Hi, I'm Leah Reich.
I'm a writer and researcher working to make technology and the internet more human. I've worked for such companies as Slack, Instagram, and Spotify, and my writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Verge, The Atlantic, and other publications. You can read more about me here.
My newsletter is called Meets Most. It's about how the technology we use every day is not designed to benefit us as humans – and about what we can do to try and change that. Please subscribe!
Everyone is Talking and No One is Listening
When was the last time someone listened to you? I mean really listened, in a way that made you feel understood and valued. When you could say "I feel heard" and really mean it? If you're as online as I am, you might have said "
Does it Matter How the Sausage is Made?
For the first three and a half months of this year, I spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time and energy preparing to be deposed as a fact witness for a civil case against my former employer, about the harm social media does to teenagers. The specific case isn't
The Great Validation Pact
Many, many years ago, I read a novel called Fool on the Hill. It's by Matt Ruff, whom you may know better as the author of Lovecraft Country, the novel that was optioned for the HBO series. Fool on the Hill was Ruff's first novel, which
Technology is Not the Answer
Have you ever had a dream in which you are in absolute danger, and you open your mouth to scream but nothing comes out? Or a dream in which you can hear yourself screaming but everyone around you seems completely unfazed and unaware, as if you were invisible and inaudible?
Sunk Costs in the Sunken Place
On Monday morning, my laptop refused to accept my password. I typed it in a few times, each time more carefully than the last, making sure caps lock wasn't on and that I was typing it correctly. I used an external keyboard. I typed slowly. Each time I
Are You Better Than ChatGPT?
The other day, during an unexpectedly deep conversation, a stranger made a confession: Only that morning, just before we met, she'd felt so uncertain and in need of guidance that she asked ChatGPT for advice. Hold up. Before you judge her, do me a favor and pause for
Intelligence, Incentives, and Iron Men
Twenty-two years ago I submitted the thesis for my first graduate degree. This is the same thesis I mentioned back in February, the one I wrote when I still loved critical theory and when I still thought there was a place for me in academia. Neither that love nor that
Leah Reich | Meets Most Newsletter
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