I can’t keep writing about what’s good on the internet
Kate Lindsay, editor of Embedded newsletter, announces that the publication's five-year mission to highlight "what's good on the internet" no longer feels viable in an era dominated by AI, capitalism, and algorithmic exploitation. She reflects on her lifelong anxiety about existential threats and how the internet's transformation into a profit-driven, divisive space has made it increasingly difficult to find authentic good content worth celebrating.
Summary
Kate Lindsay opens by sharing personal anecdotes about her history of existential worry, from childhood fears about the Mayan calendar to present-day concerns about AI safety. She mentions being triggered by a tweet from a 27-year-old Anthropic employee warning that AI could kill all humans, which prompted an emotional crisis. Lindsay acknowledges her tendency to consume constant bad news without proper contextualization.
The core of her message centers on Embedded's five-year mission, launched in 2021 during an optimistic period when vaccines were rolling out and Donald Trump had left office. The newsletter's slogan—"Your essential guide to what's good on the internet"—made sense in that moment. However, Lindsay argues that the internet has fundamentally changed. The current online environment is optimized for profit and attention, designed to exploit and divide audiences while normalizing antagonism and defeat. She identifies platform censorship, mass surveillance, and the AI arms race as major contributing factors.
Lindsay reflects nostalgically on pre-algorithm internet culture—making Sims music videos, writing fanfiction, and scrolling Tumblr—as activities that feel impossible to replicate in today's landscape. Even if such spaces returned, she suggests her attention span has been irrevocably reshaped and wouldn't appreciate them anyway. She admits that her recent writing has shifted toward criticism, scolding, and teardowns of internet culture rather than celebration of what's good, leaving her exhausted. She concludes that Embedded's mission must fundamentally change to reflect this new reality.
About this episode
What’s the point of Embedded in an AI apocalypse?
Key Insights
- Lindsay argues that good internet content now only exists in spaces that AI and capitalism have not yet colonized, suggesting that algorithmic platforms and profit incentives are fundamentally incompatible with authentic creative culture.
- The author contends that her own attention capacity has been permanently reshaped by years of algorithm consumption, implying that even a return to better internet conditions wouldn't restore her ability to enjoy older forms of creative expression.
- Lindsay claims that the transition from finding good internet content to writing critical takedowns of internet culture reflects a broader shift in what is actually available to cover, rather than a change in editorial priorities.
- The author argues that optimism about internet culture in 2021 was premature and disconnected from longer-term structural problems, suggesting that the pandemic created a false sense of trajectory improvement.
- Lindsay frames her lifelong pattern of catastrophic thinking as context for understanding her current despair about the internet, positioning it as a personal vulnerability rather than irrational fear-mongering.
Topics
Transcript
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci. I’ll be joining Kyle Raymond Fitzpatrick and Ben Dietz for a live recording of Hip Replacement on September 17th at 7pm at The Ace Hotel in Brooklyn! RSVP here (it’s free!) — Kate New on ICYMI: Speaking of Kyle, he joined me on ICYMI for a who’s who of the many names currently making internet headlines (Alix Earle? Stella Lefty??) Head over here to subscribe to ICYMI wherever you listen to podcasts 🫶 Shameless attempt to win your attention via kitten pic. I don’t think there’s ever been a time in my life when I wasn’t worried the world was…
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