VICE Magazine
The Last Good Summer
It was supposed to be a time of promise. But—as we investigate in the new issue of VICE magazine—rules are made to be broken.
The Strange Bliss of the Mashup Era
Milkman’s ‘Algorithms’ and its ilk brought with it maximized enjoyability through someone else’s playlist.
'You Couldn’t Swipe Fast Enough': How the Pandemic Devastated Instacart Workers
On-demand grocery delivery has been marketed as a lucrative opportunity for laid off workers during the pandemic. But as the experience of Instacart’s gig workers shows, its shoppers are being gamed by the app.
The Way to Prevent a Recount Disaster Is Sitting Right in Front of Us
November 3, 2020 is almost guaranteed to result in election recounts. Meet our possible savior: the risk-limiting audit.
What If Technology Belonged to the People?
We need non-market, publicly-owned alternatives to big tech. Here’s how we get it.
The Algorithm in the Armchair
Can machine learning more accurately diagnose mental disorders, and prescribe the right medications? Maybe one day.
The Story of How the Australian Government Screwed Its Most Vulnerable People
In 2016, the Australian government began automating welfare back payments. What happened next was an absolute disaster.
The White Sage Black Market
As “smudging” has been appropriated from Native American use, the selling of sage offers a cautionary tale for the wellness economy—one where the intentions of users can be subverted by suppliers, and many sellers have no idea of their impacts.
How Shadowbanning Went from a Conspiracy Theory to a Selling Point
Two years ago, conservative and far-right actors began fighting their supposed mass-silencing by Big Tech. Now, said silencing is being used as a selling point to promote the rise of new alternate platforms.
A Plague on Ibiza
Since they arrived unexpectedly in the early 2000s, snakes have become a local preoccupation in Ibiza—for the iconic Ibiza wall lizard, and for the humans who brought them in, too.
The Broken Algorithm That Poisoned American Transportation
For the last 70 years, American transportation planners have been using the same model to decide what to build. There’s just one problem: it’s often wrong.
Algorithms Are Automating Fascism. Here’s How We Fight Back
“Bias” can’t be fixed with a software update. Only by disrupting oppressive systems on every level can we make a more just world.