Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the vision of the future of computing offered by Apple’s Vision Pro headset and why it should be resisted.   Brian Merchant is the technology columnist at the LA Times. He’s also the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech . Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerc...

Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase and what they might mean for the future of the crypto industry.   Molly White is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and a fellow at Harvard Library Innovation Lab. Follow Molly on Twitter at @molly0xFFF . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its wo...

Paris Marx is joined by Emily Hund to discuss the creation of the influencer industry, how it’s been formalized by companies who profit from it, and what can be done to make it fairer for the people who work in it.   Emily Hund is the author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media . She’s also a research affiliate at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the U...

Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Mull to discuss the history of consumerism and where ecommerce goes in the next few years as interest rates rise and its market share stalls.   Amanda Mull is a staff writer at The Atlantic , where she writes the Material World column. She’s also a shop steward at The Atlantic Union. Follow Amanda on Twitter at @amandamull . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical persp...

Paris Marx is joined by Mary-Jane Rubenstein to discuss how ideas that underpinned colonization and Manifest Destiny are now setting the foundation for the billionaire space race and the plan to colonize the cosmos.   Mary-Jane Rubenstein is the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race . She’s also a Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan Universit...

Paris Marx is joined by Julia Black to discuss tech billionaires’ embrace of pronatalism and how it’s part of a broader rationalist project to remake society and protect their privileged positions.   Julia Black is  a senior correspondent at Insider and previously worked at Esquire and Vox . Follow Julia on Twitter at @mjnblack . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldv...

Paris Marx is joined by David A. Banks to discuss how cities have been reshaped to attract tech companies and what the consequences have been for the people who live in them.   David A. Banks is the author of The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America . He’s a lecturer in the Geography and Planning department at University at Albany, SUNY. David also writers Other Day and c...

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Binder to discuss Elon Musk’s first six months at Twitter and how his obsession with blue checks has decimated the company’s finances.   Matt Binder is a reporter at Mashable and the host of Scam Economy and Doomed. Follow Matt on Twitter at @MattBinder . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiri...

Paris Marx is joined by Shoshana Wodinsky to discuss the unconvincing arguments being made for a TikTok ban in the United States, then by Daniel Greene to explore how the turn against Chinese technology signals a shift in US policy on the internet and technology.   Shoshana Wodinsky is a freelance reporter, previously at Marketwatch and Gizmodo. She writes the Tubes newsletter . Daniel Greene is a...

Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss OpenAI’s claims that generative AI will take our jobs, how previous periods of automation hype haven’t resulted in mass job loss, and why we need to ensure it doesn’t further empower employers.   Aaron Benanav is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and the author of Automation and the Future of Work . Fol...

Paris Marx is joined by Emily M. Bender to discuss what it means to say that ChatGPT is a “stochastic parrot,” why Elon Musk is calling to pause AI development, and how the tech industry uses language to trick us into buying its narratives about technology.   Emily M. Bender is a professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Washington and the Faculty Director of the Computationa...

Paris Marx is joined by Moira Weigel to discuss the third-party sellers who supply many of the goods sold through Amazon, how the company’s policy decisions reshape small businesses to act like mini-Amazons, and what that means for regulatory responses. Moira Weigel is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard Law School, and a fo...

Tech Won’t Save Us is turning three years old, so Paris recorded a quick update on the show and announced plans for a new Elon Musk series if the show gets 200 new Patreon supporters in April. 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 ) a...

Paris Marx is joined by Kate Wagner to discuss the goals behind Saudi Arabia’s architectural megaprojects, the incentives for major architects to work on projects for despotic regimes, and how architecture’s relationship to tech is driven by profits and PR. Kate Wagner is an architecture critic and journalist. She’s also the creator of McMansion Hell. Follow Kate on Twitter at @mcmansionhell . Tec...

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, how it’s part of a larger crisis in the tech sector, and why it’s turning people against the industry’s venture capitalists. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the host of The Naked Emperor , a new CBC podcast. Follow Jacob on Twitter at @SilvermanJacob . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tec...

Paris Marx is joined by James Wright to discuss Japan’s efforts to develop robots to care for its growing elderly population, what the government hoped to achieve with that plan, and why it hasn’t worked out as planned. James Wright is a research associate with Turning Institute and a visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He’s also the author of Robots Won’t Save Japan . You can fo...

Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss how AI systems encourage ranking populations and austerity policies, and why understanding their politics is essential to opposing them. Dan McQuillan is a Lecturer in Creative and Social Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He’s also the author of Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence . You can follow Dan on Tw...

Paris Marx is joined by Ben Wray to discuss the fight to win a pro-worker Platform Work Directive in the European Union, Uber’s rollout of dynamic pricing, and how Barcelona taxi workers have fought back against ride-hailing. Ben Wray is the coordinator of The Gig Economy Project and the co-author of Scotland after Britain: The two souls of Scottish independence . You can follow Ben on Twitter at...

Paris Marx is joined by Rosie Collington to discuss the consequences of outsourcing tech to the private sector, how it causes governments to lose important capacities to serve the public, and how the push for open government data empowered large tech firms. Rosie Collington is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London. She’s also the co-author...

Paris Marx is joined by Malcolm Harris to discuss the sordid history of Silicon Valley, including the long influence of eugenics at Stanford, how Silicon Valley profited from the United States’ wars throughout the 20th century, and why the libertarian narrative of tech hide a much darker reality. Malcolm Harris is the author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World . You ca...

Paris Marx is joined by Edward Niedermeyer to discuss the rollercoaster ride of Tesla’s share price, the escalating regulatory and legal scrutiny the company faces, and the challenges it faces in the electric car market. Edward Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and a co-host of The Autonocast. You can follow Edward on Twitter at @Tweetermeyer or on Masto...

Paris Marx is joined by Anousha Sakoui to discuss the prospect of a writer’s strike later this year, what workers are fighting for, and how the move to streaming has affected working conditions and compensation in Hollywood. Anousha Sakoui is an entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles Times, covering topics including labor and litigation in Hollywood. She was part of the team that was a...

Paris Marx is joined by Quinn Myers to discuss the launch of Google Glass, why the product failed so badly, and what lessons we can learn from it as tech companies make another push for AR glasses. Quinn Myers is the author of Google Glass and a freelance writer who used to write for MEL. You can follow him on Twitter at @quinmyers . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its wo...

Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss the misleading framings of artificial intelligence, her experience of getting fired by Google in a very public way, and why we need to avoid getting distracted by all the hype around ChatGPT and AI image tools. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute and former co-lead of the Ethical AI research tea...

Paris Marx is joined by Louise Matsakis to discuss the growing divide between the US and China, the long history of Western concern about the East, and why we should pay attention to who these anti-China narratives benefit. Louise Matsakis is a technology reporter at Semafor who previously worked at NBC News, Rest of World, and Wired. You can follow her on Twitter at @lmatsakis . Tech Won’t Save U...