Start the Week Digital Futures and Information Crises
14 snips
Nov 17, 2025 
Cory Doctorow, a technology activist and author, discusses his provocative book, Enshittification, which analyzes the decay of online platforms and their exploitation of users. Novelist Naomi Alderman draws parallels from history, emphasizing lessons from writing and the printing press to address today’s information crises. Oliver Moody, a journalist, shares insights on Estonia’s pioneering digital governance and efficient systems, revealing both accomplishments and challenges of a connected state. Together, they explore the urgent need for a more user-centric digital landscape.
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Naming The Era Sharpens Focus
- Cory Doctorow calls the current era the “enshittification” where platforms degrade from innovation to exploitation.
- Naming the era helps mobilise public attention and policy debate.
Information Tech Reshapes Social Authority
- Naomi Alderman argues information technologies reshape social roles and memory across history.
- Writing and print changed who counts as authoritative and how societies value living knowledge.
Textual Media Can Dehumanise Conversation
- Alderman says reading turns symbols into perceived voices and can dehumanise interlocutors.
- Texts don't adapt emotionally, so online exchanges risk rigid, escalatory interactions.
