Noema Magazine
@noemamag.com
Longform journalism exploring fresh ideas. Pitch us: [email protected]
Our gravest AI risk isn't runaway superintelligence but our cultural readiness to surrender collective judgment to algorithmic systems, Andrew Sorota argues.
www.noemamag.com/rescuing-dem...
www.noemamag.com/rescuing-dem...
Rescuing Democracy From The Quiet Rule Of AI | NOEMA
Our gravest AI risk isn’t runaway superintelligence but our cultural readiness to surrender collective judgment to algorithmic systems.
www.noemamag.com
February 16, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Our gravest AI risk isn't runaway superintelligence but our cultural readiness to surrender collective judgment to algorithmic systems, Andrew Sorota argues.
www.noemamag.com/rescuing-dem...
www.noemamag.com/rescuing-dem...
We are starting to witness tantalizing glimpses of the net good that can be achieved via genetic editing. How far will we allow it to go?
Aryn Baker explores.
Aryn Baker explores.
Editing Nature To Fix Our Failures | NOEMA
Gene editing may enable us to prevent a species from ever becoming extinct in the first place. But should we?
www.noemamag.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
We are starting to witness tantalizing glimpses of the net good that can be achieved via genetic editing. How far will we allow it to go?
Aryn Baker explores.
Aryn Baker explores.
Europe needs to stop pretending it's a neutral market in a world where digital infrastructure is geopolitical, @francescabria.bsky.social writes. It should act like what it is: a political project with a democratic mission.
www.noemamag.com/reclaiming-e...
www.noemamag.com/reclaiming-e...
Reclaiming Europe’s Digital Sovereignty | NOEMA
Europe can accept permanent technological dependency, or it can build democratic digital systems rooted in climate commitments, labor protections and social diversity.
www.noemamag.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Europe needs to stop pretending it's a neutral market in a world where digital infrastructure is geopolitical, @francescabria.bsky.social writes. It should act like what it is: a political project with a democratic mission.
www.noemamag.com/reclaiming-e...
www.noemamag.com/reclaiming-e...
Reposted by Noema Magazine
Lush multimedia feature on yak herding, preserving ways of life, and a future on climate change. @noemamag.com always has such fantastic work.
The Last Yak Herder Of Ladakh | NOEMA
As glaciers melt and traditions fade, one man’s journey across Ladakh’s sacred pastures is a living archive of a disappearing way of life.
www.noemamag.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Lush multimedia feature on yak herding, preserving ways of life, and a future on climate change. @noemamag.com always has such fantastic work.
“I never imagined that America would reach a point where our constitutional protections are teetering because the latest innovations in technology are converging with demagogic politics to corrode the institutional checks & balances by which republics endure.”
—Editor-In-Chief Nathan Gardels
#ice
—Editor-In-Chief Nathan Gardels
#ice
Where There Is Connectivity There Is Surveillance | NOEMA
The immigration crackdown in the U.S. opens the gates to a monitory state just as Covid tracing did in China.
www.noemamag.com
February 13, 2026 at 6:41 PM
“I never imagined that America would reach a point where our constitutional protections are teetering because the latest innovations in technology are converging with demagogic politics to corrode the institutional checks & balances by which republics endure.”
—Editor-In-Chief Nathan Gardels
#ice
—Editor-In-Chief Nathan Gardels
#ice
Reposted by Noema Magazine
Global climate efforts are failing because they do not tackle the power imbalance between fossil and green asset owners. This piece unpacks how fossil fuel elites exploit weak global rules to protect profits, stalling decarbonization.
By @greenprofgreen.bsky.social in @noemamag.com
buff.ly/vmfb9sx
By @greenprofgreen.bsky.social in @noemamag.com
buff.ly/vmfb9sx
It’s Time To Target The Political Power Of Polluters | NOEMA
We won’t make progress on decarbonization until we rein in the power of fossil fuel asset owners and invest in green assets. Tax and investment policy can help.
www.noemamag.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Global climate efforts are failing because they do not tackle the power imbalance between fossil and green asset owners. This piece unpacks how fossil fuel elites exploit weak global rules to protect profits, stalling decarbonization.
By @greenprofgreen.bsky.social in @noemamag.com
buff.ly/vmfb9sx
By @greenprofgreen.bsky.social in @noemamag.com
buff.ly/vmfb9sx
Reposted by Noema Magazine
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said of William James: "turning the lights down low so as to give miracle a chance...."
“Without the cultivated, meaning-laden, embodied intuition of the human scientist who is instinctively driven to ask questions about the nature of the world, AI systems remain rudderless when they enter the realms of uncertainty.”
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
Why Human Intuition Is Still Science’s Greatest Tool In The Age Of AI | NOEMA
Our sense for aesthetics, meaning and embodiment give us a vital advantage over our technological creations.
www.noemamag.com
February 13, 2026 at 6:25 AM
As Oliver Wendell Holmes said of William James: "turning the lights down low so as to give miracle a chance...."
“Without the cultivated, meaning-laden, embodied intuition of the human scientist who is instinctively driven to ask questions about the nature of the world, AI systems remain rudderless when they enter the realms of uncertainty.”
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
Why Human Intuition Is Still Science’s Greatest Tool In The Age Of AI | NOEMA
Our sense for aesthetics, meaning and embodiment give us a vital advantage over our technological creations.
www.noemamag.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:15 PM
“Without the cultivated, meaning-laden, embodied intuition of the human scientist who is instinctively driven to ask questions about the nature of the world, AI systems remain rudderless when they enter the realms of uncertainty.”
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
— @conorfeehly.bsky.social
#ai #science #scientificdiscoveries
“Emmanuel Macron, J.D. Vance & Berlin artist collectives may seem like unlikely allies, but they all agree that Europe’s ‘regulate first, build later (maybe)’ approach to AI is not working.”
—Benjamin Bratton
—Benjamin Bratton
Is European AI A Lost Cause? Not Necessarily. | NOEMA
If Europe wants to build a new AI Stack it should stop listening to critics who claim to lead the way but only offer resistance.
www.noemamag.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:31 PM
“Emmanuel Macron, J.D. Vance & Berlin artist collectives may seem like unlikely allies, but they all agree that Europe’s ‘regulate first, build later (maybe)’ approach to AI is not working.”
—Benjamin Bratton
—Benjamin Bratton
“This is a slow erasure, a death without spectacle: ‘We are disappearing without being noticed,’” Thinlay Nurboo, a yak herder, told us.”
—Sajad Hameed & Rehan Qayoom Mir
#climatechange #india #pastoralism
—Sajad Hameed & Rehan Qayoom Mir
#climatechange #india #pastoralism
The Last Yak Herder Of Ladakh | NOEMA
As glaciers melt and traditions fade, one man’s journey across Ladakh’s sacred pastures is a living archive of a disappearing way of life.
www.noemamag.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
“This is a slow erasure, a death without spectacle: ‘We are disappearing without being noticed,’” Thinlay Nurboo, a yak herder, told us.”
—Sajad Hameed & Rehan Qayoom Mir
#climatechange #india #pastoralism
—Sajad Hameed & Rehan Qayoom Mir
#climatechange #india #pastoralism
“The integration of AI into education is no longer hypothetical — it is well underway.”
Let’s use it to shape students for the better, Greg Easley argues.
Let’s use it to shape students for the better, Greg Easley argues.
Reimagining School In The Age Of AI | NOEMA
With thoughtful design, AI systems could move American classrooms beyond rigid curricula toward adaptive programs that respond to individual learners.
www.noemamag.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:02 PM
“The integration of AI into education is no longer hypothetical — it is well underway.”
Let’s use it to shape students for the better, Greg Easley argues.
Let’s use it to shape students for the better, Greg Easley argues.
“Instead of offering easy answers, thinking historically provides the intellectual equipment to engage with hard questions, a skill indispensable for navigating a future that will surely be as unpredictable as the past.”
—Francis Gavin
—Francis Gavin
The Lost Art Of Thinking Historically | NOEMA
To understand the world today, we must see it as actors of the past did: through a foggy windshield, not a rearview mirror, facing a future of radical uncertainty.
www.noemamag.com
February 8, 2026 at 5:30 PM
“Instead of offering easy answers, thinking historically provides the intellectual equipment to engage with hard questions, a skill indispensable for navigating a future that will surely be as unpredictable as the past.”
—Francis Gavin
—Francis Gavin
What do computer science, quantum physics & Hindu tradition have in common?
It’s more than you might think, Swami Sarvapriyananda, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Carlo Rovelli write.
www.noemamag.com/consciousnes...
It’s more than you might think, Swami Sarvapriyananda, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Carlo Rovelli write.
www.noemamag.com/consciousnes...
Consciousness Across Three Worldviews | NOEMA
Central concepts in three different domains — Hindu tradition, computer science and quantum physics — find analogies and reflect one another.
www.noemamag.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:30 PM
What do computer science, quantum physics & Hindu tradition have in common?
It’s more than you might think, Swami Sarvapriyananda, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Carlo Rovelli write.
www.noemamag.com/consciousnes...
It’s more than you might think, Swami Sarvapriyananda, @blaiseaguera.bsky.social & Carlo Rovelli write.
www.noemamag.com/consciousnes...
“When inequality is too vast to last, it doesn’t. The skyrocketing valuations of Big Tech & the staggering concentration of wealth accruing to its titans only presage a revolt against the depredations of disparity.”
—Nathan Gardels
#inequality #wealthgap
—Nathan Gardels
#inequality #wealthgap
Extreme Inequality Presages The Revolt Against It | NOEMA
Even the Davos elites are reading the tea leaves.
www.noemamag.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
“When inequality is too vast to last, it doesn’t. The skyrocketing valuations of Big Tech & the staggering concentration of wealth accruing to its titans only presage a revolt against the depredations of disparity.”
—Nathan Gardels
#inequality #wealthgap
—Nathan Gardels
#inequality #wealthgap
“Exposure to nature can lower our blood pressure, slash the risk of diabetes, improve our mental health & treat ADHD in a way that’s similar to a dose of Ritalin,” @olliemilman.bsky.social writes.
What could it do on a larger scale for society as a whole?
#nature #society #wellness
What could it do on a larger scale for society as a whole?
#nature #society #wellness
Society Needs A Doctor’s Prescription For Nature | NOEMA
Long treated as a backdrop to human life, the trees, babbling streams and rolling hills of the natural world could actually help repair society’s fraying social fabric.
www.noemamag.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:26 PM
“Exposure to nature can lower our blood pressure, slash the risk of diabetes, improve our mental health & treat ADHD in a way that’s similar to a dose of Ritalin,” @olliemilman.bsky.social writes.
What could it do on a larger scale for society as a whole?
#nature #society #wellness
What could it do on a larger scale for society as a whole?
#nature #society #wellness
Reposted by Noema Magazine
My latest on Existential Politics and climate change in @noemamag.com. Climate policy should focus on dollars, not tons of emissions!
It’s Time To Target The Political Power Of Polluters | NOEMA
We won’t make progress on decarbonization until we rein in the power of fossil fuel asset owners and invest in green assets. Tax and investment policy can help.
www.noemamag.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:56 PM
My latest on Existential Politics and climate change in @noemamag.com. Climate policy should focus on dollars, not tons of emissions!
“Science & advocacy awakened people to the threat of fossil-fuel-driven environmental catastrophe...” @bentleyallan.bsky.social writes. “Yet it was naive to believe that this alone could transform a global energy system forged over centuries by war & empire."
www.noemamag.com/the-new-geop...
www.noemamag.com/the-new-geop...
The New Geopolitics Of The Green Transition | NOEMA
The only path forward for tackling the climate crisis hinges on cooperative industrial strategies to coordinate clean energy investment and infrastructure development.
www.noemamag.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:30 PM
“Science & advocacy awakened people to the threat of fossil-fuel-driven environmental catastrophe...” @bentleyallan.bsky.social writes. “Yet it was naive to believe that this alone could transform a global energy system forged over centuries by war & empire."
www.noemamag.com/the-new-geop...
www.noemamag.com/the-new-geop...
“Roughly two-thirds of global emissions between 1854 & 2010 are linked to just 90 firms.
And for decades, these firms have been obstructing progress on climate change to protect their bottom lines & to avoid the potential total devaluation of their assets.”
— @greenprofgreen.bsky.social
And for decades, these firms have been obstructing progress on climate change to protect their bottom lines & to avoid the potential total devaluation of their assets.”
— @greenprofgreen.bsky.social
It’s Time To Target The Political Power Of Polluters | NOEMA
We won’t make progress on decarbonization until we rein in the power of fossil fuel asset owners and invest in green assets. Tax and investment policy can help.
www.noemamag.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:11 PM
“Roughly two-thirds of global emissions between 1854 & 2010 are linked to just 90 firms.
And for decades, these firms have been obstructing progress on climate change to protect their bottom lines & to avoid the potential total devaluation of their assets.”
— @greenprofgreen.bsky.social
And for decades, these firms have been obstructing progress on climate change to protect their bottom lines & to avoid the potential total devaluation of their assets.”
— @greenprofgreen.bsky.social
“Might embodied AIs, combined with living systems, become meaning-makers with agency?”
—Natalie Lawrence
#intelligence #consciousness
—Natalie Lawrence
#intelligence #consciousness
What Counts As A Mind? | NOEMA
From chatbots to climbing beans, new research challenges our deepest assumptions about intelligence and consciousness.
www.noemamag.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:32 PM
“Might embodied AIs, combined with living systems, become meaning-makers with agency?”
—Natalie Lawrence
#intelligence #consciousness
—Natalie Lawrence
#intelligence #consciousness
Reposted by Noema Magazine
"How close are we now to lucrative evangelical expressionism?"
What we're reading this week: pieces from @vanmusicmag.bsky.social @noemamag.com @aeon.co @theatlantic.com @artforum.com @nplusonemag.com @newrepublic.com @thebaffler.com @intelligencer.com @nytimes.com pghrev.com/what-were-re...
What we're reading this week: pieces from @vanmusicmag.bsky.social @noemamag.com @aeon.co @theatlantic.com @artforum.com @nplusonemag.com @newrepublic.com @thebaffler.com @intelligencer.com @nytimes.com pghrev.com/what-were-re...
What We're Reading the Fifth Week of January 2026 - Pittsburgh Review of Books
A roundup of what the Pittsburgh Review of Book’s class is reading the fifth week of January 2026:
pghrev.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:37 PM
"How close are we now to lucrative evangelical expressionism?"
What we're reading this week: pieces from @vanmusicmag.bsky.social @noemamag.com @aeon.co @theatlantic.com @artforum.com @nplusonemag.com @newrepublic.com @thebaffler.com @intelligencer.com @nytimes.com pghrev.com/what-were-re...
What we're reading this week: pieces from @vanmusicmag.bsky.social @noemamag.com @aeon.co @theatlantic.com @artforum.com @nplusonemag.com @newrepublic.com @thebaffler.com @intelligencer.com @nytimes.com pghrev.com/what-were-re...
Reposted by Noema Magazine
"The successor to mass social media is [...] emerging not as a single platform, but as a scattering of alleyways, salons, encrypted lounges and federated town squares — those little gardens."
“The last days of social media might be the first days of something more human: a web that remembers why we came online in the first place — not to be harvested but to be heard, not to go viral but to find our people, not to scroll but to connect.”
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
The Last Days Of Social Media | NOEMA
Social media promised connection, but it has delivered exhaustion.
www.noemamag.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:02 PM
"The successor to mass social media is [...] emerging not as a single platform, but as a scattering of alleyways, salons, encrypted lounges and federated town squares — those little gardens."
Neuroscientist @anilseth.bsky.social's new essay in Noema is a rigorous & compelling challenge to the notion that complex computation like AI can give rise to consciousness, Nathan Gardels writes.
#consciousness #ai
#consciousness #ai
Only What Is Alive Can Be Conscious | NOEMA
Artificial intelligence doesn’t meet the test.
www.noemamag.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Neuroscientist @anilseth.bsky.social's new essay in Noema is a rigorous & compelling challenge to the notion that complex computation like AI can give rise to consciousness, Nathan Gardels writes.
#consciousness #ai
#consciousness #ai
Reposted by Noema Magazine
"Find yourself in another world."
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @christianelliott.me & @noemamag.com!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
www.noemamag.com/where-the-pr...
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @christianelliott.me & @noemamag.com!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
www.noemamag.com/where-the-pr...
Where The Prairie Still Remains | NOEMA
Are pioneer cemeteries key to the Iowa prairie’s revival, or its final resting place?
www.noemamag.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:12 PM
"Find yourself in another world."
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @christianelliott.me & @noemamag.com!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
www.noemamag.com/where-the-pr...
Today's article pick from Damn History, a free newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to writer @christianelliott.me & @noemamag.com!
Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe
www.noemamag.com/where-the-pr...
“The last days of social media might be the first days of something more human: a web that remembers why we came online in the first place — not to be harvested but to be heard, not to go viral but to find our people, not to scroll but to connect.”
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
The Last Days Of Social Media | NOEMA
Social media promised connection, but it has delivered exhaustion.
www.noemamag.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:31 PM
“The last days of social media might be the first days of something more human: a web that remembers why we came online in the first place — not to be harvested but to be heard, not to go viral but to find our people, not to scroll but to connect.”
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
— @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
Reposted by Noema Magazine
"The tech industry’s whiz kids once promised convenience at your fingertips. Now they’re embracing the military-industrial complex to defend the West."
— @tfa.ng in @noemamag.com
www.noemamag.com/silicon-vall...
— @tfa.ng in @noemamag.com
www.noemamag.com/silicon-vall...
Silicon Valley Goes To War | NOEMA
The tech industry’s whiz kids once promised convenience at your fingertips. Now they’re embracing the military-industrial complex to defend the West.
www.noemamag.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:15 PM
"The tech industry’s whiz kids once promised convenience at your fingertips. Now they’re embracing the military-industrial complex to defend the West."
— @tfa.ng in @noemamag.com
www.noemamag.com/silicon-vall...
— @tfa.ng in @noemamag.com
www.noemamag.com/silicon-vall...