Ian Bogost

Ian Bogost is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and the Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His latest book is Play Anything.

Bettmann / Getty

America Will Sacrifice Anything for the College Experience

The pandemic has revealed that higher education was never about education.

Ian Bogost
October 20, 2020

Mike Hill / Getty / thispersondoesnotexist / Katie …

It Doesn’t Matter If Anyone Exists or Not

What a website that generates infinite fake humans tells us about modern life
- Ian Bogost
- February 24, 2020
The Atlantic

Every Place Is the Same Now

With a phone, anywhere else is always just a tap away.
- Ian Bogost
- January 16, 2020
Farknot Architect / Romolo Tavani / Shutterstock

A New, Meme-Fueled Nostalgia for War

On TikTok and Twitter, anxious posts about World War III recall a simpler era of global conflict.
- Ian Bogost
- January 4, 2020
Michael Cohen / Getty

Bill Gates’s Fortune Isn’t Going Anywhere

Even if Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax were to become a reality
- Ian Bogost
- November 7, 2019
House House / Ian Bogost / The Atlantic

Video Games Are Better Without Gameplay

Untitled Goose Game is fun. The problem is, all games are also work.
- Ian Bogost
- October 22, 2019
Simoul Alva

Technology Sabotaged Public Safety

Without us even noticing
- Ian Bogost
- October 10, 2019
Timothy Sean O’Connell

Sandra Boynton’s Captivating Universe

Her picture books have sold 75 million copies in the past four decades. What’s the secret to her far-reaching appeal?
- Ian Bogost
- November 2019 Issue
Mat Hayward / Getty

The Wildly Appealing, Totally Doomed Future of Work

WeWork was supposed to reinvent office life. Unfortunately, it did.
- Ian Bogost
- September 26, 2019
Ian Bogost

I Tried to Limit My Screen Time

It didn’t go well.
- Ian Bogost
- September 5, 2019
Beck Diefenbach/Reuters

For members: Trump’s big housing reform, Jay-Z’s NFL deal, Impossible Burger in grocery stores

Atlantic writers look ahead at their beats.
- Annie Lowrey, Hannah Giorgis, Olga Khazan, Ian Bogost, and Matt Peterson
- August 30, 2019
breakermaximus / Shutterstock

Video-Game Violence Is Now a Partisan Issue

For decades, both Republicans and Democrats saw games as cultural dangers. That changed after the Parkland shooting.
- Ian Bogost
- August 5, 2019
Rose Wong

Work Ruined Email

It’s not too late to fix it.
- Ian Bogost
- August 2, 2019
David Dee Delgado / Getty

Revenge of the Power Grid

Infrastructure doesn’t only exist when it fails.
- Ian Bogost
- July 15, 2019
NBC News / Jacob Drew Vandever / Ian …

Raise Your Hand If You’ve Ever Felt Personally Victimized by This Debate

Political media have abandoned frankness for dankness.
- Ian Bogost
- June 28, 2019
Isabelle Chauvel / Getty

The Infrastructure of Joy

Will building delight into cities make them more cloying or more fun?
- Ian Bogost
- June 27, 2019
Rogelio V. Solis / AP

Electric Cars Still Face a Major Roadblock

To wean drivers off gas vehicles, automakers need to help them develop a whole new understanding of what it means to own a motorcar.
- Ian Bogost
- June 27, 2019
Boeing

Boeing Won’t Rename the 737 Max

“We’re not focused on branding and marketing. We’re focused on safety.”
- Ian Bogost
- June 26, 2019
Ted Soqui / Getty

Free Solo Is Not a Life Lesson

Alex Honnold’s historic climb is too extraordinary to become a story of motivational-poster determination.
- Ian Bogost
- June 25, 2019
Kwiyeon Ha / Reuters

What If Social Media Could Tell You When You’re Mean?

Ditching likes for facial scans could be the way to a kinder, if creepier, online world.
- Ian Bogost
- June 25, 2019
Mark Peterson / Getty

The Problem With Diversity in Computing

Tech’s discriminatory culture might never change, no matter how many women and people of color are invited into the room.
- Ian Bogost
- June 25, 2019