How to expand your horizons during this summer

A curated selection of online sources for information and education in technology, society, culture and politics. Check them out during the summer, and make them your own sources of information beyond Sudo Make Me a CTO

Hello everyone,

We're in the middle of the summer holiday season for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. That means two things:

We're all taking more time off, including me.
We can use some of that time off to expand our horizons by discovering new sources of information and education.

That's why today's article won't be the usual analysis of a single specific topic but something rather different. I'm sharing with you a list of sources I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in going beyond what they're served by mainstream media or algorithmic echo chambers on social media.

I recommend you save this list and consult it whenever you are in need of fresh sources of information. The following list is highly curated: I'm not looking for volume but for quality. Every single source referenced is one that I consult regularly.

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Written Media

As a newsletter author myself, I am an avid reader of other people's writings. These are today my main sources of information.

My recommendation for you is to pick one that seems interesting to you and start reading it more or less regularly in the upcoming weeks.

Blood In The Machine, by Brian Merchant

I've been a paid subscriber to Blood In The Machine, commonly referred to as BITM, for more than a year, and I couldn't be happier. Brian Merchant is an experienced journalist and book author. His newsletter covers topics at the intersection of technology, society and politics. He regularly uncovers the darkest sides of Big Tech for all the people Silicon Valley is happening to, to use his own words. Both his eponymous book and the newsletter have contributed to shaping my own understanding and views of the nefarious role that big tech is playing in today's world. and increasingly so since the confluence of the two biggest tragedies of the 2020s: the surge of the GenAI hysteria and the rise of authoritarian and anti-democratic regimes.

BITM has recently launched a podcast version, a nice addition to complement the newsletter.

Brian himself has been the victim of layoffs at online media and has since turned into an independent author. That means his books and newsletter are his main sources of income. I do strongly recommend you follow his work and consider becoming a paid subscriber. You'll help keep independent journalism alive.

Where is your Ed At? by Ed Zitron

This is another newsletter I'm a paid subscriber to and have been for about a year or so. It's my favourite source of information to understand the financial aspects of the GenAI gold rush. Be warned: Ed tends to write very long essays, rich in details and references, with a flamboyant and hyperbolic style. There is no room for political correctness here, but there is a lot of factual rigour in his reporting.

Ed has been one of the first online voices in uncovering the circular financing schemes that have been going on among big tech in the past few years, the insane amount of capital expenditures everyone has engaged in, and how most promises of data centre build-ups have always been unrealistic. He's always very bullish on the thesis that the AI bubble will pop relatively soon and does so with a solid set of arguments and confidential material he's often able to get access to.

Besides his focus on GenAI, he's a strong critic of Big Tech and Silicon Valley more broadly and has written interesting articles covering the enshittification of Google Search before it became public knowledge.

What I like the most about Ed's writing is that he always opposed bold and enthusiastic claims with facts, data, information and hard numbers. While you could always question some of them, his work is a few orders of magnitude more rigorous and articulated that anything that comes out of Big Tech or affiliate media outlets. He's another independent author and worth supporting, especially as he's offering perspectives that you would rarely find elsewhere.

Marcus on AI by Gary Marcus

Gary is an expert in AI, author of multiple books on the subject, and professor emeritus at NYU. He's been warning about LLMs being a technological dead end since the early days and has become one of the leading critical voices against the industry that has been built around them. He's the technical expert with an eye on strategic, economic, and geopolitical implications of technology.

He tends to go through periods of intense publishing, sometimes even posting multiple articles a day, following important developments and news in the space. I am not a paid subscriber of his newsletter, as I find the free content more than enough to keep me updated on what is going on.

404 Media

I discovered 404 Media back when I did my first research into the environmental impacts of GenAI, a couple of years ago or so. It's an independent media company founded by four technology journalists who all used to work at Vice. I believe most, if not all, of them were victims of mass layoffs, the event that motivated them to launch their own independent media outlet.

In that sense, 404 Media is both an example of good independent journalism and a source of inspiration for people who depend or used to depend on a salary paid by tech companies: an alternative is possible. Good quality work gets noticed. You just need to keep focusing on it and not get distracted by obsessions around growth, clicks and FOMO.

Among other merits, the folks at 404 Media have been uncovering the massive issues of surveillance and privacy violations by Flock and the ties between surveillance tech and ICE in the US. Another case where independent journalism is not subject to the pressure of shareholders with ties into industrial interests.

Besides the online articles, 404 Media publishes a semi-regular podcast that goes in depth on some of the topics covered in their articles. The content there is also pretty good.

I am currently a free subscriber but am considering becoming an active supporter soon. One extra cool thing about 404 Media is that they're also using Ghost as a publishing platform, further emphasising their stance as an independent outlet.

Current Affairs

Like all previous entries, Current Affairs is also a journalist-funded and independent media outlet. Besides that similarity, it's very unique in many different ways.

First and foremost, it's not technology-focused and instead takes a broader look into culture and politics. It has a strict no-advertising policy. And, weird as it may sound, they offer a print edition!

I have recently become a paid subscriber, and I'm waiting for the first physical newspaper to get into my mailbox. All issues are also conveniently available as a no-DRM downloadable PDF, and all but the most recent 3 are always available for free. You can just go to the archives and check out the November/December 2025 issue.

The editorial line is strongly left-leaning, and the authors state it very explicitly on the about page. It's also full of satire and good-looking illustrations, something that AI slop is progressively eradicating from online content. While the main focus is on the US, they tend to cover international topics in every issue. Funnily enough, in the past issue they had a long piece on the municipality of Oleiros in Galicia, Spain. A very peculiar place I didn't know about, despite having spent the past 10 years in the country.

Like 404 Media, Current Affairs also has a podcast which often features guest authors, writers, politicians and experts to cover a wide range of topics.

The Nerve

Founded by 5 female journalists, including Carole Cadwalladr, famous for her coining of the term 'broligarchs' in an impressive TED talk, and the journalist who uncovered the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal years ago.

It's a relatively recent media outlet, as it has been launched in late 2025. It's another case of journalists funding their own independent, reader-funded outlet.

The Nerve covers a broad set of topics, many of them at the intersection of politics and technology, with a particular eye on UK politics, hence a more European perspective. Among other things, they have a broad coverage of Palantir, the poster child of surveillance capitalism, and its ties into governments.

It's still in its early days, but the quality of the journalists behind it is unquestionable.

Podcasts

OK, that was a lot of reading. What about those moments when we're walking around, driving or doing chores in the house? That's when good podcasts come into play1. Besides the podcasts produced by the different outlets mentioned in the previous section, here are some others that I regularly listen to.

If Books Could Kill

I love books, and you probably know that. A few months back someone mentioned this podcast to me, and since then I've been hooked. In every episode, the two co-hosts Peter and Mike debunk a popular airport book2.

The format is pure genius: they take a book, one of them reads it and then does plenty of research to confirm or disprove the core claims. Then they come together to record an episode in which they proceed meticulously to dissect and often destroy it. All that with a great dose of subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle, humour. I can only imagine how long it takes to prepare every episode, which is the only reason I tolerate the fact that they aren't publishing more often.

If you're a bookworm and would like to know more about some very popular books, this one is for you.

Tech Won't Save Us

In line with many of the written media I feed myself with, Tech Won't Save Us inscribes itself in the techno-criticism vein. In every episode the host, Paris Marx3 is joined by a guest to explore an aspect of today's technologically dependent society. As you can imagine, they've been focusing a lot on AI-related topics in recent episodes but also on prediction markets, Epstein and the Luddites.

If you're interested in exploring a possible future in which technology isn't passively accepted as the default solution to every problem, this podcast is for you.

Deep Questions

I've long been a reader of Cal Newport's books and a loyal listener to his podcast. What I found particularly interesting is the journey he went through: from a somewhat traditional voice in personal productivity, he's progressively evolved into a prominent voice in techno-criticism. In particular, a few months back he added a new regular segment to his podcast that he calls AI reality check. In these weekly episodes he takes it to the most recent vibe reporting. doom trolling or otherwise pretentious claims from AI companies and rigorously dissect them, exposing the often banal reality behind pompous claims.

He's the most nuanced and moderate voice I follow in this space and could be a good starting point for those just familiarising themselves with the space of techno criticism.

Oxide and Friends

I genuinely believe the folks at Oxide are building an exceptional company. One that is rooted in the values of rigorous engineering at the service of users. They do have some uncommon takes on many subjects, such as promotions and compensation, that make them stand out from the pack. Definitely a company we should all look at for inspiration. Besides sharing a lot of written content on their blog, the folks at Oxide produce a podcast that is fun, engaging and utterly nerdish. A good example in transparency and in showing rather than telling that more companies should follow. If you're interested in hard-core hardware and software engineering, unusual takes on how to run a company, and examples on how to use Rust in production environments, this podcast is highly recommended.

Rust In Production

Speaking of rust in production, there is an entire podcast dedicated to that. In it, the host Matthias Endler speaks with guests from the industry using Rust in production in different ways and forms. I must thank Matteo for helping me discover it, as I wasn't aware of its existence until earlier this year. This might be the most niche of all the media recommendations in this article, but it's highly relevant for me as I'm constantly investing in becoming a better Rust programmer. If you're interested in learning more about serious use cases for this language, either for personal reasons or to find inspiration for your company, you shouldn't miss this podcast.

Coding

Speaking of coding, I've been investing quite some time in improving my Rust skills lately. While online content can be helpful to get started, the real learning happens by doing. That's why I've become a regular user and recently a partner for Codecrafters. It's a platform that's designed to make you a better system programmer in a variety of languages by offering challenging real-world problems. You'll go from writing your own shell to a DNS server of a Kafka implementation.

I find it a great way to improve your programming skills. I'm currently sitting at position #2454 for the Rust leaderboard and plan to slowly climb to the top as I complete all the challenges.

Thanks to the partnership with Sudo Make Me a CTO, if you sign up via this link, you'll get access to a free challenge and will benefit from a 40% discount when you decide to upgrade to paid. It could be a great way to learn new skills during the summer or an even better way to invest your learning budget in the last months of 2026.

I am among those who find video podcasts particularly annoying and very rarely consume them. The last thing I need is yet another excuse to keep me stuck on my screen just to watch people talk. I listen to podcasts; I don't watch them. Call me a boomer if that pleases you, though technically I'm a Gen Xer.↩
Airport books are books that are often sold in airports. Those businessy/self-helpy bestsellers that sometimes become very popular despite being essentially bad books.↩
Yes, love that last name↩