Brian Merchant

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Brian Merchant
Brian Merchant portrait at WikiPortraits Studio at SXSW 2025 04.jpg
Merchant in 2025
BornSacramento, California, United States
OccupationTechnology Journalist, Author
Education UC Santa Barbara
Notable worksThe One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone (2017), Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech (2023)
Website
brianmerchant.org

Brian Merchant is an American technology journalist and author. His work often focuses on how technology, environmental, and societal issues interact. [1] has appeared in The New York Times, Wired, Slate, The Atlantic, and The Guardian. [1] In 2023 and 2024, he was the technology columnist at the Los Angeles Times. He has written two books, The One Device: the Secret History of the iPhone (2017) and Blood in the Machine: the Origins of the Rebellion against Big Tech (2023). [2] [3]

Contents

He currently works full time reporting for his Substack newsletter, Blood in the Machine, where he reports on how big tech and developments in generative AI affect workers and consumers. [4]

Biography

Merchant is from Sacramento, California. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara. [1]

While at Vice, he co-founded Terraform, a speculative fiction section of Motherboard. [1] [5]

In January 2023, he became the technology columnist at the Los Angeles Times. [1] In January 2024, Merchant was laid off, along a wave of layoffs exceeding 20 percent of staff. [6]

In February 2025, Merchant began working full time reporting for his Substack newsletter Blood in the Machine. [4]

Books

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Brian Merchant to join The Times as technology columnist in Business". Los Angeles Times. January 20, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Grossman, Lev (June 19, 2017). "The iPhone Is 10 Years Old. Here's the Story of Its Birth". The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
  3. 1 2 Mikanowski, Jacob (29 June 2017). "The One Device by Brian Merchant review – the secret history and moral cost of the iPhone | History books". The Guardian . amp.theguardian.com.
  4. 1 2 Merchant, Brian. "The tech oligarchs and their AI are taking over. Let's fight back". www.bloodinthemachine.com. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  5. ↑ Merchant, Claire Evans and Brian (2014-11-17). "Why We Terraformed a New Home for Future Fiction". VICE. Retrieved 2025-09-01.
  6. ↑ Darcy, Oliver (2024-01-23). "Los Angeles Times slashes more than 20% of newsroom staff as the paper confronts a 'financial crisis' | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  7. ↑ Mueller, Gavin (September 21, 2023). "Workers' Movements or Tantrums Against Technology?". The New York Times– via NYTimes.com.
  8. ↑ Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, Brian Merchant. Little, Brown, $30 (496p) ISBN 978-0-316-48774-0 Publishers Weekly.
  9. ↑ Madrigal, Alexis (November 15, 2023). "Why Brian Merchant, a Tech Columnist, Says He's a Luddite | KQED". www.kqed.org.
  10. ↑ Gabert-Doyon, Joshua (29 November 2023). "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech". www.ft.com.
  11. ↑ "BLOOD IN THE MACHINE | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  12. ↑ Gulliver, Katrina (September 29, 2023). "'Blood in the Machine' Review: Luddites Fighting the Future". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved February 28, 2024. They saw the Industrial Revolution as a program to replace skilled craftsmen with machines, and rose up to defend the old ways.
  13. ↑ Affairs, Current (January 26, 2024). "Why You Should Be a Luddite". Current Affairs.
  14. ↑ Gulliver, Katrina (September 29, 2023). "'Blood in the Machine' Review: Luddites Fighting the Future". New Scientist . They saw the Industrial Revolution as a program to replace skilled craftsmen with machines, and rose up to defend the old ways.
  15. ↑ Hancock, Jaime Rubio (January 9, 2024). "The Luddites defended their work against automation. What can we learn from them?". EL PAÍS English.
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