Author Archive

Alexis C. Madrigal

Alexis C. Madrigal
Alexis C. Madrigal is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of "Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology."
Digital Government

Why the Pandemic Experts Failed

We're still thinking about the pandemic data in wrong ways.

Ideas

The Official Coronavirus Numbers Are Wrong, and Everyone Knows It

Because the U.S. data on coronavirus infections are so deeply flawed, the quantification of the outbreak obscures more than it illuminates.

Ideas

Coronavirus Is a Data Time Bomb

It will be a long time before we understand what the outbreak did to the global economy.

Emerging Tech

Your Smart Toaster Can’t Hold a Candle to the Apollo Computer

Despite what everyone says about the power of modern devices, they’re nowhere near as capable as the landmark early NASA system.

Artificial Intelligence

Mark Zuckerberg Is Rethinking Deepfakes

In an interview, the Facebook CEO hinted that the company is trying a new approach to misleading videos created through artificial intelligence.

Emerging Tech

The ‘Platform’ Excuse Is Dying

For years, tech companies have relied on a rhetorical sleight of hand. It’s not working anymore.

Ideas

The Coalition Out to Kill Tech as We Know It

With enemies like these, the industry is going to need some friends.

Digital Government

President Trump Is Collecting Social-Media Grievances

The sitting president just released a new tool in his war of words with tech companies.

Emerging Tech

The Most Exciting Thing About Smartphones Isn’t Here Yet

5G is the next wave of wireless technology—but it might take a while.

Ideas

The End of Cyberspace

Internet theorists and companies once declared themselves free of nations and governance, but that’s all over now.

Ideas

Twitter Is Not America

A new Pew study finds a gulf between the general population and Twitter users.

Policy

Facebook Does Have to Respect Civil-Rights Legislation, After All

Activists just won a landmark case against the social network.

Digital Government

What Mark Zuckerberg Thinks People Want

The Facebook CEO had a change of heart that could recast the future of the internet.

Emerging Tech

The Servant Economy

Ten years after Uber inaugurated a new era for Silicon Valley, we checked back in on 105 on-demand businesses.

Digital Government

The Reason Conspiracy Videos Work So Well on YouTube

It’s the paranoid style, mutated for platform politics.

Digital Government

When Amazon Went From Big to Unbelievably Big

The data on the company’s real-estate holdings reveal a remarkable inflection point.

Digital Government

The Peaceful Transition of Government Twitter Accounts

House Republicans are taking the fruits of Twitter’s growth with them into the minority.

Artificial Intelligence

How AI Found Flint’s Lead Pipes, and Then Humans Lost Them

A machine-learning model showed promising results, but city officials and their engineering contractor abandoned it.

Emerging Tech

Facebook Didn’t Sell Your Data; It Gave It Away

In exchange for even more data about you from Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Microsoft, and others