John West
@johnwest.bsky.social
I report the news with code at the Wall Street Journal. I wrote Lessons and Carols (Eerdmans, 2023); The Internet Will Die, and So Will You (Here below, 2026); The Psalmist (Union Square, Hachette, 2027). http://beebe-west.com/john
Honored to have the first excerpt of my book published by @politico.com! Out everywhere on Oct. 27. politico.com/news/magazine/2026/10/03/abortion-doctors-politics-roe-dobbs-01105039
The Fall of Roe Changed Doctors. Now They’re Changing Politics.
State-level abortion debates have activated physicians as a political force like never before.
politico.com
philosophers should have simply *answered* the deepest and most intractable questions ever posed. instead they've chosen to fuck around. disappointing
It's true: we used AI to see just how much Americans hate AI, and if you leave us enough comments, I'll try to use AI to see how much y'all hate us using AI to see how much Americans hate AI. (From me, @jjw.bsky.social, Sabrina Rodriguez, and @jamesbenedict.bsky.social) www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
We Used AI to Find Out Just How Much Americans Hate AI
Opposition to AI, data centers and Flock cameras brought people together like few other issues, and it is showing up in the midterms.
wsj.com
NEW from me, @neilmhta.bsky.social and @sabrod123.bsky.social. Mentions of Trump on MAGA podcasts have fallen off a cliff since the 2024 election. With the midterms right around the corner, what are they talking about now? If you've been near TikTok lately, then you've probably got a guess.
The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 3w agoMAGA podcasters are tuning out Trump. We tracked the hot topics they are talking about now on.wsj.com/4Au5qc6
Here's a deeply generous review of my book on Bill Tammeus's blog, "Faith Matters." He compared me to Annie Dillard, a hero of mine who sadly recently passed, and I can imagine few higher compliments. Here's the review: substack.com/home/post/p-... Here's the book: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Happy Publication Day to John West, MFA '18 (Nonfiction)! His book, THE INTERNET WILL DIE, AND SO WILL YOU: On Learning to Live in Our Digital Age, is out today from Here Below Books. vist.ly/5hyd8
Thanks to @kofinas.bsky.social for being such a thoughtful interlocutor in this conversation about my book! It's the dream of pretty much every author (I think) to talk to someone who's so willing to dig into the text--and draw on such broad expertise about what you're writing about.
Demetri Kofinas@kofinas.bsky.social · 2mo agoI'm joined by @johnwest.bsky.social to discuss the shift from human agency to platform agency, how AI could further remake our relationship to the Internet and to ourselves, and what the collapse of a shared reality means for our politics and our humanity. hiddenforces.io/podcasts/the...
Want a free copy of THE INTERNET WILL DIE, AND SO WILL YOU? Well, there's a Goodreads giveaway through the end of August for fifteen copies of it! (Don't worry, you're still welcome to purchase a copy, even if the Goodreads gods fail you.) www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
Book giveaway for The Internet Will Die, and So Will You: On Learning to Live in Our Digital Age by John West Aug 03-Aug 28, 2026
Enter to win one of 15 free copies available. Giveaway dates from Aug 03-Aug 28, 2026. From a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
goodreads.com
I've listened to PJ Vogt's podcasts ever since TL;DR, through REPLY ALL, and all the way to SEARCH ENGINE. Here's what he said about my book, THE INTERNET WILL DIE, AND SO WILL YOU. You can preorder it here: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
A weird part of writing a book is cold-emailing people you admire and asking them to say something nice. I've long admired @anildash.com for his willingness to go against the grain in a field that rewards group-think masquerading as contrarianism. Here's what he said. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The first review of THE INTERNET WILL DIE, AND SO WILL YOU is out from Publishers Weekly: "His wide-ranging meditations, which touch on everything from Bach to TikTok, will appeal to readers who want to search for meaning rather than scroll for distraction." www.publishersweekly.com/9780802885425
I can’t remember who said this, but it’s true: the LLM future looks a lot like endlessly communicating an idea by inflating and deflating it with computers—at great cost.
Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans)@iwriteok.bsky.social · 3mo ago"i have 100 times the output i did before" somehow never seems to show up in actual profits or sales or anything, it's more a measurement of how people feel based on the number of emails they have a bot send
this is an incredible story (and my colleagues are incredible reporters).
Caitlin Ostroff@ceostroff.bsky.social · 4mo ago1/ After seeing a lot of Polymarket videos on social media, my @WSJ colleagues and I wanted to understand Polymarket’s marketing. After watching a bunch of videos, we noticed that the website featured in them was almost, but not quite, identical to Polymarket’s actual platform.
MY BAD: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF THE QUEER 90S AND BEYOND comes out in one week and I am certainly not freaking out about it! There's still time to get 20% off the hardcover by preordering from Hachette with the code MYBAD20. All my June tour dates are below! www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hugh-...
My Bad
A powerful and hilarious personal history that tells the true story of the queer ’90s and how it transformed queer life in the decades that followed.“Dee...
hachettebookgroup.com
The Internet Will Die, and So Will You by @johnwest.bsky.social ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ First! too much internet, not enough death :) www.netgalley.com/book/824047/...
The Internet Will Die, and So Will You
I just reviewed The Internet Will Die, and So Will You by John West
netgalley.com
Attention is precious. The Internet Will Die, and So Will You (by John West) #HereBelowBooks #CoverReveal
This is what journalism is supposed to be about.
MPR News@mprnews.org · 5mo agoThe first thing the editor in chief of the Roosevelt school newspaper did when she got home was hug her father. Then she opened her computer and started to type. Her article went viral. Lila Dominguez said running the newspaper during the ICE surge showed her “the power of truth.”
I went to the Met (for the first time ever!). My partner and I decided to pick a piece to sit and stare at for at least 15 minutes. We picked “Old Woman Cutting Her Nails” by someone who isn’t Rembrandt. It was wild to feel how rusty my attention is—and to see how applying it still drives wonder.
This is incredible reporting from my colleague @georgiawells.bsky.social www.wsj.com/us-news/chat...
ChatGPT Wrestles With Its Most Chilling Conversation: How Do I Plan an Attack?
OpenAI’s chatbot dispenses advice on weapons and role-plays mass shootings. The carnage is raising scrutiny on when and how companies intervene.
wsj.com
1. I'm working on EPITAB: a browser extension that helps you memorize poems. If you add poems to your browser, it quizzes you on lines each time you open a new tab. Here, for example, after I opened a new window in Firefox, it's asking me for the line "The season's ill—" I have an ask though...
1. I'm working on EPITAB: a browser extension that helps you memorize poems. If you add poems to your browser, it quizzes you on lines each time you open a new tab. Here, for example, after I opened a new window in Firefox, it's asking me for the line "The season's ill—" I have an ask though...
I’ve been practicing again. Here’s a sarabande from one of the perfect Bach cello suites played imperfectly on the recorder. (Also pictured: my 3D-printed recorder gun rack.)
I blogged again: this-republic-of-letters.fly.dev/posts/5/toge.... This time, on the many uses and abuses of poor Walter Ong.
1. In the aughts and early teens, I'd fire up Google Reader and check my blogs—and maybe even write one. Pardon the earnest-posting (-maxing?), but it was often the highlight of my day. And, well, I'm blogging again: this-republic-of-letters.fly.dev/posts/3/we-s....
