THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
Meet me in the metaverse
Baratunde Thurston March 31, 2022
My recent trip to Austin for SXSW offered a number of startling realizations. First off, web3 is going to be bigger than we ever imagined. It may also, finally, be the internet platform that makes the world a better place.
Will Smith
Baratunde Thurston March 28, 2022
During the peak of his powers, Will Smith submitted to the worst possible instincts, allowing what should have been his brightest moment to reveal his own shadow through an act of violence. Smith’s meandering and pained Oscars acceptance speech was couched in the language of abuse.
People fleeing Kyiv
Baratunde Thurston March 11, 2022
War shatters lives, but also reveals what binds us together. I’m clinging to a hope that this war will bring out the best in us, both in Ukraine and beyond.
Daniel Ek
Baratunde Thurston February 15, 2022
Nine thoughts on Spotify, “free speech,” deplatforming, and what the Rogan crisis really means.


Digital currency
Baratunde Thurston February 2, 2022
For so much of U.S. history, Black people were not allowed to build wealth. But as I explore experiments in web3 and blockchain, I’m seeing a lot more Black people than I used to see in Web 1.0 and 2.0. Is the prospect of “generational wealth” the real deal?
Rachel Maddow is played during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting
Baratunde Thurston January 27, 2022
Notes on Jack Dorsey's successor, the stratification of digital media, and Omicron-era information overload.
Ethereum
Baratunde Thurston December 27, 2021
Reflections on the Capitol insurrection, cable news myopia, Web3 scammers, bitcoin democracy, and the regenerative technology that gives me hope.
virtual reality gun
Baratunde Thurston December 2, 2021
Reflections on our gun violence epidemic, blockchain democracy, buying the Constitution, and rebuilding America in the metaverse.


American flag
Baratunde Thurston November 11, 2021
White backlashes against racial progress are as American as genetically-modified apple pie. But critical race theory has unleashed a new torrent of grievances. I can’t solve everyone’s problems, but I think I can suggest a more useful way to frame the debate.
Proud Boys demonstration
Baratunde Thurston October 22, 2021
In a country struggling with racial progress, we cannot condemn potential allies for their mistakes, but we can’t coddle them either. Instead we must acknowledge the complexity in educating the people most invested in our oppression.
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