Reader, writer, host.
I'm now posting at Mastodon. mastodon.social/@markhurst
Writing & bio: creativegood.com
Radio/podcast: Techtonic - techtonic.fm
Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Mark Hurst
AI and the illegal war
March 5, 2026 “No stupid rules of engagement.” That was Pete Hegseth, the American war secretary, boasting during a press conference about the approach with which he and the current occupant of the White House started a new war. No stupid Congressional approval, no stupid legality or constitutional basis, and no stupid rules of engagement.
Complete structures of the YenTc holotoxin prepore and pore reveal the evolutionary basis for chitinase incorporation into ABC toxins - Nature Communications
Abstract ABC toxins are toxin-translocating, pore-forming proteins found in a wide range of insecticidal bacteria and some mammalian pathogens. The Yersinia entomopahaga toxin complex (YenTc) belongs to a distinct subclass of ABC toxins, defined by a divergent molecular architecture. Structural details that define their mechanism of action remain to be elucidated.
Letter: How is it that Lee
There's an old saying that goes something like, "a leopard can't change his spots." Apparently, there are exceptions. When the Access Hollywood tape was released, our dear Sen. Mike Lee then asked presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, "I respectfully ask you, with all due respect, to step aside. Step down. I wouldn't hire that person, wouldn't want to be associated with that person ...
Stepwise assembly and release of Tc toxins from Yersinia entomophaga - Nature Microbiology
Abstract Tc toxins are virulence factors of bacterial pathogens. Although their structure and intoxication mechanism are well understood, it remains elusive where this large macromolecular complex is assembled and how it is released.
Lee's now part of an ultra-right gang whose intentions for the country are truly scary
The litany of evidence of Sen. Mike Lee's ever-increasing lean toward alt-right conspiracy theories and his latest tirade suggesting that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations should be frightening to every American. It seems ever clearer that the senator has become a demagogue for right-wing conspiracies and fearmongering.
Commentary: Remembering the boldness of Ronald Reagan's vision
In the summer of 1987, against the advice of his senior staff and maybe his own better judgement, the staunchly conservative U.S. President Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and spoke to a polite, but quietly hostile crowd of socially liberal Germans in a nation still divided by yet another wall, hastily constructed by yet another tyrant.
Commentary: Tyranny nearly always catches us off guard
On the shelf in my living room there is a book about the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens that is covered in dust I’m sure, because I already know how it ends. Athens loses the war. The cultural beacon of the west falls to authoritarian Sparta. Sparta installs a puppet regime of 30 tyrants. Democracy dies.
Conservatives have drifted away from what they should aspire to be
Gift this article Share this article paywall-free. Although I'd listened to him most of my life, I never thought that David Brinkley might quietly be a conservative journalist until one awkward moment during the 1996 presidential election when he was caught on camera deriding former President Bill Clinton following his recently successful reelection campaign. Uncharacteristically, Brinkley called then-President Clinton a "bore" and said that his victory speech was "...
Stifling the freedom to choose what we read is un-American and must not be tolerated
Recently, with a group of friends, I had the opportunity to visit Israel and was deeply touched by all that I saw and heard there. It is truly a life-changing experience, regardless of one's religious beliefs. As part of our tour in Jerusalem, we visited the world center Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem. Like other Holocaust museums, it is a grim reminder of the kind of dark terrorism that one man, endorsed by throngs of believing sycophants, can visit on a gullible and uninformed society.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Wake and Bake Podcast with Clay Pigeon and WFMU
Utahns are represented by a highly-educated constitutional lawyer who is a disgraceful manipulator
A Jefferson Airplane song from the 1960s foretold something of the 2020 election fraud perpetrated by a former U.S. president. "When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies, don't you want somebody to love, you better find somebody to love." Now we find that our recently reelected senior senator from the state of Utah actually did play a significant role in those lies.
An alarming repeat of history
In the spring of 1939, fresh off his return from a tour of Nazi Germany, American aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh delivered his first radio address to the nation, forcefully advocating for American neutrality in the conflict and the atrocities that would eventually become World War II.
Why do Utah's elected Republicans feel the need to continually embarrass the state?
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Utah's attorney general must have better things to do with his - no, our - time than meddle in the business of another state's investigations? Should not the people of Utah be concerned about the time that Sean Reyes spends joining ineffective briefs concerning what the states of Texas, Georgia, South Carolina or any other state in the union is doing?
An appeal for the return of honesty and decency in politics
No one I know ever called the city of San Francisco a bastion of conservative thought. Yet somehow there Ronald Reagan was, toasting the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, in a black and white photograph that was prominently displayed in the hotel lobby. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. Something about Reagan was always just different. Even the people who said they hated him really didn't, on some level at least.
Remembering the life of Mary Hibbs 1938 - 2022
Mary Lois Hibbs (Lois) Become the owner of this obituary to manage the guestbook, edit the notice, and more. Mary Lois Hibbs (Lois) Mary "Lois" Hibbs of Bunner Ridge died on July 23, 2022 of a non-COVID illness. Her family was by her side. Lois graduated from Rivesville High School, where she was a cheerleader for the Rams. She worked at Westinghouse and in her later years at Berle's Market. She loved her family and grandchildren.
Walking away from tech
Awhile back I spotted a headline that went something like this: “Man Begins a Walk Around the World.” The story described how Paul Salopek, a National Geographic explorer, planned to walk from Africa, through Asia, across Siberia to Alaska, then down the west coast of the Americas. Except where a body of water required passage by ship, it would all be on foot. The whole concept seemed unlikely. One man walking around the world?
Misguided statements of some candidates for the Utah Board of Education are alarming
Utah parents, educators, and other tax-paying citizens should log onto the website of the Utah Board of Education and consider the stated objectives of teaching and learning in public schools. The extremely misguided opinions and statements of some candidates for the state board of education should be alarming to any reasonable parent or citizen.
God, death, and tech with Sasha Stiles
First, a quick note on the elephant in the room: The news today is full of Elon Musk’s clowning on Twitter – offering to buy the company, threatening to tank the stock price if he’s turned down, and various other japes.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Sasha Stiles, poet and artist, on her book "Technelegy" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Sasha Stiles" [0:05:19] - "Mark's comments" [0:43:16] Anders Enger Jensen - "Steal This Riff" [0:56:13] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/114436 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
The web as monopolized surveillance space
You’re Still Being Tracked on the Internet, Just in a Different Way (NYT, today, Apr 6, 2022) offers a helpful overview of tracking online. To the authors’ credit, the Times itself is mentioned as a source of surveillance: Google is accumulating data on its own users’ search queries, location data and contact information. Pinterest is doing the same with its users on its site and app, while TikTok is gathering information on the people who are on its app.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Justin Smith, author, "The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" [0:01:30] - "Interview with Justin E. H. Smith" [0:03:55] - "Mark's comments" [0:39:45] Colin Potter - "The State" [0:54:53] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/114234 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Ethan Gutmann on the digital spycraft of human rights work Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Ethan Gutmann" [0:09:30] - "Mark's comments" [0:46:45] Twilight Archive - "Secretly Measured" [0:56:00] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/114014 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Human rights and digital spycraft
I welcomed Ethan Gutmann to Techtonic this week for one of the more disturbing interviews I’ve ever conducted. The title of Gutmann’s 2014 book gives a preview: The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem. You can stream the interview or the entire show, download the podcast, or look through the links to sources and further reading.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Damon Krukowski on the purchase of Bandcamp Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Damon Krukowski" [0:06:56] - "Mark's comments" [0:46:18] Galaxie 500 - "Strange" [0:56:51] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/113797 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Audacity and audio editors
Audacity is an open-source audio editor originally released in 2000. As it was a free and non-corporate software package, Audacity was the audio editor of choice for many engineers (and, in recent years, podcast editors).
Designing for deceit in Silicon Valley
The malfeasance of the tech industry never sleeps. Even as we’re distracted by the awful events in Ukraine, headlines continue to emerge about Silicon Valley’s ongoing exploitation of users and their communities. (On Ukraine, by the way, see these resources from Tim Snyder, and this impressive video by Arnold Schwarzenegger.) Let’s start with Google.
Bandcamp risks becoming an Epic failure
Before we get started, I want to acknowledge the terrible events in Ukraine, and state that Creative Good stands with the Ukrainian people. From Timothy Snyder, here are A few ways to help Ukrainians. For Creative Good members, I have posted more thoughts and resources on Ukraine in 🔒 this post on the Creative Good Forum. -Mark News broke yesterday that Bandcamp, the online music platform, has been sold off to Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite. It’s a disappointment.
The restart of history
A video clip from CNN today shows a strange juxtaposition: first, the camera sweeps across the rooftops of Kyiv, as air raid sirens echo across the city. Then, suddenly, the feed cuts to a commercial for Applebee’s. “A Little Bit of Chicken Fried,” the on-screen text reads, superimposed above chicken nuggets drizzled with sugary orange glop.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Kelly Weill, author, "Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Kelly Weill" [0:03:27] - "Mark's comments" [0:38:29] Flat Earth Man - "Don't Let Them Take Your Mind" [0:53:59] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112917 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
The time I met Jeff Bezos: reflecting on how success changed Amazon & Bezos Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's comments" Arthur Harrison & Rupert Chapelle - "Real World" [0:53:00] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112712 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Why you should resist Amazon by cancelling your Prime account
Before we get started, I want to remind you that I write a lot more than what’s in this newsletter. Below are a few recent posts on the Creative Good Forum – I hope you’ll join Creative Good to get access to these, and a lot more: •🔒 Facebook tells the truth in its Super Bowl ad (Feb 16, 2022): A new Facebook ad tells the truth about the metaverse, at least in part. It’s so unbelievably grim, it hardly needs a satirical version...
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Alec MacGillis discusses his book "Fulfillment: America in the Shadow of Amazon." Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Alec MacGillis" [0:04:25] - "Mark's comments" [0:39:22] Mark Pritchard - "One Way Mirror" [https://markpritchard.bandcamp.com/track/one-way-mirror] [0:54:48] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112493 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Concentration of power is the problem
Occasionally I find myself in a conversation where I’m asked to sum up my basic message: In my writing and speaking, what is it that I’m really trying to say?
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Dave Holmes, former MTV VJ, discusses his new podcast, "Waiting for Impact." Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - Machinarium Soundtrack - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Dave Holmes" [0:06:07] - "Mark's comments" [0:42:06] Dog's Eye View - "Everything Falls Apart" - Happy Nowhere [0:55:03] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/112047 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
We said ‘never again.’ Now look at Xinjiang
I got a little emotional at the end of my Techtonic broadcast this week. The episode was focused on Darren Byler’s excellent new book, In the Camps: China’s High-Tech Penal Colony (get it at Indiebound or your local library). The book describes the detention camps and prisons that have sprung up in China’s western region of Xinjiang, with an estimated million people now imprisoned, and several million more living in fear of being sent to the camps.
The Eagle Forum participants would be laughable if they weren't so frightening Original
While I am ever grateful for the First Amendment and its guarantee of a free press, at the same time I always feel bad for the Utah journalists who must report on and print the details of Utah's infamous Eagle Forum conference. The recent report in the Tribune of the Jan. 8 meeting of Utah's craziest of the crazy sent a chill up my spine.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Darren Byler, author, "In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Darren Byler" [0:03:54] The Organizing Committee - "The Day Computers Became Obsolete" [https://notype.bandcamp.com/track/the-day-computers-became-obsolete] [0:53:40] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/111772 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Facebook patents and the comet in Don’t Look Up
I enjoyed watching the movie Don’t Look Up last week, a dark comedy about a giant comet headed for Earth. As I explained on Techtonic this week (listen to the podcast or see the playlist), the movie is better than the mixed reviews might suggest.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Damon vs. DiCaprio and "Don't Look Up": praising dystopian truth tellers Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Don't Look Up trailer" [0:20:00] - "Matt Damon crypto commercial" [0:38:55] - "Cryptoland video" [0:47:20] Peter Mukoko - "Esimo Esimo" - No Funk No Chop: Underground African Funk & Disco Hits 1977-1982 [0:56:53] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/111607 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
I founded Creative Good 25 years ago today - and learned a few things
On January 7, 1997, I walked into the county clerk’s office in White Plains, New York and filed the paperwork to start a new company called Creative Good. The web was just a few years old, and I intended to make it better. A quarter century later, to the day, I feel compelled to say something to mark the occasion – starting with gratitude. Creative Good is still here, I suppose making it one of the longest-running internet companies in the world, and I’m grateful for that.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Mark Schatzker, author, "The End of Craving" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Mark Schatzker" - "Mark's comments" Wrangler - "Machines Designed (To Eat You Up)" [https://wrangler.bandcamp.com/track/machines-designed-to-eat-you-up] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/111128 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Are Facebook and Google criminal enterprises?
(Happy last column of the year! The newsletter will resume on Friday, January 7, which is the 25th birthday of Creative Good. I hope you’ll join the celebration I’m hosting on Zoom that day for Creative Good members. To get an invite, join Creative Good.) - - - In this holiday season of shopping and gift-giving, would you consider buying someone a tiger cub, or a cheetah? How about an endangered parrot? Or perhaps some ivory, from a freshly slaughtered elephant?
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Crime and corruption online - with Gretchen Peters from the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO) Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Gretchen Peters" - "Mark's comments" Antipop Consortium - "Technocracy" https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/110686 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Steve Elkins" - "Mark's comments" Matmos - "Platformalism (ARANXTA YAROS REMIX)" [https://arantxayaros.bandcamp.com/track/matmos-platformalism-aranxta-yaros-remix] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/110459 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
My predictions for Apple’s smart glasses
Today I’m going to make a prediction. This may sound alarmist, but it’s really just the logical extension of where things have been headed for some time. Here it is: Within the next 18 months, Apple will launch surveillance glasses, upending all expectations of personal privacy. I’m hardly the first person to point out the growing popularity of wearable tracking devices, and where that trend might lead.
Rep. Steward has nothing to offer but a "Potemkin Village" war against Dr. Fauci
It's becoming very clear that Rep. Chris Stewart is running scared these days, with the 2022 election cycle coming up. Instead of focusing on anything that might eventually help his constituents in the 2nd Congressional District, he chooses to wage a "Potemkin Village" war against Dr. Anthony Fauci to cover the fact that he is doing nothing and has done nothing to better the lives of those he represents back in Utah.
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Activision, AirPods, Adams, and your calls. Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - "Mark's tech news roundup" - "Your calls" Remy - "Dogecoin Rap" https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/110019 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
Techtonic with Mark Hurst
Tyson Yunkaporta, author, "Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World" Tomaš Dvořák - "Game Boy Tune" - Machinarium Soundtrack - "Mark's intro" - "Interview with Tyson Yunkaporta" - "Mark's comments" The Pink Tiles - "Internet" - #1 Fan [https://thepinktiles.bandcamp.com/album/1-fan-lp] https://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/109486 Top Podcasts In Technology More by WFMU
The banality of tech
Important announcement, before we start: This week marks six months since I announced the Creative Good community. I’ve published dozens of columns since then, and we’ve had some superb discussions on the Forum. But over 98% of subscribers are still reading the newsletter without chipping in. Unfortunately that’s an unsustainable number. I’ve written the newsletter for free since 1998, but after 23 (!) years it’s time to change course.
Smiling in the metaverse
People this week have been floating ideas for Facebook’s new name. Mark Zuckerberg announced that he plans to rebrand the company, much like Google changed to Alphabet, or like – in the case of a less harmful company – Philip Morris changed to Altria. The announcement coincides perfectly with Facebook’s urgent need to redirect media attention away from the revelations of whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Mark
Contact Mark, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack