Technology

Is the Much-Feared ‘Dystopian AI Future’ Already Here?

Beatrice Dias / FAIR Nov 24, 2023 Media narratives on the existential threat of AI look to industry leaders for advice, instead of examining the underlying systemic issues. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Noam Chomsky: America Has Built a Global Dystopia

Robert Scheer and Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Jan 10, 2020 In the first installment of a two-part interview, Robert Scheer meets the renowned thinker for the first time to discuss world politics. Dig deeper ( 23 Min. Read )

George Orwell Predicted Our Current Dystopia

Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch Aug 19, 2019 In the real-life version of the dystopian novel "1984" we seem to be caught in, Trump is our very own idiosyncratic version of Big Brother. Dig deeper ( 11 Min. Read )

Silicon Valley Couldn’t Care Less About Earth’s Imminent Demise

Robert Scheer / Truthdig May 10, 2019 It may be too late to save the planet, warns Bill McKibben, but there's a reason that doesn't seem to keep up our tech barons up at night. Dig deeper ( 24 Min. Read )

The Handmaid’s Tale

By Monica Hesse May 5, 2017 Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel is a recipe book for how to create a hellish society. It's also a recipe book for how to resist. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Will Donald Trump Make ‘1984’ Seem Like a Nursery Tale?

By Tom Engelhardt / TomDispatch Dec 26, 2016 I suspect we're about to have the screw-you presidency of all time, far surpassing George Orwell's vision. And believe me, that will prove to be dystopian beyond compare -- or do I mean beyond despair? Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

Automation, Climate Change and Donald Trump: What Kind of Future Are We In For?

By John Light / Moyers and Company Dec 7, 2016 Author Peter Frase combines science fiction and Marxist theory to imagine possible outcomes, for better and for worse. Dig deeper ( 15 Min. Read )

Disposable Futures

By Henry A. Giroux and Brad Evans, Truthout Jun 5, 2014 As more and more individuals and groups are now considered excess, consigned to zones of abandonment, surveillance and incarceration, dystopian politics has become mainstream politics and the practice of disposability has intensified. There are alternatives. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

They Are Watching You

By Todd Miller, TomDispatch Apr 24, 2014 It is here at the Border Security Expo 2014 that U.S. Homeland Security officials, local law enforcement, and border forces from all over the world talk contracts with private industry representatives, exhibit their techno-optimism, and begin to hammer out a future of ever more hardened, up-armored national and international boundaries. Dig deeper ( 14 Min. Read )

On Such a Full Sea

By Ron Charles Jan 24, 2014 Chang-rae Lee's new novel is a haunting, deeply unnerving critique of a spiritually stunted community kept satisfied with basic comforts and the promise of protection from a threatening world. (Are you getting all this, NSA?) Chang-rae Lee's new novel is a haunting, unnerving critique of a spiritually stunted community kept satisfied with basic comforts and the promise of protection from a threatening world. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Louisiana’s Incarceration Is a Private Business

Donald Kaufman / Truthdig Jan 5, 2014 Louisiana has assailed its residents to a level unequal to any other state, entering the new year with another signature No. 1 ranking in lockups. It has created a system more efficient and despondent than state run prisons or regular privatization. The costs are low, profits high and human life is a commodity that allows the market to keep growing.Louisiana has created a system more efficient and despondent than state run prisons or regular privatization. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

MaddAddam

Michael Dirda / Truthdig Sep 21, 2013 The concluding volume in Margaret Atwood's "dystopian trilogy" -- a vision of global disaster in the not too distant future -- is a brilliant piece of social science fiction.The concluding volume in Margaret Atwood's "dystopian trilogy" is a brilliant piece of social science fiction. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )