Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Olivier Jutel to discuss blockchain’s pivot to humanitarianism, the questionable people behind the technology, and how their projects in the Pacific have benefited capitalist and imperial power. Olivier Jutel is a lecturer at the University of Otago. Follow Olivier on Twitter at @OJutel . 🚨 T-shirts are now available ! Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on te...

Paris Marx is joined by Dan Greene to discuss how the Clinton administration reframed poverty through the lens of the internet and how that transformed the missions of key institutions like libraries and schools. Dan Greene is an assistant professor at University of Maryland’s College of Information Studies. He is the author of “ The Promise of Access: Technology, Inequality, and the Political Eco...

Paris Marx is joined by Shannon Mattern to discuss what we miss when we see the city solely through the lens of the computer, and how other institutions and ways of knowing can help inform richer ways of understanding the city. Shannon Mattern is a professor of anthropology at The New School for Social Research and President of the Board at the Metropolitan New York Library Council. She is the aut...

Paris Marx is joined by Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran to discuss Australia’s robodebt scandal where automated decision-making was used against welfare recipients, and how exploitative AI implementations are being deployed by governments in social welfare and at the borders. Dhakshayini Sooriyakumaran is a proud Tamil person and a PhD candidate at Australian National University whose work focuses on d...

Paris Marx is joined by Peter Labuza to discuss how streaming is reconfiguring Hollywood, what that means for the film and television we consume, and whether it’s time to consider antitrust action against the streaming giants. Peter Labuza is a lecturer at San Jose State University whose work focuses on the legal, financial, and political history of creative industries. He’s currently writing a bo...

Paris Marx takes a solo episode to discuss the billionaire space race. Specifically, how billionaires are selling grand futures of space travel as a PR scheme to get huge public contracts that will allow them to control the infrastructure of space. 🚨 T-shirts are now available ! Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring p...

Paris Marx is joined by Alex Rivera to discuss his 2008 film Sleep Dealer and how it imagined exploitative technologies being implemented in a future Mexico of hardened borders and limited migration. Alex Rivera is a filmmaker and digital media artist whose work explores themes of globalization, migration, and technology. His feature films include Sleep Dealer and The Infiltrators . Follow Alex on...

Paris Marx is joined by Zachary Loeb to discuss the history of tech criticism with a focus on Joseph Weizenbaum and Lewis Mumford, as well as why the techlash is a narrative that suits Silicon Valley. Zachary Loeb is a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania whose dissertation research looks at Y2K. Follow Zachary on Twitter as @libshipwreck , and check out his Librarian Shipwreck blog. 🚨...

Paris Marx is joined by David Golumbia to discuss the ideology of cyberlibertarianism, the right-wing politics of cryptocurrencies and blockchains, and why the left shouldn’t embrace them. David Golumbia is an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and the author of “ The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism .” He’s also writing a new book called “Cyberlibertarian...

Paris Marx is joined by Eoin Higgins to discuss why tech companies and venture capital firms are launching their own media verticals, what Marc Andreessen hopes to get out of Clubhouse and Substack, and why Jeff Bezos may have a better approach to media. Eoin Higgins is a freelance journalist and writes on Substack under The Flashpoint . Follow Eoin on Twitter as @EoinHiggins_ . Tech Won’t Save Us...

Paris Marx is joined by Avi Asher-Schapiro and Maya Gebeily to discuss how Facebook isn’t fully enforcing its ban on conversion therapy in Arabic, what that means for LGBTQ people in Arabic-speaking countries, and how social media has become a battleground. Avi Asher-Schapiro is a journalist covering technology for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Maya Gebeily is the Middle East Correspondent at th...

Paris Marx is joined by Legacy Russell to discuss how glitch feminism challenges existing ideas of what constitutes the body and the effects of having those conceptions embedded within our technological systems. Legacy Russell is the associate curator of exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, and will become executive director and chief curator of The Kitchen in September. She’s the author of...

Paris Marx is joined by Richard Barbrook to discuss how the Californian Ideology illustrated the neoliberalism of Silicon Valley, whether it’s still relevant in the present, and how games can be used for political purposes. Richard Barbrook is the author of “ Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machines to the Global Village ” and “ Class Wargames: Ludic subversion against spectacular capitalism .” H...

Paris Marx is joined by Benjamin Peters to discuss the proposals for national computer networks in the Soviet Union, the challenges they faced in getting approval, and what lessons they hold for how we think about networks. Benjamin Peters is the author of “ How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet ” and the co-editor of “ Your Computer Is On Fire .” He’s also the Haz...

Paris Marx is joined by Eden Medina to discuss Project Cybersyn, a technological system created by Chile’s socialist government in the 1970s to manage production, and what it can teach us about political technology and innovation outside the Global North. Eden Medina is the author of “ Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile .” She’s also an associate professor...

Paris Marx is joined by Kevin Driscoll to discuss the history of France’s Minitel system, the insights it provides about the modern platform economy, and whether the internet will one day be shut down too. Kevin Driscoll is the co-author of “ Minitel: Welcome to the Internet ” with Julian Mailland. He’s also a professor at the University of Washington and the author of the forthcoming book “The Mo...

Paris Marx is joined by Margaret O’Mara to discuss how the state and military have been at the center of the US tech industry since the very beginning, but how it was written out of the popular narrative during the neoliberal turn in the 1980s. Margaret O’Mara is the author of “ The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America ” and a professor at the University of Washington. Follow Margaret...

Paris Marx is solo this week, providing an update on the podcast, the series of guests planned for May, and what’s coming next for Tech Won’t Save Us! Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast ( @techwontsaveus ) and host Paris Marx ( @parismarx ) on Twitt...

Paris Marx is joined by Kim Kelly to discuss what it was like on the ground in Bessemer as workers tried to form a union at Amazon, the mood after the results came in, and where the organizing effort against Amazon goes from here. Kim Kelly is a freelance labor reporter who has written for Teen Vogue, The Baffler, Vox, and many others. She is also writing a book for One Signal Publishers called “F...

Paris Marx is joined by Elizabeth Renieris to discuss why we should be concerned about proposals for vaccine passports and how they could create a precedent for a larger rollout of digital identity documents. Elizabeth Renieris is a practitioner fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab and a tech + human rights fellow  at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights P...

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the implications of the recent NFT boom, the libertarian ideology that underpins crypto, and where the hype economy goes from here. Jacob Silverman is a staff writer at The New Republic and the author of “ Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection .” Follow Jacob on Twitter as @SilvermanJacob . 🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’...

Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss how decisions by powerful institutions over how to implement new technologies in cities, education, health, and more have the effect of creating a form of digital redlining that hides existing social problems. Chris Gilliard is a Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center and teaches at Macomb Community College. You can f...

Paris Marx is joined by Manu Saadia to discuss the roots of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ visions for space, and why they serve the billionaires’ need for control, not the betterment of humanity. Manu Saadia is the author of “ Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek .” Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand...

Paris Marx is joined by Mar Hicks to discuss why we need to know the history of tech and how the British history of sexism and colonialism in computing has lessons for the present-day US tech industry. Mar Hicks is the co-editor of “ Your Computer Is on Fire ,” along with Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, and Kavita Philip. They are also the author of “ Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discar...

Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss how Bill Gates wields his wealth to shape public policy, the many conflicts of interest of Bill and his Foundation, and how legitimate criticism of power is being positioned as conspiracy. Tim Schwab is an investigative journalist whose recent work on the Gates Foundation has been published by The Nation, the Columbia Review of Journalism, and the Brit...