what does it take to make a magazine?
for our 4th birthday,
@jessicadai_
and
@jasminewsun
recorded a podcast on why most tech writing sucks, why bylines don't matter, and the eroticism of google doc comments
listen/watch here 🍀
before moving to new york I hadn’t fully appreciated the extent to which literally every single 27-29 year old in this city runs or contributes to a semi-underground print magazine and will organise red stripe-fuelled launch events in rooms with beautiful exposed brick walls
we believe tech exists within broader systems of power, and that understanding these systems & individual actors within them is critical to driving material change. ⚡️
pitch us here for our second issue!
➡️ nonfiction:
➡️ creative:
It's already been one month since we officially launched our second issue — today, we're unlocking all of the pieces online! 🎉
Read Kernel online now at
Fiction, poetry, and art are just as important to us as essays and reported work in making a more beautiful world.
💌 Read "all the better to see you with,"
@adorasv
's gorgeous short story on an AI tool and how it shapes interpersonal relationships:
kernel issue 2 made me realize no Issue should have been 2 big to drive us apart. it might sound Corny but i can't stop asking "where do we go from here." we didn't find the Optimal Path but maybe we can reboot this love. you don't have to respond. tell your mom i miss her.
.... kernel 3️⃣ is coming ..... (are we there yet? almost!!!)
if you're in sf or nyc, join us for a launch party saturday, sept. 16 to celebrate our third print issue 🚀rsvp links threaded!
a huge thank you to the 165+ people who came to celebrate our launch with us yesterday at
@thesfcommons
💛
it's not too late to get a ticket to our NYC launch party — join us for round 2 tomorrow!
Today, we're excited to share "Urgency and Agency in Technology Policy" by
@IfeomaOzoma
and
@MatthewDSun
.
They discuss the connection between individual whistleblowers and collective organizing, theories and practices of social progress, and more.
How do you build a software startup that might last over a thousand years?
Today, we’re excited to share “Taking Business Personally” — an interview of
@broskoski
, ceo and cofounder of
@AREdotNA
, by writer and editor Meghna Rao.
....are we there yet?
just a few more days to pitch us for issue 3: SUSTAIN!!!
essay, interview, fiction, poetry, visual art - if we can print it we want to see it! give us your wildest dreams for the future to come.
everything, as always, is paid ($250+ for nonfiction)
In today's essay,
@gucaslelfond
reports on
@teamameelio
, which aims to keep communications totally free for incarcerated people and their families.
Can a tech nonprofit challenge the prison-industrial complex in a way that ultimately dismantles it?
we're releasing
@kernel_magazine
's second issue in 5 days! if you're in new york, join us at our launch party on saturday 9/17 to celebrate ⚡️
tag a friend you'd bring to the launch party and we'll pick a pair to gift free copies of the mag 👀
RSVP:
Kernel's second issue is themed "how do we get there?" and revolves around the central question of what people, tools, and ideas can bring us to a better future.
All 30 works are available online now at ⚡️
You can also now buy both Kernel Issue 1 and Issue 2 for a bundle price — check out our updated storefront and purchase the magazine at 📚
Your support makes this project possible💛
@tea_gao
wrote a “love letter to virtual community care 🌱💞”, touching on collective care, tech as a way of healing, movement tech, and accessibility.
Read her piece here:
🌱 hiii~ i wrote a love letter for virtual community care 💞
@kernel_magazine
, inspired by my experience as a neurodivergent ~extremely-online person~ throughout the pandemic ⚡️🌈
cw: police, inpatient hospitalization
🧵(1/9)
OUR LAST PREVIEW OF THIS WEEK!!
"Port Paradox," written by
@ansonyuu
and edited by
@TWlTTERDOTEDU
- climate skepticism and resilience, all in one place
Unlike a typical software startup,
@AREdotNA
has remained selective with its funding choices. As
@broskoski
puts it, “what wouldn’t we be embarrassed by?”
@adorasv
introduces us to Lia and Rel, as well as Optimal Path, a tool that analyzes chat history and generates the "best" response.
What happens when Lia enables Optimal Path?
you'll also find an essay from Kernel digital director
@MatthewDSun
, nonfic editor
@klaudiajaz
, and author
@m0namon
, AND the cover and internal illustrations were designed by the very talented
@24hourmoons
, a
@reboot_hq
student fellowship mentor :)
Psyched to share that our essay on labor organizing is out in
@logic_magazine
! Logic has published the work of so many people I admire, and it feels incredible to find our work alongside theirs.
@klaudiajaz
@MatthewDSun
@m0namon
in case you've been waffling about getting a copy... NOW'S THE TIME ‼️ get 25% off the entire site, including issue 1 & the two-issue bundle, with code BANDWAGON until monday :~)
(and a physical magazine makes a great gift for the right person, if we do say so ourselves...)
To
@MatthewDSun
's question on what it'll take for tech workers to either agitate internally in the company or publicly as a whistleblower,
@IfeomaOzoma
responds:
Every day for the next eleven days, we will be sharing one new piece from the inaugural issue of Kernel Magazine ✨
@ArchanaAhlawat
starts us off with a wonderful piece on what technologists can learn from activists:
Overjoyed to have my copy of
@kernel_magazine
! 💓 My piece, "from the nonideal to the ideal," charts the parallels I see in activist & tech industry spaces, & urges technologists to adopt a more politically imaginative, pluralistic, & grounded approach to thinking & building.
This was our last pre-release piece for launch week!
Read
@MatthewDSun
's conversation with
@IfeomaOzoma
on agency and tech policy,
@gucaslelfond
's reporting on the prisons communications industry, and
@adorasv
's short story online:
Afika’s piece is a multi-sensory journey — his thread details the careful thinking behind this piece’s media tasting menu.
Sit down with your best headphones, and meander through the piece here:
🎧✨
@IfeomaOzoma
is the co-sponsor of the Silenced No More Act, founder and principal of Earthseed, and creator of the Tech Worker Handbook.
@MatthewDSun
is a tech worker and former researcher at
@PrincetonCITP
, where he studied the privacy practices of labor organizers in tech.
we like analysis that is both generative and adversarial.
this discourse can take a variety of forms:
🌱 deeply researched essays with a critical eye
🌱 personal essays
🌱 speculative utopias and dystopias
🌱 creative short stories or poetry
🌱 edited conversations
@IfeomaOzoma
and
@MatthewDSun
discuss how we can leverage our own skills and backgrounds to push the right buttons and pull the right levers to influence things at scale.
📦 shipping FAQ:
• every order comes with an email confirmation and tracking number
• free U.S. shipping, estimated 2-8 business days
• we ship internationally ($10), estimated 7-21 business days
feel free to drop any questions in the replies or DM us!
we pay $200-300 for nonfiction and $50-300 for creative forms (poetry, short stories, art).
more info in the pitch forms!
➡️ nonfiction:
➡️ creative:
if you have questions, drop a reply or send us a dm 📩
in our inaugural issue last year, we published essays ranging from algorithmic identity and communities to speculative fiction on dreams.
read through our first issue to get a sense of what we're looking for:
How do you build a platform that puts safety and inclusion of the creators first?
@jasminewsun
explores this question with
@jasminericegirl
, a cofounder of
@fanhouse
, a Series A startup that helps online creators monetize and build communities.
This interview is released as part of launch week for Issue 3! If you’d like to get the rest of the previews, make sure you’re subscribed to emails at , or buy the magazine now!
The future doesn’t just arrive; it has to be built. What does that mean for writing about technology?
The third issue of
@kernel_magazine
is out today, and you can get your copy now at ⚡
Prison communications is a problem of incentives — current contract structures push facilities to choose contractors that rip off families and incarcerated people,
@gucaslelfond
reports.
Ameelio defines its success differently.
Happy new year :)
To start off your year, consider reading Opus, a piece I wrote for Kernel. Wrote a short thread about it a few months ago and since then, the mag was distributed and we’ve released our work digitally for everyone to read!
today's Kernel spotlight: in this personal essay on injury and healing,
@AbramovichShira
writes about taking CS beyond a culture of immersion and escape, towards a gentler, more accessible one.
read her piece here:
I was so cheered to come home last week to a copy of
@kernel_magazine
—&excited now to share my piece, "Beyond+Escape”! It's a personal essay on studying computer science before, during, &after a severe concussion—& a meditation on how CS encourages us to live with/in our bodies.
💌 Your support helps keep Kernel running. If you haven't already, please consider purchasing a copy of the magazine and read
@gucaslelfond
's essay here:
less than two weeks after my piece on earthquakes *taiwan and nyc earthquakes happen*
the nyc earthquake panic is exactly what i thought people in sf would have but every time there’s a 4.something one people don’t even bat an eye
we're interested in forward-looking analysis that addresses tech (in any sense of the word).
we want to see work about the ideas, movements, people, and tools that might bring us to the future.
@gucaslelfond
reports:
By leveraging a wealth of open source projects and software's ability to scale rapidly at low cost, the nonprofit is able to offer its platform for free for the families and incarcerated people who use it.
To read all of our other essays and creative works, if you haven't already, please consider purchasing a copy of Kernel! ✨
Your support means the world to us.
read the latest
@reboot_hq
newsletter for a note and some reading recs from our team ✍️
non-coincidentally, this is the type of writing we hope to publish — thought-provoking, accessible, something you’d send to a friend and say hey this is cool!
We'll be centering one author a day for the next ten days, but all the pieces in our inaugural issue are available and free to the public at
We hope your holiday season is full of (collective) care ❤️
we believe tech exists within broader systems of power, and that understanding these systems & individual actors within them is critical to driving material change. ⚡️
pitch us here for our second issue!
➡️ nonfiction:
➡️ creative:
To
@jasminewsun
's question about how Fanhouse incorporates user feedback in product decisions,
@jasminericegirl
shares that the team talks to creators often.
@spitkitten
we only accept pieces that haven't been previously published elsewhere. if you have more details about your specific case that you want to chat about, feel free to dm!
This conversation is especially relevant this week, as Elon Musk shares a letter to Twitter's advertisers.
He writes: "Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise."
we believe tech exists within broader systems of power, and that understanding these systems & individual actors within them is critical to driving material change. ⚡️
pitch us here for our second issue!
➡️ nonfiction:
➡️ creative: