Launched in late 2022, MIT Technology Review’s stable of five beat newsletters lets readers go deep on the science and technology subjects they love the most. In each weekly edition, our expert reporter guides the reader through in-depth analysis, explaining the biggest news events of the week, or unearthing previously unreported areas of the beat. Between them, they have amassed almost 400,000 subscribed readers.
They are fun, engaging, knowledgeable, and are frequently used to break scoops that readers won’t get anywhere else. We like to think of them as being “your smart friend who likes to keep you up to date.”
Monday is The Algorithm, where Melissa Heikilla talks us through the latest developments in AI, breaking new stories, and explaining the week’s dramas in the fastest-moving subject in technology right now. From generative AI breakthroughs, to complex discussions around regulation and ethics, Melissa uses her expertise to explain some of the most complex and politically-fraught topics in tech journalism.
Tuesday is Zeyi Yang’s China Report, our only nation-specific newsletter. Each week, Zeyi uses original reporting to bring his readers insights into what is happening in China right now. Whether its censorship (and the people finding ways around it), geo-political manoeuvring over vital tech such as chips, or unique analysis of Chinese digital culture, China Report gives you a fascinating window into the confluence of technology and politics there. It’s also a lot of fun.
Wednesday is The Spark, in which Casey Crownhart looks at climate and energy through a solutions lens. From the latest cutting-edge battery designs to geoengineering and carbon offset controversies, Casey sorts through the noise to give readers a better grasp of which solutions are most likely to make an impact on the biggest issue in the world today.
Thursday is The Checkup, in which Jessica Hamzelou helps readers make sense of big news stories, offers thoughtful analysis on trends, and explores the ethical aspects of health-related technologies and how they might affect us. In one issue, for example, Jessica explored how advances in reproductive medicine could lead to the birth of children with four genetic parents, or none – and how such advances are changing our understanding of what it means to be a parent at all.
And Friday is The Technocrat: our tech policy newsletter from Tate Ryan-Mosely, which unpicks the complexities of the ways in which tech impacts our lives and the ways in which policy, regulation and activism collide. Big Tech is part of all our lives whether we like it or not—Tate tells us what we need to know, in clear, engaging analysis that has become vital reading for the general reader and policy expert alike.
All five newsletters are conversational and chatty and are designed to let our readers form a relationship with our expert journalists, all while leveraging the trusted MIT Technology Review brand.
