Writing

The world's largest encyclopedia became the factual foundation of the web, but now it is under attack.

Millions of people are turning to AI for companionship. They are finding the experience surprisingly meaningful, unexpectedly heartbreaking, and profoundly confusing, leaving them to wonder, "Is this real? And does that matter?"

The invisible seafaring industry keeping the internet afloat.

As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere.

Exploited by apps, attacked by thieves, unprotected by cops. The city's 65,000 bikers have only themselves to count on.

The strange world of high-speed semi-automated genre fiction.

Inside Foxconn's empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises.

In warehouses, call centers, and other sectors, intelligent machines are managing humans, and they're making work more stressful, grueling, and dangerous.

To stock Amazon's shelves, merchants travel the backroads of America in search of rare soap and coveted toys.

How the tiny town of Roundup, Montana, became a hub in Amazon's supply chain.

Dirty dealing in the $175 billion Amazon Marketplace.

On the front lines of humanity's high-tech, global war on rats.

Miami Beach has run out of sand. Now what?

Meet the scientists chasing clouds to figure out climate change.

How the Awl is navigating (and commenting on) a changing internet.

Last summer, Foxconn announced a barrage of new projects in Wisconsin — so we went looking for them.

How do you cool 7.5 billion people on a warming planet?

How Uber and its peers turned us into horrible bosses.

Inside the pollination industry and how it has coped with massive die-offs.