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Ben Werdmuller

@werd.io

Senior Director of Technology at ProPublica. I write speculative fiction and think about the future of news and technology at https://werd.io.

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Latest posts by Ben Werdmuller @werd.io

Apply now! Like, later today! If you're interested.

10.03.2026 15:38 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Jay did incredible work - not just manifesting this platform, but a ton of conceptual work in the community that led to it, as well as the organizational work to make it independent. It's a hell of an achievement.

09.03.2026 20:42 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Probably my biggest personality defect / weakness is conflict avoidance. I hate people being angry. It puts me in fight or flight mode. When people raise their voices, when they lose their temper, I just want to curl into a ball. But sometimes conflict is necessary. I wish I had thicker skin.

09.03.2026 14:12 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

It actually checks for a valid URL right now, but maybe it shouldn't? It would be relatively easy to drop that requirement.

09.03.2026 13:12 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Soft-launched a new Nonorofit Explorer feature just in time for #nicar26!

07.03.2026 18:21 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

When greed and dishonesty catches to most of us, it results in huge debt and broken relationships.

For tech bros like Altman it will mean multibillion-dollar payouts and decades of being feted as a disruptor who flew too close to the sun.

07.03.2026 21:10 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Invasive thought: maybe I should start a zine.

07.03.2026 04:36 πŸ‘ 22 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We got our three year old a potty timer watch on a recommendation from daycare. It arrived today. Within five minutes of receiving it, he'd worked out how to reset it and change its settings. On balance, I am proud.

06.03.2026 22:48 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I had no idea this site existed and now I will live in it.

06.03.2026 21:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Everyone always wants to cover The Book of Love. Take on Papa Was a Rodeo, you cowards

06.03.2026 21:18 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Did you know @propublica.org maintains a Bluesky feed of its reporting partners? bsky.app/profile/did:...

06.03.2026 15:37 πŸ‘ 130 πŸ” 40 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

Just to say it: sinking a ship on its way home from a friendly international exercise that we were also taking part in is such cowardice. I can't stop thinking about it. It makes everyone less safe in so many obvious ways.

06.03.2026 14:45 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Workers who love β€˜synergizing paradigms’ might be bad at their jobs Employees who are impressed with corporate jargon are less good at their jobs. News at 11.

Employees who are impressed with corporate jargon are less good at their jobs. News at 11. werd.io/workers-who-...

06.03.2026 14:25 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Proton Mail Helped FBI Unmask Anonymous β€˜Stop Cop City’ Protester "A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the...

"A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI." werd.io/proton-mail-...

05.03.2026 22:44 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

I really enjoyed this conversation with @rabble.nz. It's an expansive discussion: we take in VC, journalism, AI, the open social web, and even Elgg, my very first startup and open source community platform. I hope you like it too.

05.03.2026 19:36 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

You just read the magnetic fields, with your hands, while humming in resonance

05.03.2026 17:35 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
It's a ZX81! A small 8-bit computer with a built-in membrane keyboard.

It's a ZX81! A small 8-bit computer with a built-in membrane keyboard.

This was my first computer. I learned to write English and BASIC at the same time, on its little keyboard - so everything I've put out into the internet is its fault in some way. Happy birthday, little ZX81.

05.03.2026 17:29 πŸ‘ 218 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 19 πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
BBC says β€˜irreversible’ trends mean it will not survive without major overhaul The BBC is dying. It needs to be preserved - but doing so will require a radical reinvention.

The BBC is dying. It needs to be preserved - but doing so will require a radical reinvention. werd.io/bbc-says-irr...

05.03.2026 14:23 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Safety Levers "A framework to move your subculture from the Anxiety Zone to the Learning Zone" - and provide a way for everyone on your team to contribute and experiment safely.

"A framework to move your subculture from the Anxiety Zone to the Learning Zone" - and provide a way for everyone on your team to contribute and experiment safely. werd.io/the-safety-l...

05.03.2026 14:02 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I didn't but now I'll go find it! I think that's exactly right.

05.03.2026 13:13 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Totally fascinating that AI use is leading to (1) more people building useful CLI utilities for services, (2) [if WebMCP works] websites exposing lightweight APIs for regular tasks. Neither thing needs AI to be useful. Kind of wish we'd had these for decades, but hey! Here we are!

05.03.2026 12:45 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

This is such an important piece of journalism right now; kudos to Cosmo for having more courage than the rest of the British media combined.

05.03.2026 11:22 πŸ‘ 39 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

My feed, Speaking Truth to Power, features non-profit newsrooms and their journalists, reporting on US news and politics. It gets a fair amount of activity - click through to pin it to your Bluesky feeds. bsky.app/profile/did:...

05.03.2026 00:48 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

I made a feed for posts from my hometown.
bsky.app/profile/did:...

05.03.2026 00:45 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Why no one wants to be the next Doctor Who He who pays the Piper… has to wait until she’s finished making her latest Netflix show. That seems to be the case with Doctor Who, which, with a 2026 Christmas special in the offing featuring Billie P...

I'll do it www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...

04.03.2026 16:43 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Okay, so I did buy myself a new personal computer. My existing one is six years old, so I figure it's allowed. Going for a highly-specified M5 Air this time around: I don't care about the XDR screen and I don't think I need the thermals of a Pro, but the lower base price means I can afford more RAM.

04.03.2026 15:01 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Wait, did Apple just release a netbook ...?

04.03.2026 14:29 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Parable of the Talents was tremendous. It took me years to get up the courage to read past the first chapter. And I Who Have Never Known Men was astonishing; I’ll be thinking about it forever. bsky.app/profile/timw...

04.03.2026 01:52 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This was a great idea, I can tell already

04.03.2026 01:41 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I’ve been at work all day and literally had no idea it went down. Did it go down? What did everyone else do? bsky.app/profile/stev...

04.03.2026 01:37 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0