"You sit in a coffee shop and watch as passerby's walk across to the Starbucks. Your fingers rattle across your laptop keys as you code for some new encryption software. How did the world come to this? Why do people pick 4 dollar coffees from Starbuck, when the local coffee across the street is a fraction of the price? Why do we have to hide, even in the net, from the powers that be? You glance down into your backpack, which is nestled at your feet, and see a crumpled copy of Neuromancer that you've read a million times. We saw this coming, and it is happening anyway."

In this section you will find news, essays, and critical analysis of our times from a cyberpunk frame of reference.

transmet spider jerusalem middle finger
Books & Fiction
Politics & Philosophy
6
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Transmetropolitan and the Shape of Modern Politics

It’s been nearly a year since the facade of leadership and guidance on behalf of the United States’ federal government was stripped away. Now we can see the political machine’s moving parts underneath, and it looks like the gears and pulleys are mismatched, following a design different from what was originally intended. In case you’re […]

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Books & Fiction
Games
Movies & Anime
Politics & Philosophy
2
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Last Week in Cyberpunk 01/13/2018

Last Week in Cyberpunk is back. We want to apologize for the absence of this popular column on Neon Dystopia, but you can expect us back on our regular interval. As the year has turned, we still find the Internet under siege by corporations looking to turn a profit and governments looking to secure control. […]

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observer dream eater visor
Politics & Philosophy
12
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2017 and the Rebirth of Cyberpunk

As far as cyberpunk culture goes, I’m a relative newcomer. I was unaware of the consolidation of futuristic, dark neo-noirs and conspiracy thrillers with urban environments as their backdrops as an entire genre until the summer of 2014, when I first watched the anime series Psycho-Pass. Three and a half years later and it seems like […]

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Games
Politics & Philosophy
3
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Spinnortality: Become the Megacorporation

I’ve always been partial to the megacorporations in cyberpunk fiction. They are ominous, brooding, reptilian, unwavering in their ethics (or lack thereof) and almost omniscient. They pervade the broken-down countries that require aid only to then profit off the back of poverty and cheap labour whilst enforcing a near militant stance. They are the big […]

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Movies & Anime
Politics & Philosophy
0
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Mr. Robot on Alienation

In the final push towards season 3 of Mr. Robot, the New York times published “Rami Malek of Mr. Robot Doesn’t Want to be Alone Anymore.” There’s not much in the way of spoilers, but one thing Malek points out is a change for Elliot’s character, that the most isolated man in New York now […]

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Movies & Anime
Politics & Philosophy
11
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Blade Runner 2049 and Gender

Blade Runner 2049 is breathtaking. It has already been said, but there’s no harm in reiterating: it is an amazing film in so many ways. It works very well alone, and even better when side by side with the other occupants of the Blade Runner cinematic universe. Maybe it’s just a thing a fan would say, […]

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Movies & Anime
Politics & Philosophy
0
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Last Week in Cyberpunk 9/1/2017

This last week in cyberpunk we saw Google put academics on the defensive, got our contacts stolen, and were reminded that the revolution is still going. Let’s get to the news. Cyberpunk Reality Google Silences Think Tank Criticism It’s pretty common for big tech companies to reach out to think tanks in search of new […]

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Books & Fiction
Music
Politics & Philosophy
0
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On Music, Mondo, & Mayhem: An Interview With R.U. Sirius

I recently wrote an article for Neon Dystopia on Mondo 2000, a cyberculture magazine that helped shape the cyberpunk sub-genre. When thinking of Mondo, the first person that comes to mind for most people is Ken Goffman, better known as R.U. Sirius. While he may be best known for his time at Mondo 2000, Sirius […]

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Books & Fiction
Games
Movies & Anime
Politics & Philosophy
0
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Last Week in Cyberpunk 08/26/2017

Lots of cyberpunk trailers this week break up the creeping dread that is the erosion of journalistic freedoms and privacy, but it isn’t all bad. Cyberpunk Reality Ron Wyden Stands for Journalists in Vote Against 2017 Intelligence Authorization Bill Ron Wyden singularly voted against the 2017 Intelligence Authorization Bill on Tuesday, August 22nd, continuing his […]

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