Peter Howson is a technology writer, researcher, and assistant professor in international development at Northumbria University, Newcastle. His latest book Let Them Eat Crypto, investigates the green-washing, aid-washing, and other shenanigans that go on in Silicon Valley, as well as the lesser-known tech-hubs of the Global South.
Texas start-up Intuitive Machines has achieved the first moon landing by a private firm. It’s dumping rich people’s detritus on the lunar surface — a grim sign of how the superrich plan to plant their flag beyond our own planet.
In times of war, stocks in weapons companies have always been a safe investment. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown that wars are also a big opportunity for crypto bros — another group of disaster capitalists profiting off other people’s misfortune.