Technology and the Public Interest
Books, essays, and commentary from John Palfrey
Essays
Notes from AI Action Summit in Delhi, India, February 2026
Reflections on AI, governance, and the public interest from the AI Action Summit in Delhi.
Read essayConcord Free Public Library 150th Anniversary Celebration
Remarks on libraries, civic institutions, and the enduring importance of public knowledge.
Read essayInvesting in the Arts—in Chicago and Beyond
Thoughts on philanthropy, culture, and why investing in the arts matters for public life.
Read essayCommentary from John Palfrey
-
Lessig on Change Congress at HLS
Tonight, Lawrence Lessig will return to the Berkman Center and Harvard Law School in a major address on his new initiative, Change Congress. Lessig was the first Berkman Professor, ten years ago, when the center was just getting off the ground. We are honored to welcome him back, as part of the Berkman@10 Series, celebrating…
-
Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected
The MacArthur Foundation’s Series on New Media and Learning, published by the MIT Press, includes a book called Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected (2008); open access version here. I opened this book first when I was writing a chapter on Innovators, for Born Digital, a book I’m co-writing with Urs Gasser. I had reason…
-
Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth
I’ve been making my way with care (and great pleasure) through the fine series of books that the MacArthur Foundation and MIT Press have put together on Digital Media and Learning. There are six in total, each worth reading. (I previously blogged about the volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media.) I’m trying to finish…
-
FCC Hearing at the Berkman Center
Yesterday was one of the best days I can remember at the Berkman Center. The FCC’s full commission was in town, along with lots of others interested in the Comcast-BitTorrent dispute. It keyed in on what some call “network neutrality” and others called the discussion of what “reasonable network management” means. Tim Wu and Yochai…
-
Status of the DRAFT LESSIG Challenge
… there are 350+ donors on ActBlue, (if you’re wondering: the official count is off; it’s too long, since it doesn’t show what we raised for the Draft committee) and hundreds more volunteers have signed up and raring to go, if Prof. Lessig takes the plunge. The goal: get him 1,000+ supporters in a week…
-
Lessig '08
Lawrence Lessig makes two announcements. And sets up Lessig ’08. Watch the video. Then get over to ActBlue and be part of the grassroots movement to convince him to run for Congress by contributing. Join us in the DRAFT LESSIG Challenge: let’s get 1,000 people to give money or pledge their time to show him…
-
The DRAFT LESSIG Challenge
The DRAFT LESSIG movement — to encourage Prof. Lawrence Lessig to run for the U.S. Congress from California — is off to a quick start. Then again, if it’s going to happen, it has to happen fast: the special election is April 8. The Facebook group we set up a few days ago now has…
-
DRAFT LESSIG
It’s high time we had our first true Free Culture candidate for public office. Who better than the movement’s founder and hero? I have no reason to believe he’d actually do it, but I think we should send a message to Lawrence Lessig that we’ve got his back if he were to run for the…
-
Brad Turcotte at HLS Class
Brad Turcotte, known on the web as BradSucks, came to our Web Difference class today. The topic for class is his model for making, sharing, and getting paid for his music. He seems to do everything BUT the traditional label approach. He gives it away directly, with a tip jar; he’s big on Magnatune; you…
-
Young People Who Rock: Alexander Heffner
One of the big questions in the digital world is whether the way people use the Internet will lead to stronger democracies — or, in fact, have the opposite effect. This debate is playing out in the United States and around the world. In China, activists use online bulletin boards to organize themselves for the…
-
Turkey at the Edge
The people of Turkey are facing a stark choice: will they continue to have a mostly free and open Internet, or will they join the two dozen states around the world that filter the content that their citizens see? Over the past two days, I’ve been here in Turkey to talk about our new book…
-
The Web Difference Starts Up
I’ve got the great pleasure of co-teaching with David Weinberger this semester. It’s his triumphant return to the classroom after a few decades of taking time off from formal university teaching. The core inquiry of the course is to explore whether or not the web is in fact “different” from that which came before. Then,…