Body Electric
The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being
“A compelling, necessary and hopeful read for our busy, burned out, overwhelming and tech-addicted times."
As we spend more and more time on our phones and as AI becomes more prevalent, there are concerns about technology's impact on our ability to be creative, think critically, and foster social relationships.
For more on AI, algorithms, and the devastating downsides of spending too much time on social media, give these books a read.
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The Anxious Generation
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
"A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood..."
The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State
“How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as Jill Lepore? Generations to come will marvel that anyone could think so clearly amidst such chaos. At a moment when the AI takeover feels new and strange and inevitable, Lepore shows it to be anything but. She connects dots from different eras, different stories, different technologies, even different species. The result is a profound reframe of what we really mean by ‘artificial.’"
― Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab
― Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab
Robin Hood Math
Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life
"How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game..."
The Digital Delusion
How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning -- And How To Help Them Thrive Again
"If you are an educator or a parent, you’ll want to read this book to understand how technology is changing education and changing children.” - Jonathon Haidt, Author of The Anxious Generation
Atlas of AI
Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
“It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”--Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review
The Age of Addiction
How Bad Habits Became Big Business
“A fascinating history of corporate America’s efforts to shape our habits and desires.”
Code Dependent
"By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society..."
Empire of AI
Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI
"From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman’s OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history..."
Unmasking AI
My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines
“AI is not coming, it’s here. If we answer the beautiful call inside these pages, we can decide who we are going to be and how we’re going to use technology in service of what it means to be fully human.”--Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author
The Algorithm
How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now
"In The Algorithm, Emmy-award winning Wall Street Journal and Guardian contributor Hilke Schellmann delivers a shocking and illuminating exposé on one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time: how AI has quietly, and mostly out of sight, taken over the world of work..."
The Sirens' Call
How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource
“A useful primer on how social media and the attention economy have warped our democracy and reshaped our lives.” --Barack Obama
Dopamine Nation
Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
"The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption."
The Shallows
What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
“I have not only given this book to numerous friends, I actually changed my life in response to it.” —Jonathan Safran Foer, author
Prophecy
Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
"A book like Prophecy — roving, intelligent, irreducibly idiosyncratic — can expand our sense of possibility, starting now."
The New Age of Sexism
How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny
"Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier."
Alone Together
Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other
"MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down."
The Coming Wave
Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma
"An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance..."
More Everything Forever
AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity
"Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us...In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow..."
The Age of Extraction
How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity
"Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented..."
Digital Exhaustion
Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life
"Paul Leonardi maps out an achievable path to reducing your digital exhaustion, drawing on extensive research to show how real people can use technology in healthy ways."
Careless People
A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
"Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us..."
Project Maven
A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare
"The Terminator comes to life, and future hellscapes are fast upon us." - Kirkus Reviews
Data Empire
The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate
“For most of history, data infrastructures were largely state-driven. Today, they are increasingly owned and operated by private corporations, even as they structure public life. This shift raises urgent questions about accountability, sovereignty, and the future of public life.”
iGen
Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--And Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--And What Th
“If you are a parent, teacher, or employer, you must read this fascinating book.”--Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation
Algorithms of Oppression
How Search Engines Reinforce Racism
| # | Title | Subtitle | Author(s) | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Body Electric | The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being | Manoush Zomorodi and Keith Diaz | 2026 | “A compelling, necessary and hopeful read for our busy, burned out, overwhelming and tech-addicted times." |
| 2 | The Anxious Generation | How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness | Jonathan Haidt | 2024 | "A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech--and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood..." |
| 3 | The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State | Jill Lepore | 2026 | “How lucky are we to be alive at the same time as Jill Lepore? Generations to come will marvel that anyone could think so clearly amidst such chaos. At a moment when the AI takeover feels new and strange and inevitable, Lepore shows it to be anything but. She connects dots from different eras, different stories, different technologies, even different species. The result is a profound reframe of what we really mean by ‘artificial.’" ― Latif Nasser, co-host of Radiolab | |
| 4 | Robin Hood Math | Take Control of the Algorithms That Run Your Life | Noah Giansiracusa | 2025 | "How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game..." |
| 5 | The Digital Delusion | How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids' Learning -- And How To Help Them Thrive Again | Jared Horvath | 2025 | "If you are an educator or a parent, you’ll want to read this book to understand how technology is changing education and changing children.” - Jonathon Haidt, Author of The Anxious Generation |
| 6 | Atlas of AI | Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence | Kate Crawford | 2022 | “It’s a masterpiece, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”--Karen Hao, senior editor, MIT Tech Review |
| 7 | The Age of Addiction | How Bad Habits Became Big Business | David T Courtwright | 2021 | “A fascinating history of corporate America’s efforts to shape our habits and desires.” |
| 8 | Code Dependent | Madhumita Murgia | 2025 | "By highlighting the voices of ordinary people in places far removed from the cozy enclave of Silicon Valley, Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society..." | |
| 9 | Empire of AI | Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI | Karen Hao | 2025 | "From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman’s OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history..." |
| 10 | Unmasking AI | My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines | Joy Buolamwini | 2024 | “AI is not coming, it’s here. If we answer the beautiful call inside these pages, we can decide who we are going to be and how we’re going to use technology in service of what it means to be fully human.”--Brené Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author |
| 11 | The Algorithm | How AI Decides Who Gets Hired, Monitored, Promoted, and Fired and Why We Need to Fight Back Now | Hilke Schellmann | 2024 | "In The Algorithm, Emmy-award winning Wall Street Journal and Guardian contributor Hilke Schellmann delivers a shocking and illuminating exposé on one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time: how AI has quietly, and mostly out of sight, taken over the world of work..." |
| 12 | The Sirens' Call | How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource | Chris Hayes | 2026 | “A useful primer on how social media and the attention economy have warped our democracy and reshaped our lives.” --Barack Obama |
| 13 | Dopamine Nation | Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence | Anna, MD Lembke | 2021 | "The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption." |
| 14 | The Shallows | What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains | Nicholas Carr | 2020 | “I have not only given this book to numerous friends, I actually changed my life in response to it.” —Jonathan Safran Foer, author |
| 15 | Prophecy | Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI | Carissa Veliz | 2026 | "A book like Prophecy — roving, intelligent, irreducibly idiosyncratic — can expand our sense of possibility, starting now." |
| 16 | The New Age of Sexism | How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny | Laura Bates | 2025 | "Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier." |
| 17 | Alone Together | Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other | Sherry Turkle | 2017 | "MIT professor Sherry Turkle argues that as technology ramps up, our emotional lives ramp down." |
| 18 | The Coming Wave | Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma | Mustafa Suleyman | 2023 | "An urgent warning of the unprecedented risks that AI and other fast-developing technologies pose to global order, and how we might contain them while we have the chance..." |
| 19 | More Everything Forever | AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity | Adam Becker | 2025 | "Tech billionaires have decided that they should determine our futures for us...In More Everything Forever, science journalist Adam Becker investigates these wildly implausible and often profoundly immoral visions of tomorrow..." |
| 20 | The Age of Extraction | How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity | Tim Wu | 2025 | "Our world is dominated by a handful of tech platforms. They provide great conveniences and entertainment, but also stand as some of the most effective instruments of wealth extraction ever invented..." |
| 21 | Digital Exhaustion | Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life | Paul Leonardi | 2025 | "Paul Leonardi maps out an achievable path to reducing your digital exhaustion, drawing on extensive research to show how real people can use technology in healthy ways." |
| 22 | Careless People | A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism | Sarah Wynn-Williams | 2025 | "Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us..." |
| 23 | Project Maven | A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare | Katrina Manson | 2026 | "The Terminator comes to life, and future hellscapes are fast upon us." - Kirkus Reviews |
| 24 | Data Empire | The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate | Roopika Risam | 2026 | “For most of history, data infrastructures were largely state-driven. Today, they are increasingly owned and operated by private corporations, even as they structure public life. This shift raises urgent questions about accountability, sovereignty, and the future of public life.” |
| 25 | iGen | Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--And Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--And What Th | Jean M Twenge | 2018 | “If you are a parent, teacher, or employer, you must read this fascinating book.”--Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation |
| 26 | Algorithms of Oppression | How Search Engines Reinforce Racism | Safiya Umoja Noble | 2018 |