Decade of Disillusion
The Decade We Learned There’s No Such Thing as Privacy Online
And a corrupt U.S. government seems incapable and unwilling to do anything about it.
How We Got the Always-On Job
The decade we got the gig economy, hustle culture, and algorithmic bosses.
How the Smartphone Became Boring
They’re a lot less impressive when they’re everywhere. Here’s how the smartphone went from innovation icon to standard component.
How the Entertainment Industry Solved Piracy, Then Made It Popular Again
Streaming services are starting to look a lot like cable packages.
This Decade We Became Really, Really Sure Climate Change Is Real
In the last 10 years, our climate models have gotten much better and they all tell us the same thing: We have to act now.
The 2010s Killed Off the Polite Climate Change Conversation
The decade that began with the defeat of a relatively moderate climate bill is ending amid calls for capitalism to be dismantled.
In the 2010s, Getting High Became Even More Profitable and Terrifying
At the beginning of the decade, the online drug trade opened its floodgates. At the end, U.S. cities started decriminalizing magic mushrooms. This is how the last ten years turned the illegal drug industry upside down.
How the 2010s Taught Us to Hate the Rich
From the gig economy to supervillains like Martin Shkreli to the college cheating scandal, this is the story of "late capitalism" coming to life.