Mark Hurst

Host of Techtonic on WFMU: https://techtonic.fm .. Projects and bio at https://creativegood.com .. anti-Big Tech, pro-everyone who's trying to make tech better.

RADIO SHOW / PODCAST: https://techtonic.fm
WRITING / PROJECTS / BIO: https://creativegood.com

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markhurst_at_mastodon.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-08-02 19:09:24 UTC

"A Ton of Space Junk Tumbles Unpredictably to Earth Every Week." If only someone had issued a warning almost two years ago! ("Musk's space junk is a threat to us all" - https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/musks-space-junk-is-a-threat-to-us-all/ - not to mention the tireless work @npub1dgc…cla4 & other astronomers have been doing)
Gift link to NYT story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/world/asia/space-debris-falling-crashing-earth-risk.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2VA.OGvZ.UUZefyuNJ7tT&smid=url-share

2026-06-24 20:38:45 UTC

It was weirdly reassuring to meet another former UX advocate who has declared war on Big Tech.
New from me, a conversation with @npub14sz…ur2r :
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/a-conversation-with-gerry-mcgovern/

2026-06-24 17:34:16 UTC

Great conversation w/ @npub14sz…ur2r on Techtonic this week - pointing out the physical nature of the digital economy, and the hypocrisy of "greenwashing."
Full episode:
https://techtonic.fm/episodes/2026-06-22-gerry-mcgovern-author-99th-day-a-warning-about-technology/
More Techtonic:
https://techtonic.fm
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/806/279/151/182/068/original/162d64672eed9e81.mp4

2026-06-22 16:49:09 UTC

“As Plato wrote, ‘it is impossible that those who become very rich also become good.’”
Elon Musk has “confirmed Plato’s concerns about the moral failures of the superrich by characterizing empathy as ‘the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.’”
Gift link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/opinion/elon-musk-trillionaire-wealth-plato.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sFA.04hE.0V3lGs59RE0T&smid=url-share

2026-05-29 19:42:35 UTC

"The time is coming when we’ll each have to declare our allegiance either to, or against, the Silicon Valley religion. This choice will be independent of whether we align ourselves with any traditional religion, or none at all: the question will simply be, do we put our faith in the ultimate authority of a machine god, built out of computer code and data centers, and owned by billionaire oligarchs?"
New from me:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/the-pope-and-the-machine-god/

2026-05-02 12:11:51 UTC

"The clam chowder in a New England diner and the clam chowder in a Florida diner come out of the same Sysco can."
On regional collapse in restaurants - h/t @npub1fdr…lvhs
https://www.worseonpurpose.com/p/your-dinner-got-worse-on-purpose

2026-04-28 19:54:34 UTC

Our culture is so dominated by developers & investors in software that any possibly tiny improvement to coding efficiency suddenly becomes The Thing That Everyone Must Use, Just Be Quiet And Use It, It's Inevitable.
Can we get thru to them - not everything in the world revolves around programming-!

2026-04-22 13:30:40 UTC

From "What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat" by Noah Hawley:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/billionaire-consequence-free-reality/686588/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/448/600/339/906/254/original/9a152fbe6a52a4a2.png

2026-04-21 17:36:09 UTC

I spoke with astronomer Samantha Lawler - @npub1dgc…cla4 - about how Elon Musk has proposed to burn up in the sky one truck-sized satellite *per hour*. Unclear what that will do to the atmosphere, but it's not good.
Full episode:
https://techtonic.fm/episodes/2026-04-20-starlink-and-kessler-syndrome-feat-astronomer-samantha-lawler/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/443/899/279/665/587/original/bc348adf1088d654.mp4

2026-04-07 19:20:32 UTC

- reply

see also https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/good-news-in-the-fight-against-big-tech/

2026-02-21 21:17:51 UTC

Now THAT's a headline.
"The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents"
#edtech #education
https://fortune.com/2026/02/21/laptops-tablets-schools-gen-z-less-cognitively-capable-parents-first-time-cellphone-bans-standardized-test-scores/

2026-02-07 14:18:09 UTC

"Streaming" is just "downloading" with the "save file" button removed.
Well said by @npub1fdr…lvhs in today's essay -
https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/07/aimsters-revenge/

2026-01-09 16:15:33 UTC

We're living in an age of extraction. On Tim Wu's book, a recent @npub1fdr…lvhs essay, the horrible news this past week, and feeling the weight of it all.
New from me:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/life-in-an-age-of-extraction/

2026-01-07 21:16:32 UTC

Sending this question into the fediverse: does anyone know Giuliano da Empoli? Trying to invite him onto Techtonic to talk about his book "The Hour of the Predator."

2025-11-15 20:18:49 UTC

One of the best pieces I've read in awhile. Emily Bressler in @mcsweeneys.net writes "I Work for an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person":
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-work-for-an-evil-company-but-outside-work-im-actually-a-really-good-person

2025-10-22 15:52:25 UTC

Insane image. "Model of the distribution of space debris around Earth." Read the key: 2,000 billion objects between 0.1 mm and 1 mm.
(from the European Space Agency, in this report: https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/Sounding_the_alarm_ESA_introduces_space_environment_health_index )
(via [@michael_w_busch](https://mastodon.online/@michael_w_busch ) )
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/418/609/396/734/028/original/9b5a2a28141310b9.jpg

2025-10-16 17:45:03 UTC

Low-cost, locally running AI agent - not connected to the internet, so it doesn't leak your data. (via @npub1fdr…lvhs 's newsletter today)
https://petewarden.com/2025/10/16/why-does-a-local-ai-voice-agent-running-on-a-super-cheap-soc-matter/

2025-09-26 13:52:24 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@markhurst/115266737778371360
Peter Thiel keeps talking about the Antichrist. Here's an explanation, incl. a quote from @npub1fdr…lvhs 's excellent "The billionaires aren't OK":
#note1m7y…ma4j

2025-09-25 20:07:17 UTC

NEW: My view of the future vs. Peter Thiel's.
Thiel seems to believe we're in the Last Days, that people who work for a more just society are somehow allied with the Antichrist.
I see the oligarchs and their power - from surveillance, from monopoly - as the problem.
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/my-view-of-the-future-vs-peter-thiels/

2025-09-09 20:30:28 UTC

On the horrible Google antitrust ruling.
During the new techtonic.fm episode I read an excerpt by @npub1fdr…lvhs (Cory Doctorow) about the decision. See below.
Listen to the whole show (click pop-up player):
https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/155884
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/176/224/693/545/963/original/bca5734ded3b2b0a.mp4

2025-09-08 15:44:07 UTC

Below, an excerpt from my https://techtonic.fm interview with Cory Doctorow - aka @npub1fdr…lvhs - about his upcoming book "Enshittification."
Full interview here (click "pop-up player"):
https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=155658&archive=275677
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/169/435/061/962/716/original/f2e37dbc14356e7a.mp4

2025-09-04 17:42:38 UTC

On my conversation with Cory Doctorow - aka @npub1fdr…lvhs - reflecting on our unhinged moment:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/why-everything-suddenly-got-worse-doctorow/

2025-09-02 19:38:18 UTC

New: my Techtonic interview with @npub1fdr…lvhs - aka Cory Doctorow - about his upcoming book "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It."
- Episode page (click "pop-up player" to listen):
https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/155658
- Stream the show:
https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=155658&archive=275677
- Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/techtonic-with-mark-hurst-wfmu/id1285537944?i=1000724465514
- More Techtonic episodes: https://techtonic.fm

2025-08-26 19:59:53 UTC

Thanks to @npub1fdr…lvhs for a paragraph that I'd like to send to every Big Tech company I'm forced to deal with:
"By reading these words, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ('BOGUS AGREEMENTS')..."
The whole statement is here: https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/26/sole-and-despotic-dominion/

2025-06-28 13:48:51 UTC

Words to live by, from @npub1fdr…lvhs -
"Monopolists corrupt our political system, maim and impoverish workers, gouge their customers on enshittified, overpriced garbage. They are an existential threat to the survival of the human species."
https://pluralistic.net/2025/06/28/mamdani/

2025-06-26 18:40:23 UTC

Google's search decay comes up in the latest This Ecommerce Life:
https://thisecommercelife.com/blogs/comics/hey-google
It's a short comic and I recommend reading the whole thing.
(via @npub1fdr…lvhs )

2025-06-07 20:00:42 UTC

New from me: Let’s call AI something else. (drawing on "The AI Con" by @npub15xv…0jms and @npub1f68…74ff )
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/lets-call-ai-something-else/

2025-05-16 23:15:44 UTC

- reply

and that's a point that @npub1p09…m5vl has made (including at conferences where they're speaking)

2025-05-16 23:15:20 UTC

- reply

totally agree

2025-05-16 20:46:08 UTC

This week on Techtonic I covered Sarah Wynn-Williams' Facebook memoir, called "Careless People." I recommend it.
Here's my review - hoping that this book will convince lawmakers to hold Zuckerberg to account for his actions:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/zuck-lied-under-oath-says-careless-people/

2025-03-18 20:41:24 UTC

The White House is now being served with Elon Musk’s Starlink. Trump officials claim it's hard to get good internet access.
At the White House.
So we're running all White House communications through the network owned by Elon Musk, who's in close touch with Vladimir Putin.
Cool cool.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/elon-musk-starlink-white-house.html?unlocked_article_code=1.404.B0N5.hIiH4Iqy0T00&smid=url-share

2025-03-07 16:44:44 UTC

- reply

here's another metaphor, something about blocking public access to help:
https://mastodon.social/@markhurst/114122038103214335

2025-03-03 14:29:49 UTC

Serious question: when the AIs start quietly editing people's social media posts to conform to the oligarchs' goals, how will we know? And if we know, how will we alert others?

2025-02-22 17:01:12 UTC

GenAI is digital plastic. All of our regret now at filling the ocean with plastics, and our bodies with microplastics, we are now doing by flooding our media and education with genAI plastic.

2025-02-07 19:32:52 UTC

"We are witnessing a private equity-style plunder of the entire US government."
You'll want to punch the wall after you read this piece by @npub1fdr…lvhs -
https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/07/broccoli-hair-brownshirts/

2025-02-07 13:01:48 UTC

NYC bar owner explaining why his bar has an analog jukebox: "We will never have a digital one. We’re just so sick of the internet."
https://nygroove.nyc/nyc-physical-jukeboxes-map/?ref=the-new-york-groove-newsletter
via @npub1gtr…har7

2024-12-12 15:25:38 UTC

Today is a bittersweet day for people who appreciate date symmetry.
We've had a good 22-year run of one day, every two years, where the day and month are the same and add up to the year.. starting with 1/1 in '02, then 2/2 in '04, and so on.
Today, 12/12 in '24, is the last such day for 77 years. The next one will be on 1/1 in 2102.

2024-12-01 18:25:37 UTC

Happy Gingko Day! This is the day in #NYC when all the gingko trees drop all their leaves at the same time*. Scientists aren't sure exactly how the trees all choose the same day.
*yes, not 100% accurate but have fun with it
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/578/968/237/599/345/original/cafce19f5ca6e98c.jpeg

2024-11-25 16:52:28 UTC

Elon Musk's space junk is a threat to us all. Starlink satellites will pollute the atmosphere, land in your backyard, and - a fresh new nightmare - could hit airliners at 35,000 feet.
My post explains:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/musks-space-junk-is-a-threat-to-us-all/
Thanks to @npub1dgc…cla4 for raising the alarm. (Re-upping to get the proper thumbnail on the post.)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/544/623/152/135/894/original/a18e7a176e4b54b7.jpg

2024-11-22 20:39:54 UTC

NEW FROM ME: Elon Musk's space junk is a threat to us all. Starlink satellites will pollute the atmosphere, land in your backyard, and - a fresh new nightmare - could hit airliners at 35,000 feet.
Thanks to @npub1dgc…cla4 for raising the alarm (and for joining me on https://techtonic.fm this week to discuss):
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/musks-space-junk-is-a-threat-to-us-all/

2024-11-19 16:22:18 UTC

WARNING: Starlink satellites are starting to rain down on earth. I spoke w/astronomer Samantha Lawler - @npub1dgc…cla4 - on https://techtonic.fm about their effects on the atmosphere, and who you should call if space junk lands in your yard.
Listen: https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=146229&archive=261820&starttime=0:7:42
Episode links: https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/146229
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/510/535/595/608/064/original/0e87d4f0d5fa0296.png

2024-11-06 20:23:04 UTC

New from me - my election thoughts.
A happy day for Big Tech: the guardrails are coming off.
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/a-happy-day-for-big-tech/