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Mark Hurst

@markhurst.bsky.social

2.4K followers 280 following 790 posts

Writer and radio host in NYC. - Host, Techtonic on WFMU: https://techtonic.fm - Tech criticism: https://creativegood.com/blog - Newsletter: https://creativegood.com/newsletter Encouraging better tech, and resisting Big Tech.

techtonic.fm

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · Feb 21

If you like Severance, I hope you'll listen to Techtonic, my podcast/radio show.

I'm questioning tech & its promises, w/help from brilliant guests like @hypervisible.bsky.social @randomwalker.bsky.social @tamigraph.bsky.social & more.

Podcast:
itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

More:
techtonic.fm

Mark Hurst floats in the air behind block capital letters in the foreground spelling TECHTONIC.

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 13h

Big Tech is targeting vulnerable communities for its data centers. Residents incur a huge cost in water & power and airborne toxic chemicals. Town officials sign NDAs so citizens have no awareness of the threat.

New from me: data centers and their effects.
buttondown.com/creativegood...

Don't let the data center come to town

In southwest Memphis sits the Colossus, a giant AI slop factory owned by Elon Musk. Gas-powered turbines at the facility foul the air with “nitrogen oxides...

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Mark Hurst

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 18h

Today in luxury surveillance.

“They’ll [ai wearables] be embedded in what we already wear: glasses, jewellery, clothing. Fashion will play a critical role in normalizing them.”

Style Meets Surveillance as Agentic AI Redefines Wearables

Are we seeing the rise of smarter accessories—or sleepwalking into a future where data privacy is out of style?

threemagazine.com

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 18h

Excited to share this field recording of the "SHITPHONE" protest in Manhattan, which I aired on Techtonic.

Full episode: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Thanks to @bcmerchant.bsky.social for tipping me off to the event.

Reposted by Mark Hurst

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 4d

Yes, it's weird that Peter Thiel can't stop talking up the Antichrist.

But look on the bright side—he's also the guy who:

-Gave @jd-vance-1.bsky.social his first VC job
-Funded Vance's firm
-Bought his Senate seat
-Got him the VP slot

Have a nice day!

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 4d

not from Brazil, but @stuhorvath.com literally wrote the book on RPGs
mitpress.mit.edu/monsters-ali...

Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground

MIT Press - Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground

mitpress.mit.edu

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 6d

portland

🐈‍⬛ Spooky L.A. 🕸️ @tiredderit.bsky.social · 6d

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 6d

I'll see your creepy robot-hugging pillow and raise you a surveillance tribble.

"Moflin: always by your side." A young woman takes a selfie while holding a furry surveillance device. "Your Smart AI companion: A calming presence. A quiet reassurance."

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 6d

I need to write a column about this. But this week's techtonic.fm episode was premised on exactly this: AI & surveillance infrastructure keep spreading -
wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

AI and surveillance keep spreading: Techtonic with Mark Hurst

Audio & playlist from October 6, 2025

wfmu.org

Reposted by Mark Hurst

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 6d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Mark Hurst

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 6d

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 7d

Here's my live Techtonic interview with Luddite Club members - including Lucy Jackson, featured in the WSJ story:
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...
(click "pop-up player")

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 7d

New techtonic.fm episode: AI and surveillance infrastructure keeps spreading. Stories about data centers, chatbots having dumb conversations, and the "Friend" surveillance device.

Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Excerpt below:

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 9d

the engineer tried to warn us.

so did @hypervisible.blacksky.app

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 9d

I think often about the Amazon engineer who wrote in an open letter to the company that Ring was “incompatible” with a free society.

Analysis | Amazon’s Ring plans to scan everyone’s face at the door

For the first time, the company is putting facial recognition into its home security doorbells and video cameras.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Mark Hurst

Shira Ovide @shiraovide.bsky.social · 11d

Amazon's Ring is adding facial recognition to its home doorbells and security cameras for the first time.

To identify people you know, it needs to run everyone's face in sight through facial recognition.

wapo.st/4mR2v5l

Analysis | Amazon’s Ring plans to scan everyone’s face at the door

For the first time, the company is putting facial recognition into its home security doorbells and video cameras.

wapo.st

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 11d

Annie Lennox in the NYT Book Review:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/b...

Q - Eurythmics scored the soundtrack for a film version of “1984.” Do you remember the first time you read the book?

A - I imagine it was sometime in the 1970s, when “1984” always seemed so far into the future. The thing that strikes me now is just how Orwell’s dystopian vision has actually come to fruition. The issues of constant surveillance, authoritarian military regimes, censorship, paranoia, harsh penal systems. The removal of human rights, control and dominance of entire populations, thought control, etc.

We think we have freedom and independence, but I’m afraid we don’t realize how we depend on a system that doesn’t really care about the welfare and well-being of the average man or woman.

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 12d

GenAI is the new plastic. We’re likely about to see what happens when you remove the capacity to discern truth and meaning from a population, at scale.

New from me:
buttondown.com/creativegood...

Generative AI is the new plastic

“I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.” “Yes sir.” “Are you listening?” “Yes, I am.” “Plastics.” Perhaps the most famous lines from “The...

buttondown.com

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 14d

I spoke w/ @greenwell.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream."

LISTEN (click "pop-up player"):
www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh...

Podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Below, how hospitals have been taken over by private equity:

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Reposted by Mark Hurst

The PS1 startup sound as a lesbian @janus.bsky.social · 14d

pov you got rich by turning the music industry into a payola scam / AI slop farm and now u wanna focus on what really matters (investing in drones)

The Verge @theverge.com · 14d

Spotify founder Daniel Ek is stepping down as CEO

Spotify’s executive team has hit shuffle.

buff.ly

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 15d

congrats on the paperback!

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 15d

Apparently all it takes to convince someone to spy on themselves, their family and friends, FOR THE BENEFIT OF A TECH COMPANY, is to add "kitten ears" to the surveillance device.

Our privacy is worth the cost of two plastic nubs.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 15d

Current wearables innovation is mainly invested in figuring out the right form factor to convince people to adopt an always on camera and mic.

Cutest AI Ever? This Wearable Kitten-Shaped Camera Won Me Over

The Looki L1 is a fascinating addition to the burgeoning landscape of AI wearables. Plus, you can buy one now for $199.

www.cnet.com

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 17d

Haven't we learned that companies can't regulate themselves - *especially* Boeing?

I guess not:

"Boeing is regaining authority from the Federal Aviation Administration to perform final safety checks on its 737 MAX jets starting next week."

Gift link:
www.wsj.com/business/air...

Exclusive | Boeing Clears Key Hurdle From 737 MAX Crashes

The aerospace giant is regaining some authority from regulators to perform final safety checks on jets.

www.wsj.com

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 18d

on trying to hate Zuckerberg's AI slop "with the heat of 10,000 suns":

Devon Heinen @devonheinen.bsky.social · 18d

You'd be able to hate it more, but, unfortunately, Meta had to suck up extra energy from multiple suns in order to wastefully power the AI data centers that created the AI slop

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 18d

Predatory Big Tech monopolies like Google are ruining the online experience. And there's no constraint from antitrust, as @juliaangwin.com writes.

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/o...

Opinion | Google Wins, We Lose

www.nytimes.com

Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 18d

as I have said for 8 years and counting, on techtonic.fm -

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 18d

the sooner meta dies as a company the sooner civilization can begin to heal