author of Blood in the Machine, tech writer, luddite newsletter: https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/ books: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/brian-merchant/ kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/brianmerchanthttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mvtm5vffus2kOne of my first writing gigs was as a climate blogger. When I was coming up, Joe Romm was the north star; fast, sharp, unyielding. His Climate Progress was the OG green blog. I'd often cite his work—and he'd nearly just as often email me to argue a finer point. A real fighter, and a real loss. [contains quote post or other embedded content]19 Sep 2026 02:11 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvtm5vffus2khttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mvixphtdhc2tThis conversation with @naomiaklein.bsky.social and @astra.bsky.social couldn't be more timely. With the AI industry talking about *its own products' potential to cause human extinction* we drill into who might still want to build such technology, and why. Hint: it's in the title of their new book. https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-may-kill-all-humans-industry-leaders14 Sep 2026 20:38 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvixphtdhc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mv3yvkepdc2tYou know what you're doing is good when you have to develop an in-house, real-time surveillance system to help your executives locate the ideal service exit to avoid contact with the public https://prospect.org/2026/09/09/anthropic-artificial-intelligence-surveillance-system-monitor-activists/09 Sep 2026 16:55 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3yvkepdc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mv2thpr4hc27Turned on the Alcaraz/Shelton game to "check the score" and well that was an hour and a half ago and I have been been unable to look away09 Sep 2026 05:45 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv2thpr4hc27https://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3muzzmehjgc2gHad a great chat with @alexhanna.bsky.social about the rising discontentment with AI among workers, her findings from running the Luddite Lab, which gives workers interested in resisting AI resources and support, and a lot more https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-real-ai-jobs-apocalypse08 Sep 2026 22:02 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzzmehjgc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3muq4f6544c2gAn author just emailed me a pitch for his new book, RECLAIM YOUR MIND, that was 100% AI-generated.04 Sep 2026 23:25 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3muq4f6544c2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3munm6ekt2s2sNice essay from @edwardongwesojr.com here https://www.thetechbubble.info/p/the-future-is-not-tech-forward03 Sep 2026 23:30 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3munm6ekt2s2shttps://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mungs3txjs27Across the US, workers are souring on AI. The tech industry has insisted that AI would make workers’ lives easier and more productive, that the more people understood and used AI, the more they would like it. Something closer to the opposite has happened. https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/why-office-workers-are-turning-against03 Sep 2026 21:53 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mungs3txjs27https://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mun54onfkc27What a great event this was, hosted by the inimitable @jomc.bsky.social. Two booksellers, a librarian, Joanne (an author and writer) and myself discussed the implications of AI companies' mass book harvesting operations, of seeing books vacuumed up and converted into LLMs [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 19:00 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mun54onfkc27https://bsky.app/profile/bcmerchant.bsky.social/post/3mul2436oyk2zThis is the way [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Sep 2026 23:01 +0000at://did:plc:j7tdfjsbop2oq7cghfbdwvqq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mul2436oyk2z