Brad Weed
@bradweed.bsky.social
I write about the interaction of people and place and advocate for improvements at interplace.io.
Next time you're following your phone through unfamiliar streets, notice: which city are you seeing — the one that exists, or the one the algorithm wants you to see? And which one are you helping to create? @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 28, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Next time you're following your phone through unfamiliar streets, notice: which city are you seeing — the one that exists, or the one the algorithm wants you to see? And which one are you helping to create? @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
30 years ago UCSB ( @spatialucsb.bsky.social ), we were democratizing cartography with GIS. The critical questions — about what maps might do *to* us not just *for* us — were less discussed. Now we're living those questions. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
30 years ago UCSB ( @spatialucsb.bsky.social ), we were democratizing cartography with GIS. The critical questions — about what maps might do *to* us not just *for* us — were less discussed. Now we're living those questions. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
Watched locals navigate their Lisbon while tourists followed algorithmic recommendations to the next Instagrammable spot. Same streets, different maps. Platform algorithms don't just show the city. They actively produce it. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 27, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Watched locals navigate their Lisbon while tourists followed algorithmic recommendations to the next Instagrammable spot. Same streets, different maps. Platform algorithms don't just show the city. They actively produce it. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
There's something dizzying about studying a system from within its grasp. Like trying to map a maze while still lost inside it. On critically existing inside the platforms we use and critique. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 26, 2025 at 5:07 PM
There's something dizzying about studying a system from within its grasp. Like trying to map a maze while still lost inside it. On critically existing inside the platforms we use and critique. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
Who decides what gets mapped? Whose reality does the map represent? What work does the map do in the world? These questions question my geography undergrad...especially as I follow blue dots through ancient streets. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 26, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Who decides what gets mapped? Whose reality does the map represent? What work does the map do in the world? These questions question my geography undergrad...especially as I follow blue dots through ancient streets. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
75% of Republicans and Republican leaners also say this, up from 56% in early 2024 and 61% in 2019.
83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say such language should be avoided. That is unchanged since we first asked the question in 2019.
83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say such language should be avoided. That is unchanged since we first asked the question in 2019.
Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say politicians should avoid heated or aggressive speech.
Nearly 8 in 10 Americans say politicians should avoid heated or aggressive speech
Most Americans (78%) say elected officials should avoid using heated or aggressive language because it could encourage some people to take violent action.
www.pewresearch.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:15 PM
75% of Republicans and Republican leaners also say this, up from 56% in early 2024 and 61% in 2019.
83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say such language should be avoided. That is unchanged since we first asked the question in 2019.
83% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say such language should be avoided. That is unchanged since we first asked the question in 2019.
Got lost in Lisbon following Apple Maps while attending a digital geography conference. The irony? We were there to critique the very platforms reshaping the city beneath our feet. On complicity, maps, and the worlds we create. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
An Economic Geography of Complicity and Control
How the algorithmic hyperreality of digital platforms reorganizes urban space
interplace.io
November 25, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Got lost in Lisbon following Apple Maps while attending a digital geography conference. The irony? We were there to critique the very platforms reshaping the city beneath our feet. On complicity, maps, and the worlds we create. @geographers.bsky.social #GeoSky
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
interplace.io/p/an-economi...
Reposted by Brad Weed
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
Western economic hegemony (pink and green) getting squeezed from the bottom (Asia) and top (rest of the world). The US came on strong but its post WWII US dominance appears to be fading. H/T @adamtooze.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Western economic hegemony (pink and green) getting squeezed from the bottom (Asia) and top (rest of the world). The US came on strong but its post WWII US dominance appears to be fading. H/T @adamtooze.bsky.social
Systems reproduce through relationships that shape identities. New piece on how capitalism locks in—and how alternatives from land trusts to buffalo restoration interrupt the spirals. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Systems reproduce through relationships that shape identities. New piece on how capitalism locks in—and how alternatives from land trusts to buffalo restoration interrupt the spirals. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
How does theft become structure? How does violence become normal? New essay traces feedback loops from enclosure to contemporary debt extraction. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 8, 2025 at 11:15 PM
How does theft become structure? How does violence become normal? New essay traces feedback loops from enclosure to contemporary debt extraction. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Path dependencies aren't neutral—they're maintained by those who benefit. New essay on how geographic hierarchies persist through active enforcement, not inertia. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 8, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Path dependencies aren't neutral—they're maintained by those who benefit. New essay on how geographic hierarchies persist through active enforcement, not inertia. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Capitalism spreads by destroying alternatives. What got displaced? English commons, indigenous economies, African land systems. New essay on geographies of dispossession. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 7, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Capitalism spreads by destroying alternatives. What got displaced? English commons, indigenous economies, African land systems. New essay on geographies of dispossession. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
How did English commons destruction become global extraction? New piece on capitalism's geographic origins—violence as emergent property, not externality. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
How did English commons destruction become global extraction? New piece on capitalism's geographic origins—violence as emergent property, not externality. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
New essay: capitalism emerged through centuries of accumulated violence creating self-reinforcing patterns. Traces enclosure → plantations → global lock-in using complexity geography. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 6, 2025 at 11:15 PM
New essay: capitalism emerged through centuries of accumulated violence creating self-reinforcing patterns. Traces enclosure → plantations → global lock-in using complexity geography. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/spirals-of...
Reposted by Brad Weed
62% of Americans say they don't closely follow professional or college sports.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
October 5, 2025 at 10:17 PM
62% of Americans say they don't closely follow professional or college sports.
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
In 1570, Henry Billingsley made history by publishing the first English translation of Euclid’s Elements. He embedded pop-up three-dimensional models into the pages. Centuries ago one man used paper engineering to bring math to life. h/t Ali Kaya beyondeuclid.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
In 1570, Henry Billingsley made history by publishing the first English translation of Euclid’s Elements. He embedded pop-up three-dimensional models into the pages. Centuries ago one man used paper engineering to bring math to life. h/t Ali Kaya beyondeuclid.substack.com
As late as 2020, it was a two-horse race with the US still in play. Now, China cranks out more than twice the wind turbines of the US and Europe combined. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
September 13, 2025 at 9:27 PM
As late as 2020, it was a two-horse race with the US still in play. Now, China cranks out more than twice the wind turbines of the US and Europe combined. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
#Population trends decouple from #emissions trends. It’s about policy and possibility. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
#Population trends decouple from #emissions trends. It’s about policy and possibility. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
While Trump thought he could bring back ship building to America, his repulsion repels potential customers.
“Japanese companies plowed a record $17 billion Down Under last year, and 2025 figures nearly match that.” Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
“Japanese companies plowed a record $17 billion Down Under last year, and 2025 figures nearly match that.” Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
September 12, 2025 at 2:39 PM
While Trump thought he could bring back ship building to America, his repulsion repels potential customers.
“Japanese companies plowed a record $17 billion Down Under last year, and 2025 figures nearly match that.” Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
“Japanese companies plowed a record $17 billion Down Under last year, and 2025 figures nearly match that.” Via @adamtooze.bsky.social
"...the real story here might be the EU, where investment jumped 63% from the second half of 2024 to ~$76 billion, double the paltry $37 billion in the US. In fact, the EU and the US swapped places as the world’s second-biggest destination for green capital after China." via @adamtooze.bsky.social
September 11, 2025 at 10:57 PM
"...the real story here might be the EU, where investment jumped 63% from the second half of 2024 to ~$76 billion, double the paltry $37 billion in the US. In fact, the EU and the US swapped places as the world’s second-biggest destination for green capital after China." via @adamtooze.bsky.social
Wyoming, Connecticut, California, and Texas are the US states with the highest inequality. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social via @itif.org 👉 itif.org/publications...
September 11, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Wyoming, Connecticut, California, and Texas are the US states with the highest inequality. Via @adamtooze.bsky.social via @itif.org 👉 itif.org/publications...
Most African migration is within the continent, with less than 1% moving outside. Improved migration systems, bilateral labor agreements, and new skill development could lead to widespread prosperity. openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/pub...
September 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Most African migration is within the continent, with less than 1% moving outside. Improved migration systems, bilateral labor agreements, and new skill development could lead to widespread prosperity. openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/pub...
Complexity will continue, with or without us. The wager is no longer whether to master the wave. It is whether we can learn to inhabit it without denying the unequal costs it exacts. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/masters-of...
Masters of Mess Making and Meaning
The human wager in the age of turbulence
interplace.io
August 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Complexity will continue, with or without us. The wager is no longer whether to master the wave. It is whether we can learn to inhabit it without denying the unequal costs it exacts. @geographers.bsky.social @americangeo.bsky.social #GeoSky interplace.io/p/masters-of...
Nazaré’s canyon turns swells into monsters. Some ride them, others drown. So too with the Anthropocene: complexity persists, but justice demands asking whose lives are lifted, and whose are pulled under.@[email protected] @DialoguesHG @geopolitics @[email protected] interplace.io/p/masters-of...
Masters of Mess Making and Meaning
The human wager in the age of turbulence
interplace.io
August 27, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Nazaré’s canyon turns swells into monsters. Some ride them, others drown. So too with the Anthropocene: complexity persists, but justice demands asking whose lives are lifted, and whose are pulled under.@[email protected] @DialoguesHG @geopolitics @[email protected] interplace.io/p/masters-of...