Lee Vinsel
@leev.bsky.social
I do technology studies, make the Peoples & Things podcast, co-founded The Maintainers, and profess Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech.
My buddy and soon-to-be podcast cohost @benwaterhouse.bsky.social has written one of my favorite pieces yet critically connecting 1960s counter-culture to the rise of "neoliberalism" - "Big Brother and the Holding Company: What the 1960s Did for Neoliberalism."
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:41 PM
My buddy and soon-to-be podcast cohost @benwaterhouse.bsky.social has written one of my favorite pieces yet critically connecting 1960s counter-culture to the rise of "neoliberalism" - "Big Brother and the Holding Company: What the 1960s Did for Neoliberalism."
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
benjaminwaterhouse.com/wp-content/u...
Good question! I will ping Tom and ask him.
December 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Good question! I will ping Tom and ask him.
Very excited about this week's Peoples & Things episode featuring historian of computing Tom Haigh talking about his forthcoming book with the working title, _Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand_.
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
111 Thomas Haigh on the History of “AI” as a Brand - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Very excited about this week's Peoples & Things episode featuring historian of computing Tom Haigh talking about his forthcoming book with the working title, _Artificial Intelligence: The History of a Brand_.
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
newbooksnetwork.com/111-thomas-h...
Very cool, man. Let's stay in touch as you do this. I'm quite interested in the topic.
December 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Very cool, man. Let's stay in touch as you do this. I'm quite interested in the topic.
Nice. I was thinking about you and horses a day or two ago. Is this part of your current project?
A lot of historians of the automobile, including myself most days, argue that the effects of automotive mass production only really come online in the 20s. Part of the story?
A lot of historians of the automobile, including myself most days, argue that the effects of automotive mass production only really come online in the 20s. Part of the story?
December 3, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Nice. I was thinking about you and horses a day or two ago. Is this part of your current project?
A lot of historians of the automobile, including myself most days, argue that the effects of automotive mass production only really come online in the 20s. Part of the story?
A lot of historians of the automobile, including myself most days, argue that the effects of automotive mass production only really come online in the 20s. Part of the story?
It's an interesting question. My sense is that this whole effort started because of a real perceived organizational problem having to do with college application essays, and then grew out from there. My sense is that part of it was bottom up. Relations to outside vendors is a great question.
December 2, 2025 at 8:00 PM
It's an interesting question. My sense is that this whole effort started because of a real perceived organizational problem having to do with college application essays, and then grew out from there. My sense is that part of it was bottom up. Relations to outside vendors is a great question.
I actually know the guy, a faculty member, who built that AI tool. He's an interesting and thoughtful person, and he's given guest lectures in some of my courses.
December 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I actually know the guy, a faculty member, who built that AI tool. He's an interesting and thoughtful person, and he's given guest lectures in some of my courses.
New Peoples & Things episode this week features Verena Halsmayer talking about her award-winning book, _Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact_, including how it relates to the economics of technological change.
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
Verena Halsmayer on Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
New Peoples & Things episode this week features Verena Halsmayer talking about her award-winning book, _Managing Growth in Miniature: Solow’s Model as an Artifact_, including how it relates to the economics of technological change.
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
newbooksnetwork.com/managing-gro...
I enjoyed Bob Charette's new piece at IEEE Spectrum, "Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing." I've long believed this is one of many factors at play in the "productivity paradox" of computing.
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing
AI won’t solve IT’s management problems
spectrum.ieee.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I enjoyed Bob Charette's new piece at IEEE Spectrum, "Trillions Spent and Big Software Projects Are Still Failing." I've long believed this is one of many factors at play in the "productivity paradox" of computing.
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
spectrum.ieee.org/amp/it-manag...
Hey, y'all! This week we have a special episode of Peoples & Things - a recent livestream featuring very special guest host danah boyd talking with Cory Doctorow about his new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Hey, y'all! This week we have a special episode of Peoples & Things - a recent livestream featuring very special guest host danah boyd talking with Cory Doctorow about his new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
newbooksnetwork.com/cory-doctoro...
Basically since they emerged in a professional sense in Germany in the late-18th and early-19th centuries!
November 19, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Basically since they emerged in a professional sense in Germany in the late-18th and early-19th centuries!
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Excellent to have danah boyd on the same call as Cory. Lovely chat. So many analogies, “further complications”, and wry laughs per minute!
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification, with danah boyd and Lee Vinsel
YouTube video by Peoples & Things
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Excellent to have danah boyd on the same call as Cory. Lovely chat. So many analogies, “further complications”, and wry laughs per minute!
Hey, buddy! Would be fun to revisit.
Recently I have also become interested in the flipside of this thought: Which is how the humanities have always defined themselves in opposition to the sciences, business, technology, and so on. I have found this book helpful. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Recently I have also become interested in the flipside of this thought: Which is how the humanities have always defined themselves in opposition to the sciences, business, technology, and so on. I have found this book helpful. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Permanent Crisis
Leads scholars and anyone who cares about the humanities into more effectively analyzing the fate of the humanities and digging into the very idea of the humanities as a way to find meaning and cohere...
press.uchicago.edu
November 18, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Hey, buddy! Would be fun to revisit.
Recently I have also become interested in the flipside of this thought: Which is how the humanities have always defined themselves in opposition to the sciences, business, technology, and so on. I have found this book helpful. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Recently I have also become interested in the flipside of this thought: Which is how the humanities have always defined themselves in opposition to the sciences, business, technology, and so on. I have found this book helpful. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
No haven't. Thanks for the idea!
November 11, 2025 at 1:41 AM
No haven't. Thanks for the idea!
Great episode of Peoples & Things today featuring Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, talking about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. A history of standards oooh la la. 😍😍
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse
Podcast Episode · Peoples & Things · 11/10/2025 · 1h 10m
podcasts.apple.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Great episode of Peoples & Things today featuring Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, talking about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. A history of standards oooh la la. 😍😍
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Cory Doctorow on Enshittification, with danah boyd and Lee Vinsel
YouTube video by Peoples & Things
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:34 PM
ICYMI: Join us tonight at 7pm ET for a special livestream edition of Peoples & Things featuring Cory Doctorow and special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social talking about Cory's new book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
#ICYMI: Tonight at 7 PM, ET (6 PM, CT), @zephoria.bsky.social & Cory Doctorow discuss the #enshittification 💩 of the Internet on a special live edition of @leev.bsky.social's Peoples & Things podcast!
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
November 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
#ICYMI: Tonight at 7 PM, ET (6 PM, CT), @zephoria.bsky.social & Cory Doctorow discuss the #enshittification 💩 of the Internet on a special live edition of @leev.bsky.social's Peoples & Things podcast!
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
#histSTM #histsci #histtech #STS 🗃️📜
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Kate Epstein discussed her new book, ANALOG SUPERPOWERS, with @leev.bsky.social on Peoples & Things! Listen to learn about the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual property, and government secrecy in Great Britain and the United States.
107: Kate Epstein on How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State” (U Chicago Press, 2024) – Peoples & Things
In this episode I sit down with Kate Epstein, an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden, as she details her research on the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual…
buff.ly
October 31, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Kate Epstein discussed her new book, ANALOG SUPERPOWERS, with @leev.bsky.social on Peoples & Things! Listen to learn about the intersection of defense contracting, intellectual property, and government secrecy in Great Britain and the United States.
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
October 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Join us on Monday November 3 at 7pm ET for a Peoples & Things livestream featuring Cory Doctorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on his book, _Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It_, with special guest host @zephoria.bsky.social!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjFv...
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak” from actual, sustainable #innovation? Come to the 2026 ARL President’s Institute #PI26! @leev.bsky.social will foster realistic conversations around necessary changes to truly unlock innovation in #libraries bit.ly/PI26Vinsel
ARL PI26: Keynote Announcement—Lee Vinsel — Association of Research Libraries
February 11–12 ᐧ Chicago-Rosemont Be honest: Do you hear people use the term “innovation” without fully appreciating what it entails? Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak”.....
bit.ly
October 27, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Do you wish there were a way to distinguish “innovation-speak” from actual, sustainable #innovation? Come to the 2026 ARL President’s Institute #PI26! @leev.bsky.social will foster realistic conversations around necessary changes to truly unlock innovation in #libraries bit.ly/PI26Vinsel
Reposted by Lee Vinsel
Read an enlightening interview with Lee Vinsel about "Using Podcasts to Humanize Scholars" in the new issue of Technology and Culture via @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
October 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Read an enlightening interview with Lee Vinsel about "Using Podcasts to Humanize Scholars" in the new issue of Technology and Culture via @projectmuse.bsky.social
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
muse.jhu.edu/article/971306
My theory about how my dogs think about barking at delivery drivers - Works every time, the enemy always drives away.
October 16, 2025 at 7:33 PM
My theory about how my dogs think about barking at delivery drivers - Works every time, the enemy always drives away.
Hard for me to put into words how touched I was when the editors of Technology & Culture, which I've been reading for half my life, interviewed me about Peoples & Things, the technology studies podcast I make with a production team here at Virginia Tech.
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
October 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Hard for me to put into words how touched I was when the editors of Technology & Culture, which I've been reading for half my life, interviewed me about Peoples & Things, the technology studies podcast I make with a production team here at Virginia Tech.
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
doi.org/10.1353/tech...
Folks, asking for a friend: Are there any good, short, clear pieces that you use to teach students about the history of the Dot-Com bubble and bust?
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
October 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Folks, asking for a friend: Are there any good, short, clear pieces that you use to teach students about the history of the Dot-Com bubble and bust?
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.
Extra points for these traits: Written as narrative history, chapter/article length, free or easily obtainable.