When the German channel ZDF pulled Danger Dan and Igor Levit from a satire about "defensive democracy," it proved the show's own thesis. Our German pick of the week asks whether democracy can break its own principles to survive. With @danielkubiak.bsky.social & @aknabe.bsky.social buff.ly/54bqVYb

Outer space has emerged as a new frontier of intense commercial activity, with SpaceX now commanding much of the low-Earth orbit launch and satellite market. Our essay of the week examines the deregulation of outer space. By @fulyaapaydin.bsky.social in @phenomenalworld.bsky.social buff.ly/uOx1akP

The words "artificial intelligence" are now on everyone's lips and part of everyone's life—whether we like it or not. But what work does the term itself actually do? Our hidden gem of the week unpacks the normative associations behind "AI." By Morton Thornton et al. at @kent.ac.uk buff.ly/w518w31

While climate policy treats nature as a business, pricing ecological damage does not resolve the crisis that markets helped produce. Our book of the week explores how ecological limits become integrated into capitalist accumulation. By Emanuele Leonardi on @versobooks.bsky.social buff.ly/40CBDYV

This paper is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Technology: buff.ly/SKFfusJ

The debate surrounding coloniality/decoloniality is too often reliant on deterministic definitions. Instead, as our article of the week contends, political theories of decolonization must connect epistemic claims to concrete institutions. By David M. Temin in @devandchg.bsky.social buff.ly/BCT0nAI

The end of Pinochet's dictatorship in Chile in 1990 led to a rapid decline in poverty and the dramatic expansion of the middle class. Our video of the week maps the politics and consumption practices of this varied fraction of the Chilean population. Feat. @jstillerman.bsky.social buff.ly/GZAIdpp

How can translation make another society legible in ways that scholarship alone cannot? Though sounds and cultural subtexts can be lost, our podcast of the week describes translation as both an education and a way to enter otherwise inaccessible perspectives. With Maureen Freely buff.ly/wrmIikY

Far from being an objectively measurable entity that pre-exists in the world, mental illness is a kaleidoscopic historical, political, cultural, and institutional construction. Our Italian pick of the week surveys the history and meaning of psychopathology. By Marco Ciambellini buff.ly/rcLUDYa

Fusing science fiction and an engineering ethic of "design by constraint," Elon Musk is building an interconnected Muskverse of companies, infrastructure, and nation-states. Our essay of the week outlines this new system of "techno-Caesarism." By Paul Vacca in @illsp.bsky.social buff.ly/9umnT7I

The retreat of public R&D and the expansion of IP regimes are increasingly concentrating innovation and bargaining power in US and Chinese firms. Our hidden gem of the week examines what this means for the concept of technological sovereignty. By Francesco Crespi et al. buff.ly/t3ZLBF1

Several recent series portray inheritance as emotionally fraught while rarely questioning hereditary rights themselves. Our book of the week shows how television dramas shape how audiences understand inequality. By @hannakuu.bsky.social on @manchesterup.bsky.social buff.ly/u5KVbAB

This video is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Arts & Culture: buff.ly/O0blOSo

Digital technologies did not flatten music production; they replaced labels and studios with platforms, algorithms, and a punishing demand for self-branding. Our article of the week examines the economics of private music production. By Marian Lux & Jan-Peter Herbst buff.ly/WCl7fWJ

Thelonious Monk’s improvisational jazz may not usually be thought of as spiritual music, but as our video of the week suggests, the inflections and pauses of Monk's music offer a medium for exploring theology that refuses the white, Eurocentric academy. Feat. Raymond Carr buff.ly/y9U18Ak

China increasingly operates less like a central planner and more like a platform company like NVIDIA or Apple. Our podcast of the week offers a new lens to understand China's political economy. With Angela Zhang & Alex Yang on @sinica.skystack.xyz buff.ly/XFINyOP

Though money has always been a part of football, the spectacle of the beautiful game has been progressively "Disneyfied." Our French pick of the week calls for putting solidarity and struggle back at the heart of football. By Sébastien Thibault in @revuepolitique.bsky.social buff.ly/jpP8LqB

Getty's failed claim against Stable Diffusion exposes a basic asymmetry: training data move globally, while copyright protections stop at national borders. Our essay of the week argues that authors need new strategies to stand up to AI. By Zoey Forbes in @thedialmag.bsky.social buff.ly/y3ywQP5

First-wave LA punk can’t be easily explained. Our hidden gem of the week argues for a view of LA punk as a dispersed and multiethnic scene shaped by the Cold War, media saturation, and racialized policing. By Patrick H. O'Neil at @univpugetsound.bsky.social buff.ly/uCO5g0B

How did the Netherlands transition from one of Europe’s strongest welfare states into less of a country than "a company of traders"? Our book of the week maps the elite consensus behind Dutch "no-nonsense" politics. By @merijnoudenampsen.org on @versobooks.bsky.social buff.ly/MpwRg1d

This essay is featured in this week's edition of the Best of Journalism: buff.ly/Zox39s9

Movements inspired by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's post-Marxist theory risked defaulting to the priorities of professional-class activists. Our article of the week examines the impact of Laclau/Mouffe on 2010s left populists. By James A. Smith in @jpolideologies.bsky.social buff.ly/VohjAse

Does attributing rights to mountains really move beyond extractivist modes of engaging with other worlds? Our video of the week draws on recent anthropological approaches to explore our relationship to nonhuman worlds. Feat. @mohamedamermeziane.bsky.social et al. at @ucl.ac.uk buff.ly/2PJ7BIJ

The rise of digital therapy platforms marks the latest stage in the evolution of Taylorism. Our podcast of the week explores how "therapeutic Tinder" prioritizes profit at the expense of complex, relational care. With Elizabeth Cotton on @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social buff.ly/bL3dOVH

A figure who evokes passion and fury even today, Leonel Brizola was one of the main leaders of the Brazilian labor movement. Our Portuguese pick of the week traces Brizola’s life up to his return from exile in 1979. By Karla Monteiro on @cialetras.bsky.social buff.ly/ULlyP5L

Through sourcing drugs via the national public procurement agency, Chile's ‘popular pharmacies’ reduced medicine costs and advanced health care as a right for all. Our essay of the week details this popular pharmacy model. By Camila Cea Moore et al. at @tninstitute.bsky.social buff.ly/2PW1xpM

How can large language models support social scientific research? Our hidden gem of the week offers up a “paper factory” system, while also pointing to the aspects of research that remain stubbornly human. By @natewilmers.bsky.social & @pengzell.bsky.social at @mit.edu osf.io/24xfq

Bishop Helder Câmara once said: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist." Our book of the week provides a theological critique of neoliberal capitalism. By @jungmosung.bsky.social on @tandtclark.bsky.social buff.ly/Eod41HA

This episode is part of this week's edition of the Best of Social Justice: buff.ly/FyVj8R2

In May 1980, Reagan gave a speech in which he characterized Carter's environmental regulations as “job-killing.” Our article of the week shows how this line was not just a slogan but part of a longer neoliberal project. By @madeleineebaker.bsky.social in @mihjournal.bsky.social buff.ly/JW2xA6r