Always On Books | Summaries & Audio

Estéticas liminales

by Valentina Tanni • 2023

What if vaporwave, creepypasta wikis, and liminal spaces are the real heart of contemporary art?

4.32

428

🎨 Digital Aesthetics 🌐 Online Subcultures 📜 Digital Folklore

Estéticas liminales 86%

What if vaporwave, creepypasta wikis, and liminal spaces are the real heart of contemporary art?

by Valentina Tanni 2023

4.32

428 ratings

🎨 Digital Aesthetics 🌐 Online Subcultures 📜 Digital Folklore

Mood Machine

by Liz Pelly • 2025

Your favorite playlist runs on anonymous musicians and ad-tech logic; it was never a music company.

3.83

5k+

🎧 Music Streaming 🏢 Platform Capitalism 🤖 Algorithmic Culture

Mood Machine 86%

Your favorite playlist runs on anonymous musicians and ad-tech logic; it was never a music company.

by Liz Pelly 2025

3.83

5k+ ratings

🎧 Music Streaming 🏢 Platform Capitalism 🤖 Algorithmic Culture

Dragnet Nation

by Julia Angwin • 2014

A journalist tried to opt out of digital surveillance for a year. The system refused.

3.68

659

🛡️ Digital Surveillance 🔒 Data Privacy 👁️ Mass Surveillance

Dragnet Nation 85%

A journalist tried to opt out of digital surveillance for a year. The system refused.

by Julia Angwin 2014

3.68

659 ratings

🛡️ Digital Surveillance 🔒 Data Privacy 👁️ Mass Surveillance

Alone Together

by Sherry Turkle • 2011

Robots comfort the elderly, screens raise children. What we lose when machines mediate intimacy.

3.62

6k+

🤖 Social Robotics 📱 Digital Isolation 🎭 Online Identity

Alone Together 85%

Robots comfort the elderly, screens raise children. What we lose when machines mediate intimacy.

by Sherry Turkle 2011

3.62

6k+ ratings

🤖 Social Robotics 📱 Digital Isolation 🎭 Online Identity

100 Things We've Lost to the Internet

by Pamela Paul • 2021

A hundred things the internet took: boredom, unrecorded mistakes, and the right to disappear.

3.39

3k+

🌐 Internet Culture 🧠 Attention Economy 📱 Digital Distraction

100 Things We've Lost to the Internet Summary

100 Things We've Lost to the Internet 85%

A hundred things the internet took: boredom, unrecorded mistakes, and the right to disappear.

by Pamela Paul 2021

3.39

3k+ ratings

🌐 Internet Culture 🧠 Attention Economy 📱 Digital Distraction

Context

by Cory Doctorow • 2011

3.66

372

🕸️ Internet Freedom 📜 Copyright Reform 🔐 Digital Rights

Context 85%

by Cory Doctorow 2011

3.66

372 ratings

🕸️ Internet Freedom 📜 Copyright Reform 🔐 Digital Rights

The Anarchist In The Library

by Siva Vaidhyanathan • 2004

The web set free-sharing anarchists against control-hungry oligarchs, and neither side is winning.

3.50

175

🛡️ Digital Rights ⚖️ Copyright Politics 🏛️ Cultural Commons

The Anarchist In The Library 85%

The web set free-sharing anarchists against control-hungry oligarchs, and neither side is winning.

by Siva Vaidhyanathan 2004

3.50

175 ratings

🛡️ Digital Rights ⚖️ Copyright Politics 🏛️ Cultural Commons

The Right to Oblivion

by Lowry Pressly • 2024

Privacy isn't about controlling your data. It's about keeping whole regions of life unrecordable.

4.01

254

👁️ Surveillance Studies ⚙️ Philosophy Of Technology 🔒 Digital Privacy

The Right to Oblivion 85%

Privacy isn't about controlling your data. It's about keeping whole regions of life unrecordable.

by Lowry Pressly 2024

4.01

254 ratings

👁️ Surveillance Studies ⚙️ Philosophy Of Technology 🔒 Digital Privacy

Stoic Philosophy and the Control Problem of AI Technology

by Edward H. Spence • 2021

We're building superintelligence without a control plan. Stoicism has one.

4.50

🏛️ Modern Stoicism 🤖 Ai Ethics 🎯 Ai Alignment

Stoic Philosophy and the Control Problem of AI Technology Summary

Stoic Philosophy and the Control Problem of AI Technology 85%

We're building superintelligence without a control plan. Stoicism has one.

by Edward H. Spence 2021

4.50

2 ratings

🏛️ Modern Stoicism 🤖 Ai Ethics 🎯 Ai Alignment

The People's Platform

by Astra Taylor • 2012

Digital abundance set culture free and made it cheap. Platforms got rich; creators got precarious.

4.04

610

🖥️ Internet Culture 🏭 Platform Capitalism 👁️ Attention Economy

The People's Platform 85%

Digital abundance set culture free and made it cheap. Platforms got rich; creators got precarious.

by Astra Taylor 2012

4.04

610 ratings

🖥️ Internet Culture 🏭 Platform Capitalism 👁️ Attention Economy

The World Beyond Your Head

by Matthew B. Crawford • 2015

Your attention is being strip-mined by design. The way out is physical, skilled, and shared.

3.79

3k+

💰 Attention Economy 🔍 Phenomenology 👤 Embodied Cognition

The World Beyond Your Head 85%

Your attention is being strip-mined by design. The way out is physical, skilled, and shared.

by Matthew B. Crawford 2015

3.79

3k+ ratings

💰 Attention Economy 🔍 Phenomenology 👤 Embodied Cognition

Being Digital

by Nicholas Negroponte • 1995

Why your TV, newspaper, and phone are about to merge into one seamless stream of bits.

3.80

2k+

💻 Digital Transformation 📡 Media Convergence 🎛️ Interface Design

Being Digital 85%

Why your TV, newspaper, and phone are about to merge into one seamless stream of bits.

by Nicholas Negroponte 1995

3.80

2k+ ratings

💻 Digital Transformation 📡 Media Convergence 🎛️ Interface Design

Technopoly

by Neil Postman • 1992

When a culture worships its tools, the old stories that held it together quietly disappear.

3.97

5k+

🎙️ Media Ecology 💻 Technology Criticism 📊 Information Overload

Technopoly 85%

When a culture worships its tools, the old stories that held it together quietly disappear.

by Neil Postman 1992

3.97

5k+ ratings

🎙️ Media Ecology 💻 Technology Criticism 📊 Information Overload

In Emergency, Break Glass

by Nate Anderson • 2022

Nietzsche saw your smartphone coming: the 19th-century antidote to an age of endless scrolling.

3.91

323

🏛️ Applied Philosophy 🔧 Technology Critique 📱 Attention Economy

In Emergency, Break Glass 85%

Nietzsche saw your smartphone coming: the 19th-century antidote to an age of endless scrolling.

by Nate Anderson 2022

3.91

323 ratings

🏛️ Applied Philosophy 🔧 Technology Critique 📱 Attention Economy

How to Thrive in the Digital Age

by Tom Chatfield • 2012

Your phone rewired your brain. The repair is a humanist reset, not a detox.

3.08

598

🧘 Digital Wellbeing 🧠 Attention Management 📖 Digital Literacy

How to Thrive in the Digital Age Summary

How to Thrive in the Digital Age 85%

Your phone rewired your brain. The repair is a humanist reset, not a detox.

by Tom Chatfield 2012

3.08

598 ratings

🧘 Digital Wellbeing 🧠 Attention Management 📖 Digital Literacy

Digimodernism

by Alan Kirby • 2009

The internet did not just add screens. It ended postmodernism and installed a new cultural logic.

3.49

🖥️ Digital Culture 📡 Media Theory 🔄 Postmodernism Critique

Digimodernism 85%

The internet did not just add screens. It ended postmodernism and installed a new cultural logic.

by Alan Kirby 2009

3.49

78 ratings

🖥️ Digital Culture 📡 Media Theory 🔄 Postmodernism Critique

Time Management for System Administrators

by Thomas A. Limoncelli • 2005

Your brain is not a ticketing system. Capture everything, script the rest, and leave at five.

4.21

1k+

🖥️ It Operations 💼 Tech Careers 🛑 Interruption Management

Time Management for System Administrators Summary

Time Management for System Administrators 85%

Your brain is not a ticketing system. Capture everything, script the rest, and leave at five.

by Thomas A. Limoncelli 2005

4.21

1k+ ratings

🖥️ It Operations 💼 Tech Careers 🛑 Interruption Management

The End of Absence

by Michael Harris • 2014

The last generation to know life before the internet reveals what constant connection has hidden.

3.63

2k+

🌐 Internet Criticism 📺 Media Ecology 🧠 Attention Economy

The End of Absence 85%

The last generation to know life before the internet reveals what constant connection has hidden.

by Michael Harris 2014

3.63

2k+ ratings

🌐 Internet Criticism 📺 Media Ecology 🧠 Attention Economy

"I Have Nothing to Hide"

by Heidi Boghosian • 2021

Mass surveillance survives on one belief: privacy is for wrongdoers. Twenty myths keep it expanding.

3.64

191

🛰️ Mass Surveillance 🔒 Digital Privacy 🏢 Corporate Surveillance

"I Have Nothing to Hide" 85%

Mass surveillance survives on one belief: privacy is for wrongdoers. Twenty myths keep it expanding.

by Heidi Boghosian 2021

3.64

191 ratings

🛰️ Mass Surveillance 🔒 Digital Privacy 🏢 Corporate Surveillance

The Art of Invisibility

by Kevin D. Mitnick • 2017

From encrypted messages to burner devices, a hacker guide to vanishing from always-on surveillance.

3.98

5k+

🛡️ Digital Privacy 🔒 Operational Security 👁️ Mass Surveillance

The Art of Invisibility 85%

From encrypted messages to burner devices, a hacker guide to vanishing from always-on surveillance.

by Kevin D. Mitnick 2017

3.98

5k+ ratings

🛡️ Digital Privacy 🔒 Operational Security 👁️ Mass Surveillance

Born Digital

by John Palfrey • 2008

When childhood happens online, identity is public, privacy erodes, and creativity becomes remix.

3.62

1k+

🌐 Digital Culture 🔬 Internet And Society 👤 Digital Identity

Born Digital 85%

When childhood happens online, identity is public, privacy erodes, and creativity becomes remix.

by John Palfrey 2008

3.62

1k+ ratings

🌐 Digital Culture 🔬 Internet And Society 👤 Digital Identity

Tribe of Hackers

by Marcus J. Carey • 2019

The cybersecurity insight too many ignore: secure your people, not just your network.

3.90

262

👤 Human Element 🔐 Security Fundamentals 🌐 Community Building

Tribe of Hackers 85%

The cybersecurity insight too many ignore: secure your people, not just your network.

by Marcus J. Carey 2019

3.90

262 ratings

👤 Human Element 🔐 Security Fundamentals 🌐 Community Building

Please Unsubscribe, Thanks!

by Julio Vincent Gambuto • 2023

The economy runs on your distraction. The plan for unsubscribing from everything that drains you.

3.47

1k+

🧹 Digital Detox 🛒 Consumer Culture 📡 Attention Economy

Please Unsubscribe, Thanks! 85%

The economy runs on your distraction. The plan for unsubscribing from everything that drains you.

by Julio Vincent Gambuto 2023

3.47

1k+ ratings

🧹 Digital Detox 🛒 Consumer Culture 📡 Attention Economy

Observability Engineering

by Charity Majors • 2022

Your dashboards only know yesterday's failures. Here's how to debug the ones nobody predicted.

3.72

319

🔍 Observability 🏗️ Site Reliability Engineering 🌐 Distributed Systems

Observability Engineering 85%

Your dashboards only know yesterday's failures. Here's how to debug the ones nobody predicted.

by Charity Majors 2022

3.72

319 ratings

🔍 Observability 🏗️ Site Reliability Engineering 🌐 Distributed Systems

TikTok Boom

by Chris Stokel-Walker • 2021

China built the world's most addictive app. The algorithm knows you better than your friends do.

3.72

191

🏛️ Tech Geopolitics 💰 Creator Economy 🤖 Algorithmic Curation

TikTok Boom 85%

China built the world's most addictive app. The algorithm knows you better than your friends do.

by Chris Stokel-Walker 2021

3.72

191 ratings

🏛️ Tech Geopolitics 💰 Creator Economy 🤖 Algorithmic Curation

Lurking

by Joanne McNeil • 2020

Quiet observers were the heart of the early web. Then the internet turned them into data.

3.75

889

🕰️ Internet History 💻 Digital Culture 🌐 Online Communities

Lurking 85%

Quiet observers were the heart of the early web. Then the internet turned them into data.

by Joanne McNeil 2020

3.75

889 ratings

🕰️ Internet History 💻 Digital Culture 🌐 Online Communities

The Internet of Us

by Michael Patrick Lynch • 2016

Why the age of unlimited data is making it harder, not easier, to agree on what counts as evidence.

3.50

545

🔍 Epistemology 💻 Digital Culture 📚 Information Overload

The Internet of Us 85%

Why the age of unlimited data is making it harder, not easier, to agree on what counts as evidence.

by Michael Patrick Lynch 2016

3.50

545 ratings

🔍 Epistemology 💻 Digital Culture 📚 Information Overload

Twitter and Tear Gas

by Zeynep Tufekci • 2017

Twitter can fill a square overnight. Why that speed so often leads to a movement's collapse.

4.08

1k+

🧑‍💻 Digital Activism 📢 Attention Economics 🛡️ Information Warfare

Twitter and Tear Gas 85%

Twitter can fill a square overnight. Why that speed so often leads to a movement's collapse.

by Zeynep Tufekci 2017

4.08

1k+ ratings

🧑‍💻 Digital Activism 📢 Attention Economics 🛡️ Information Warfare

How to Do Nothing

by Jenny Odell • 2019

Your attention is being mined. The most radical response: do nothing.

3.65

57k+

💸 Attention Economy 📵 Digital Detox ✊ Quiet Resistance

How to Do Nothing 85%

Your attention is being mined. The most radical response: do nothing.

by Jenny Odell 2019

3.65

57k+ ratings

💸 Attention Economy 📵 Digital Detox ✊ Quiet Resistance

Efficient Music Production

by Ashley Hewitt • 2020

Why your home studio sabotages your output, and the optimization playbook for finishing more music.

2.90

🎧 Music Production ⚙️ Creative Workflow 🌊 Flow State

Efficient Music Production 85%

Why your home studio sabotages your output, and the optimization playbook for finishing more music.

by Ashley Hewitt 2020

2.90

10 ratings

🎧 Music Production ⚙️ Creative Workflow 🌊 Flow State

You Are Not a Gadget

by Jaron Lanier • 2010

The internet reduces people to data points. The people who built it call that wisdom.

3.57

6k+

🖥️ Digital Criticism 🧑‍💻 Tech Humanism 🤔 Technoskepticism

You Are Not a Gadget 85%

The internet reduces people to data points. The people who built it call that wisdom.

by Jaron Lanier 2010

3.57

6k+ ratings

🖥️ Digital Criticism 🧑‍💻 Tech Humanism 🤔 Technoskepticism

Filterworld

by Kyle Chayka • 2024

Your Netflix queue reshapes what artists make: the global aesthetic is now algorithm-friendly.

3.62

5k+

🔄 Algorithmic Curation 🏛️ Cultural Homogenization 👀 Attention Economy

Filterworld 85%

Your Netflix queue reshapes what artists make: the global aesthetic is now algorithm-friendly.

by Kyle Chayka 2024

3.62

5k+ ratings

🔄 Algorithmic Curation 🏛️ Cultural Homogenization 👀 Attention Economy

Information Is Beautiful

by David McCandless • 2001

Concept is the secret: why a simple, clever data drawing can reveal more than a supercomputer.

4.12

4k+

📊 Data Visualization 🎨 Data Art 👁️ Visual Literacy

Information Is Beautiful 85%

Concept is the secret: why a simple, clever data drawing can reveal more than a supercomputer.

by David McCandless 2001

4.12

4k+ ratings

📊 Data Visualization 🎨 Data Art 👁️ Visual Literacy

The Inner History of Devices

by Sherry Turkle • 2008

Your devices are confidants, not just tools. What they reveal about the self you're becoming.

3.83

🧠 Technology And Self 📱 Digital Intimacy 🎭 Online Identity

The Inner History of Devices 85%

Your devices are confidants, not just tools. What they reveal about the self you're becoming.

by Sherry Turkle 2008

3.83

81 ratings

🧠 Technology And Self 📱 Digital Intimacy 🎭 Online Identity

The Extinction of Experience

by Christine Rosen • 2024

The price of a seamless life: you lose patience, presence, and the ability to read a face.

3.65

2k+

📱 Digital Culture 🎯 Attention Economy 🗣 Technology Criticism

The Extinction of Experience 85%

The price of a seamless life: you lose patience, presence, and the ability to read a face.

by Christine Rosen 2024

3.65

2k+ ratings

📱 Digital Culture 🎯 Attention Economy 🗣 Technology Criticism

Privacy is Power

by Carissa Véliz • 2020

Your data is not the product; it's the toxic spill that's eroding your freedom.

4.02

1k+

🔒 Digital Privacy 💰 Data Economy 📹 Mass Surveillance

Privacy is Power 85%

Your data is not the product; it's the toxic spill that's eroding your freedom.

by Carissa Véliz 2020

4.02

1k+ ratings

🔒 Digital Privacy 💰 Data Economy 📹 Mass Surveillance

Liquid Surveillance

by Zygmunt Bauman • 2012

Surveillance has gone from prison tower to loyalty card: fluid, seductive, and nearly invisible.

3.80

490

👁️ Surveillance Studies 🔒 Digital Privacy 🏛️ Post-Panoptic Theory

Liquid Surveillance 85%

Surveillance has gone from prison tower to loyalty card: fluid, seductive, and nearly invisible.

by Zygmunt Bauman 2012

3.80

490 ratings

👁️ Surveillance Studies 🔒 Digital Privacy 🏛️ Post-Panoptic Theory

We Are Anonymous

by Parmy Olson • 2012

The internet's most notorious hacker collective was run by an FBI informant for eight months.

3.97

3k+

🏴 Hacktivist History 🌐 Digital Insurgency 🎭 Online Anonymity

We Are Anonymous 85%

The internet's most notorious hacker collective was run by an FBI informant for eight months.

by Parmy Olson 2012

3.97

3k+ ratings

🏴 Hacktivist History 🌐 Digital Insurgency 🎭 Online Anonymity

Golden

by Justin Zorn • 2022

Silence heals the brain. Justice requires it. We've engineered a world that forbids both.

3.86

547

🏦 Attention Economy 🧘 Inner Silence 👂 Active Listening

Golden 84%

Silence heals the brain. Justice requires it. We've engineered a world that forbids both.

by Justin Zorn 2022

3.86

547 ratings

🏦 Attention Economy 🧘 Inner Silence 👂 Active Listening

Paid Attention

by Faris Yakob • 2015

Brands used to buy attention. Now they must earn it with myth, emotion, and ideas people share.

3.86

224

📢 Advertising Strategy 🏗️ Brand Building ⏳ Attention Economics

Paid Attention 84%

Brands used to buy attention. Now they must earn it with myth, emotion, and ideas people share.

by Faris Yakob 2015

3.86

224 ratings

📢 Advertising Strategy 🏗️ Brand Building ⏳ Attention Economics

Hamlet's BlackBerry

by William Powers • 2010

Writing, print, telegraph: each sparked an overload crisis. The old solutions still work.

3.59

2k+

🌊 Digital Overload ⚖️ Tech-Life Balance 🧹 Digital Minimalism

Hamlet's BlackBerry 84%

Writing, print, telegraph: each sparked an overload crisis. The old solutions still work.

by William Powers 2010

3.59

2k+ ratings

🌊 Digital Overload ⚖️ Tech-Life Balance 🧹 Digital Minimalism

Without Their Permission

by Alexis Ohanian • 2013

A college project became a top-ten site. Why that path is open to everyone.

3.70

2k+

🚀 Tech Startups 🌐 Internet Culture 📖 Founder Memoir

Without Their Permission 84%

A college project became a top-ten site. Why that path is open to everyone.

by Alexis Ohanian 2013

3.70

2k+ ratings

🚀 Tech Startups 🌐 Internet Culture 📖 Founder Memoir

Everyday Chaos

by David Weinberger • 2019

A medical AI diagnoses illness but can't explain how. The age of demanding explanations is over.

3.78

202

🔬 Complexity Science 🔄 Systems Thinking 🤖 Machine Learning

Everyday Chaos 84%

A medical AI diagnoses illness but can't explain how. The age of demanding explanations is over.

by David Weinberger 2019

3.78

202 ratings

🔬 Complexity Science 🔄 Systems Thinking 🤖 Machine Learning

Amusing Ourselves to Death

by Neil Postman • 1985

Television didn't just entertain us. It rewired how we think, argue, and vote.

4.17

40k+

🎙️ Media Ecology 📺 Media Criticism 🧩 Fragmented Attention

Amusing Ourselves to Death 84%

Television didn't just entertain us. It rewired how we think, argue, and vote.

by Neil Postman 1985

4.17

40k+ ratings

🎙️ Media Ecology 📺 Media Criticism 🧩 Fragmented Attention

The Inevitable

by Kevin Kelly • 2016

Twelve forces are bending civilization in one direction, and we have just left the gate.

3.89

12k+

🔄 Digital Economy 🔮 Technological Forecasting 📊 Information Economy

The Inevitable 84%

Twelve forces are bending civilization in one direction, and we have just left the gate.

by Kevin Kelly 2016

3.89

12k+ ratings

🔄 Digital Economy 🔮 Technological Forecasting 📊 Information Economy

The Spotify Play

by Sven Carlsson • 2019

How Spotify used a free music catalog to outmaneuver Apple, Google, and Amazon.

3.53

2k+

🎵 Music Industry 🚀 Startup Playbooks 💻 Digital Media

The Spotify Play 84%

How Spotify used a free music catalog to outmaneuver Apple, Google, and Amazon.

by Sven Carlsson 2019

3.53

2k+ ratings

🎵 Music Industry 🚀 Startup Playbooks 💻 Digital Media

Privacy in the Age of Big Data

by Theresa Payton • 2014

Your devices watch everything you do. Here is what they collect and how to stop it.

3.56

112

🔒 Digital Privacy 👁️ Data Surveillance 📊 Personal Data

Privacy in the Age of Big Data 84%

Your devices watch everything you do. Here is what they collect and how to stop it.

by Theresa Payton 2014

3.56

112 ratings

🔒 Digital Privacy 👁️ Data Surveillance 📊 Personal Data

The News

by Alain de Botton • 2014

Modern news breeds panic and distraction. A humanistic guide to staying sane amid the headlines.

3.58

3k+

📰 Media Criticism 🧠 Media Literacy ⚠️ Negativity Bias

The News 84%

Modern news breeds panic and distraction. A humanistic guide to staying sane amid the headlines.

by Alain de Botton 2014

3.58

3k+ ratings

📰 Media Criticism 🧠 Media Literacy ⚠️ Negativity Bias

Program or Be Programmed

by Douglas Rushkoff • 2010

Digital tools have biases. If you can't read their code, someone else writes your behavior.

3.72

2k+

🌐 Media Ecology ⚖️ Technological Bias 🎮 Digital Agency

Program or Be Programmed 84%

Digital tools have biases. If you can't read their code, someone else writes your behavior.

by Douglas Rushkoff 2010

3.72

2k+ ratings

🌐 Media Ecology ⚖️ Technological Bias 🎮 Digital Agency

Noise

by Joseph McCormack • 2019

Noise is rewiring your brain and nobody is immune. The practical blueprint for reclaiming focus.

3.62

242

🎯 Attention Management 📱 Digital Wellness 📚 Information Overload

Noise 84%

Noise is rewiring your brain and nobody is immune. The practical blueprint for reclaiming focus.

by Joseph McCormack 2019

3.62

242 ratings

🎯 Attention Management 📱 Digital Wellness 📚 Information Overload

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