Max Read
Slate
Westleigh, NSW, Australia
Contact Max
Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Max:
What Is “The Current Thing,” and Why Do the Would-Be Intellectuals of Silicon Valley Keep Tweeting About It?
Is it a vacuous meme? A sly insult? The secret key to the Discourse? → Read More
Why Your Group Chat Could Be Worth Millions
If you turn it into a DAO, that is. But what’s a DAO? It’s a little bit cryptocurrency, a little bit gamer clan, a little bit pyramid scheme. → Read More
There’s Nothing to Do Except Gamble
Welcome to the non-fungible, memeified, cryptodenominated, degenerate future of finance. → Read More
The Best Way to Read John le Carré’s George Smiley Books
With John Le Carré’s new book A Legacy of Spies now out, we present the essential reading guide for his George Smiley spy-thriller series. → Read More
Time Has Never Moved As Slowly As It Did This Week
Everyone wanted to talk about the election, and no one wanted to talk about the election. By Election Day, ambient anxiety cloaked every interaction. By early Friday, it was easy to put aside any disappointment in favor of relief, if not jubilation. → Read More
The Joy of Consuming an Obscene Number of Calories Before Noon
Some might call it breakfast. → Read More
Can Twitter Fix ‘Misinformation’ Like Mayor Bloomberg’s Manipulated Video?
On March 5, Twitter is rolling out new policies around misinformation. Will they work? → Read More
Writing a Lurkers’ History of the Internet
A review of Joanne McNeil’s “Lurking” and other books about the internet, including “Silicon Valley” by Anna Wiener, “How to Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell, and “Broad Band” by Claire Evans. → Read More
I Got a Ring Doorbell Camera. It Scared the Hell Out of Me.
What it’s like to live with an Amazon Ring security camera. → Read More
Yang Is Out. Yangism Is Here to Stay.
Andrew Yang’s campaign, which ended on Tuesday night in New Hampshire, activated a passionate, zealous base — the YangGang — whose political beliefs will shape the Democratic Party for years to come. → Read More
5 Theories About Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories about the politics (like in the Iowa caucuses) have seemingly become widespread. Why? What is attractive about conspiracy theories, and why does our world seem to create so many of them? → Read More
The Real Problems With the Iowa Caucuses’ ‘Shadow’ App
Technical failures were amplified by institutional failures, which were amplified by communications failures, creating a cascade of incompetence. → Read More
Why We Should Ban Facial Recognition Technology
A primer on the problems with facial recognition technology, and why we should enact a ban on algorithms and systems designed to recognize people’s faces. → Read More
Why We Should Ban Facial Recognition Technology
A primer on the problems with facial recognition technology, and why we should enact a ban on algorithms and systems designed to recognize people’s faces. → Read More
Peter Thiel’s Latest Venture Is the American Government
Unlike other major right-wing donors, venture capitalist Peter Thiel seems intent on being known for his intellect as much as his wallet. What he believes now is likely to influence the next generation of conservative and libertarian thinkers. → Read More
Big Tech’s Most Powerful Apostates, Ranked
Here, a survey of Silicon Valley’s most powerful tech apostates, including Google workers, Tim Berners-Lee, Marc Benioff, Peter Thiel, Susan Fowler, Jaron Lanier, Tristan Harris, Roger McNamee, Ellen Pao, and Chris Hughes. → Read More
In the 2010s, BuzzFeed Made the World a Meme
BuzzFeed has led the transformation of a news-media industry and pioneered new formats and business models, all while breaking major national stories like that of the infamous Steele dossier. → Read More
How Should You Feel About Mark Zuckerberg’s Dinner Date With Peter Thiel and Donald Trump?
It’s extremely normal for the president to dine with the head of the largest communications apparatus on the planet and his democracy-skeptic mentor. → Read More
Is Facebook’s Political-Ad Policy Really That Bad?
Intelligencer staffers discuss whether Mark Zuckerberg deserves the barrage of criticism he’s getting over his company’s policy. → Read More
LeBron James Was Disappointing on China. Expect More of the Same.
LeBron James’s statement on Daryl Morey’s China tweet was disappointing, rather than inspiring. But what else should we expect? → Read More