Right now, for so many people self-isolating in the face of the escalating coronavirus pandemic, technology is the main link to the outside world. It’s allowing us to maintain crucial contact with friends, family, and coworkers, and providing information and much-needed outlets for joy, amusement, and creativity in a rather bleak time.

In the past two weeks we have entered perhaps to most surreal experience in any of our lives. I think intuitively many of us believe it may be a more lasting impact than just “60 days at home,” which is why we almost have a nervous laughter when we call (Zoom!) somebody we haven’t spoken to since before the crisis and acknowledge how bizarre we all feel right now. I have seen the insides of more people’s homes and apartments than I probably ever have as we’re invited into this intimate world of videoconferencing.

Over the past decade, Instagram has become an engine of commerce and cultural influence with few peers—aside from its parent company, Facebook Inc. Reporter Sarah Frier’s inside look at Instagram, based on interviews with hundreds of the companies’ leaders, current and former employees, competitors, and stars, traces the union of Facebook and Instagram and the disintegration of the relationship between their chief executive officers. Facebook said in a statement that it has committed significant resources to fuel Instagram’s development and that “Instagram’s success is Facebook’s success.”

Surber was sleeping on friends’ couches and living out of her car when she first heard about Lambda School, a buzzy coding bootcamp that promised world-class instructors and a top-tier curriculum. Best of all, it wouldn’t cost a cent — at least not up front. The school encouraged students to defer tuition until they landed a stable job, then pay back a share of their income.