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Is Fear of AI Really Fear of Capitalism?

Ezra Klein New York Times
Somehow, society is going to have to figure out what it’s comfortable having A.I. doing, and what A.I. should not be permitted to try, before it is too late to make those decisions.

How Eco-Fiction Became Realer Than Realism

Lynne Feeley The Nation
Encompassing everything from the ecosystems novel to sci-fi, a growing body of literature is imagining and interrogating the past, present, and future of the planet's climate.

books

Severance: A Novel

Chris Brooks Facebook
The story is full of very relatable pandemic moments: workers questioning whether it’s safe to go to work or whether they should stay home, streets suddenly emptied, N-95 masks. What makes this all so remarkable is that it was published in 2018...

Friday Nite Videos | December 31, 2021

Portside
Bernie Sanders Eviscerates Elon Musk. Come As You Are (Nirvana) | Playing for Change. The Year in Jordan Klepper 2021. Don't Look Up | Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence. 2021, in 6 Minutes.

The Man Who Finally Made a ‘Dune’ That Fans Will Love

How Denis Villeneuve broke the curse. New York Times
Villeneuve’s hugely anticipated, pandemic-delayed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel Dune is an environmental fable, a parable of the oil economy, a critique of colonialism, a warning against putting your faith in charismatic leaders.

film

What Draws Us to the Reactionary Darkness of Dune?

Chris DIte Jacobin
The latest film adaptation of Dune, Frank Herbert’s cult sci-fi novel series, is out next month. With its often-reactionary mix of political cynicism, ecological catastrophism, and lurid orientalism, it remains oddly attractive to left-wing audiences
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