Blog Posts

‘So-called’: Media Objects podcast thinks critically about AI

By Kate Blackwood / August 3, 2025

Two episodes, broadcasting this week on KALW’s Bay Made show starting August 4, put AI into historical context and re-center human intelligence.

Zombie trucks and perpetual Christmas

By Kate Blackwood / February 4, 2023

Resurrecting my Read of the Week to ponder the humans of overland transport.

Steve Jobs, my iPhone, & boredom

By Kate Blackwood / October 10, 2021

Steve Jobs started a movement to connect our computers with our hands. Ten years after his death, Steven Levy’s 2011 remembrance, re-posted this week, gives insight about the person behind the devices and interfaces I use — and sometimes resist.

More than gymnastics

By Kate Blackwood / October 3, 2021

“Watching her is like trying to catch the light.” Camonghne Felix captures Simone Biles in writing as deftly as a fast-shutter camera in an article for The Cut.