The Big Bubble
a new book on how technology is making it harder to understand the world
Who, or what, shapes our world view? Can facts really be ”alternative”? Is Google personalizing search results to each user and how does customization of news affect us? What do you really know about the algorithms that influence everyday life in a world that is increasingly digital?
A sober and penetrating study of the damage done to journalism in recent years, including the scourge of ‘fake news.’ — Kirkus Reviews
In The Big Bubble, journalist Per Grankvist explores how algorithms, the changing media landscape and new methods for communication influence our perception of reality. Drawing on behavioral science, psychology and history, and his ability to make technology understandable, Mr. Grankvist helps us see our own bubble from the outside.
At once a reminder that bubbles have always existed, even offline, and a guide to popping them, The Big Bubble will change the way you think about the technology you use every day.
“The author is a veteran journalist and a columnist at the Swedish daily newspaper Sydsvenskan, and his wealth of experience is evident as he diagnoses the current state of the media. The prose is perfectly limpid and free of prohibitively technical jargon. (…) Nevertheless, his sharpest observations are about how proprietary computer codes, conjured by undemocratic institutions, pose a threat to democracy itself.” — Kirkus Reviews
Get your copy today!
The book is available worldwide as paperback, ebook and on Kindle at selected retailers online and offline, and on Amazon.
Recommended retail price is USD 17.99 / EUR 17.99 / GBP 16.99.
For the Swedish version of the book, please click here.
Read excerpts from the book
“Trouble in the bubble”
Technology was supposed to make life easier for us and to help us get on top of things and understand what’s going on in the world in a simpler and better way than in the old days. So what happened? Get the full story »
“Alexa, are you telling me the truth?”
A co-worker may blush when they lie to you, but what about digital assistants? And what about our own confirmation bias that acts as a mental filter bubble? Algoritmic discrimination can be as real as IRL-discrimination, even though we don’t see it. Get the full story »
About the author
Per Grankvist is a well-known journalist and author in Sweden. He has written on the impact of digital media on politics, civic engagement and communication in some of Sweden’s largest newspapers, and frequently appears on TV.
Drawing on science, psychology and history and his award-wining ability to make technology understandable, he makes digital media feel a little less overwhelming and a bit more human. Companies that have engaged Mr. Grankvist as a speaker include DHL, Coca-Cola, H&M, Nasdaq and Staples.
Mr. Grankvist has been called ‘a Scandinavian Malcolm Gladwell’ for his way of exploring topics and connecting seemingly unrelated and irrelevant stories that first might look unrelated, and weave them together in a way that exposes a larger context. Although Per Grankvist has written four books and several essays in Swedish, including one bestseller, The Big Bubble is his first book to be translated in English.
Mr. Grankvist lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
