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Peoples & Things
A newsletter about humanistic and social scientific studies of human life with technology, including reflections on a podcast, also called Peoples & Things, and related book projects.

Latest

Jun
29
Two Forms of "Technology" Criticism: Cultural Pessimism Versus Materialism

Two Forms of "Technology" Criticism: Cultural Pessimism Versus Materialism

By Lee Vinsel A while ago, I began jotting an email to my friend and mentor, Richard John, and quickly
34 min read
Mar
15
The Fall of the Big 12's Ridiculous LED Basketball Courts

The Fall of the Big 12's Ridiculous LED Basketball Courts

Just a quick post today. The Big 12 collegiate athletic conference decided to add a line to the looooong annals
1 min read
Feb
26

Bubbles Are Shitty Information Environments, and All We Can Do Is Wait

By Lee Vinsel On LinkedIn, Rajesh Veeraraghavan bemoaned our current information around Generative AI and tagged me as someone who
4 min read
Feb
08

You're Doing It Wrong: Notes on Criticism and Technology Hype

By Lee Vinsel I'm reposting this essay I wrote in 2021 because the online blogging platform Medium has
19 min read
Aug
26
Podcast Reflections: Mary Bridges on US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower

Podcast Reflections: Mary Bridges on US Bankers Abroad and the Making of a Global Superpower

I'm on research leave this fall, and it is giving me time to step back and reflect on
3 min read
Aug
20

Against Narcissistic-Sociopathic Technology Studies, or Why Do People *USE* Technologies?

Why and how do people USE technologies? This question should be at the center of any thinking about human life
16 min read
Aug
15
Disinvestment and Decline in Infrastructure Studies

Disinvestment and Decline in Infrastructure Studies

My favorite webpage in the history of the Internet is a Wikipedia entry titled, "Lists of Ghost Towns in
7 min read
Feb
17

The Inevitability of Philosophical Anthropology

I wrote this little essay in tribute to several conversations I was involved in last semester, especially a live event
10 min read
Sep
20

In the Shadow of "Technology"

This is the first in a series of posts I hope to do over the course of the semester. One
10 min read
May
28

Talk Tomorrow: The Social Aesthetics of Problem-Selection

Tomorrow - Wednesday, May 29 - I am giving a talk online from 12:30-2pm ET as part the Consortium for
2 min read