Sheon Han

[a-z]*

Selected Writing

Here are pieces that are either my personal favorites or have been well-received.
(Click here to see more of my published work.)


Ideas, Criticism, Essays

Rat Traps — Asterisk
Why do rationalist writings sound all the same?

Talk Therapy: A tribute to the Longform podcast — The Point
On the end of the great Longform podcast.

When Literature Meets Philosophy — On Philosophical Science Fiction — The New Republic
A review of Philosophy Through Science Fiction Stories in praise of philosophical science fiction.

Steven Yeun’s Perfect Accent in “Minari” — The New Yorker
On the film “Minari” and the experience of living as a non-native speaker in America.

The Magic of Tiny-Home VideosThe New York Times Magazine
About my year of watching tiny-home videos on YouTube.

A Reading List on Why We Run — Longreads
An essay and commentaries on six pieces of writings on running.

A Tale of Two Clubs — Nassau Weekly
On Princeton’s eating clubs: Ivy and Terrace.


Technology, Science, Math

Inside the Cult of the Haskell Programmer — WIRED
On Haskell — a cult classic of programming languages.

JavaScript Runs the World—Maybe Even Literally — WIRED
A defense of JavaScript — a silly-ass language that everyone loves to hate but more powerful (and egalitarian) than you think.

What We Lost When Twitter Became X — The New Yorker
About my time at the bird app and what the future might hold.

The Case for Software Criticism — WIRED
Why isn’t there “software criticism” like there is film criticism or book criticism? Software may be the defining cultural artifact of our time. So why isn’t there a culture of critical analysis around it?

How Google Docs Proved the Power of Less — WIRED
A piece of software criticism on Google Docs.

The Hidden History of Screen Readers — The Verge
On blind programmers who have, for decades, created screen readers for the visually impaired community.