It's been said that hell is other people. Not in 2020. Right now, other people are the only thing between us and species collapse.
Introducing the WIRED25. Undeterred by disaster, these innovators are using tech to make things better for all of us 1/ wired.trib.al/dbP5tPQ
Ava DuVernay
DuVernay may be the most relevant director of 2020. Her body of work includes ‘Selma’, ‘When They See Us’, and '13th’, and this year she launched the online social justice course Array 101, as well as LEAP, a fund for artists whose work explores police violence 2/
Anthony Fauci
As director of NIAID since 1984, Fauci has advised six presidents on HIV, Ebola, Zika, and more. He’s been working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, since the beginning of February, and his integrity in the face of Covid-19 has made him an icon 3/
Vijaya Gadde
Gadde’s counseling Twitter through one of the most boundary-pushing US presidential races ever. This year, the platform began placing misinformation labels on high-profile tweets deemed capable of jeopardizing public safety or capsizing the democratic process 4/
Tsai Ing-wen, Chen Chien-Jen, and Audrey Tang
Together, this Taiwanese trio all but eradicated the coronavirus from their homeland. They did so through decisive actions, strict social distancing measures, and real-time mask availability apps 5/
Jon Gray, Lester Walker, and Pierre Serao
In the midst of a pandemic and protests, this Bronx-based collective partnered with La Morada, a local Oaxacan restaurant, and Rethink, a nonprofit that redirects excess food to NYC families. Together, they’ve served 1,000 meals a day 6/
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland
In March, the megaproducers got a concert-starved nation on its feet by streaming Verzuz’s inaugural hip hop and R&B battle on Instagram. The free face-offs are now on Apple TV, and the pair see it as a sort of museum for Black musicians everywhere 7/
Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook
In the wake of a devastating pandemic, Pichai and Cook overlooked their rivalry to unite Google and Apple for the greater good. Their Covid-19 contact tracing API has been integrated into health care sector apps around the world 8/
Timnit Gebru
Gebru's research has spotlighted racist algorithms and the ethical quandaries of data-mining projects and AI. In a January paper, she argued that current methods of data collection and annotation for machine learning are rife with biases capable of causing harm 9/
Al Gore
The truth is increasingly inconvenient: Earth is getting hotter, and we’re to blame. Gore is still working to fix it—by funding sustainable companies through the equity firm Generation Investment Management and educating the masses with the Climate Reality Project 10/
This is just a portion of the WIRED25. Here’s our full list of innovators across tech, science, food, culture, and politics 11/ wired.trib.al/dbP5tPQ
Want to meet some of the WIRED25? We’re hosting a series of free virtual conversations with them starting next week. Subscribe here to attend the talks taking place September 16, 23, and 30 12/ wired.trib.al/5raf3Eb
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EXCLUSIVE: An analysis of 3.6 billion coordinates reveals the detailed movements of US military and intelligence workers, moving from nuclear bases to brothels, a WIRED analysis with @BR_Presse and @netzpolitik_org reveals. wired.trib.al/B3fHoSG
The findings provide vivid examples of the significant risks the unregulated sale of phone location data by US data firms and how they can pose a risk to the integrity of its military and the safety of its service members and their families overseas. wired.com/story/phone-da…
Experts caution that this poses a risk as it could give access to foreign governments that could use this data to identify individuals with access to sensitive areas, give criminals the ability to see where US nuclear weapons are least guarded and more. wired.com/story/phone-da…
EXCLUSIVE: Canvassers for California representative Michelle Steel are suing the congresswoman's campaign, America PAC, and others, alleging that they were promised hourly wages, then told pay would depend on how many doors they knocked.
The named plaintiffs were canvassers for Steel in October of this year, according to the suit, which alleges that they weren’t paid agreed-upon wages. America PAC is named because it provided campaigning services for Steel. wired.com/story/elon-mus…
These allegations are different from those WIRED reported earlier this week, when canvassers in Michigan said they were tricked and threatened as part of Elon Musk and America PAC’s get-out-the-vote effort for Donald Trump
NEW: Constitutional sheriffs are duly elected lawmen who believe they answer only to god. They've spent the last 6 months preparing to stop a "stolen" election.
It's a warning: 10 days out from the election, they'll do anything to make sure Trump wins. wired.com/story/constitu…
“Sheriffs are really beholden to nobody,” says Pelfrey. “Once elected, a sheriff has tremendous power, and there have been sheriffs who have been convicted and still hold office."
In nearly one in three US counties, sheriff departments are the largest law enforcement agency, meaning sheriff’s offices are the primary law enforcement agency for 56 million people. wired.com/story/constitu…
EXCLUSIVE: JD Vance's financial policy adviser Aaron Kofsky posted on Reddit for years about the use of cocaine, 'gas station heroin,' and other drugs.
Posts also show he instructed users on how to transport drugs through TSA.
Aaron Kofsky has for years posted extensively on Reddit about using a variety of drugs, including cocaine and opiates, under the username PsychoticMammal.
According to his LinkedIn, Kofsky has been advising JD Vance since this past May.
These drug-related posts have continued while Kofsky has been employed by the Senate. In May 2022, for example, PsychoticMammal responded to a post in the r/Cocaine subreddit, giving advice on how to smuggle drugs past airport security.
NEWS: A software update from cybersecurity company Crowdstrike appears to have inadvertently disrupted Microsoft IT systems globally. wired.trib.al/cvUpRaS
Banks, airports, TV stations, hotels, and countless other businesses are all facing widespread IT outages, leaving flights grounded and causing widespread disruption, after Windows machines have displayed errors worldwide. wired.com/story/microsof…
In the early hours of Friday, companies in Australia running Microsoft’s Windows operating system started reporting devices showing Blue Screens of Death (BSODs). wired.com/story/microsof…
NEW: J.D. Vance, a Republican US senator and Trump’s running mate left his Venmo account public, exposing his list of “friends,” from fellow Yale Law grads to tech executives—precisely the elites he rallies against. wired.com/story/jd-vance…
WIRED found that more than 200 people appear on Vance’s Venmo “friends” list. This includes Amalia Halikias, a director at the Heritage Foundation—the force behind Project 2025.
Vance’s Venmo friend’s list also includes media personalities like Bari Weiss and Tucker Carlson, as well as tech executives from Anthropic and AOL. wired.com/story/jd-vance…