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368 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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VCs Want to Disrupt the Media w/ Eoin Higgins
24 juni 2021 · 37 min
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. Lees meer
Eoin Higgins is a freelance journalist and writes on Substack under The Flashpoint. Follow Eoin on Twitter as @EoinHiggins_.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Eoin wrote about what venture capital firms are doing in media and Marc Andreessen’s favoriting of alt-right tweets.
In 2016, Marc Andreessen wrote a tweet about colonialism in India that received a lot of backlash.
Coinbase started a “media arm” to “become a source of truth” in the face of critical reporting.
Anna Wiener recently wrote about how tech may be shifting from a narrative of disruption to one of building institutions (to serve themselves).
Sam Harnett critically examined tech journalism and its history, especially with regard to reporting on the gig economy.
Zoe Schiffer and Megan Farokhmanesh detailed how venture capitalists used Clubhouse to organize against critical coverage of the industry and go after journalists like Taylor Lorenz.
Ed Zitron wrote about how tech journalism’s shift from an enthusiast press to an industrial press was something venture capitalists and powerful people in the industry were not happy about.
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Facebook Is A Battleground w/ Avi Asher-Schapiro and Maya Gebeily
17 juni 2021 · 42 min
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. Lees meer
Avi Asher-Schapiro is a journalist covering technology for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Maya Gebeily is the Middle East Correspondent at the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Follow Avi on Twitter as @AASchapiro and follow Maya as @GebeilyM.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Avi and Maya wrote about how Facebook is letting conversion therapy posts continue being shared on the platform in Arabic.
Maya wrote about social media companies blaming glitches for disappearing posts about Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem.
In September, Buzzfeed published an internal letter by Sophie Zhang on how Facebook was ignoring its impacts on the politics of countries around the world. Zhang has gone on to to do work with The Guardian and Rest of World.
The United Nations says conversion therapy “may amount to torture” and should be banned.
Lebanon provides more freedom for LGBTQ people, but there are still barriers.
Saudi Arabia infiltrated Twitter to identify dissidents, and in 2020 convicted a Yemeni blogger for supporting gay rights.
In September 2020, Algerian police arrested 44 people for attending a “gay wedding,” using the decoration as evidence against them.
Israeli security agencies work to ensure Facebook censors Palestinian content at their request.
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Embracing Glitch Feminism w/ Legacy Russell
10 juni 2021 · 47 min
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. Lees meer
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 “Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto” and is currently writing “Black Meme.” Follow Legacy on Twitter as @LegacyRussell.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Donna Haraway, Sadie Plan, and Katherine Hayles on cyberfeminism.
Alondra Nelson on afrofuturism.
Nathan Jurgenson’s work on digital dualism and IRL.
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The Sunset of the Californian Ideology? w/ Richard Barbrook
3 juni 2021 · 1 uur 3 min
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. Lees meer
Richard Barbrook is the author of “Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machines to the Global Village” and “Class Wargames: Ludic subversion against spectacular capitalism.” He’s a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Westminster. Follow Richard on Twitter as @richardbarbrook.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read the original Californian Ideology essay in Mute Magazine and Richard’s thoughts on the 20th anniversary in “The Internet Revolution: From Dot-com Capitalism to Cybernetic Communism.”
France Insoumise presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon released a game called Fiscal Combat that helped inspire Corbyn Run.
Richard mentions Guy Debord’s “A Game of War” and Bertell Ollman’s “Class Struggle” board games.
Other resources: Marshall McLuhan, Fred Turner’s “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism,” and Guy Debord’s “The Society of the Spectacle.”
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Why the Soviet Union Didn’t Build the Internet w/ Benjamin Peters
27 mei 2021 · 1 uur 1 min
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. Lees meer
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 Hazel Rogers Associate Professor at the University of Tulsa and affiliated faculty at Yale Law School. Follow Ben on Twitter as @bjpeters.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Ben summarized his research on the Soviet network proposals for Aeon.
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Project Cybersyn Shows All Tech is Political w/ Eden Medina
20 mei 2021 · 1 uur 2 min
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. Lees meer
Eden Medina is the author of “Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile.” She’s also an associate professor at MIT and the Rita E. Hauser Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Follow Eden on Twitter as @edenmedina.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
In 2020, Marian Schlotterbeck spoke to Jacobin about the fifty year anniversary of Salvador Allende’s election.
Independent and left-wing delegates won major victories in the election for Chile’s constitutional assembly, making it hard for right-wing delegates to stall the process.
In October 2020, Chileans voted overwhelmingly to draft a new constitution, following protests that began in 2019.
Dictator Augusto Pinochet oversaw a brutal regime from 1973 to 1990, and the crimes of that period are still being prosecuted.
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How Many Times Has the Internet Already Died? w/ Kevin Driscoll
13 mei 2021 · 1 uur 4 min
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. Lees meer
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 Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media.” Follow Kevin on Twitter as @kevindriscoll, or find out more about his Minitel research at minitel.us or @MinitelResearch.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
In November 2020, Paris wrote about the potential future of the internet if the value of digital ads collapsed.
Vice published an article about the artists on Canada’s pre-internet network, Telidon.
In “The Internet Revolution,” Richard Barbrook wrote that he thought Britain would eventually import Minitel after experiencing it.
Other resources mentioned: “The Computerization of Society” by Simon Nora and Alain Minc, and “The Platformization of the Web” by Anne Helmond.
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How State Funding Built Silicon Valley w/ Margaret O’Mara
6 mei 2021 · 58 min
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. Lees meer
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 on Twitter as @margaretomara.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
“Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, with a New Preface by the Author” by AnnaLee Saxenian
Another relevant book: “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism” by Fred Turner
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Celebrating One Year of Tech Won’t Save Us!
29 april 2021 · 30 min
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! Lees meer
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris wrote about the future of the internet, why Elon Musk is planning for climate apocalypse, the problems with Jeff Bezos’ space future, and why a socialist future won’t look like a capitalist one.
Paris was recently on the Digital Void podcast.
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What’s Next for Amazon Workers? w/ Kim Kelly
22 april 2021 · 50 min
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. Lees meer
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 “Fight Like Hell” that will come out in 2022. Follow Kim on Twitter as @GrimKim.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get 30 new supporters at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, become a supporter and help us reach our goal!
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Kim wrote about the workers and organizers behind the Bessemer campaign, and how faith was an important motivating factor. She also reported on it for More Perfect Union.
Alex Press outlined the history of civil rights unionism in the US South.
Caroline O’Donovan explained how Amazon workers are organizing beyond Bessemer, and why some don’t plan to seek NLRB recognition.
Luis Feliz Leon wrote about the growing international movement to challenge Amazon.
The Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union challenged the result of the Bessemer union vote over Amazon’s union busting tactics.
The New York Times spoke to some workers who voted “no” for the union.
Amazon promotes its $15 minimum wage, but it actually pushes down wages in the warehousing sector.
The PRO Act is a major change…
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Vaccine Passports Are Not the Solution w/ Elizabeth Renieris
16 april 2021 · 50 min
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. Lees meer
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 Policy. Follow Elizabeth on Twitter as @hackylawyer.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get 30 new supporters at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, become a supporter and help us reach our goal!
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Elizabeth wrote about what’s really at stake in the vaccine passport debate.
The US federal government has talked about leaving this to the private sector, the EU is planning a “digital green pass” for travel, and Israel rolled out a “green passport” for vaccinated people to gain access to various public and private spaces.
Contact tracing apps did not deliver on their big promises.
New York’s vaccine passport has already been forged.
Rolling out vaccine passports has high costs for businesses who will want to use that infrastructure in other ways.
Parts of the Global South may not receive mass Covid vaccinations until 2024.
The modern passport regime was created in the 1920s, with the goal being to eventually abolish it. Now borders are being equipped with facial recognition cameras and border guards can chec…
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Bursting the NFT Bubble w/ Jacob Silverman
8 april 2021 · 46 min
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. Lees meer
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’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get 30 new supporters at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, become a supporter and help us reach our goal!
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Jacob wrote about all the things rich people are spending their money on during the pandemic, including NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
Everest Pipkin explained all of the environmental problems with NFTs, and how they’re built into the core of the technology.
Some people are buying NFTs, then finding they disappear or can’t be accessed.
Bitcoin uses more energy than Argentina, but could consume more than Australia by 2024.
Bill Gates said Bitcoin is a “pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment.”
Anil Dash explained that NFTs were supposed to help artists, not just be another speculative asset.
Taylor Lorenz wrote about how creators are monetizing their lives.
The New York Times and Forbes (among others) sold NFTs while reporting on them.
Tom Brady is the latest celebrity to get into NFTs.
The NFT boom may already be going bust.
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Digital Redlining in the Frictionless Society w/ Chris Gilliard
1 april 2021 · 49 min
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. Lees meer
Chris Gilliard is a Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center and teaches at Macomb Community College. You can follow Chris on Twitter as @hypervisible.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get 30 new supporters at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, become a supporter and help us reach our goal!
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Chris wrote about how technology can hide racism in the "frictionless" society. He also wrote about digital redlining in education.
Despite redlining being outlawed, the effects can still be seen in many outcomes, including health. See the redlining maps at Mapping Inequality.
Amazon originally excluded predominantly Black communities when it rolled out same-day delivery in Boston.
In 2019, Facebook was sued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for allowing discrimination in its housing ads. In 2020, it was found to still be doing it.
Bots are getting US vaccine appointments, and programmers are having to help relatives get appointments.
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Elon Musk Isn’t Saving Humanity w/ Manu Saadia
25 maart 2021 · 51 min
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. Lees meer
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 better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Elon Musk said he’s accumulating wealth to make life multiplanetary. Jeff Bezos said he can only think to spend his Amazon “winnings” on space.
In “Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity,” Daniel Deudney outlines the two space paradigms discussed in the episode. You can also read a review of it.
Werhner von Braun, who was key to the US Apollo Program, was a Nazi scientist who came to the US after World War II.
Carl Sagan said “there is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. … For the moment, Earth is where we make our stand.” Elon Musk laughed at this and claimed Mars is the alternative, but Shannon Stirone explained why he is very wrong.
Salvage published an editorial on the immediate need to repair the damage done by capitalism.
Science fiction mentioned: Ursula Le Guin’s “The Dispossessed,” Octavia Butler, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and Robert Heinlein.
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How Britain Killed its Computing Industry w/ Mar Hicks
18 maart 2021 · 54 min
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. Lees meer
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 Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing” and an Associate Professor of the History of Technology at Illinois Tech. Follow Mar on Twitter as @histoftech.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Mar wrote about the story of COBOL computer systems in the early months of the pandemic and how Britain killed its tech industry.
Google fired top AI ethicists Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell after their research was critical of the company’s practices. Diversity recruiter April Christina Curley was also fired in September 2020.
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Is Bill Gates a “Good” Billionaire? w/ Tim Schwab
11 maart 2021 · 54 min
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. Lees meer
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 British Medical Journal. Follow Tim on Twitter as @TimothyWSchwab.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Tim wrote about the Gates Foundation’s conflicts of interest, in particular during the pandemic. He also wrote about how Gates’ funding of media and health data produces accountability and transparency problems.
Paris had a viral thread about Gates’ intervention in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, after which an interview said it was a conspiracy theory.
After getting the rights to the Oxford vaccine, AstraZeneca ran into trouble in clinical trials.
The Associated Press found three factories in Bangladesh alone that could be producing vaccines if patent protections were waived.
The Mail and Guardian in South Africa published an article on Bill Gates’ complicity in vaccine apartheid and the author’s Twitter account was locked for tweeting about it.
In 2015, Thomas Piketty talked to the BBC about the problems with billionaire philanthropy.
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How Algorithms Are Transforming Work w/ Callum Cant
4 maart 2021 · 57 min
Paris Marx is joined by Callum Cant to discuss the UK Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers are workers, his experience organizing as a Deliveroo worker, and how algorithmic management is transforming work. Lees meer
Callum Cant is the author of “Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy.” He’s also the head of communications at Momentum and an editor at Notes from Below. Follow Callum on Twitter as @CallumCant1.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed. It’s a win for workers.
In 1976, workers at Lucas Aerospace produced the Alternative Corporate Plan, otherwise known as the Lucas Plan, that reimagined how production could be used to address social needs.
Thinkers mentioned: Stan Weir, Romano Alquati, Eric Blanc’s “Red State Revolt,” E.P Thompson.
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Why We Need a Luddite Politics of Tech w/ Gavin Mueller
25 februari 2021 · 56 min
Paris Marx is joined by Gavin Mueller to discuss who the Luddites really were, what they can teach us about how we think about technology today, and why they show the need for a decelerationist politics of the future. Lees meer
Gavin Mueller is the author of “Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job.” He’s also a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the editorial collective of Viewpoint Magazine. Follow Gavin on Twitter as @gavinmuellerphd.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
An excerpt of Gavin’s book was recently published in Logic Magazine, and previously criticized fully automated luxury communism.
Gavin recommends E.P Thompson’s “The Making of the English Working Class”
Courts ruled that Uber drivers in the UK are workers, and Deliveroo couriers in Amsterdam are employees.
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Australia’s Plan to Make Tech Pay for News w/ Lizzie O’Shea
18 februari 2021 · 46 min
Paris Marx is joined by Lizzie O’Shea to discuss how Australia’s plan to make Google and Facebook pay news publishers entrenches a data-extractive business model and aligns the interests of tech giants and media companies against those of the public. Lees meer
Lizzie O’Shea is a human rights lawyer and the founder of Digital Rights Watch. She’s also the author of “Future Histories: What Ada Lovelace, Tom Paine, and the Paris Commune Can Teach Us about Digital Technology.” Follow Lizzie on Twitter as @Lizzie_OShea.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Lizzie wrote about the problems with this plan for Overland Journal and Nikkei Asia.
Paris wrote about why we shouldn’t link big tech and news giants for Tribune Magazine.
Facebook restricted news sharing in Australia, while Google has signed deals with News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, and more for its News Showcase.
Australia has among the most concentrated media ownership in the world. Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull called for a royal commission on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
Australia’s competition regulator released a digital platforms report with recommendations that included the bargaining code in 2019.
Canada and the European Union may copy Australia’s model. French publishers are already getting paid by Google.
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How Indonesian Gig Workers Are Organizing w/ Rida Qadri
11 februari 2021 · 54 min
Paris Marx is joined by Rida Qadri to discuss how gig workers in Jakarta created networks of mutual aid in the face of a lack of support from companies and the government, and how their experiences show the importance of workers’ local knowledge for delivery platforms. Lees meer
Rida Qadri is a PhD candidate in Urban Information Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Follow Rida on Twitter as @qadrida.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Rida wrote about how delivery platforms in Jakarta show the importance of the human workers and their local knowledge.
Paris wrote about Uber’s dark side, including its lack of support for drivers in Mexico and Brazil who faced violence.
Gojek and Grab may merge, which would cause problems for gig workers in Southeast Asia.
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Amazon’s Vigorous Opposition to Unions w/ Lauren Kaori Gurley
4 februari 2021 · 41 min
Paris Marx is joined by Lauren Kaori Gurley to discuss how Amazon surveils workers to stop them from organizing, the difficult working conditions in warehouses and for delivery drivers, and whether Jeff Bezos become Executive Chair will change anything. Lees meer
Lauren Kaori Gurley is a labor reporter at Motherboard/Vice. Follow Lauren on Twitter as @LaurenKGurley.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Lauren wrote about how Amazon’s Global Security Operations Center has a massive surveillance operation involving Pinkertons, and how the company monitors Facebook groups and internal listservs. She also spoke to workers about how they felt about it.
Paris wrote that Jeff Bezos’ legacy as CEO is one of brutal exploitation and that can’t be forgotten.
Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You shows how the gig economy ruins people’s lives.
During the pandemic, there were Amazon walkouts across the United States and global protests during the pandemic. Workers in Bessemer, Alabama are also voting on unionization.
Amazon stole delivery drivers’ tips and has been forced to repay them $61.7 million.
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How Nostalgia Serves Corporate Power w/ Grafton Tanner
28 januari 2021 · 51 min
Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss how social media constantly resurfaces the past, why film and television uses nostalgia to keep us engaged, and whether there’s a way to wield nostalgia in pursuit of a better world. Lees meer
Grafton Tanner is the author of “The Circle of the Snake: Nostalgia and Utopia in the Age of Big Tech” and “Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts.” Grafton is also writing “The Hours Have Lost Their Clock: The Politics of Nostalgia” for Repeater Books, due out in October 2021. Follow Grafton on Twitter as @GraftonTanner.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris wrote about consolidation in the film and television industries.
Disney lobbied to extend copyright terms and what it might mean when Mickey Mouse goes into the public domain.
George Lucas describes how commercialism limits what kind of movies can be made (17:18-18:40).
Hollywood is using AI to help decide which films get made.
A Harry Potter television series is in early development at HBO Max.
Books mentioned in this episode: “The Future of Nostalgia” by Svetlana Boym, “New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future” by James Bridle, “Protocol: How Control Exists After Decentralization” by Alexander Galloway, “The End of Forgetting: Growing Up with Social Media” by Kate Eichhorn, “Radical Nostalgia: Spanish Civil War Commemoration in America” by Peter Glazer, and “Left in the Past: Radicalism and the Politics of Nostalgia” by Alastair Bonnett.
Movies and shows mentioned in this episode: Ready Player One, San Junipero (Black Mirror), eXistenZ, The Matrix, and The Merchants of Cool.
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How YouTube Normalizes Right-Wing Extremism w/ Becca Lewis
21 januari 2021 · 51 min
Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss YouTube’s history of incentivizing extreme content, how the storming of the US Capitol shows the power of media spectacle, and why we should see social media platforms as media companies. Lees meer
Becca Lewis is a PhD candidate in Communication at Stanford University. She’s also written for a number of publications, including NBC News, Vice News, and New York Magazine. Follow Becca on Twitter as @beccalew.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read Becca’s report for Data & Society, “Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube.” You can also read her articles on YouTube radicalization, the final report on the Christchurch shooting, and why Trump’s Twitter ban was an editorial decision.
Jacob Hamburger explains why the “intellectual dark web” and its claims about political correctness are nothing new.
Alex Nichols explains how New Atheism was a precursor to the IDW and alt-right influencers.
The video of Ben Affleck pushing back against Sam Harris’ Islamophobia on Bill Maher’s show, which was supposedly Dave Rubin’s “classical liberal” awakening.
Zeynep Tufekci describes how YouTube’s recommendation algorithm recommends increasingly more extreme videos.
Twitter workers demanded Trump be banned before Jack Dorsey announced the decision.
People who inspire how Becca thinks about platforms: Robyn Caplan at Data & Society and Tarleton Gillespie at Microsoft Research.
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Why We Need a Democratic Approach to Data w/ Salomé Viljoen
14 januari 2021 · 44 min
Paris Marx is joined by Salomé Viljoen to discuss existing proposals to expand individual data rights or treat it as a form of labor, why we instead need to see data governance as a collective democratic project, and how that would give us the power to decide what data is collected and what it’s used for. Lees meer
Salomé Viljoen is an affiliate at Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a joint postdoctoral fellow at NYU School of Law’s Information Law Institute and the Cornell Tech Digital Life Initiative. Follow Salomé on Twitter as @salome_viljoen_.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read Salomé article about data egalitarianism for Phenomenal World.
People who write about informational capitalism: Shoshana Zuboff and Nick Couldry on one side, and Jathan Sadowski and Julie Cohen on the side that Salomé prefers.
People talking about data as property or labor: Andrew Yang through the Data Dividend Project, Eric Posner and Glen Weyl in “Radical Markets,” and Jaron Lanier.
Proto-data egalitarian examples: Andrea Nahler’s proposal for a civic data trust, Barcelona’s civic data trust, the US Census, and learning from libraries’ management of public information.
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The Frictionless World of Silicon Valley w/ Anna Wiener
7 januari 2021 · 50 min
Paris Marx is joined by Anna Wiener to discuss her journey into the tech industry, how Silicon Valley’s desire for a “frictionless” world is affecting culture, and why it’s important to analyze Substack’s claims about the future of journalism. Lees meer
Anna Wiener is the author of “Uncanny Valley” (available in paperback on Bookshop) and a contributing writer at the New Yorker. Follow Anna on Twitter as @annawiener.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read Anna’s articles on Substack, Section 230, and Salesforce Park in San Francisco.
Ava Kofman, Francis Tseng, and Moira Weigel explain how Amazon self-publishing has become a haven for white supremacists.
Venture-capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz wrote about what they see as the “passion economy.”
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Platforms for Public Good w/ Mathew Lawrence & Thomas Hanna
30 december 2020 · 1 uur 3 min
Paris Marx is joined by Mathew Lawrence and Thomas Hanna to discuss the problems with platforms, why antitrust alone is not enough to fix them, and how we can encourage the creation of democratic platforms that serve the public good. Lees meer
Mathew Lawrence is the founder and director of Common Wealth. He’s also the co-author of “Planet on Fire: A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown.” Preorder it now from Verso Books and follow him on Twitter as @DantonsHead.
Thomas Hanna is the research director at The Next System Project. He’s the author of “Our Common Wealth: The Return of Public Ownership in the United States.” Follow him on Twitter as @ThomasMHanna.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Mathew and Thomas wrote a new report with Nils Peters called “A Common Platform: Reimagining Data and Platforms.”
Eric Levitz wrote about how venture capitalists are like US central planners.
Dan Hind wrote a previous report called “The British Digital Cooperative.”
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The Complex Systems that Govern Our Lives w/ Tim Maughan
23 december 2020 · 57 min
Paris Marx is joined by Tim Maughan to discuss the exploitative infrastructures that make the modern world possible, how complex technological systems rob us of our power to control our collective destiny, and why predicting trends isn’t hard when you understand capitalism. Lees meer
Tim Maughan is the author of “Infinite Detail” and “Ghost Hardware.” He’s also written for BBC Future, New Scientist, and Motherboard, and is writing a new column for OneZero. Follow Tim on Twitter as @timmaughan.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read about the trip Tim took with Unknown Fields on a container ship, at manufacturing sites in China, and near a toxic lake in Inner Mongolia that’s the product of mining rare-earth minerals.
Read the first article in Tim’s new column, No One’s Driving.
Kim Stanley Robinson says billionaire space visions are “just a fantasy of our culture right now.”
Media mentioned by Tim: Judge Dredd comics, The Running Man, RoboCop, Rollerball, and Ad Astra.
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How Urban Tech Increases Corporate Control w/ David Banks
17 december 2020 · 54 min
Paris Marx is joined by David Banks to discuss how tech solutions to increase corporate control in cities will be sold to us as fun and convenient, and what that will actually means for access and equity in urban life. Lees meer
David Banks is a visiting assistant professor at the University at Albany. He’s the editor-at-large at Real Life, and has written for The Baffler, e-flux architecture, and Current Affairs. Follow David on Twitter as @DA_Banks.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Read David’s articles for Real Life on the subscriber city and e-flux architecture on software as infrastructure.
Paris wrote about the end of the Paramount Decrees, including what it could mean for the future of cinemas.
How people are fighting back against landlords attempts to use tech against tenants (“proptech”).
Slavoj Žižek gives a father/son example of totalitarianism (from ~0:00-3:00).
David Harvey’s “Right to the City” essay mentions how homeownership makes people more conservative.
Red Vienna remains a great example of public housing.
Kevin Rogan wrote about how smart-city technologies are designed to hide human labor.
Books in this show: “Radicalized” by Cory Doctorow, “Urban Warfare” by Raquel Rolnik, “Capital City” by Samuel Stein, and “Loft Living” by Sharon Zukin
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Why Game and Tech Workers Are Organizing w/ Emma Kinema
10 december 2020 · 58 min
Paris Marx is joined by Emma Kinema to discuss how workers are organizing in the video game and tech industries, the challenges faced by those workers, and the importance of organizing to improve workplaces, but also larger economic structures. Lees meer
Emma Kinema is a former tech and games worker who is a Campaign Lead with the Communications Workers of America on the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees. She also co-founded Game Workers Unite. Follow Emma on Twitter as @EmmaKinema.
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 Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com and Passage at readpassage.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Emma spoke about labor organizing in the video games industry at XOXO Festival.
Paris wrote about why game workers are organizing in Australia, Canada, and France.
In January 2020, GDC’s State of Games Industry report found 54% of game workers thought they should unionize.
Workers at Riot Games walked out in May 2019. Workers at Blizzard Entertainment walked out in October 2019. Workers at Lovestruck went on strike and got an average raised of 78%.
Rockstar’s co-founder said there were 100-hour weeks ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2. Bioware workers said “depression and anxiety are an epidemic” within the company. CD Projekt Red said there wouldn’t be crunch on Cyberpunk 2077, then enforced it anyway.
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Fighting for Gig Workers’ Rights After Prop 22 w/ Wilfred Chan
3 december 2020 · 38 min
Paris Marx is joined by Wilfred Chan to discuss how gig companies misled California voters to back Prop 22, whether the Biden administration will be an ally to gig workers, and the need for solidarity in the fight to preserve (and expand) labor rights. Lees meer
Wilfred Chan is a contributing writer at the Nation. He has also written for Dissent, The Guardian, NBC News, and more. Read his recent piece on the fight for labor rights after Prop 22. Follow Wilfred on Twitter as @wilfredchan.
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 Twitter.
If you want to join the Discord and check out the new supporter tiers, head over to Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
The Economic Policy Institute published an explainer on California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) and worker misclassification
The gig companies bought endorsements and sent out fake progressive mailers for Prop 22. The head of California’s NAACP stepped down after the election for taking $1.7 million to back ballot measures.
VP-elect Kamala Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West is chief legal officer at Uber, and now there are calls to make him Attorney General in a Biden administration
Biden’s transition team is full of people from Big Tech with concerning pasts, including from Uber and Lyft
Uber and Lyft’s share prices soared after Prop 22 won
Find out more about Rideshare Drivers United and New York Taxi Workers Alliance
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How Spotify is Built On Artist Exploitation w/ Liz Pelly
26 november 2020 · 44 min
Paris Marx is joined by Liz Pelly to discuss how the Spotify model of streaming music continues a long trend of exploitation in the music industry and why musicians need to organize around a vision for a different world of music. Lees meer
Liz Pelly is a freelance writer and critic who has spent the past decade working with community arts spaces. She is also a contributing editor and columnist at The Baffler. Follow Liz on Twitter as @lizpelly.
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 Twitter.
Read the plan for the future of the show and supporter benefits on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Liz’s work looks at many aspects of Spotify, including the model it’s pushing on musicians and increasingly on podcasters
Paris has written about how consolidation and the emergence of streaming is having similarly negative effects in film and television
Naomi Klein explains how New Deal arts programs funded 225,000 musical performances which reached 150 million Americans — and much more
Cherie Hu tweeted a diagram showing how different streaming and music companies have stakes in one another
The Verge obtained Sony Music’s contract with Spotify
How Galaxy 500 and Pavement had random songs take off on Spotify
Spotify CEO says artists need to record music more frequently
Henderson Cole’s proposal for an American Music Library
The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers launched the Justice at Spotify campaign
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The Injury Crisis in Amazon Warehouses w/ Will Evans
19 november 2020 · 36 min
Paris Marx is joined by Will Evans to discuss how excessive productivity targets are causing high rates of injury at Amazon warehouses, how executives have misled the public about the problem, and what that suggests about the impacts of the company’s “customer obsession.” Lees meer
Will Evans is a reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Read his investigation about Amazon’s safety crisis. Follow Will on Twitter as @willCIR.
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 Twitter.
Read the plan for the future of the show and supporter benefits on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Paris reflected on what Will’s investigation suggested about the relationship between consumerism and workers’ rights for NBC News.
Will did an earlier investigation about safety (or the lack thereof) at Tesla.
Brian Merchant wrote an “op-ed from the future” looking at how technology hides the harm to workers in a fictional fully automated Amazon warehouse.
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How Video Games are Shaped by Capitalism w/ Daniel Joseph
12 november 2020 · 48 min
Paris Marx is joined by Daniel Joseph to discuss the relationship between video games and capitalism, how the gaming experience has become increasingly commercialized, and what the new consoles — Xbox Series X|S and Playstation 5 — herald for the future of the industry. Lees meer
Daniel Joseph is a Senior Lecturer of Digital Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University. Read his articles for Real Life about video games and capitalism and platformization, and for Briarpatch about what better platforms might look like. Follow Daniel on Twitter as @DanjoKaz00ie.
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 Twitter.
** Support the show on Patreon and read the plan for the future.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
“If Xbox is Netflix, then Playstation is cinema” by Christopher Dring at GamesIndustry.biz
How PS4 better positioned itself against Xbox One, including a short video about trading games
Nintendo was charged with price fixing in the 1990s in the United States and Europe
In 2015, Valve and Bethesda had to backtrack on plans to commercialize modding
53% of PS4 game sales were digital in 2019. That grew to 74% in the early part of 2020.
David Nieborg and Thomas Poell’s work on platforms; Sarah Grimes’ work on commercialization of children’s gaming; the App Studies Initiative; and T.L. Taylor’s “Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming”
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Jobs Suck, But Not Because of Automation w/ Aaron Benanav
5 november 2020 · 48 min
Paris Marx is joined by Aaron Benanav to discuss why jobs are getting worse because the economy’s slowing down, not because technology is speeding up, and why that requires a vision of post-scarcity centered around human relationships instead of technological change. Lees meer
Aaron Benanav is an economic historian and social theorist. He is a post-doctoral researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin and author of “Automation and the Future of Work.” Follow Aaron on Twitter as @abenanav.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Prop 22 passed in California, stopping gig workers from becoming employees
Paris explains the limits of a basic income, how Aaron’s book helps us think about the future, and the problems with luxury communism
Aaron explains why automation isn’t wiping out jobs
Aaron’s science fiction reading list: “The Dispossessed,” “The Word for World is Forest,” and “Always Coming Home” by Ursula K. Le Guin; “Red Star” by Alexander Bogdanov; “Hard to be a God” and “Noon: 22nd Century” by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky; “News from Nowhere” by William Morris; “Looking Backward” by Edward Bellamy; “The Conquest of Bread” by Peter Kropotkin; “Trouble on Triton” by Samuel R. Delaney; “Star Maker” by Olaf Stapledon; and “Utopia” by Thomas Moore.
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Section 230 Protects Free Expression Online w/ Evan Greer
29 oktober 2020 · 46 min
Paris Marx is joined by Evan Greer to discuss Republican and Democratic desires to amend or revoke Section 230, why the proposals won’t solve problems with Big Tech, and the international implications of US decisions about moderation. Lees meer
Evan Greer is an activist, musician, and writer. She is the deputy director at Fight for the Future, which is currently running campaigns to protect Section 230 called Save Online Free Speech and to ban facial recognition technology. Follow Evan on Twitter as @evan_greer.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Evan wrote about the problems with algorithmic amplification for Wired
There is no anti-conservative bias on social media and Facebook’s algorithms connected extremists with hate groups
Facebook removes the accounts of anti-government activists internationally and an internal memo by a former employee says it doesn’t care about its impacts if Western media won’t find out about it
SESTA/FOSTA made life harder for sex workers, but has also empowered a movement for decriminalization
Zoom deleted meetings discussing its own censorship
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What Rural China Teaches Us About the Future of Tech w/ Xiaowei Wang
22 oktober 2020 · 44 min
Paris Marx is joined by Xiaowei Wang to discuss how technology is being used to connect rural China to global supply chains, what that means for life and work in those communities, and how China also holds inspiration for a different way of organizing production and technological development. Lees meer
Xiaowei Wang is a technologist, artist, and writer. They are the creative director at Logic Magazine and author of “Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China’s Countryside.” Follow Xiaowei on Twitter as @xrw.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets. You can also find out more about 49th Parahell on its website.
Also mentioned in this episode:
How China’s Sanlu milk scandal shattered trust in the food system
Garrett Hardin, who came up with the tragedy of the commons, was a racist, eugenicist, nativist, and Islamophobe — and those ideas are baked into the concept
Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on the governance of commons, rebuking Hardin’s ideas
Xiaowei wrote about the Chinese concept of “shanzhai” provides a vision of an open-source future of technological development
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Why Google’s Ad Business Could Implode w/ Tim Hwang
15 oktober 2020 · 42 min
Paris Marx is joined by Tim Hwang to discuss how digital ad markets became financialized, why Google and Facebook have an incentive to hide how poorly digital ads actually work, and how a financial bubble in digital advertising could usher in a better future of the internet. Lees meer
Tim Hwang is a writer, researcher, and former global public policy lead for artificial intelligence and machine learning at Google. He is also the author of “Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet.” Follow Tim on Twitter as @timhwang.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets. You can also find out more about Alberta Advantage on their website.
Also mentioned in this episode:
The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner isn’t so sure Cambridge Analytica was as good at changing our minds as it made us all believe.
When Procter and Gamble cut their digital ad spend by $200 million, its reach increased by 10%.
A Google report found that 56% of ad impressions may not even be seen by humans.
Facebook’s “pivot to video” was based on false metrics and caused a lot of journalists to lose their jobs.
Paris wrote a critical review of The Social Dilemma for Jacobin.
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Silicon Valley is Embracing Anti-China Nationalism w/ JS Tan
8 oktober 2020 · 35 min
Paris Marx is joined by JS Tan to discuss the internet’s connection with neoliberalism, China’s protectionist measures to develop its own tech industry, and how the new tensions between the United States and China are leading Silicon Valley to embrace nationalism. Lees meer
JS Tan is a former tech worker and writer. He also started Collective Actions in Tech. He recently wrote articles about the tech angle on the Cold War for Foreign Policy and Trump’s attempted TikTok ban for Jacobin. Follow JS on Twitter as @organizejs.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets. You can also find Kino Lefter on Twitter.
Also mentioned in this episode:
The solidarity between tech workers in the United States and China
Key insights into tech worker activism from the Collective Actions in Tech database
Mark Zuckerberg’s speech at Georgetown University
Peter Thiel’s tech nationalism op-ed in the New York Times
Eric Schmidt’s tech nationalism op-ed in the New York Times
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Major Publishers Want to Shut Down Digital Lending w/ Maria Bustillos
1 oktober 2020 · 45 min
Paris Marx is joined by Maria Bustillos to discuss the important work of the Internet Archive, why it opened a digital National Emergency Library during the pandemic, how access to culture is essential for the social good, and why the major publishers are trying to permanently restrict digital lending in a narrow-minded bid for short-term profit. Lees meer
Maria Bustillos is the founding editor of Popula and Brick House. She recently wrote about the major publishers’ lawsuit against the Internet Archive for The Nation. Find out more about Brick House and follow Maria on Twitter as @mariabustillos.
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 Twitter.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Nail Gaiman explained how piracy is the digital equivalent of lending and increased the sales of his books.
How long copyright terms make our culture disappear.
Microsoft simply turned off access to all the ebooks it sold with DRM.
Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell’s “1984” from people’s Kindles.
The new North American trade agreement extended Canadian copyright terms by 20 years.
It’s unlikely that US copyright terms will be extended again. The Authors Guild would even be open to reducing terms by 20 years.
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How Google & Facebook Dominate Digital Ads w/ Shoshana Wodinsky
24 september 2020 · 38 min
Paris Marx is joined by Shoshana Wodinsky to discuss how digital ad markets work, how Google and Facebook maintain their dominance, and why the TikTok saga wasn’t really about China getting people’s data at all. Lees meer
Shoshana Wodinsky is a data reporter at Gizmodo. She recently wrote how banning TikTok won’t do anything about data going to China and how the US Congress might break up the tech monopolies. Follow Shoshana on Twitter as @swodinsky.
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 Twitter.
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How Foxconn Treats the Workers Who Built Your iPhone w/ Jenny Chan
17 september 2020 · 50 min
Paris Marx is joined by Jenny Chan to discuss the difficult lives of Foxconn factory workers, the company’s relationship with Apple, the structural roadblocks to better working conditions, and how Chinese workers are trying to push back. Lees meer
Jenny Chan is the co-author of “Dying for an iPhone: Apple, Foxconn, and The Lives of China’s Workers” with Mark Selden and Pun Ngai. It’s available from Haymarket Books and Pluto Press. She is also an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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 Twitter.
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A Better Internet Requires Ending the Monopolies w/ Cory Doctorow
10 september 2020 · 50 min
Paris Marx is joined by Cory Doctorow to discuss how the problems we associate with Big Tech aren’t the result of mind-control systems, but corporation consolidation. Cory argues we need to stop buying the overblown sales pitch, stop collecting so much data, and enforce antitrust legislation against the tech monopolies. Lees meer
Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, and journalist. His most recent non-fiction book, “How to Defeat Surveillance Capitalism,” is available for free at OneZero. You can also preorder his next fiction book, “Attack Surface,” on Kickstarter or anywhere else books are sold. Cory has a daily blog at Pluralistic.net and you can follow him on Twitter as @doctorow.
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 Twitter.
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Thinking about Tech in the Present Tense w/ Ben Tarnoff
3 september 2020 · 45 min
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff to discuss why we should look to the Luddites for inspiration, how history could inform a better future of technology, and what tech organizing might look like under a Joe Biden administration. Lees meer
Ben Tarnoff is a co-founder of Logic Magazine and co-authored “Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do–and How They Do It” with Moira Weigel. The book will be released in October and can be preordered now. Follow Ben on Twitter as @bentarnoff.
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 Twitter.
Mentioned in this episode:
“To decarbonize we must decomputerize: why we need a Luddite revolution” by Ben Tarnoff
“From Manchester to Barcelona” by Ben Tarnoff
“The Making of the Tech Worker Movement” by Ben Tarnoff
“The Making of the English Working Class” by E.P. Thompson
“The Machine Breakers” by Eric Hobsbawm
“Present Tense Technology” by David Noble
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We Can’t Talk About Tech Without Talking About Resources w/ Thea Riofrancos
27 augustus 2020 · 53 min
Paris Marx is joined by Thea Riofrancos to discuss why we should care about the supply chains of technology, what that resource extraction means for people in Latin America, and how we should think about a less resource-intensive future. Lees meer
Thea Riofrancos is the author of “Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador” and co-author of “A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal.” She is also an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Providence College and a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute. Her argument against green extractivism was published by Logic Magazine. Follow Thea on Twitter as @triofrancos.
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 Twitter.
Also mentioned in this episode:
“Planetary Mine: Territories of Extraction under Late Capitalism” by Martín Arboleda
“Could a Green New Deal makes us happier people?” by Kate Aronoff
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars?: Public Transit in the Age of Google, Uber, and Elon Musk” by James Wilt
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How Tech Journalism Legitimized the Gig Economy w/ Sam Harnett
20 augustus 2020 · 38 min
Paris Marx is joined by Sam Harnett to talk about how the flaws in tech journalism provide a distorted view of what “tech” companies are actually doing and why it looks like California will finally force ride-hail drivers to be recognized as employees (without Uber and Lyft). Lees meer
Sam Harnett is a reporter covering labor and tech at KQED in the Bay Area. He recently made a radio series called “How We Got to Here” and is the co-creator of The World According to Sound. Sam has an essay about the problems with tech journalism in “Beyond the Algorithm: Qualitative Insights for Gig Work Regulation.” Follow Sam on Twitter as @SamWHarnett.
For more related articles, see Sam’s article about how Uber and Lyft evaded regulations for eight years, Paris’ article on why California should kick them out if they won’t comply with labor law, and Veena Dubal’s criticism of the franchise model they’re now considering.
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 Twitter.
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What the History of TV Can Teach Us About Netflix w/ Tom Evens
13 augustus 2020 · 36 min
Paris Marx is joined by Tom Evens to discuss how the history of the television industry can give us important insights into the state of streaming video services and how regulators might respond to ensure they serve the public good instead of just their private goals. Lees meer
Tom Evens is the co-author of “Platform Power and Policy in Transforming Television Markets” and a Professor of Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies at Ghent University. Follow Tom on Twitter as @EvensTom.
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 Twitter.
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How to Defeat an Apple Store w/ Tania Davidge
6 augustus 2020 · 34 min
Paris Marx is joined by Tania Davidge to discuss the campaign to stop Apple from building a store in the middle of Melbourne’s Federation Square and how the company’s vision of a town square differs from what a true public space should be. Lees meer
Tania Davidge is architect, artist, educator, writer, and researcher. She is the president of Citizens for Melbourne, a public space advocacy group, and the co-founder of the architectural research practice OoPLA. She recently wrote about the need to preserve Melbourne’s Federation Square as a key public gathering space. Follow Tania on Twitter as @taniadavidge.
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 Twitter.
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The Boring Company is a Complete Joke w/ Alissa Walker
30 juli 2020 · 38 min
Paris Marx is joined by Alissa Walker to discuss how Elon Musk’s Boring Company transportation system has changed over the past few years, what his plans in Las Vegas mean for workers and transit users, and why tech companies are distracting us from a real vision of better cities. Lees meer
Alissa Walker is the urbanism editor at Curbed, co-host of LA Podcast, and a contributor to KCRW’s Greater LA. She recently reported on the latest updates on the Boring Company and its project in Las Vegas, and did a great breakdown of how the whole concept has evolved back in January. Follow Alissa on Twitter as @awalkerinLA.
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 Twitter.
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Space Mining Brings Capitalism to the Cosmos w/ Julie Michelle Klinger
23 juli 2020 · 39 min
Paris Marx is joined by Julie Michelle Klinger to discuss the myths around rare earth elements and how they’re fueling a movement to enclose and mine space. But a better, more collaborative future that treats space as a commons is still possible, and the Global South may show us the way forward. Lees meer
Julie Michelle Klinger is the author of “Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes” and an Assistant Professor of Geography & Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her argument about why space is not the final frontier was recently published on urbanNext. Follow Julie on Twitter as @Prof_Klinger.
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 Twitter.
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The Global South Holds a Better Future of Tech w/ Juan Ortiz Freuler
16 juli 2020 · 42 min
Paris Marx is joined by Juan Ortiz Freuler to discuss the recent global negotiations on the taxation of multinational corporations, how Africa is demanding the digital labor of its citizens be accounted for, how these tensions threaten to fragment the web, and why the Global South may hold a better future of technology that transcends the capitalist, centralized, and individualist platforms which currently dominate. Lees meer
Juan Ortiz Freuler is an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and a member of the Tierra Común network of researchers. He recently made the case for a digital non-aligned movement. Follow Juan on Twitter as @juanof9.
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 Twitter.
Support the show
Support the show