(Ireland, 1979) is a literary expert and journalist who lives and works in Dublin. He writes for publications like the New Yorker, The Independent en New York Times Magazine. His 2018 debut To Be a Machine was nominated for the prestigious Baillie Gifford Prize, the most important British non-fiction award. In the book, O'Connell researches trans-humanism, a Silicon Valley subculture that devotes itself to radical life extension by melding man and technology. In 2018, O'Connell told the NRC: "They have a mechanistic view on what it means to be human. They literally see humans as machines. [...] My inquiry was into the question of what it means for a human to become a machine, but ultimately I learned more about what it means to be human."