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Easy to say as sheβs not running for reelection
Joe Weizenbaum would like a word.
February 9, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Joe Weizenbaum would like a word.
Look in the mirror, my friend.
February 9, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Look in the mirror, my friend.
Capote - βThatβs not writing, thatβs typingβ and here thereβs not even typing.
February 8, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Capote - βThatβs not writing, thatβs typingβ and here thereβs not even typing.
Excerpt from βIf I Was Whiteβ, a work on the display at exhibition at the National Gallery of Art of indigenous Australian contemporary artworks
February 8, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Excerpt from βIf I Was Whiteβ, a work on the display at exhibition at the National Gallery of Art of indigenous Australian contemporary artworks
On "wishful worries" and other myths of technology (βWhen someone says βalgorithm,β start searching for the people.β)
@dcbrock.bsky.social's 2019 essay is worth a re-read
lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-...
@dcbrock.bsky.social's 2019 essay is worth a re-read
lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-...
Our Censors, Ourselves: Commercial Content Moderation | Los Angeles Review of Books
David C. Brock considers two recent books about largely unseen workforce moderating the tech giants.
lareviewofbooks.org
February 8, 2026 at 3:15 PM
On "wishful worries" and other myths of technology (βWhen someone says βalgorithm,β start searching for the people.β)
@dcbrock.bsky.social's 2019 essay is worth a re-read
lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-...
@dcbrock.bsky.social's 2019 essay is worth a re-read
lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-...
In my work researching the L5 Society, it was interesting to see how there was so much libertarian thought in that group.
February 8, 2026 at 2:03 PM
In my work researching the L5 Society, it was interesting to see how there was so much libertarian thought in that group.
I just arrived in DC yesterday, I was thinking the same thing. Walking around is quite a challenge; I shouldβve brought crampons.
February 8, 2026 at 2:02 PM
I just arrived in DC yesterday, I was thinking the same thing. Walking around is quite a challenge; I shouldβve brought crampons.
Oh nooooo...cueing up Marquee Moon tonight for sure.
February 7, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Oh nooooo...cueing up Marquee Moon tonight for sure.
I know youβre not suggesting the professors, especially in the history of science, at Harvard are lazy. I just know you are not.
February 7, 2026 at 3:41 PM
I know youβre not suggesting the professors, especially in the history of science, at Harvard are lazy. I just know you are not.
As noted - had very interesting conversation recently with senior (Jewish) scholar about Epstein files and the prevalence of Jewish men in them, the failure of ethics, and/or the price of assimilation.
February 6, 2026 at 11:47 PM
As noted - had very interesting conversation recently with senior (Jewish) scholar about Epstein files and the prevalence of Jewish men in them, the failure of ethics, and/or the price of assimilation.
Huh...Epstein confidant Dan Ariely is known for his TED talk "Our Buggy Moral Code"
February 6, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Huh...Epstein confidant Dan Ariely is known for his TED talk "Our Buggy Moral Code"
A glee club with a business school attached to it...
February 6, 2026 at 6:48 PM
A glee club with a business school attached to it...
The persistent belief that "Tech" is a non-human thing and covering it that way, rather than understanding it as fully human-made and suffused throughout our lives.
February 6, 2026 at 2:37 PM
The persistent belief that "Tech" is a non-human thing and covering it that way, rather than understanding it as fully human-made and suffused throughout our lives.
[Super Bowl writers room]
"So what do we call the pro-fascism team?"
[a young Frank Miller exhales his cigarette smoke]
"The Patriots."
"So what do we call the pro-fascism team?"
[a young Frank Miller exhales his cigarette smoke]
"The Patriots."
February 6, 2026 at 1:00 AM
[Super Bowl writers room]
"So what do we call the pro-fascism team?"
[a young Frank Miller exhales his cigarette smoke]
"The Patriots."
"So what do we call the pro-fascism team?"
[a young Frank Miller exhales his cigarette smoke]
"The Patriots."
Colorado represents....
"If a person is, for example, wearing a mask and not showing ID but attempting to detain someone," the Fort Collins police chief said, "call 911, and we will be there very fast."
"If a person is, for example, wearing a mask and not showing ID but attempting to detain someone," the Fort Collins police chief said, "call 911, and we will be there very fast."
February 5, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Colorado represents....
"If a person is, for example, wearing a mask and not showing ID but attempting to detain someone," the Fort Collins police chief said, "call 911, and we will be there very fast."
"If a person is, for example, wearing a mask and not showing ID but attempting to detain someone," the Fort Collins police chief said, "call 911, and we will be there very fast."
There's a simple way for Sen. Britt to feel less guilty "as a Christian and a mother"
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
The G.O.P. Senator Who Canβt Stop Thinking About the Boy ICE Detained
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:54 PM
There's a simple way for Sen. Britt to feel less guilty "as a Christian and a mother"
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
I've been surprised and then appalled at how many of the people I write about had close ties to Brockman - whether it was back in his "new media" days c. 1970 or via his publishing machine or his networking efforts via "Edge"
February 5, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I've been surprised and then appalled at how many of the people I write about had close ties to Brockman - whether it was back in his "new media" days c. 1970 or via his publishing machine or his networking efforts via "Edge"
Thanks...I agree.
February 5, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Thanks...I agree.
"is" ...although "was is" is an interesting verb construction.
February 5, 2026 at 3:27 PM
"is" ...although "was is" is an interesting verb construction.
FWIW, "celebrity" was is one of the themes of Greedy Science. There's a lot more to be said, of course. It's a topic I hope to come back to someday.
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
Greedy Science
Creating Knowledge, Making Money, and Being Famous in the 1980s
www.press.jhu.edu
February 5, 2026 at 3:25 PM
FWIW, "celebrity" was is one of the themes of Greedy Science. There's a lot more to be said, of course. It's a topic I hope to come back to someday.
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...