Pluralistic: Workplace "flexibility" isn't (11 Jul 2026)

Today's links

Workplace "flexibility" isn't: What the gig economy calls flexibility is just risk-shifting.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: "Alanya to Alanya"; ToS are the internet's biggest lie; Soviet jokes; Fox rapists v gag orders; GBAO is the future; "Fun Family"; Sacklers get to keep the loot.
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Pluralistic: It's not a crime if we do it (to nurses) with an app (22 Apr 2026)

Today's links

It's not a crime if we do it (to nurses) with an app: It's not a bald spot, it's a solar panel for a sex machine.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: PKD named names; Weird Al v Lada Gaga; South Korean Olympic torture camps; McDonald's v ice-cream hackers.
Upcoming appearances: San Francisco, London, Berlin, NYC, Barcelona, Hay-on-Wye, London, NYC.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
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Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

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Pluralistic: What's a "gig work minimum wage" (17 Feb 2026)

Today's links

What's a "gig work minimum wage": The important rate is what you're paid when you're waiting for a job.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: MBA phrenology; Sony's DRM CEO is out; Midwestern Tahrir; Reverse Centaurs and AI.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

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Pluralistic: "Flexible labor" is a euphemism for "derisking capital" (10 Nov 2025)

Today's links

"Flexible labor" is a euphemism for "derisking capital": It's a zero-sum game.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Corrupt CDs; 10,000 wax cylinders; EU wants copyright on links; Sony rootkit; Humbling math-papers; Chelsea Manning on Aaron Swartz; "Boundless Realms."
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

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Pluralistic: Friction cannot be reduced, it can only be redistributed (23 Aug 2025)

Today's links

Friction cannot be reduced, it can only be redistributed: The better things are for your boss, the worse they are for you.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
Object permanence: Dr Bruce Sterling; Buddy Holly's overnight bag; Zombie postcapitalism.
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

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Pluralistic: Nurses whose shitty boss is a shitty app (17 Dec 2024)

Today's links

Nurses whose shitty boss is a shitty app: "Uber for nurses" is even worse than it sounds.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2014, 2019, 2023
Upcoming appearances: Where to find me.
Recent appearances: Where I've been.
Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em.
Colophon: All the rest.

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Pluralistic: When the app tries to make you robo-scab (30 July 2023)

Today's links

When the app turns you into a robo-scab: The implacable, inarguable tactics of disciplinary technology.
Hey look at this: Delights to delectate.
This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Gig Work Is the Opposite of Steampunk

They turned the cottage into a factory.

A woodcut of a weaver’s loft, where a woman works at a hand-loom. Out of the window opposite her looms the glowing, menacing red eye of HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ On the wall behind her is the poster from Magpie Killjoy’s ‘Steampunk Magazine’ that reads, ‘Love the machine, hate the factory.’ — Cryteria/CC BY 3.0 (modified)

Despite what you may have heard, the Luddites weren’t technophobes. They were skilled workers, expert high tech machine operators who supplied the world with fine textiles. Thanks to a high degree of labor organization through craft guilds, the workers received a fair share of the profit from their labors. They worked hard, but they earned enough through their labors to enjoy lives of dignity and comfort.

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Pluralistic: 22 Sep 2021

Today's links

Gig workers around the globe: One disease, many pathologies.
Mutual Aid and David Graeber: A new, illustrated edition of Kropotkin's masterpiece, with an introduction from the great, much-missed hero of Occupy.
Facebook algorithm boosts pro-Facebook news: Orwell was an optimist.
This day in history: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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Pluralistic: 08 Jul 2021

Today's links

Indonesia's gig work tech resistance: Tuyul apps and the IT of the Road.
Owning a sports-team is a plute's get-out-of-tax-free card: Here's what to do about it.
This day in history: 2006, 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

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