Journalism that unpacks the global authoritarian toolkit
Current
Polarization
Who you are and what you believe have been weaponized in new ways in the power struggles of the 21st century. We track what price individuals and societies pay for these identity battles.
Pope Francis’s final warning
Tech evangelists talk of AI as God, an all-powerful deity. But the Vatican has mounted a sophisticated counter argument, a defense of of our shared humanity
From Russia with hate
Vladimir Putin’s anti-LGBT blueprint has made its way across the world to the Oval Office, where Donald Trump is using it to draw up American policy
The Big Idea
The Playbook
History doesn’t repeat, but it sure does rhyme. In this special series, we expose the tactics that powerful leaders use to change societies—tactics that follow surprisingly similar patterns wherever they appear
Current
Authoritarian Tech
In this current, stories on how technology has captured every aspect of our lives from intimacy to politics.
In Kenya’s slums, they’re doing our digital dirty work
Big Tech makes promises about our gleaming AI future, but its models are built on the backs of underpaid workers in Africa
Captured: how Silicon Valley is building a future we never chose
AI’s prophets speak of the technology with religious fervor. And they expect us all to become believers.
Current
Rewriting History
In this current, stories on how those in power shape our future by weaponized the past and manipulating our memories
To control the future, rewrite the past
Why Elon and Alice want Germany to get over its “cult of shame”
The Shadow Puppet: A Russian’s Warning about Trump
The US president is not a Kremlin asset. But Americans beware, he and Vladimir Putin are different expressions of the same worldview
coda story + stranger’s guide collaboration
Our visual narrative has just won the prestigious National Magazine Award for Best Service and Lifestyle Photography. Read more about the award and our collaboration with Stranger’s Guide.
Our photo story ‘The New Aztecs’ wins National Magazine Award
Current
Oligarchy
Tracking how the super rich are changing the world for the rest of us.
A Ukrainian filmmaker photographs a sinister landscape
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022 the documentary filmmaker Oleksandr Techynskyi quickly moved his wife and two teenage daughters out of the country and took a job translating for a foreign TV crew covering the war. Where he once spent his days making lyrical films, he now spends endless hours crisscrossing the country
Current
Disinformation
Truth is under attack as our information system splinters. Ever more platforms and voices means ever more noise and alternative facts. This current looks at the winners and the losers in the war for people’s minds.
The Border Propagandist
Jaeson Jones, a former DPS captain-turned-MAGA influencer, is helping lay the groundwork for mass deportations and conflict with Mexico
Why the Czech government can’t beat back online disinformation
Attempts to stop homegrown false narratives from proliferating online have largely failed
Special project
Generation Gulag: how Russia rewrites its Soviet history
Today the Russian government is rewriting some of the darkest chapters of its Soviet past. The eyewitnesses of Soviet authoritarianism have a different story for us and a message for our era.
BY CODA STAFF
