Lauren Smiley
The Guardian
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Lauren:
'I wanted to go after big tech': ex-Google exec's novel rips Silicon Valley
It was once Jessica Powell’s job to defend Google. Now she’s taking her industry to task in a ‘totally fictional but essentially true’ book → Read More
Private firefighters and five-star hotels: how the rich sit out wildfires
Record-breaking US wildfires are fueling a cottage industry of boutique services – and many are happy to pay the price → Read More
The Mission to Build the Ultimate Burger Bot
Alex Vardakostas has been on a decade-long quest to build a robot that can prepare the perfect cheeseburger. It could also put his family out of work. → Read More
Social Media's Censors Say Yes to Condoms, No to Vibrators
Credit: Illustration by Tam Nguyen Polly Rodriguez bought her first vibrator at a Hustler Hollywood store off a St. Louis highway. You know the kind of place: pictures of women with fake breasts and peroxide hair, racks of corsets and "schoolgirl" skirts—making the whole experience feel unseemly and more aligned with a porn-imbued male view of female sexuality than how she saw herself. So while… → Read More
What Happens When We Let Tech Care For Our Aging Parents
As the US population ages, people in need of 24/7 monitoring will outnumber available caregivers. One company's answer: Let a digital avatar do the job. → Read More
Sad, Shocking, and Predictable: The Kate Steinle Murder Trial You Didn't See
Sad, Shocking, and Predictable: The Kate Steinle Murder Trial You Didn't See → Read More
Stricken By Tragedy, an Immigrant Fights for Her Home
How one tech worker's story illuminates the plight of H-1B holders. → Read More
Cash, Speed, and Trust
A Bay Area–based network of wealthy progressives is testing a new model for funding the resistance: Give fast and get out of the way. → Read More
A Murder in Kansas Shatters the New American Dream
When Indian tech worker Srinivas Kuchibhotla is fatally shot in Kansas, the immigrant community grieves—and reconsiders its place in America. → Read More
How a Small Troop of Techies Led the U.S. Syrian Refugee Surge
It was a global problem requiring the resources of the government and the know-how of Silicon Valley. Read how the U.S.D.S. disrupted & innovated the refugee admission process. → Read More
Mike Rothenberg’s VC firm was young, splashy, and loaded with cash. Now it’s all come crashing down
Exclusive: The inside story of a Silicon Valley dream gone wrong. → Read More
Real Estate Agents Are Weaponizing Snapchat
Millennials, get ready to barf rainbows. Realtors have come for your platform. → Read More
Techies and the Homeless: Frenemies Forever?
This San Francisco politico wants to disrupt the city’s 30-year homelessness scourge by treating tech as a friend, not foe. → Read More
The Revelations of Lady Murderface
Talia Jane wasn’t any naive Millennial when she outed Yelp for its low pay and triggered raises. If you’d had her bizarre life, you might… → Read More
The Weird Redemption of SF’s Most Reviled Tech Bro
He blasted the homeless, then tried to make amends, startup-style. But as Greg Gopman learned, no business plan can find your way back home… → Read More
Those Entry-Level Startup Jobs? They’re Now Mostly Dead Ends in the Boondocks
Unicorn startups are sending customer service gigs outside Silicon Valley, ending a once serendipitous career path for non-techies → Read More
India Shoots Down Facebook’s Free Basics Program
Facebook will need a Plan B in India. → Read More
Can You Teach a Coal Miner to Code?
As America goes digital, its bluest collar workers are facing the toughest challenge of their lives. → Read More
Bling Dynasty
How a supernaturally self-confident ex-lawyer rode a tidal wave of Chinese and tech money to become master of the real estate universe. → Read More
Can the Lap Dance King De-Sleaze Broadway?
To class up the city’s raunchiest street, Joe Carouba first had to clean up himself. → Read More