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Writers

Alexis Madrigal

Why Testosterone is the Drug of the Future

Aging, enhancement, and the hormone.

Alexis Madrigal Fusion Feb 2015 20min Permalink

Science

American Aqueduct: The Great California Water Saga

“Too much is being asked of the Delta.”

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Feb 2014 50min Permalink

Arts Tech Movies & TV

How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood

Unpacking the 76,897 micro-genres that make up the cinematic DNA.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Jan 2014 20min Permalink

Business Tech

Almost Human: The Surreal, Cyborg Future of Telemarketing

“This is a story about how the future gets weird.”

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Dec 2013 15min Permalink

Tech

Not Even Silicon Valley Escapes History

What remains of the past’s cutting edge.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Jul 2013 10min Permalink

Politics

When the Nerds Go Marching In

How a team of 40 engineers helped reelect Barack Obama.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Nov 2012 30min Permalink

Tech

How Google Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future of Everything

A look inside Google’s Ground Truth.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Sep 2012 Permalink

Media

I'm Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web

On the ever-expanding world of targeted online advertising.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Feb 2012 15min Permalink

Science Travel

Earth Station: The Afterlife of Technology at the End of the World

A visit to the newly on-the-market Jamesburg Earth Station, a massive satellite receiver that played a key role in communications with space, and its neighbors in an adjacent trailer park.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Feb 2012 25min Permalink

Lasers for the Dead

A history of the gravestone laser-etching industry.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Jul 2011 10min Permalink

Why Are Spy Researchers Building a 'Metaphor Program'?

What IARPA's project calls for is the deployment of spy resources against an entire language. Where you or I might parse a sentence, this project wants to parse, say, all the pages in Farsi on the Internet looking for hidden levers into the consciousness of a people.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic May 2011 10min Permalink

Science

Think Globally, Destroy Locally: Environmentalism for the 21st Century

On the battle over solar farms in the Mojave desert. An excerpt from Madrigal’s new book, Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Mar 2011 15min Permalink

Tech Media

Revealing the Man Behind @MayorEmanuel

How a journalism professor named Dan Sinker became the most entertaining part of the Chicago mayoral race.

Alexis Madrigal The Atlantic Feb 2011 10min Permalink