Machine Politics

Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life. The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control.

The second novel in the wildly popular First Law Trilogy from New York Times bestseller Joe Abercrombie. Superior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a...

The New York Times bestselling first book in Joe Abercrombie's The Age of Madness Trilogy where the age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. The chimneys of industry rise over Adua and the world seethes with new opportunities. But old scores run deep as ever. On the...

The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.

A galaxy on the brink of collapse. An order hunted from all sides. Ancient powers awakening in the Astral deep. And one mission that could doom — or save — everything. Now available in audiobook format — featuring Amazon’s Virtual Voice edition. The Dominion War Complete Series (Books 1–4) An epic, multi-faction space opera where Astral powers, political betrayal, and ancient enemies ignite a war that could consume the galaxy. Across a fractured galaxy, the balance of power is failing. The Edo — an elite order of Astral-sensitive warriors sworn to uphold peace — stand isolated...

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER A vital exploration as we head into the 2026 midterm elections of how right-wing extremism, media manipulation, and ideological echo chambers have eroded critical thinking and deepened political divisions—and how we can fight back to save our...

Will a culture of machines out-compete a culture of humanity? In this thought-provoking but ultimately hopeful book, scholar and leading technology critic Gry Hasselbalch invites listeners to reflect on the shifting dynamics between humans and the AI-powered technologies increasingly shaping our...

An invaluable guide to understanding how the internet has broken our brains—and what we can do to fix it. "Vivid and unforgettable.” ―Jonathan Haidt, New York Times bestselling author of The Righteous Mind The original internet was not designed to make us upset, distracted, confused, and...

A fragile peace gives way to conspiracy, betrayal, and rebellion in this sequel to the New York Times bestselling A Little Hatred from epic fantasy master Joe Abercrombie. Peace is just another kind of battlefield . . . Savine dan Glokta, once Adua's most powerful investor, finds her judgement...

A landmark insider’s tour of how social media affects our decision-making and shapes our world in ways both useful and dangerous, with critical ideas on how to protect ourselves in the 2020 election and beyond MIT professor Sinan Aral isn’t only one of the world’s leading experts on...

For decades, history has considered Tammany Hall, New York's famous political machine, shorthand for the worst of urban politics: graft, crime, and patronage personified by notoriously corrupt characters. Infamous crooks like William "Boss" Tweed dominate traditional histories of Tammany, distorting our understanding of a critical chapter of American political history. In Machine Made, historian and New York City journalist Terry Golway convincingly dismantles these stereotypes.

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Little Hatred comes a stunning fantasy novel that finds the world in an unstoppable revolution where heroes have nothing left to lose as darkness and destruction overtake everything. Chaos. Fury. Destruction. The Great Change is upon us . . . Some...

The cells in our bodies consist of molecules, made up of the same carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms found in air and rocks. But molecules, such as water and sugar, are not alive. So how do our cells - assemblies of otherwise "dead" molecules - come to life, and together constitute a living being? In Life’s Ratchet, physicist Peter M. Hoffmann locates the answer to this age-old question at the nanoscale.

What does it actually mean to be rational? Not Hollywood-style "rational", where you forsake all human feeling to embrace Cold Hard Logic, but where you make good decisions, even when it's hard; where you reason well, even in the face of massive uncertainty; where you recognize and make full use of your fuzzy intuitions and emotions, rather than trying to discard them. In Rationality: From AI to Zombies, Eliezer Yudkowsky explains the science underlying human irrationality with a mix of fables, argumentative essays, and personal vignettes.

An unvarnished and immersive dive into the world of conspiracy theories, propaganda, and disinformation from a former Infowars insider caught in the orbit of Alex Jones’s madness. At twenty-four-years old, Josh Owens dropped out of film school when a job offer arrived from the very world that...

 Lie Machines is full of riveting behind-the-scenes stories from the world's biggest and most damagingly successful misinformation initiatives - including those used in Brexit and US elections. Howard not only shows how these campaigns evolved from older propaganda operations, but also exposes their new powers, gives us insight into their effectiveness, and shows us how to shut them down. 

THE OPTIMISTIC BOOK PEOPLE HAND TO SOMEONE WHO’S AFRAID OF AI. In 1920s England if you wanted to be woken up on time to get to your job at the factory, you had to hire a ‘knocker-upper’—a guy who drags a big wooden stick around town and knocks on your window. Then, the alarm clock arrived, and the knocker-uppers were left asking, ‘what are we worth now?’ Now, AI is here to do the same thing the alarm clock did to the knocker-uppers, but this time it’s the doctors, lawyers, accountants, designers, developers, teachers and business owners. It’s every job that can be done on a computer.

In this prize-winning essay for the 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest, Dr. Ruickbie examines the evidence for the survival of consciousness after death (“life after death”). Initially skeptical, he found that there was sufficient evidence from a wide variety of sources, including apparitions, reincarnation, near-death experiences, after-death communication, and premonitions, that met the contest’s criteria of being “beyond reasonable doubt.”

When a deadly terrorist attack devastates Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, the ensuing tragedy rocks the nation. And after a case of writer’s block pushes her back to the force, police officer-cum-crime writer Julia Malmros is eager to help. Julia’s ex-husband, Jonny Munther, leads the investigation. And although she’s been assigned to more peripheral duties, her personal connection to the case makes it impossible to stay on the sidelines. Julia’s determined to get to the heart of the crime. Then tragedy strikes again—this time, at a mosque.

A magisterial intellectual history of the last century of American conservatism. "A superb work of scholarship and a delight to read." —Wall Street Journal When most people think of the history of modern conservatism, they think of Ronald Reagan. Yet this narrow view leaves many to question...