Art by Haejin Park.
Art by Haejin Park.
The Big Read

Crypto’s Town Square Has Become “a Scammer’s Paradise.” Why Isn’t Discord Doing More to Clean It Up?

The crypto industry is losing millions to scams perpetrated on a single platform. An army of vigilante sleuths—and at least one crypto-native competitor—is fighting back.
Social Studies

The Latest Trend in EdTech: Dungeons & Dragons Academies

Live from his home dungeon in Orem, Utah, Dax Levine called class into session one recent Wednesday evening. “People pay me to find creative ways to murder them,” he told the 10 students who had...
Illustration by Danielle Davis.
10 Questions

Erich Schwartzel’s “Red Carpet” Reveals How Beijing Used Hollywood as a Tool of Chinese Soft Power

This is 10 Questions, a new column in which we ask tech authors to pull back the covers on their recently released books. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. There are two...
Erich Schwartzel courtesy of Penguin Randomhouse.
My Life's Work

The Founder Who Went Up a Mountain in Nepal and Came Down a Better Leader

In our new column, My Life’s Work, we ask tech founders and executives how their unique life experiences influenced their careers. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. When Hilary...
Art by Haejin Park. Photo courtesy Hilary Coles.
From top, Brit Morin, Tyra Banks, Jaime Schmidt and Mila Kunis. Art by Haejin Park. Photographs AP and courtesy BFF.
From top, Brit Morin, Tyra Banks, Jaime Schmidt and Mila Kunis. Art by Haejin Park. Photographs AP and courtesy BFF.
The Big Read

‘The Boys Are Getting Loaded Rich.’ Now Women-Led Crypto Groups Demand Their Turn

A star-studded women’s collective joins other outsider groups fighting for their place in the Web3 landscape.
Social Studies

‘Oozing, Dripping, Melting, Stretching’: The Art and Science Behind TikTok’s Viral Food Videos

I’m a food artist and made my eggs into cubes today,” says the robotic British voice-over narrating TikTok sensation David Ma’s recent cooking video. “Let’s look inside!” Over the thrumming beat of...
Parentverse

Dear Parentverse: My Four-Year-Old Trusts Amazon’s Alexa More Than Me

This is Parentverse, The Information Weekend’s advice column for tech-savvy parents. Email us your questions at [email protected]. Or, if you don’t mind sharing them with your fellow...
Art by Haejin Park.
The Takeaway

Death of a Duopoly: Why It’s Time to Reconsider the Facebook-Google Rivalry

Before I was an entrepreneur, my career as a tech journalist was marked by covering one story: the rise of the Facebook and Google advertising duopoly and everything it shaped.I started following...
Art by Haejin Park.
Art by Mike Sullivan. Photographs courtesy the Temple of Light.
Art by Mike Sullivan. Photographs courtesy the Temple of Light.
The Big Read

Prayers of the Tuluminati: Down in the Yucatan, a Temple and Its Tech Shaman Chase Enlightenment

Wearing flowing white robes and speaking of a computer-generated paradise, entrepreneur and investor Ben Way works to inspire his following.

A Survivor’s Guide to Braving the Crypto Winter

There’s a cold front in the metaverse. Stoked by investor fears of rising interest rates and dried up liquidity, the price of cryptocurrencies plummeted this week, with the market shedding a...
Art by Mike Sullivan, Shutterstock
Decamped

After Winning a Buffalo, N.Y., Startup Competition, a Founder Trades Sand for Snow

In this week’s Decamped, we chat with Scott Wayman, CEO and founder of Kangarootime, a software company for child-care centers and preschools. Wayman moved from Long Beach, Calif., to Buffalo,...
Illustration by Danielle Davis.
10 Questions

Jacob Ward’s “The Loop” Peers Into the Black Box of Machine-Learning Algorithms and Returns With a Dire Warning

This is “10 Questions,” a new featurein which we ask tech authors to pull back the covers on their recently released books. Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. In 2015, NBC...
Jacob Ward
Art by Haejin Park. Photo courtesy Caroline Spiegel.
Art by Haejin Park. Photo courtesy Caroline Spiegel.
The Big Read

Caroline Spiegel’s Porn Revolution

Can the 24-year-old sister of Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel create the Peloton of audio porn? First, she has to turn listeners on to the joys of aural sex.
Scene and Heard

Meet the Couple Who Got Surprise-Married at Peter Thiel’s Hereticon Conference

This year, Peter Thiel’s Hereticon conference changed lives. Some attendees left with fresh tattoos and piercings, others with a newfound belief in UFOs. But Delian Asparouhov and Nadia Eghbal...
Photos courtesy Delian Asparouhov and Nadia Eghbal.
Parentverse

Dear Parentverse: My 8-Year-Old Is Clamoring for Animal Crossing Amiibos—Any Reason to Say No?

This is Parentverse, The Information Weekend’s advice column for tech-savvy parents. Email us your questions at [email protected]. Or, if you don’t mind sharing them with your fellow...
Art by Haejin Park.
Social Studies

The Shoe Industry Is Hyping Virtual Sneakers for the Metaverse. So Far, Real Sneakerheads Aren’t Buying

TJ Keasal has been dressing up her videogame characters in new-release Nikes and Adidas since she was in middle school. Long before Fortnite let players outfit their avatars, Keasal, a 32-year-old...
Illustration by Josh Brill.