My Friend Was Struck by ALS. To Fight Back, He Built a Movement
At 37, Brian Wallach was diagnosed with the fatal disease. So he tapped a lifetime of connections to give help and hope to fellow sufferers—while grappling with his own mortality….
Backchannel
Poker and the Psychology of Uncertainty
The game has plenty to teach about making decisions with the cards we’ve been dealt—on and off the table….
Screen Share: A College Teacher’s Zoom Journal
For 15 years, Anne Fadiman and her students huddled in cozy classrooms to study the craft of writing. Then came Covid-19….
We Can Protect the Economy From Pandemics. Why Didn’t We?
A virologist helped crack an impossible problem: how to insure against the economic fallout from devastating viral outbreaks. The plan was ingenious. Yet we’re still in this mess….
The Country Is Reopening. I’m Still on Lockdown
For those of us with vulnerable loved ones, the risks of Covid-19 seem more dangerous than ever—with no end in sight….
The Musk of Romance
Like her brother Elon, Tosca Musk is a revolutionary—in the steamy, softcore genre of romance movies….
‘The Last of Us Part II’ and Its Crisis-Strewn Path to Release
Videogame developer Naughty Dog was racing to finish the sequel to its blockbuster set in a post-pandemic dystopia. Then it was hit with trolls, hackers—and a real pandemic….
Who Discovered the First Vaccine?
As the world scrambles to develop an inoculation against Covid-19, it’s worth understanding the early, extraordinary history of the technique….
AI, AR, and the (Somewhat) Speculative Future of a Tech-Fueled FBI
A view of the Washington. DC, of tomorrow, excerpted from ‘BURN-IN: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution.’…
How Kickstarter Employees Formed a Union
The point wasn’t so much about pay issues, but to give workers more say over what they produce—reflecting a trend of internal protest across the tech industry….
Inside the NSA’s Secret Tool for Mapping Your Social Network
Edward Snowden revealed the agency’s phone-record tracking program. But thanks to “precomputed contact chaining,” that database was much more powerful than anyone knew….
Covid-19 Will Accelerate the AI Health Care Revolution
Disease diagnosis, drug discovery, robot delivery—artificial intelligence is already powering change in the pandemic’s wake. That’s only the beginning….
A Virtual DJ, a Drone, and an All-Out Zoom Wedding
The bride and groom had a month and a half to move their ceremony online. Here’s how they did it, from the AV setup to instructions for guests….
During Lockdown, Google Maps Gives My Son a Way Out
From our kitchen in Queens, he had created a paracosm—a fantasyland. And his journey has led him not to Mordor but to minor-league baseball stadiums….
How a Chinese AI Giant Made Chatting—and Surveillance—Easy
Alexa can tell you the weather. Siri knows a few jokes. In China, voice-computing company iFlytek built similar smart assistants beloved by users. But its tech is also helping the government listen in….
‘You’re Not Alone’: How One Nurse Is Confronting the Pandemic
The adrenaline of the first days of the Covid response has drained away, leaving sore muscles, heavy hearts, and a creeping awareness that the grind is here to stay….