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C. Brandon Ogbunu

Ideas contributor

C. Brandon Ogbunu (@big_data_kane), a computational biologist, is an assistant professor at Yale University and an Ideas contributor at WIRED.

What Are You Going to Tweet After You Die?

The artful death announcements of Chadwick Boseman and MF DOOM show us how the way we die online can help the living grieve.

What Makes an Artist in the Age of Algorithms?

The Grammy-nominated composer BT spoke to WIRED about art as a form of big data—and his new composition that lives on the blockchain.

STEM’s Racial Reckoning Just Entered Its Most Crucial Phase

One year after George Floyd’s murder, science and technology institutions continue to evolve. The most radical and necessary step remains.

Scientists Need to Admit What They Got Wrong About Covid

Over the last year, the scientific community has been reluctant to openly discuss its missteps. But coming clean could help prevent the next pandemic.

Clubhouse Cured My Imposter Syndrome

The scammers turned savants and the whimsical nerds who abound on the audio platform have freed me of personal doubt.

White Nationalism Is Far Worse Than a 'Disease'

Most analogies for racism as a pathology oversimplify its blight. Better diagnosing it means knowing how to treat it.

The Race to Get a PlayStation 5 Is the Year’s Best Game

This is what a holiday-shopping craze looks like when everyone’s in lockdown.

Yes, Accept the Flaws of Election and Epidemic Models

Poll wonks and epidemiologists need to be more transparent. And we need to stop being suckers.

The Science That Spans #MeToo, Memes, and Covid-19

The theory underlying network science predates the internet. But in 2020, it became essential to understanding our interconnected world.

The Flagrant Hypocrisy of Bungled College Reopenings

Higher education has ignored its main mission: to teach critical thinking. It's time to take the adults back to school.

Calling Bullshit Skewers the World's BS-Merchants

Carl Bergstrom and Jevin West’s new book teaches us how to hack through a world that's full of it, and how to spot in ourselves.

How Afrofuturism Can Help the World Mend

In a year that's broken the world and shattered reality, imagining Black futures can help plot a pathway to recovery.

Why Juneteenth Went Viral

The George Floyd protests have brought the holiday to the foreground. May it be a day of reflection and reckoning.

The Pandemic and the Protests Are Mirror Images

The debate over Covid-19 and the uprisings against police brutality share perilous pasts and uncertain futures. Together, they can teach us where to go next.

Don't Be Fooled by Covid-19 Carpetbaggers

Coronavirus credentialism is rampant and dangerous. Knowing who's legit and who's an opportunist can save lives.

How Social Distancing Became Social Justice

Like Me Too and Black Lives Matter, the Flatten the Curve movement has fomented a profound reckoning with privilege and inequality.

How White Nationalists Have Co-Opted Fan Fiction

Opinion: In fan fiction, enthusiasts create whole new worlds from elements of cherished pieces of fiction or history. Racists have perverted the form.

James Watson and the Insidiousness of Scientific Racism

Opinion: Black scientists are in the best position to understand what is so broken about the ideas of Watson and his army.