The web is bearable with RSS (permalink) ![rw-book-cover](https://readwise-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/static/images/article2.74d541386bbf.png) > [!note]+ Document Notes > > --- > tags: [rss, web, attention-economy] > author: Cory Doctorow > source: pluralistic.net > reference: [https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#personal-disenshittification] > date created: 2026-03-09 14:30 > --- > # 🏷️ Title: The web is bearable with RSS (permalink) > ## 🧭 Table of Contents > - [📝 Summary](#-summary) > - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) > - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) > - [📚 References](#-references) > - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) > - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) > - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) > - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) > - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) > - [❓ Questions](#-questions) > - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) > - [💡 Implications](#-implications) > - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) > - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) > - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) > - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) > - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) > - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) > ### 🔗 References > - Include links cited in or relevant to the article. > ## 📝 Summary > - What happened. > - Why it matters. > - Key stakeholders. > - Risks and tradeoffs. > - Bottom line. > ## 📖 Main Content > - Explain the core arguments in plain language. > - Add sourced context and define terms. > - Note uncertainties or contested claims. > ### 🗒️ Notes > - RSS provides a user-controlled way to follow sites without algorithmic feeds. > - Social platforms and “engagement” feeds displaced RSS for many users. > - The article argues this shift increased tracking, ads, and “enshittification.” > - Using RSS/reader modes is framed as personal “dis-enshittification” of the web. > - Emphasis on open standards, local control, and resilience against platform collapse. > ## 📚 References > - [The web is bearable with RSS](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#personal-disenshittification) > - [RSS 2.0 Specification](https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html) > - [Feedbin – hosted RSS reader](https://feedbin.com/) > - [FreshRSS – self-hosted RSS reader](https://freshrss.org/) > ## 🗣️ Paraphrase > - The author explains that the modern web became hostile as platforms took over content discovery, but open tools like RSS let users reclaim control. > - They recommend practical steps—using feed readers and open standards—to bypass manipulative feeds and make the web calmer, faster, and more trustworthy. > ## 📰 Newsletter > RSS Is Still Your Best Algorithm-Free Feed > Tired of chaotic social timelines and clickbait? Cory Doctorow’s “The web is bearable with RSS” is a reminder that open standards still work. RSS readers give you a clean, chronological feed of sites, including your favorite WordPress blogs. > If you run WordPress, make sure your feeds are solid: > - Default feeds: `https://example.com/feed/` > - Category/tag feeds: `.../category/foo/feed/` > - Use plugins like “MailPoet” or “Newsletter” to turn posts into email digests. > - For power users, pair a reader like Feedbin or FreshRSS with your WordPress site to monitor updates across your stack—core releases, plugins, and security advisories—without social noise. > Rebuilding your reading habit on RSS is a small, high‑leverage step toward a calmer, more open web. > ## ✅ Action Items > #### DevRel > - Document and demo how to consume project updates via RSS instead of proprietary feeds. > - Offer workshops on “developer dashboards” built from RSS (releases, issues, incidents). > - Maintain SDK/docs update feeds and highlight them in onboarding. > - Run campaigns around “own your feed” for developer audiences. > - Survey community on preferred RSS endpoints and missing feeds. > #### OSPO > - Publish policy that all major internal/open projects expose stable RSS/Atom feeds. > - Track license and policy change logs via machine-readable feeds. > - Use feeds for vulnerability advisories and embargo notifications. > - Maintain an inventory of project feeds alongside SBOMs. > - Support upstream projects that keep open feeds and public changelogs. > #### Community > - Encourage maintainers to publish roadmaps and release notes via RSS. > - Provide “Start here” guides for contributors using feeds to follow activity. > - Share transparent sponsor reports through dedicated update feeds. > - Coordinate cross-project security or incident drills with shared advisory feeds. > #### WordPress > - Core: Ensure core/dev blogs and release posts have reliable RSS and are well-documented. > - Core Performance: Offer feeds for performance benchmarks and change summaries. > - Core AI: Publish policy and model-change updates as a dedicated feed. > - **Core Program Team:** Maintain a coordination and announcements feed for contributors. > - Mobile: Provide app release and changelog feeds; surface them in docs. > - Playground: Offer feeds for new examples, templates, and bugfixes. > - Community: Document event/meetup feeds and aggregate them. > - Training: Expose lesson plan and course update feeds. > - Marketing: Run “RSS-friendly” campaigns; avoid feed-breaking content formats. > - Support: Publish “known issues” and major troubleshooting updates via RSS. > - Design: Maintain pattern library and design system update feeds. > - Documentation: Ensure DevHub/HelpHub support stable per-section feeds. > - Photos: Offer feeds for new curated collections and guidelines. > - TV: Provide feeds for new talks and series. > - Polyglots: Publish locale update and sprint-announcement feeds. > - Accessibility: Maintain accessibility change log feed for core and themes. > - Meta: Ensure .org roadmap and infra updates have machine-readable feeds. > - CLI: Offer feeds for new commands and releases. > - Hosting: Maintain best-practices and incident-advisory feeds. > - Tide: Provide scoring rule changes and major metrics updates via RSS. > - Openverse: Feeds for new sources, policy changes, and major features. > - Themes: Feeds for new/default themes and key guideline updates. > - Plugins: Feeds for security advisories and important policy changes. > #### The WPCC > - Promote RSS-first communications for programs and grants. > - Offer feeds for funding calls, awardees, and postmortems. > - Use open feeds for governance clinics and documentation sprint updates. > - Pilot transparent funding streams whose ledgers are exposed via RSS. > ### FAIR > - Require that governance metadata and signatures are available through verifiable feeds. > - Document funding and sunset policies in publicly archived, syndicated channels. > - Maintain machine-readable “governance artifact” feeds (charters, scorecards, etc.). > ## 🧪 Hypotheses > - H1: Regular RSS users experience lower perceived algorithmic distraction than social-only users. > - H2: Sites with clear RSS endpoints retain readers longer than sites without feeds. > - H3: Developers who monitor projects via RSS respond faster to security updates. > - H4: WordPress publishers who promote RSS see more stable, long-term engagement. > - H5: RSS adoption correlates with higher trust in consumed information. > ### 📊 Methodology > - Run surveys comparing media habits and distraction levels between RSS/non-RSS users. > - A/B test sites with prominent vs. hidden feeds and measure return visits. > - Instrument alert-to-patch timelines for teams using RSS vs. email-only advisories. > - Analyze engagement metrics for blogs that promote feeds vs. those that don’t. > ### ❓ Questions > - How can RSS UX be modernized without recreating algorithmic feeds? > - What blockers prevent average users from adopting RSS today? > - How resilient are RSS-based ecosystems to platform shutdowns? > - Can RSS plus open search compete with modern social discovery? > ### 🔮 Future Research > - UX experiments for “RSS for non-technical users.” > - Evaluations of privacy gains from replacing social feeds with RSS. > - Studies on open standards’ role in information resilience during crises. > - Comparative analyses of decentralized vs. centralized content discovery. > ### 💡 Implications > - Practice: Individuals can reduce noise and tracking by centralizing reading in RSS. > - Policy: Regulators may see open feeds as part of interoperability remedies. > - Security: Feeds provide low-friction channels for advisories and patch notes. > - Education: Curricula can teach RSS as a fundamental web literacy skill. > - Funding: Supporting open-source feed readers and infrastructure has ecosyst [![](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/07Mar2026.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/) * [Object permanence](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#retro): Eyemodule x Disneyland; Scott Walker lies; Brother's demon-haunted printer; 4th Amendment luggage tape; Sanders x small donors v media; US police killings tallied. * [Recent appearances](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#recent): Where I've been. * [Latest books](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#latest): You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. * [Upcoming books](https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#upcoming-books): Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. ![An anatomical drawing of a cross-section of a man's head. The eyeball has been replaced by an RSS logo. To the left of the face is a 'code waterfall' effect as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movie. To the right are clouds of grey roiling clouds, infiltrating the brain as well.](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/rss-view.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)An anatomical drawing of a cross-section of a man's head. The eyeball has been replaced by an RSS logo. To the left of the face is a 'code waterfall' effect as seen in the credit sequences of the Wachowskis' 'Matrix' movie. To the right are clouds of grey roiling clouds, infiltrating the brain as well. Never let them tell you that enshittification was a mystery. Enshittification isn't downstream of the "iron laws of economics" or an unrealistic demand by "consumers" to get stuff for free. Enshittification comes from specific policy choices, made by named individuals, that had the foreseeable and foreseen result of making the web worse: <https://pluralistic.net/2025/10/07/take-it-easy/#but-take-it> Like, there was once a time when an ever-increasing proportion of web users kept tabs on what was going on with RSS. RSS is a simple, powerful way for websites to publish "feeds" of their articles, and for readers to subscribe to those feeds and get notified when something new was posted, and even read that new material right there in your RSS reader tab or app. RSS is simple and versatile. It's the backbone of podcasts (though Apple and Spotify have done their best to kill it, along with public broadcasters like the BBC, all of whom want you to switch to proprietary apps that spy on you and control you). It's how many automated processes communicate with one another, untouched by human hands. But above all, it's a way to find out when something new has been published on the web. RSS's liftoff was driven by Google, who released a great RSS reader called "Google Reader" in 2007. Reader was free and reliable, and other RSS readers struggled to compete with it, with the effect that most of us just ended up using Google's product, which made it even harder to launch a competitor. But in 2013, Google quietly knifed Reader. I've always found the timing suspicious: it came right in the middle of Google's desperate scramble to become Facebook, by means of a product called Google Plus (G+). Famously, Google product managers' bonuses depended on how much G+ engagement they drove, with the effect that every Google product suddenly sprouted G+ buttons that either did something stupid, or something that confusingly duplicated existing functionality (like commenting on Youtube videos). Google treated G+ as an existential priority, and for good reason. Google was running out of growth potential, having comprehensively conquered Search, and having repeatedly demonstrated that Search was a one-off success, with nearly every other made-in-Google product dying off. What successes Google could claim were far more modest, like Gmail, Google's Hotmail clone. Google augmented its growth by buying other peoples' companies (Blogger, YouTube, Maps, ad-tech, Docs, Android, etc), but its internal initiatives were turkeys. Eventually, Wall Street was going to conclude that Google had reached the end of its growth period, and Google's shares would fall to a fraction of their value, with a price-to-earnings ratio commensurate with a "mature" company. Google *needed* a new growth story, and "Google will conquer Facebook's market" was a pretty good one. After all, investors didn't have to speculate about whether Facebook was profitable, they could just look at Facebook's income statements, which Google proposed to transfer to its own balance sheet. The G+ full-court press was as much a narrative strategy as a business strategy: by tying product managers' bonuses to a metric that demonstrated G+'s rise, Google could convince Wall Street that they had a lot of growth on their horizon. Of course, tying individual executives' bonuses to making a number go up has a predictably perverse outcome. As Goodhart's law has it, "Any metric becomes a target, and then ceases to be a useful metric." As soon as key decision-makers' personal net worth depending on making the G+ number go up, they crammed G+ *everywhere* and started to sneak in ways to trigger unintentional G+ sessions. This still happens today – think of how often you accidentally invoke an unbanishable AI feature while using Google's products (and products from rival giant, moribund companies relying on an AI narrative to convince investors that they will continue to grow): <https://pluralistic.net/2025/05/02/kpis-off/#principal-agentic-ai-problem> Like I said, Google Reader died at the peak of Google's scramble to make the G+ number go up. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone at Google realized that Reader's core functionality (helping users discover, share and discuss interesting new web pages) was *exactly* the kind of thing Google wanted us to use G+ for, and so they killed Reader in a bid to drive us to the stalled-out service they'd bet the company on. If Google killed Reader in a bid to push users to discover and consume web pages using a proprietary social media service, they succeeded. Unfortunately, the social media service they pushed users into was *Facebook* – and G+ died shortly thereafter. For more than a decade, RSS has lain dormant. Many, many websites still emit RSS feeds. It's a default behavior for WordPress sites, for Ghost and Substack sites, for Tumblr and Medium, for Bluesky and Mastodon. You can follow edits to Wikipedia pages by RSS, and also updates to parcels that have been shipped to you through major couriers. Web builders like Jason Kottke continue to surface RSS feeds for elaborate, delightful blogrolls: <https://kottke.org/rolodex/> There are many good RSS readers. I've been paying for Newsblur since 2011, and consider the $36 I send them every year to be a very good investment: <https://newsblur.com/> But RSS continues to be a power user-coded niche, despite the fact that RSS readers are really easy to set up and – crucially – make *using* the web *much* easier. Last week, Caroline Crampton (co-editor of The Browser) wrote about her experiences using RSS: <https://www.carolinecrampton.com/the-view-from-rss/> As Crampton points out, much of the web (including some of the cruftiest, most enshittified websites) publish full-text RSS feeds, meaning that you can read their articles right there in your RSS reader, with no ads, no popups, no nag-screens asking you to sign up for a newsletter, verify your age, or submit to their terms of service. It's almost impossible to overstate how *superior* RSS is to the median web page. Imagine if the newsletters you followed were rendered with black, clear type on a plain white background (rather than the sadistically infinitesimal, greyed-out type that designers favor thanks to the unkillable urban legend that black type on a white screen causes eye-strain). Imagine reading the web without popups, without ads, without nag screens. Imagine reading the web without interruptors or "keep reading" links. Now, not every website publishes a fulltext feed. Often, you will just get a teaser, and if you want to read the whole article, you have to click through. I have a few tips for making other websites – even ones like Wired and The Intercept – as easy to read as an RSS reader, at least for Firefox users. Firefox has a built-in "Reader View" that re-renders the contents of a web-page as black type on a white background. Firefox does some kind of mysterious calculation to determine whether a page can be displayed in Reader View, but you can override this with the Activate Reader View, which adds a Reader View toggle for every page: <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/activate-reader-view/> Lots of websites (like The Guardian) want you to login before you can read them, and even if you pay to subscribe to them, these sites often want you to re-login every time you visit them (especially if you're running a full suite of privacy blockers). You can skip this whole process by simply toggling Reader View as soon as you get the login pop up. On some websites (like The Verge and Wired), you'll only see the first couple paragraphs of the article in Reader View. But if you then hit reload, the whole article loads. Activate Reader View puts a Reader View toggle on every page, but clicking that toggle sometimes throws up an error message, when the page is so cursed that Firefox can't figure out what part of it is the article. When this happens, you're stuck reading the page in the site's own default (and usually terrible) view. As you scroll down the page, you will often hit pop-ups that try to get you to sign up for a mailing list, agree to terms of service, or do something else you don't want to do. Rather than hunting for the button to close these pop-ups (or agree to objectionable terms of service), you can install "Kill Sticky," a bookmarklet that reaches into the page's layout files and deletes any element that isn't designed to scroll with the rest of the text: <https://github.com/t-mart/kill-sticky> Other websites (like Slashdot and Core77) load computer-destroying Javascript (often as part of an anti-adblock strategy). For these, I use the "Javascript Toggle On and Off" plugin, which lets you create a blacklist of websites that aren't allowed to run any scripts: <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/javascript-toggler/> Some websites (like Yahoo) load *so much crap* that they defeat all of these countermeasures. For these websites, I use the "Element Blocker" plug-in, which lets you delete parts of the web-page, either for a single session, or permanently: <https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/element-blocker/> It's ridiculous that websites put so many barriers up to a pleasant reading experience. A slow-moving avalanche of enshittogenic phenomena got us here. There's corporate enshittification, like Google/Meta's monopolization of ads and Meta/Twitter's crushing of the open web. There's regulatory enshittification, like the EU's failure crack down on companies the pretend that forcing you to click an endless stream of "cookie consent" popups is the same as complying with the GDPR. Those are real problems, but they don't have to be *your* problem, at least when you want to read the web. A couple years ago, I wrote a guide to using RSS to improve your web experience, evade lock-in and duck algorithmic recommendation systems: <https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/16/keep-it-really-simple-stupid/#read-receipts-are-you-kidding-me-seriously-fuck-that-noise> Customizing your browser takes this to the next level, disenshittifying many websites – even if they block or restrict RSS. Most of this stuff only applies to desktop browsers, though. Mobile browsers are *far* more locked down (even mobile Firefox – remember, every iOS browser, including Firefox, is just a re-skinned version of Safari, thanks to Apple's ban rival browser engines). And of course, apps are *the worst*. An app is just a website skinned in the right kind of IP to make it a crime to improve it in any way: <https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/07/treacherous-computing/#rewilding-the-internet> And even if you *do* customize your mobile browser (Android Firefox lets you do some of this stuff), many apps (Twitter, Tumblr) open external links in their own browser (usually an in-app Chrome instance) with all the bullshit that entails. The promise of locked-down mobile platforms was that they were going to "just work," without any of the confusing customization options of desktop OSes. It turns out that taking away those confusing customization options was an invitation to every enshittifier to turn the web into an unreadable, extractive, nagging mess. This was the foreseeable – and foreseen – consequence of a new kind of technology where everything that isn't mandatory is prohibited: <https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/> ![](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/heylookatthis3.jpg?w=840&ssl=1) * The Real Litmus Test for Democratic Presidential Candidates <https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-real-litmus-test-for-democratic> * Users fume over Outlook.com email 'carnage' <https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/04/users_fume_at_outlookcom_email/> * You Bought Zuck’s Ray-Bans. Now Someone in Nairobi Is Watching You Poop. <https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/03/04/you-bought-zucks-ray-bans-now-someone-in-nairobi-is-watching-you-poop/> * Indefinite Book Club Hiatus <https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/03/indefinite-book-club-hiatus/> * Art Bits from HyperCard <https://archives.somnolescent.net/web/mari_v2/junk/hypercard/> ![A shelf of leatherbound history books with a gilt-stamped series title, 'The World's Famous Events.'](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/worlds-famous-events.png?w=840&ssl=1)A shelf of leatherbound history books with a gilt-stamped series title, 'The World's Famous Events.' #25yrsago 200 Eyemodule photos from Disneyland <https://craphound.com/030401/> #20yrsago Fourth Amendment luggage tape <https://ideas.4brad.com/node/367> #15yrsago Glenn Beck’s syndicator runs a astroturf-on-demand call-in service for radio programs <https://web.archive.org/web/20110216081007/http://www.tabletmag.com/life-and-religion/58759/radio-daze/> #15yrsago 20 lies from Scott Walker <https://web.archive.org/web/20110308062319/https://filterednews.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/20-lies-and-counting-told-by-gov-walker/> #10yrsago The correlates of Trumpism: early mortality, lack of education, unemployment, offshored jobs [https://web.archive.org/web/20160415000000\*/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/04/death-predicts-whether-people-vote-for-donald-trump/](https://web.archive.org/web/20160415000000*/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/04/death-predicts-whether-people-vote-for-donald-trump/) #10yrsago Hacking a phone’s fingerprint sensor in 15 mins with $500 worth of inkjet printer and conductive ink <https://web.archive.org/web/20160306194138/http://www.cse.msu.edu/rgroups/biometrics/Publications/Fingerprint/CaoJain_HackingMobilePhonesUsing2DPrintedFingerprint_MSU-CSE-16-2.pdf> #10yrsago Despite media consensus, Bernie Sanders is raising more money, from more people, than any candidate, ever [https://web.archive.org/web/20160306110848/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-keeps-raising-money–and-spending-it-a-potential-problem-for-clinton/2016/03/05/a8d6d43c-e2eb-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1\_story.html](https://web.archive.org/web/20160306110848/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-keeps-raising-money--and-spending-it-a-potential-problem-for-clinton/2016/03/05/a8d6d43c-e2eb-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html) #10yrsago Calculating US police killings using methodologies from war-crimes trials <https://granta.com/violence-in-blue/> #1yrago Brother makes a demon-haunted printer <https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/05/printers-devil/#show-me-the-incentives-i-will-show-you-the-outcome> #1yrago Two weak spots in Big Tech economics <https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/06/privacy-last/#exceptionally-american> ![A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, pounding the podium.](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/appearances3.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)A photo of me onstage, giving a speech, pounding the podium. * San Francisco: Launch for Cindy Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights), Mar 10 <https://citylights.com/events/cindy-cohn-launch-party-for-privacys-defender/> * Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 <https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/> * Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 <https://conference.bioneers.org/> * Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 <https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885> * London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) <https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691> * Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 <https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow> * Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 <https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html> * Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 <https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2> ![A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast.](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/recentappearances3.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)A screenshot of me at my desk, doing a livecast. * The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) <https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/> * Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI> * The Lost Cause <https://streets.mn/2026/03/02/book-club-the-lost-cause/> * Should Democrats Make A Nuremberg Caucus? (Make It Make Sense) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWxKrnNfrlo> * Making The Internet Suck Less (Thinking With Mitch Joel) <https://www.sixpixels.com/podcast/archives/making-the-internet-suck-less-with-cory-doctorow-twmj-1024/> ![A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers..](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/recent.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)A grid of my books with Will Stahle covers.. * "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 <https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce> * "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 <https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/> * "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (<https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels>). * "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 ([thebezzle.org](http://thebezzle.org)). * "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (<http://lost-cause.org>). * "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (<http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org>). Signed copies at Book Soup (<https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245>). * "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books <http://redteamblues.com>. * "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 <https://chokepointcapitalism.com> ![A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo.](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/upcoming-books.jpg?w=840&ssl=1)A cardboard book box with the Macmillan logo. * "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 * "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 * "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to *Enshittification*, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 * "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 * "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 ![](https://i0.wp.com/craphound.com/images/colophon2.jpg?w=840&ssl=1) Today's top sources: **Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1012 words today, 45361 total)** * "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. * "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. * A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/> Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. 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