A weekly newsletter that tells the story of how tech companies became unelected governments and what to do about it, by former Google executive and 30-year Internet veteran Jonathan Bellack.

Posts

Aug 14, 2026

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6 min read

Summer field trip 2.1: two mythic tales of Sridhar Ramaswamy, former Google Ads chief

In the spirit of Odysseus, I’m sailing the seas of Google corporate culture for the next three weeks. Today, how senior executives, like the Gods, shaped the fate of billions even when they weren’t in the room.

Jul 31, 2026

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4 min read

News round-up: New York, France, & Google jump on the child-safety bandwagon; Meta, Tiktok, & Discord auto-moderation goes rampant

Online age verification keeps accelerating with a major new EU report and a new Android feature. Creators and regular users continue to take it on the chin from platform moderation errors. Plus, I preview this year’s summer field trip.

Jul 24, 2026

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5 min read

What if the path to open social media runs through creators, not communities?

In 1992, Marvel’s top artists flexed their power to break the comic book industry wide open. The best way to open up the Internet today might be to get today’s biggest creators on our side in the same way.

Jul 17, 2026

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6 min read

Explainer #8: what connects the creator economy, Spider-Man, and the English Civil War?

In the 1600s, Parliament fought for democracy against the divine right of kings. The most radical rebels of the time have lessons for today’s online creators, via the founding of Image Comics in 1992.

Jul 10, 2026

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5 min read

Palantir's Alex Karp goes full Galaxy Brain, and the US Supreme Court gets something right for once

I am back from vacation and ready to take gratuitous potshots at Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s 20-minute free-associating rant on CNBC. Plus, a big win for online rights at the US Supreme Court (which I previewed back in March)!