Happy February, everyone—

I'm so grateful for this community. Even in the tundra cold, groups continue to gather in public, table in parks, ride the train across boroughs to share in the good life. In January, SoRA filled Judson Church and Wash. Sq. Park with hundreds of attention activists; Month Offline covered the streets with analog art and flip phones; a wide collective began planning the "Summer of Ludd," about which I'll share more info below).

The desire for a better world is everywhere, and so many here have already begun to embody it. As much as I'd love to keep writing, these events are where you'll really come to understand what it's all about. They're where you'll become a part of this budding movement—where, together, we are discovering how to replace extractive tech more permanently.

February is full of new opportunities. Organizers from across the space are hosting facilitation workshops to empower more friends to act. A number of groups are collaborating on LET'S GET OFF TOGETHER: a no-phones dance party celebrating offline connection—with DJ sets, immersive art, and a big moment of dating app deletion. (Big shoutout to telos.haus for hosting, and for being a model of how to run a venue without Big Tech platforms!) Seminars and teach-ins are open for those looking to get more technical while potlucks and a singles event honor the questions about love and connection we'll be asking in the wake of Valentine's Day.

Be sure to scroll all the way down for a list of weekly gatherings, too—art builds, writing groups, phone-free creative sessions, and more.

Off we go, together—

—Nick

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February Events, so far

Mon., Feb. 2 | Break Up with Google @ 7 p.m., Wonderville

Google … it's not me; it's you. And the AI overviews.

Do you want to leave Google in 2025 but don't know where to start? Do you wish the process of moving your digital life over was a little less overwhelming?

This February, join Cache Me Outside and Cypurr Collective to break up with Google. Bring your laptop or phone and we'll lock in on alternate search tools, email services, browsers, migrating account data, removing ourselves from search results, and more. Facilitators on hand to help when you get stuck.

DJs, VJs, and live coders on open decks all night at our fave bar/arcade!

More info and RSVP here.

Tues., Feb. 3 | THE EXTRACTION ECONOMY @ 5:30 p.m., The Forum at Columbia

In his latest book, The Age of Extraction, Columbia Law School professor and former White House official Tim Wu contends that today’s dominant firms have mastered an extractive business model that pulls value upward—from users, workers, and entire markets—while eroding political freedoms and narrowing the space for shared prosperity.

Join us for "The Extraction Economy: Platforms, Power, and the Fight for Prosperity" on Tuesday, February 3, from 5:30 to 7:00pm at The Forum at Columbia University. This dynamic in-person conversation between Professor Wu and Julia Angwin, award-winning investigative journalist and founder of Proof News, will dig into how platform power has transformed whole sectors of the economy, how emerging AI systems may accelerate inequality, and what bold legal, institutional, and civic interventions are needed to build a more democratic digital future.

Tues., Feb. 3 | Figure Drawing @ 7 p.m., Underland Gallery, Bay Ridge

A monthly figure drawing session hosted by artist and activist Amanda Hanna-McLeer. Nude model; no photos allowed.

Amanda is the director of the upcoming Luddite Club film.

SAVE YOUR SPOT HERE!

Thurs., Feb. 5 | Attention Lab "STUDY" @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention’s flagship “Attention Labs” are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab’s focus is STUDY: a glimpse at the power of collective inquiry.

Sign up for any lab here.

Fri., Feb. 6, 13, 27 | Crafternoon @ 1:30 p.m., Stavros Library (SNFL) First Floor Corner Space

Two hours of freeform crafting and conversation every week at the midtown Manhattan library. Bring your own project. We have tools and materials for sewing, painting, fiber, and paper arts, and are always happy to assist you in finding books related to your creative interests. Walk-ins welcome. More info here.

Feb. 6, 12, 21 | Action Potlucks @ 6 p.m., Crown Heights

We'll come together over shared food to discuss what is important to us and how we can address it collectively. We'll rebuild a muscle of exerting agency over the state of our shared worlds and combat the passivity our technology habituates us to.

Email Connor for a spot—griffin75006@proton.me.

Sat., Feb. 7 | Who Should Decide AI's Future? @ 4:30 p.m., NYU Greenberg Lounge

As artificial intelligence reshapes everything from healthcare to democracy, one question grows more urgent: who gets to set the rules?

​Join for a public discussion on AI governance featuring perspectives from philosophy, law, industry, policy, and civil society.

Claim a seat here.

Sun., Feb. 8 | 'Requiem for the Home Computer' Zine Release @ 2:30 p.m., Wonderville

ZineClubNYC’s 6th Issue Release called Requiem for the Home Computer. Relive the retro and nostalgia vibes to the simple days of the internet on your desktop home computer. Join the zine community to celebrate our newest riso printed zine.

More info and free tickets here.

Mon., Feb. 9 | DISTURBING CODE Application Deadline @ 11:59 p.m.

This course, co-led by Theo of Red Cal asks questions that are key to our movement building—

Disturbing Code explores works (“art” and “not art”) that employ recent technologies to enact protest. From DDoS attacks, to data poisoning, DIY servers, radical archiving, today’s Luddite movement, protest machines, and much more: code in this class disturbs and—as a medium with imperialist roots—is disturbed. Participants of all skill levels will work in teams to produce and inventively distribute a work of computational political action.

It's worth checking out more seminars at the School for Poetic Computation, too. And while we're here, I'll also plug SoRA seminars if you're looking for deeper dives in this tech-resistance space :-)

Thurs., Feb. 12 | Internet of Shit Teach-In @ 6 p.m., Williamsburgh Library

Do you ever find yourself thinking, AI THIS, AI THAT, AYE... I NEED A BREAK????? Welcome to the (kudzu?!) club—you're not alone! AI is everywhere these days: it's in our search engines, our emails, our memes, our screens, but there's this near ubiquitous cultural impact to say absolutely nothing of its social and economic impact. This teach-in/workshop uses the cultural phenomenon of AI as a starting point to discuss its role as a tool and weapon of capitalism in accelerating and intensifying trends of alienation, extraction, and exploitation.

Join us on Thursday, Feb. 12 at the Williamsburgh Library Auditorium (240 Division Ave at Marcy Ave) from 6-8PM to learn more & discuss together

RSVP here.

Sun., Feb. 15 | Attention Lab “SANCTUARY” @ 12:30 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention’s flagship “Attention Labs” are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab’s focus is SANCTUARY: creating social space free from the influence of Big Tech.

Sign up for any lab here.

Mon., Feb. 16 | Month Offline Exhibition @ 7 p.m., Night Club 101

phone-free Gallery Exhibition to celebrate the inaugural NYC cohort of Month Offline going 30 days with a dumbphone. Want to hear what it was like? Join the celebration. NO PHONES! Leave @ home or place it in a pouch once you arrive. Event is free.

(I will be here learning how to ride a bike in real time!)

Dumbcurious? interested in taking a month offline? visit offline.community or call 1-844-OFFLINE. Next cohort begins in March in Brooklyn near the L. Sign up by 2/23. More at art.dumb.co.

Wed., Feb. 18, 25, Mar. 1 | SoRA Attention Activism 201 "ORGANIZING," Wednesdays @ 7:00 p.m., online

ATTENTION ACTIVISM is the collective movement to push back against the commodification of human attention—what we call "human fracking"—and create, space by community space, a world where we can flourish. In this course, we will explore practical strategies for ATTENTION ACTIVISM, drawing on texts by bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and Deva Woodly. We'll also focus on developing the organizing, facilitation, and movement-building skills required to build groups for ATTENTION ACTIVISM. The bulk of the course will be dedicated to supporting participants toward an organizing project in their own communities.

Completion of our Attention Activism 101 seminar is required for participation in our 201 training. Participants who complete Attention Activism 201 will be eligible for inclusion in our national organizing coalition.

Brand-new course! Sign up at https://www.schoolofattention.org/enroll/.

Thurs., Feb. 19 | Design It for Us: Monthly Coalition Call @ 5:30 p.m., online

Design It for Us (DIFU) is a community of young people (26 and under) from around the world fighting to hold Big Tech accountable and improve our digital ecosystems.

Members are encouraged to attend monthly calls to learn more about state and federal tech policy, join campaigns, and directly advocate for legislative change.

Join here.

Thurs., Feb 19 | Giorno Poetry Systems Live Programming Resumes @ 7 p.m., 222 Bowery

Matt Connors listens, shares, gives homage to pianist Jessica Williams in a historic space.

GPS is a nonprofit through which artists support artists—a place for poetry, song, and organizing to mix. Look out for more aligned programming, and consider dropping by on Tuesdays from 4 to 7.

Fri., Feb. 20 | LET'S GET OFF TOGETHER @ 9 p.m., telos.haus

​LET’S GET OFF TOGETHER is a celebration of social life as it’s meant to be: free from the grip of greedy tech platforms. That means more than just saying “please don’t use your phone on the dance floor” (although there will most certainly not be any phones on this dance floor)—

​We’re talking presence, real attention to one another, to music, to community. Organized by artists, activists, and friends from the NYC offline community, this gathering weaves together immersive art, facilitated experiences, ritual, DJ sets—and space will be made for anyone ready to delete a dating app, get off social media (together), or plot the overthrow of the tech oligopoly.

​Come co-create this sanctuary away from the smartphone-based life and towards gatherings that are in person, participatory, and full of agency. And maybe harness the energy of Valentine’s Day to find an offline love? (note: this is not a sexy party lol)

​FREE PARTY! Drinks will be sold, and we'll have a $10–15 suggested donation at the door :)

Tues., Feb. 24 | Attention Lab “COALITION” @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention’s flagship “Attention Labs” are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab’s focus is COALITION: the collective potential of attention activism.

Sign up for any lab here.

Thurs., Feb. 26 | Games, Art, & Agency @ 7 p.m., Upper West Side

We talk a lot about agency in this technocritical space—what do we mean by it? This is an experiential study session to explore the concept in more detail.

Inspired by Games: Agency as Art by C. Thi Nguyen, we'll use play to ponder different forms of agency. Games offer us temporary means and temporary ends—and they shape our agency accordingly.

For this session, we'll move through a video game slowly and discuss our observations about the relationship between design and behavior.

Hosted by organizer and social worker Colin Yaccarino. Sign up here.

Fri., Feb. 27 | Collaborative Meet Cute @ 6 p.m., Crown Heights

What's the best way you've ever met someone? We'll share histories and experiences, then democratically co-create the ideal meet-cute. This a singles event like nothing you've been to before and like nothing you'll go to again—because we'll create it together. 

Doors open at 6:30; doors lock at 7; plan to stay until midnight. This is a phone-free event.

Email Connor at griffin75006@proton.me with any questions or to reserve a spot.

ONGOING | The Summer of Ludd

THE SUMMER OF LUDD, a week of free, public, participatory programming is set for June 28–July 5. The goal is to get people off big tech platforms, into public space, and creating community infrastructure.

Activities include: concert series, daily free lunch initiative, luddite conference, shitphone rally, delete day, workshops, nightclubbing.... and more! Please reach out to theofficialsummerofludd@proton.me if you have resources/spaces/events/bands/organizations that should be involved, or if you just want to generally volunteer!

NOTE THAT Luddism is not what most people think. It's not a matter of being against all technology—it's merely a rejection of abusive, imposed tech. In other words, Luddism is AN IRRESISTIBLE ALTERNATIVE TO INSTAGRAM, TO ALIENATION, TO CONSUMERISM.

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Weekly resources

Every Sun. | CIRCLE TIME (Parallel Play) @ 4 p.m., Bushwick

You always want to ask people what they’re working on at the cafe? NOW YOU CAN! This is Circle Time. Sundays, BYOPP (bring your own passion project) and prepare to share.

Format: Intros → Focus Time → Optional show & tell

Hosted by Rebecca Lipsitch, who curates connection through public-space events and play with groups like How Do We Play and Street Lab.

Email rebecca.lipsitch@gmail.com for address and more info!

First and Third Sun. | Date with Détournement @ 9 p.m., Various Locations

Join public art projects that push back against alienating tech.

First and third Sundays.

sighren.ludd@proton.me if you want in.

Every Tues. | Event Facilitator Workshops @ 5 p.m., 222 Bowery (Giorno Poetry Systems)

Do you have a phone-free event in mind but don’t know where to host it? Would you like to do more hands-on organizing in the tech resistance community? Are you craving more presence, participation, and agency at your events?

Join for these FREE, weekly sessions, where organizers from the "Off Tech" scene discuss facilitation, share concrete resources, and workshop your events through completion.

Email ppamphlet@proton.me for more.

Every Wed. | Technocritical Writers Room @ 9 a.m., Jefferson Market Library

Logan Lane of the Luddite Club and Damian Thomas of Unplatform are launching a writers room for technocritical writers to talk about different approaches with the intention of writing in as many literary languages as we can.

Email loganlane1@proton.me to join.

Every Wed. | Phone-Free Adelphi @ 7 p.m., Fort Greene

Screen-free night of creativity from 7 to 9 p.m. We turn off our phones, work on something creative together, then talk about the experience.

Capped at 10 people. Please only come if you can stay the whole evening!

Stay up to date and RSVP for any week using this form. Email danmaxfox@gmail.com with questions.

Every Thurs. and Sun. | Appstinence Office Hours, online

Drop in for FREE personal guidance on reclaiming your life from persuasive platforms. Get the low-down on de-platforming and using alternative devices; discover how to fill newly won free time (yay!), and learn ways to talk about all this with your friends and family.

Thursdays at 7 p.m. & Sundays at 1 p.m. EST: http://www.appstinence.org/appstinenceacademy.

To get on the list, email henry_m@appstinence.org.