Mark Hurst
LightNews LightNews
markhurst.bsky.social
Mark Hurst
@markhurst.bsky.social
2.4K followers 290 following 830 posts
Writer and radio host in NYC.

- Host, Techtonic on WFMU: https://techtonic.fm

- Tech criticism: https://creativegood.com/blog

- Newsletter: https://creativegood.com/newsletter

Encouraging better tech, and resisting Big Tech.
Posts Replies Media Videos
markhurst.bsky.social
2/ Chris suggests books for further reading:
The warped psychology of El Presidente Trump is captured by Miguel Ángel Asturias in his novel “El Señor Presidente,” inspired by the dictatorship of Manuel Estrada Cabrera who ruled Guatemala for 22 years; Gabriel García Márquez’s “The Autumn of the Patriarch,” Julia Alvarez’s “In the Time of the Butterflies” and Mario Vargas Llosa’s “The Feast of the Goat” and “Conversation in the Cathedral.” These novels offer better insight into where we are headed than most tomes on U.S. politics.
November 10, 2025 at 2:02 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Topical to my "Feudal America" essay below: this, from @brockm.bsky.social today -
Silicon Valley, which once styled itself as building the future, now funds the return of feudalism. Not accidentally or through incompetence, but deliberately and with philosophical justification. The people with the most resources to shape the future are explicitly working to eliminate democratic governance and restore hierarchy.
November 7, 2025 at 6:11 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
From my interview with @aramsinn.bsky.social - a bit of good news in the techno-surveillance state.

Full episode: techtonic.fm/episodes/202...
November 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
NEW Techtonic episode: widening inequality, due in part to the use of Big Tech surveillance (and pricing). We discuss how Disney World designs for inequality.

Also mention @greenwell.bsky.social's book.

Full ep:
techtonic.fm/episodes/202...

As a podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
October 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Insane image. "Model of the distribution of space debris around Earth." Read the key: 2,000 billion objects under 0.1 mm.

(from the @esa.int report: www.esa.int/Space_Safety... )
What appears to be a thick cloud of dust surrounds a circle in the center of the image. The key says that there are 2,000 billion objects in orbit that are less than 0.1 mm.
October 22, 2025 at 3:53 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
New Techtonic: Amanda Hanna-McLeer is making a film about the Luddite Club. Conversation included admiring mentions of @bcmerchant.bsky.social & @jennitaur.bsky.social .

Full episode as a podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Ep page:
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
October 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Here's what I just saw at No Kings New York, walking through Times Square.
In a large crowd, a person holds up a sign saying, "Rejecting: kings since 1776, racists since 1865, fascists since 1945" In a large crowd for No Kings in Times Square, a sign reads: "Imagine being afraid of diversity but not dictatorship"
October 18, 2025 at 6:33 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Excited to share this field recording of the "SHITPHONE" protest in Manhattan, which I aired on Techtonic.

Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Thanks to @bcmerchant.bsky.social for tipping me off to the event.
October 14, 2025 at 2:34 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
I'll see your creepy robot-hugging pillow and raise you a surveillance tribble.
"Moflin: always by your side." A young woman takes a selfie while holding a furry surveillance device. "Your Smart AI companion: A calming presence. A quiet reassurance."
October 8, 2025 at 8:33 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
New techtonic.fm episode: AI and surveillance infrastructure keeps spreading. Stories about data centers, chatbots having dumb conversations, and the "Friend" surveillance device.

Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Excerpt below:
October 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Annie Lennox in the NYT Book Review:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/b...
Q - Eurythmics scored the soundtrack for a film version of “1984.” Do you remember the first time you read the book? A - I imagine it was sometime in the 1970s, when “1984” always seemed so far into the future. The thing that strikes me now is just how Orwell’s dystopian vision has actually come to fruition. The issues of constant surveillance, authoritarian military regimes, censorship, paranoia, harsh penal systems. The removal of human rights, control and dominance of entire populations, thought control, etc. We think we have freedom and independence, but I’m afraid we don’t realize how we depend on a system that doesn’t really care about the welfare and well-being of the average man or woman.
October 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
I spoke w/ @greenwell.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream."

LISTEN (click "pop-up player"):
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Below, how hospitals have been taken over by private equity:
September 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
New techtonic.fm interview with Glenn Adamson, author of “A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present.”

Good reminder that the future didn't always look so depressing.

To listen, click "Pop-up player":
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
September 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Spotted over at Mastodon, shared by user katalyst:
09/16/25: 3 squared, 4 squared, 5 squared
September 16, 2025 at 10:29 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
How the New York Police Department tracks you, from "The N.Y.P.D. Is Teaching America How to Track Everyone Every Day Forever" - gift link below.

Don't miss the note: "list is not exhaustive."

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How the NYPD tracks people: body cameras, security cameras, handheld cameras, aerial cameras, dashboard cameras, license plate readers, phone taps, social media surveillance, and more. "Note: list is not exhaustive."
September 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Excited to share my interview w/ @faineg.bsky.social on Techtonic - discussing AI chatbots, Joseph Weizenbaum's warning from 50 years ago, and why you can't trust Apple.

Full episode:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
September 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Zuck, at the White House, pulled a number out of thin air to please the Dear Leader.

On the new techtonic.fm episode I read an excerpt from "The Hot Mic and the Monsters" by @brockm.bsky.social - see below.

Listen to the whole show (click pop-up player):
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
September 9, 2025 at 8:27 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Below, an excerpt from my techtonic.fm interview with Cory Doctorow about his upcoming book "Enshittification."

Full interview here (click "pop-up player"):
wfmu.org/archiveplaye...
September 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
From the late 1930s, a description of the 2020s (posted by John Mark Newman on the bird site):
July 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Excellent one by @rubenbolling.bsky.social
Know your ICE agent: Being able to discern between a federally authorized ICE agent and a criminal kidnapper within seconds of first interaction is absolutely essential. (Diagrams follow showing the same elements in an ICE agent and criminal kidnapper: gaiter mask, no identification, unmarked vehicle, etc.) IF your abductor is an ICE agent, you must obey, comply, and submit. IF your abductor is a criminal kidnapper, you are free to fight for your life. Thank you for your cooperation. ICE: "Don't call us Trump's Secret Police. (It's a secret!)"
July 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
If you use an Apple surveillance phone, TURN OFF the "Raise to Listen" feature, which can send audio recordings of you without your knowledge or consent.

"When you have iMessage open and put the phone up to your ear, it can trigger the audio recording."
www.businessinsider.com/iphone-apple...
in Settings -> Apps -> Messages, "Raise to Listen" is ON BY DEFAULT, allowing the Apple surveillance phone to send out audio recordings of you without your knowledge or consent. You should turn it off.
July 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
that's fun, NYC Alerts has moved into Mad-Libs mode
"Planned Work: All lanes of will be closed at , from-, . Use alternate routes."
June 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
Researchers have "developed a wearable sensor that fit on volunteers’ upper backs, with tubes running around to capture the airflow out of each nostril."

Why? Surveillance, of course: to "identify individuals from recordings of their breathing patterns."

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/s...
Drawing of a nose with tubes entering each nostril. Caption: "Tubes beneath the nose measured airflow from each nostril, revealing each person's unique breathing fingerprint."
June 13, 2025 at 10:59 AM
markhurst.bsky.social
New from me: Let’s call AI something else.
buttondown.com/creativegood...

I'm drawing on the excellent new book "The AI Con" by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social - and our recent Techtonic interview (click "pop-up player" at www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh... ).
Self-inflicted bike injury meme: Product everyone likes / adding AI / "why does everyone hate us now"
June 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
markhurst.bsky.social
1/ I was happy to interview @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social about their book “The AI Con” on Techtonic.

LISTEN: wfmu.org/archiveplaye...

Episode links: www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
Cover of “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want” by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna
June 4, 2025 at 3:28 PM