Coda Story
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Journalism that unpacks the global authoritarian toolkit, such as the abuse of new technologies, the rise of oligarchy and the manipulation of scientific fact.
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November 12, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Support journalism that sees it coming — and see your gift go twice as far: buff.ly/X2GSR72
1/ Almost 25% of U.S. adults now use AI for therapy, many relying on ChatGPT. @irina_match describes how AI "therapy" both helped and hurt her during a breakup, examining why this $2B industry presents increasing dangers to at-risk users. buff.ly/Vc9gJn6
November 5, 2025 at 6:05 AM
1/ Almost 25% of U.S. adults now use AI for therapy, many relying on ChatGPT. @irina_match describes how AI "therapy" both helped and hurt her during a breakup, examining why this $2B industry presents increasing dangers to at-risk users. buff.ly/Vc9gJn6
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough reports from a crypto conference in Dubai dominated by evidence of Russian commerce. And how increasingly authoritarian Kyrgyzstan is becoming a ‘cryptatorship’ Sign up here: buff.ly/xlJ43Jf
November 4, 2025 at 12:45 PM
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough reports from a crypto conference in Dubai dominated by evidence of Russian commerce. And how increasingly authoritarian Kyrgyzstan is becoming a ‘cryptatorship’ Sign up here: buff.ly/xlJ43Jf
🧵 THREAD: Why your support for Coda Story matters more than ever (and how to double your impact)
November 4, 2025 at 6:05 AM
🧵 THREAD: Why your support for Coda Story matters more than ever (and how to double your impact)
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough notes that the Trump administration is spearheading a new ‘Gilded Age’ of excess and corruption. Also: Can the Kremlin be made accountable for stealing billions? Sign up here: buff.ly/KjnYOh2.
October 28, 2025 at 11:33 AM
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough notes that the Trump administration is spearheading a new ‘Gilded Age’ of excess and corruption. Also: Can the Kremlin be made accountable for stealing billions? Sign up here: buff.ly/KjnYOh2.
Coming up in Oliver Bullough's Oligarchy newsletter: Bitcoins seized by US authorities from a Cambodian businessman charged with crimes that include forced labor amount to $15 billion. Who gets to keep the bitcoins and how will they be used? Sign up here: buff.ly/TyH4QqX
October 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Coming up in Oliver Bullough's Oligarchy newsletter: Bitcoins seized by US authorities from a Cambodian businessman charged with crimes that include forced labor amount to $15 billion. Who gets to keep the bitcoins and how will they be used? Sign up here: buff.ly/TyH4QqX
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough notes how governments from Uganda to India and the EU are planning their own digital currencies. But the White House is happy for billionaires to hoover up the profits. Sign up here: buff.ly/TyH4QqX.
October 14, 2025 at 12:48 PM
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough notes how governments from Uganda to India and the EU are planning their own digital currencies. But the White House is happy for billionaires to hoover up the profits. Sign up here: buff.ly/TyH4QqX.
Apple caves in to Pam Bondi and removes an ICE-tracking app, just like it once caved to the Kremlin and removed Alexei Navalny’s smart voting app. Also: Trump scratches his Bagram itch, and Europe’s Gaza test.
Subscribe to Coda Currents: buff.ly/AuDxfze
Subscribe to Coda Currents: buff.ly/AuDxfze
October 9, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Apple caves in to Pam Bondi and removes an ICE-tracking app, just like it once caved to the Kremlin and removed Alexei Navalny’s smart voting app. Also: Trump scratches his Bagram itch, and Europe’s Gaza test.
Subscribe to Coda Currents: buff.ly/AuDxfze
Subscribe to Coda Currents: buff.ly/AuDxfze
5/5 Read Oliver Bullough's full analysis and sign up to the Oligarchy newsletter for weekly updates on how the super rich are changing the world for the rest of us: buff.ly/AuDxfze
October 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
5/5 Read Oliver Bullough's full analysis and sign up to the Oligarchy newsletter for weekly updates on how the super rich are changing the world for the rest of us: buff.ly/AuDxfze
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough tells the tale of two bitcoin billionaires. One whose $7 billion bitcoin haul was confiscated in London. And the other, reinventing himself as a champion of liberty and individual autonomy. Sign up here: buff.ly/AuDxfze
October 7, 2025 at 11:12 AM
In Oligarchy this week: Oliver Bullough tells the tale of two bitcoin billionaires. One whose $7 billion bitcoin haul was confiscated in London. And the other, reinventing himself as a champion of liberty and individual autonomy. Sign up here: buff.ly/AuDxfze
Tony Blair as Gaza's governor, Trump lobbyists as power brokers in Africa, and Pavel Durov battling French intelligence to influence elections - who are the unaccountable individuals who shape our world?
📧 Subscribe to Coda Currents to connect the dots: buff.ly/5wK9cid
📧 Subscribe to Coda Currents to connect the dots: buff.ly/5wK9cid
October 2, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Tony Blair as Gaza's governor, Trump lobbyists as power brokers in Africa, and Pavel Durov battling French intelligence to influence elections - who are the unaccountable individuals who shape our world?
📧 Subscribe to Coda Currents to connect the dots: buff.ly/5wK9cid
📧 Subscribe to Coda Currents to connect the dots: buff.ly/5wK9cid
1/ Hours before her UN AI for Good talk, Abeba Birhane was told to censor references to Gaza/Palestine/Israel and replace “genocide” with “war crimes.” She walked away. Minutes before showtime, organisers backed down. buff.ly/8VyY2Nv
September 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
1/ Hours before her UN AI for Good talk, Abeba Birhane was told to censor references to Gaza/Palestine/Israel and replace “genocide” with “war crimes.” She walked away. Minutes before showtime, organisers backed down. buff.ly/8VyY2Nv
In this week’s Currents: How Meta’s experiences quashing regulations around the world prepared it to buy American politicians. Also: A pivotal election in Moldova, Putin’s gift to Pyongyang, and Russia’s increased digital authoritarianism. Sign up here: buff.ly/rWerVQn
September 25, 2025 at 10:30 AM
In this week’s Currents: How Meta’s experiences quashing regulations around the world prepared it to buy American politicians. Also: A pivotal election in Moldova, Putin’s gift to Pyongyang, and Russia’s increased digital authoritarianism. Sign up here: buff.ly/rWerVQn
Has Vladimir Putin put North Korea on the path towards a nuclearized navy? And Meta’s new super PACs apply to the U.S. lessons it already learned in the rest of the world about how to lobby politicians and buy deregulation. Sign up here: buff.ly/rWerVQn
September 25, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Has Vladimir Putin put North Korea on the path towards a nuclearized navy? And Meta’s new super PACs apply to the U.S. lessons it already learned in the rest of the world about how to lobby politicians and buy deregulation. Sign up here: buff.ly/rWerVQn
In this devastating dispatch, she documents life under Israel's complete blockade, where children ask for bread as birthday gifts and families face starvation.
Subscribe to the Sunday Read newsletter to get it in your inbox tomorrow: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
Subscribe to the Sunday Read newsletter to get it in your inbox tomorrow: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
September 20, 2025 at 1:21 PM
In this devastating dispatch, she documents life under Israel's complete blockade, where children ask for bread as birthday gifts and families face starvation.
Subscribe to the Sunday Read newsletter to get it in your inbox tomorrow: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
Subscribe to the Sunday Read newsletter to get it in your inbox tomorrow: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
When are Western governments going to catch up to the tricks and innovations of Russian sanction dodgers and Chinese money launderers? Maybe reducing the number of US cash dollars in circulation might be a start. buff.ly/dmtPw23
September 19, 2025 at 6:05 AM
When are Western governments going to catch up to the tricks and innovations of Russian sanction dodgers and Chinese money launderers? Maybe reducing the number of US cash dollars in circulation might be a start. buff.ly/dmtPw23
The market for AI in mental health is valued at $2 billion already, and growing fast. But substituting human therapists for machines is fraught with risk, writes Irina Matchavariani. Unregulated, artificial intimacy has become a matter of life and death. buff.ly/eJnYEIc
September 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The market for AI in mental health is valued at $2 billion already, and growing fast. But substituting human therapists for machines is fraught with risk, writes Irina Matchavariani. Unregulated, artificial intimacy has become a matter of life and death. buff.ly/eJnYEIc
From Spain to Italy to Hungary, the narrative, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, is taking its cue from the White House – Conservatives are at war. Also: AI is taking over critical human tasks, from mental healthcare to governance. Sign up here: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
September 18, 2025 at 11:12 AM
From Spain to Italy to Hungary, the narrative, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, is taking its cue from the White House – Conservatives are at war. Also: AI is taking over critical human tasks, from mental healthcare to governance. Sign up here: buff.ly/t2IfjIU
1/ “Design is always political,” anthropologist Dragana Kaurin told Ellery Roberts Briddle. “It enacts underlying policies, biases, and exclusion. Who gets to make decisions? How are decisions made? Is there space for iterations?” buff.ly/51rjPn7
September 16, 2025 at 1:53 PM
1/ “Design is always political,” anthropologist Dragana Kaurin told Ellery Roberts Briddle. “It enacts underlying policies, biases, and exclusion. Who gets to make decisions? How are decisions made? Is there space for iterations?” buff.ly/51rjPn7
A version of this story was first published in our Coda Currents newsletter. Sign up here: buff.ly/lJBT6YM
September 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
A version of this story was first published in our Coda Currents newsletter. Sign up here: buff.ly/lJBT6YM
Russia's MAX app should be named Putin's Panopticon. Users say the app enables total surveillance, without the end-to-end encryption used by Western platforms. While Russians are watched by Max, migrant workers’ geolocations have to be accessible at all times. buff.ly/7NAUJBy
September 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Russia's MAX app should be named Putin's Panopticon. Users say the app enables total surveillance, without the end-to-end encryption used by Western platforms. While Russians are watched by Max, migrant workers’ geolocations have to be accessible at all times. buff.ly/7NAUJBy
5/5 Read @OliverBullough.bsky.social's full analysis and sign up to the Oligarchy newsletter for weekly updates on how the super rich are changing the world for the rest of us. buff.ly/pUqkrTJ
July 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
5/5 Read @OliverBullough.bsky.social's full analysis and sign up to the Oligarchy newsletter for weekly updates on how the super rich are changing the world for the rest of us. buff.ly/pUqkrTJ
1/5 NEW OLIGARCHY: Old systems to shuttle money across borders, such as hawala, have long been used to bypass Western banking systems and even sanctions. buff.ly/XQ7axYU
June 27, 2025 at 7:41 AM
1/5 NEW OLIGARCHY: Old systems to shuttle money across borders, such as hawala, have long been used to bypass Western banking systems and even sanctions. buff.ly/XQ7axYU
When AI can’t read your language, it can be both a shield and a barrier. In Inner Mongolia, digital obscurity of the script helped protesters evade surveillance – but new AI projects could change: buff.ly/6PvEWpb
June 19, 2025 at 10:08 AM
When AI can’t read your language, it can be both a shield and a barrier. In Inner Mongolia, digital obscurity of the script helped protesters evade surveillance – but new AI projects could change: buff.ly/6PvEWpb
“Dictators understand our importance. That’s why they hunt us. That’s why they criminalize us. That’s why they lock us up. And that’s why they jumped for joy when Trump cut our budget.”
Nicola Careem of recently defunded RFE/RL, with Paul Cethwynd of AFP at #ZEG2025.
Nicola Careem of recently defunded RFE/RL, with Paul Cethwynd of AFP at #ZEG2025.
June 15, 2025 at 12:29 PM
“Dictators understand our importance. That’s why they hunt us. That’s why they criminalize us. That’s why they lock us up. And that’s why they jumped for joy when Trump cut our budget.”
Nicola Careem of recently defunded RFE/RL, with Paul Cethwynd of AFP at #ZEG2025.
Nicola Careem of recently defunded RFE/RL, with Paul Cethwynd of AFP at #ZEG2025.