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500 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Patreon Preview – 102. Rhythms and Flows in Human Society
18 september 2021 · 8 min
Intro: https://youtu.be/7YynqVvgZYI
We spend the first half finishing our discussion of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s essay. Then, in the second half, we switch gears and talk about the video of a Tesla trying to mow down pedestrians, the cultural logics of speed, worlds built for objects over people, and the relations between automation, authority and anarchy. Lees meerSome stuff we discuss:
• How to change the course of human history | David Graeber and David Wengrow https://www.eurozine.com/change-course-human-history/#
• Error | Endnotes 5 https://libcom.org/files/Endnotes%205.pdfSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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101. Inequality: The Last 40,000 Years
15 september 2021 · 1 uur 15 min
We go back in time—with the help of groundbreaking work by anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow—to examine what the history of social inequality can teach us about the political developments of today and the course we can plot for tomorrow. Along the way, with the help of the two Davids, we deploy the sharpest tools of historical materialism to debunk, dismiss, and dunk on the big idea bozos like Jared Diamond and Francis Fukuyama who make sweeping—and sweepingly wrong—proclamations about the essence of human nature and the naturalization of capitalist society. Lees meer
Essay we discuss:
How to change the course of human history | David Graeber and David Wengrow https://www.eurozine.com/change-course-human-history/#Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 100. 9/11 20th Anniversary: The Forever War Machine (ft. Kelsey D. Atherton)
12 september 2021 · 10 min
It’s part two of the Never Forget Extravaganza! We’re joined again by military tech journalist Kelsey D. Atherton to explore the deep and decades long entanglement between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon—from the early days of the semiconductors industry being born in the cradle of military contracts to the contemporary period of, as one Pentagon startup calls it, “the new Manhattan Project” of artificial intelligence. We wrap up by considering what the next phase of the forever war machine will bring. Lees meer
Follow Kelsey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AthertonKD
Subscribe to Kelsey on Substack: https://athertonkd.substack.com/Some stuff we reference:
• Silicon Valley Giants—Not Start-Ups—Dominate DoD Tech $$ | Kelsey D. Atheron: https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/silicon-valley-giants-not-start-ups-dominate-dod-tech/
• Reports of a Silicon Valley/Military Divide Have Been Greatly Exaggerated | Jack Poulson: https://techinquiry.org/SiliconValley-Military/
• Silicon Valley Takes the Battlespace | Jonathan Guyer: https://prospect.org/power/silicon-valley-takes-battlespace-eric-schmidt-rebellion/
• Project Maven: Amazon And Microsoft Scored $50 Million In Pentagon Surveillance Contracts After Google Quit | Thomas Brewster: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/09/08/project-maven-amazon-and-microsoft-get-50-million-in-pentagon-drone-surveillance-contracts-after-google/?sh=40ebfa5e6f1e
• Silicon Valley Mystery House | Langdon Winner: https://bibliodarq.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/sorkin-m-ed-variations-on-a-theme-park.pdf
• Cold War Armory: Military Contracting in Silicon Valley | Thomas Heinrich: https://faculty.fiu.edu/~revellk/pad2011/heinrich.pdfSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Je…
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99. 9/11 20th Anniversary: Move Fast and Leave Things Broken (ft. Kelsey D. Atherton)
9 september 2021 · 1 uur 33 min
It’s the Never Forget Extravaganza! We’re joined by military tech journalist Kelsey D. Atherton to breach the memory hole of forever war and consider the invasions and occupations, technologies and tactics, abroad and at home, that have defined the post-9/11 era. This is part one of our conversation with Kelsey. Part two – and TMK’s 100th episode – will drop on the Patreon feed on 9/11. Lees meer
We set the scene by casting our minds back to the beginning of the Global War on Terror – then provide something like a bestiary of vehicles, weapons, and surveillance systems – then explore the deep and decades long entanglement between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon, along with all the demonic initials like the CIA, FBI, NSA, DHS, ICE – then wrap it up with a broader analysis of the forever war machine: how we got here, why it was overdetermined, and what comes next.
Follow Kelsey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AthertonKD
Subscribe to Kelsey on Substack: https://athertonkd.substack.com/Some stuff we reference:
• These machines were supposed to help win the war in Afghanistan. What happened? | Kelsey D. Atherton: popsci.com/technology/timeline-us-airborne-tools-of-war-afghanistan/
• This is the real story of the Afghan biometric databases abandoned to the Taliban | Eileen Guo and Hikmat Noori: technologyreview.com/2021/08/30/1033941/afghanistan-biometric-databases-us-military-40-data-points/
• The Global Garage | Will Meyer: thebaffler.com/latest/the-global-garage-meyer
• The MRAP Story: Learning from History | Stephen W. Miller: asianmilitaryreview.com/2018/10/the-mrap-story-learning-from-history/
• Algorithmic War: Everyday Geographies of the War on Terror | Louise Amoore: sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2008.00655.xSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso J…
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Patreon Preview – 98. Logistics of Tragedy and Farce
5 september 2021 · 9 min
outro: Funeral Candies – You're Dead https://youtu.be/TjvQPijYEZ8 Lees meer
We start with discussing an investigation into the harrowing—and fatal—working conditions of delivery drivers in South Korea and the human tragedy at the heart of ecommerce. Moving on to lighter fare—by comparison—we talk through a report on the massive tax breaks and anonymous shell companies supporting the spread of data centres across the US.
Some stuff we reference:
• Dead on Arrival | Carrington Clarke: abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/south-korea-delivery-drivers-working-theselves-to-death/100380322
• Data In The Dark: How Big Tech Secretly Secured $800 Million In Tax Breaks For Data Centers | David Jeans: forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2021/08/19/data-in-the-dark-how-big-tech-secretly-secured-800-million-in-tax-breaks-for-data-centers/?sh=1458f2006b43Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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*Unlocked* – 95. Everyday Insurtech
1 september 2021 · 1 uur 8 min
We're unlocking a premium episode for the main feed this week. We talk about insurance technology as Jathan gives the lowdown on a big grant he just received to do a multi-year project investigating the political economy of the insurtech sector. We then discuss the FIRE sector more generally and look at recent reporting on how property tech companies are buying up homes. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Draining the Risk Pools | Jathan Sadowski: https://reallifemag.com/draining-the-risk-pool/
• Data machine: the insurers using AI to reshape the industry | Ian Smith: https://www.ft.com/content/d3bd46cb-75d4-40ff-a0cd-6d7f33d58d7f
• The personalisation of insurance: Data, behaviour and innovation | Liz McFall, Gert Meyers, Ine Van Hoyweghen: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951720973707
• Zillow, Other Tech Firms Are in an ‘Arms Race’ To Buy Up American Homes | Maxwell Strachan: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ymxz/zillow-other-tech-firms-are-in-an-arms-race-to-buy-up-american-homes
• The attachments of ‘autonomous’ vehicles | Chris Tennant, Jack Stilgoe: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03063127211038752Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 97. Castles Made of Sand
1 september 2021 · 10 min
We talk about the geopolitics of microchip manufacturing, the complex factors causing the current global shortage of semiconductors, the centrality of industrial policy and intellectual property to the trade wars between Western and Eastern countries, the competition over securing leadership in strategic technology like artificial intelligence, and the consequences of changing modes of production. In other words, just another day at TMK. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Chips with Everything | Evgeny Morozov: mondediplo.com/2021/08/03morozov
• From Automobile Capitalism to Platform Capitalism: Toyotism as a prehistory of digital platforms | Marc Steinberg: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01708406211030681Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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96. Taking Control of the Data Pipeline (ft. Meredith Whittaker, Salomé Viljoen)
25 augustus 2021 · 1 uur 31 min
Intro: Contra – This Machine Kills (remixed) https://contra805.bandcamp.com/track/this-machine-kills Lees meer
We’re joined by two of the sharpest minds on the politics of AI and data governance—Meredith Whittaker and Salomé Viljoen—to chat about the relationship between corporate gatekeepers and academic research, the construction and infrastructure of data, AI as a universal hammer for all nails, how the state enforces Silicon Valley’s power, and what it would take to seize the data pipeline from private capital for the public good.
This discussion expands on a recent article we published in Nature: Everyone should decide how their digital data are used—not just tech companies | Jathan Sadowski, Salomé Viljoen, Meredith Whittaker: nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01812-3Salomé’s profile: law.columbia.edu/faculty/salome-viljoen
And Twitter: twitter.com/salome_viljoen_
Meredith’s profile: ainowinstitute.org/people/meredith-whittaker.html
And Twitter: twitter.com/mer__edithSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 95. Everyday Insurtech
22 augustus 2021 · 8 min
Outro: Processory - Take Me To Your Leader https://sugars.bandcamp.com/track/take-me-to-your-leader Lees meer
We talk about insurance technology as Jathan gives the lowdown on a big grant he just received to do a multi-year project investigating the political economy of the insurtech sector. We then discuss the FIRE sector more generally and look at recent reporting on how property tech companies are buying up homes.
Some stuff we reference:
• Draining the Risk Pools | Jathan Sadowski: https://reallifemag.com/draining-the-risk-pool/
• Data machine: the insurers using AI to reshape the industry | Ian Smith: https://www.ft.com/content/d3bd46cb-75d4-40ff-a0cd-6d7f33d58d7f
• The personalisation of insurance: Data, behaviour and innovation | Liz McFall, Gert Meyers, Ine Van Hoyweghen: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951720973707
• Zillow, Other Tech Firms Are in an ‘Arms Race’ To Buy Up American Homes | Maxwell Strachan: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ymxz/zillow-other-tech-firms-are-in-an-arms-race-to-buy-up-american-homes
• The attachments of ‘autonomous’ vehicles | Chris Tennant, Jack Stilgoe: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03063127211038752Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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94. Stripping the Content Mines (ft. Taylor Lorenz)
18 augustus 2021 · 1 uur 12 min
We’re joined by Taylor Lorenz – business reporter at the New York Times, twitter.com/TaylorLorenz – for an excellent discussion about the evolution and rapid growth of the creator economy, the working conditions of content creators across social media platforms, the predatory system of management, marketing, and investment, and the venture capitalists who only saw this labor as valid once they could exploit it. Lees meer
Some of Taylor’s work we reference:
• Hello, Content Creators. Silicon Valley’s Investors Want to Meet You. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/12/technology/content-creators-venture-capital.html
• Young Creators Are Burning Out and Breaking Down https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/style/creator-burnout-social-media.html
• The App With the Unprintable Name That Wants to Give Power to Creators https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/02/technology/fypm-creators-app-pay.htmlSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 93. TMK Book Club, part 8
14 augustus 2021 · 9 min
It’s the final chapter of Autonomous Technology: “Frankenstein’s Problem.” We talk for a while about the story of Frankenstein as an allegory for responsibility, neglect, and care for our creations. We then get into Winner’s core ideas of “technology as legislation” and “Luddism as epistemology” before providing some general synthesis of the book as a whole. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Article we reference
Revolutionary Readings: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Luddite Uprisings | Edith Gardner: https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1171&context=ijcsSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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92. Fully Automated Luxury Surveillance (ft. Chris Gilliard)
11 augustus 2021 · 1 uur 32 min
We’re delighted to be joined by Chris Gilliard (twitter.com/hypervisible) – one of the best experts on privacy and surveillance around – for a fantastic discussion laying out his incisive analysis of “luxury surveillance” and “imposed surveillance.” To quote Chris: “Luxury surveillance is expensive, voluntary, and sleek. Imposed surveillance is involuntary, overt, clunky, and meant to stand out.” It’s not (just) the operations of technology that distinguish these two forms of surveillance, but the socio-political relations they perpetuate and plug into. We end the episode talking about some of Chris’s work on “digital redlining.” Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Privacy’s not an abstraction | Chris Gilliard: fastcompany.com/90323529/privacy-is-not-an-abstraction
• Caught in the spotlight | Chris Gilliard: urbanomnibus.net/2020/01/caught-in-the-spotlight/
• Luxury surveillance | Chris Gilliard and David Golumbia: reallifemag.com/luxury-surveillance/
• Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness | Simone Browne: dukeupress.edu/dark-matters
• Big Tech call center workers face pressure to accept home surveillance | Olivia Solon: nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/big-tech-call-center-workers-face-pressure-accept-home-surveillance-n1276227Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
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Patreon Preview – 91. Monsanto Farm of the Future
8 augustus 2021 · 9 min
Outro: Mr. Suit by New Bomb Turks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VraBz96VbLA Lees meer
We get deeper into the political economy of precision agriculture and how these “innovating” are iterating on traditional forms of enclosure and dispossession, how they operationalize older corporate management philosophies and strategies, and how they plug into the global system of extraction and accumulation. We end the episode on high note by talking about the new right to repair rules being enforced by the FTC.
Stuff we reference:
Todd Feathers | Police Are Telling ShotSpotter to Alter Evidence From Gunshot-Detecting AI | Motherboard Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8xbq/police-are-telling-shotspotter-to-alter-evidence-from-gunshot-detecting-ai
Alistair Fraser (2018). Land grab/data grab: precision agriculture and its new horizons. The Journal of Peasant Studies https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/03066150.2017.1415887
Alistair Fraser (2019). The digital revolution, data curation, and the new dynamics of food sovereignty construction. The Journal of Peasant Studies https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/03066150.2019.1602522
Alistair Fraser (2021). ‘You can't eat data’?: Moving beyond the misconfigured innovations of smart farming. Journal of Rural Studies https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016721001856
Emily Duncan, Alesandros Glaros, Dennis Z. Ross, and Eric Nost (2021). New but for whom? Discourses of innovation in precision agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278188/Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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90. All Data is a Social Construct
4 augustus 2021 · 1 uur 26 min
Outro: St. Lorelei - https://stlorelei.bandcamp.com/track/outside-the-green Lees meer
We kick things off with an announcement about TMK sweeps month. Then we get into a discussion of data politics based on the recent investigation into how ShotSpotter – the “AI-powered” gunshot detector sensors – is being used by police to fabricate fake data for evidence. We wrap up by providing an intro to the political economy of “data grabbing” and precision agriculture – a topic we’ll dive much deeper into on the premium episode this week.
Stuff we reference:
Todd Feathers | Police Are Telling ShotSpotter to Alter Evidence From Gunshot-Detecting AI | Motherboard Vice https://www.vice.com/en/article/qj8xbq/police-are-telling-shotspotter-to-alter-evidence-from-gunshot-detecting-ai
Alistair Fraser (2018). Land grab/data grab: precision agriculture and its new horizons. The Journal of Peasant Studies https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/03066150.2017.1415887
Alistair Fraser (2019). The digital revolution, data curation, and the new dynamics of food sovereignty construction. The Journal of Peasant Studies https://sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1080/03066150.2019.1602522
Alistair Fraser (2021). ‘You can't eat data’?: Moving beyond the misconfigured innovations of smart farming. Journal of Rural Studies https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016721001856
Emily Duncan, Alesandros Glaros, Dennis Z. Ross, and Eric Nost (2021). New but for whom? Discourses of innovation in precision agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278188/Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview - 89. TMK Book Club, part 7 (ft. David A. Banks)
1 augustus 2021 · 10 min
We discuss Chapter 7 of Autonomous Technology: “Complexity and the Loss of Agency.” Ed couldn’t be here for this episode, so we’re joined again by David Banks, who really stepped up to provide some great insights into understanding our socio-political relationship to complex technical systems designed to keep us in the dark about how and why the things we rely on actually work—and who they work for. We explore the dialectic between increasing complexity and diminishing agency, the poverty to cultural criticism vs. political analysis, and why technologies are not enchanted objects that grant us magical powers. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
• Read David’s article: Engineered Violence: Confronting the Neutrality Problem and Violence in Engineering: https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/IJESJP/article/view/6604
• Follow David: https://twitter.com/DA_Banks
• Listen to Iron Weeds: https://twitter.com/ironweedspod
• Listen to Reaction: https://twitter.com/reactionpodcastSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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*Unlocked* – Potemkin AI
28 juli 2021 · 1 uur 8 min
We're taking a week off recording so we're unlocking one of our favorite episodes from the Patreon feed for you to enjoy. Lees meer
Cold open: Ghost in the Shell.
There is a long list of services that purport to be powered by sophisticated software, but actually rely on humans acting like robots. We discuss a critical concept—whether we call it Potemkin AI, fauxtomation, or ghost work—for understanding how so much so-called artificial intelligence is just a spectacle, a simulation, designed to mystify the labor that really turns the crank of smart systems sold as advanced innovations. They are the humans hidden inside mechanical minds.
Some stuff we reference:
• Potemkin AI | Jathan Sadowski: https://reallifemag.com/potemkin-ai/
• The Automation Charade | Astra Taylor: https://logicmag.io/failure/the-automation-charade/
• Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass | Mary L. Gray Siddharth Suri: https://ghostwork.info/
• Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media | Sarah T. Roberts: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300235883/behind-screen
• Difference and Dependence among Digital Workers: The Case of Amazon Mechanical Turk | Lilly Irani: https://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article-abstract/114/1/225/3763/Difference-and-Dependence-among-Digital-WorkersSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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88. Bring Down the Hammer (ft. Paris Marx)
21 juli 2021 · 1 uur 47 min
After way too long, we finally got our friend and comrade Paris Marx—host of the excellent podcast Tech Won’t Save Us—on TMK for a great conversation ranging from the politics of Bitcoin and Tesla to the current state of tech media/criticism and need for counter-propaganda against Silicon Valley. Paris is always in the interviewer seat on TWSU, so we turn things around on him and also ask how he got into leftist analysis of tech and his forthcoming book on the techno-politics of transportation. Lees meer
Follow Paris on Twitter: twitter.com/parismarx
Listen to Tech Won’t Save Us: techwontsave.us/
Read The Hammer newsletter: techwontsave.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3bfbe60f81172d5eff78e0dbe&id=09015cbec3
Support his wonderful podcast: patreon.com/techwontsaveusSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 87. TMK Book Club, part 6 (ft. David A. Banks)
17 juli 2021 · 11 min
For a blockbuster of a book club episode, we’re joined by friend of the show David Banks to discuss Chapter 6 of Autonomous Technology: “Technological Politics.” We get into an analysis of reverse adaptation in large-scale socio-technical systems, the ways in which human ends become subjugated to technological means, and the relationship between the imperatives of the technological order and the state. Plus, what Marxist-Leninism could learn from a theory of technological politics—and vice versa. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
• Read David’s article: Lines of Power: Availability to Networks as a Social Phenomenon https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6283
• Follow David: https://twitter.com/DA_Banks
• Listen to Iron Weeds: https://twitter.com/ironweedspod
• Listen to Reaction: https://twitter.com/reactionpodcastSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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86. Khaaaaan!
14 juli 2021 · 1 uur 38 min
We do a deep dive into the ideas of Lina Khan, the newly confirmed chair of the Federal Trade Commission. We discuss her large body of scholarship—digging up some of her lesser known, but arguably more important work—which provides sharp, critical, complex analysis of the political economy of platforms and seeks to revive antitrust regulation as a tool for tackling structural problems of corporate dominance. We also talk about how Khan, in her new position of regulatory authority, could actually make necessary material changes to contemporary capitalism. And, in the process, help create the conditions needed for bigger, better, more radical forms of democratic power. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Market Structure and Political Law: A Taxonomy of Power | Zephyr Teachout and Lina Khan: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1087&context=djclpp
• Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox | Lina Khan: https://www.yalelawjournal.org/note/amazons-antitrust-paradox
• Lina Khan’s Power Grab at the FTC | WSJ Editorial Board: https://www.wsj.com/articles/lina-khans-power-grab-at-the-ftc-11625517819Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 85. Waymo Dumber
11 juli 2021 · 8 min
Rather than our usual doompilled analysis, we take a big dose of dumbpill as we spend the whole episode on a reading series of the stupidest article we have come across in a long time. Malcolm Gladwell – a man whose career is built on being an insanely incurious idiot – got to ride in a Waymo autonomous vehicle. He then wrote about it for Facebook’s newsletter Bulletin. Sorry in advance. Lees meer
Have we misunderstood the future of the automobile? | Malcolm Gladwell | Facebook Bulletin: https://malcolmgladwell.bulletin.com/489595605629557
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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84. Killing Us Infrastructurally
7 juli 2021 · 1 uur 5 min
It’s the tech news roundup, yeehaw! We look at a few recent stories in techno-politics worth discussing. First, businesses are blaming Amazon for draining the labor pool, not being exploitative enough, and making workers think they deserve higher expectations. Second, Didi, the largest ride-hailing app in China, has been banned from mobile app stores just days after it’s massive $4.4 billion IPO after an investigation by Chinese antitrust regulators into dubious data collection and cybersecurity practices by tech companies. Third, we lament the massive ecological consequences of “hyperscale” data centers being built in the Arizona desert and elsewhere. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• ‘Amazon effect’ sets the tone for US workers’ remuneration https://www.ft.com/content/9e8b9727-7955-44c4-955a-73375a7a20ef
• Drought-stricken communities push back against data centers https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/drought-stricken-communities-push-back-against-data-centers-n1271344Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 83. TMK Book Club, part 5.5
4 juli 2021 · 10 min
We discuss the second half of Chapter 5 of Autonomous Technology: “Artifice and Order” — diving deeper into the social philosophy and political theory of technology. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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82. Crisis in the Gig Mills
30 juni 2021 · 1 uur 18 min
Further notes toward a ruthless criticism of digital capitalism — we lay out how the inherent contradictions of the “gig economy” are starting to slip into crisis, the need to recognize and reject the propaganda that has been embedded in our everyday way of thinking and talking about these companies, and the creative accounting practices they use to cover up the absence of value and instances of death. 200 years ago, the Luddites smashed the gig mills used by capital to rob them of autonomy. They did not set out to create a more humane version of machinic dispossession. Today, the task before us all is to do the same. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• The Motherboard Guide to the Gig Economy | Edward Ongweso Jr: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkbk88/the-motherboard-guide-to-the-gig-economy
• Digital Piecework | Veena Dubal: https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/digital-piecework
• Uber CEO Works on App for a Day, Barely Makes Minimum Wage | Josh Marcus: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/uber-ubereats-ceo-dara-khosrowshahi-b1873651.html
• Food delivery driver's death wasn't recognised by Uber Eats and his family are still fighting for the insurance | Patrick Begley: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-25/background-briefing-uber-eats-delivery-drivers-death/100239920
• The Taming of Tech Criticism | Evgeny Morozov: https://thebaffler.com/salvos/taming-tech-criticismSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 81. TMK Book Club, part 5
27 juni 2021 · 5 min
We discuss the first half of Chapter 5 of Autonomous Technology: “Artifice and Order.” This is a really juicy chapter where Winner is really laying out fundamentals for his own theory of technological politics by asking the question of not just “Who governs?” but also “What governs?” So while we set out to get through the whole thing in one episode, to do the discussion and rumination of this analysis the justice it deserves, we decided to break it up into two episodes. We’re doing anti-efficiency praxis here by not giving into the temptations of speed – sometimes you should take it slow. In this half we lay out a series of key concepts for how to understand the immense accumulation of large-scale, complex, interconnected, and interdependent systems that define the conditions of modern society and life. The second half of Chapter 5 will be released on the premium feed next week! You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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80. Tech Work and its Discontents (ft. Wendy Liu and Jason Prado)
23 juni 2021 · 1 uur 46 min
As an antidote to the constant glowing profiles of tech executives and venture capitalists, TMK is starting an ongoing, occasional series where we highlight the stories and experiences of radical tech workers: people who are disaffected by the industry, discontented with its broken promises, and committed to working towards different models of funding, building, and using technology for a truly better world. To kick us off we are very pleased to be joined by (returning champion) Wendy Liu and Jason Prado—both longtime tech workers—for an amazing discussion about their time working in Silicon Valley, their political journeys, and the alternative paths they took. Big shout out to the tech workers in the TMK Discord who have inspired this series! Lees meer
Follow Wendy: twitter.com/dellsystem
Buy Abolish Silicon Valley: abolishsiliconvalley.com/
Follow Jason: twitter.com/jasonpjason
Subscribe to Venture Commune: venturecommune.substack.com/
Check out the Drivers Cooperative: drivers.coop/about-usSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 79. The Great Power Competition
20 juni 2021 · 8 min
In an action packed episode continuing our updates on ongoing topics of TMK interest, we deconstruct the political economy of massive health data sharing in the US and UK as hospitals seek to capitalize on data and develop AI health applications by signing lucrative deals with tech companies. We then jump over to discuss the Cold War 2.0 that’s heating up between the US/EU and China, with tech policy as a major front in the battle over who will “prevail technologically in the geopolitical great power competition.” Lees meer
Some stuff we reference
• Google Strikes Deal With Hospital Chain to Develop Healthcare Algorithms: wsj.com/articles/google-strikes-deal-with-hospital-chain-to-develop-healthcare-algorithms-11622030401
• NHS delays GP data scheme following backlash: ft.com/content/99f440d7-1622-452d-a7ad-b40d84ac50ec
• AI prompts a scramble for healthcare data: ft.com/content/376a5494-7237-4ed6-a528-5e45712c148d
• Draining the Risk Pool: reallifemag.com/draining-the-risk-pool/
• Dissecting racial bias in an algorithm used to manage the health of populations science.sciencemag.org/content/366/6464/447
• US Senate passes bill aimed at countering China’s tech sector: ft.com/content/2429f43f-f1bf-4131-aefa-0d20a64b9d17
• Will Europe sign up to Joe Biden’s plan to counter China?: ft.com/content/e4c7df1a-5048-4cf1-8a2d-c9a2d721ba92
• Exporting Chinese surveillance: the security risks of ‘smart cities’: ft.com/content/76fdac7c-7076-47a4-bcb0-7e75af0aadabSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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78. On Useful Idiots and Snake Oil
16 juni 2021 · 1 uur 18 min
This week we bring y’all some updates on ongoing topics of TMK interest: things we’ve done whole episodes on in the past but keep rearing the ugly heads in new and horrible ways. First we start by talking about the weird liberal trick of “limitarianism” and the latest bird-brained simping for billionaires. Then we get into a profile of the populist king of spacs, the memelord of investing, Chamath Palihipitiya—and the ongoing financial absurdism that distracts us from actual analysis of more pressing issues. We wrap up by talking about the latest bizarre debate over if BlackRock is bad or blameless for buying homes in bulk.
Some stuff we reference:
• Is it time to limit personal wealth? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/12/is-it-time-limit-personal-wealth/
• Think twice before changing the tax rules to soak billionaires https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/09/think-twice-before-changing-tax-rules-soak-billionaires/
• The Pied Piper of SPACS https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/the-pied-piper-of-spacs
• Wall Street isn’t to blame for the chaotic housing market https://www.vox.com/22524829/wall-street-housing-market-blackrock-bubble
• Automated landlord: Digital technologies and post-crisis financial accumulation: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0308518X19846514 Lees meerSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Grab your TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 77. TMK Book Club, Part 4
13 juni 2021 · 6 min
We discuss Chapter 4 of Autonomous Technology: “Technocracy.” We get into different historical ideas of technocracy – from Francis Bacon to Thorstein Veblen – before digging into the political theory of technocracy – the form of its power, the source of its authority, the methods of its legitimation – and then finally relating it to the ascendant (wannabe) God-Engineers of today. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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76. Smart City Colonialism, Brought to You By McKinsey
9 juni 2021 · 1 uur 24 min
We discuss how the failed promises of smart city megaprojects around the world – really honing in on Africa and a case study of Konza City in Kenya – perfectly encapsulate the brand of colonialism propagated by consultants like McKinsey. The “visions” and “strategies” they sell as ways of achieving prosperity, progress, and prestige are based on a dual ideology of technological and developmental determinism. While these smart cities never materialize in the way their marketing brochures and thought leaders proclaim, they aren’t failures—because they were never meant to actually succeed. Read this fantastic piece of reporting by Carey Baraka in Rest of World: https://restofworld.org/2021/the-failed-promise-of-kenyas-smart-city/ Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview - 75. Here’s to the Pigs
5 juni 2021 · 8 min
(Jathan's mic is busted for this episode – sorry!) We hit y’all with a double header about what happens when the cop in our mind is allowed to thrive. First is the psychodrama and that led to a successful member of the liberal professoriate to become a cop just to sate her curiosity and stick it to her mom. Second is the entrepreneurs who prey on the social anxiety and paranoia to whip people into frenzy as a way to sell their technologies of private policing. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
The Professor Who Became a Cop | Patrick Blanchfield: newrepublic.com/article/162245/rosa-brooks-professor-police-officer
'FIND THIS FUCK:' Inside Citizen’s Dangerous Effort to Cash In On Vigilantism | Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler: vice.com/en/article/y3dpyw/inside-crime-app-citizen-vigilante
Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans? | David Amsden: nytimes.com/2015/08/02/magazine/who-runs-the-streets-of-new-orleans.htmlSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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74. Let’s Talk About Sex Work (ft. Liara Roux)
4 juni 2021 · 1 uur 15 min
In our mission to analyse capitalism and technology from the experiences of workers, we would be remiss if we ignored a crucial form of labor that people – across the political and social spectrum – too often pretend does not exists unless they want to condem it: sex work. We’re happy to be joined by Liara Roux – sex worker, activist, and author of the new book Whore of New York: Confessions of a Sinful Woman – to talk about her time working with clients in Silicon Valley and the broader politics, perceptions, and platforms of sex. Lees meer
• Pre-order Liara’s book: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/673854/whore-of-new-york-by-liara-roux/9781913462567/
• Follow Liara: twitter.com/LiaraRouxSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview - 73. TMK Book Club, Part 3
30 mei 2021 · 7 min
We discuss Chapter 3 of Autonomous Technology: “The Flaw and its Origins.” First, we dispel the metaphysical arguments based on assertions about how “human nature” relates to modern technology. As Winner says, “These theories pretend to have knowledge” that they could not possibly possess. Second, we deconstruct the grand attempts at “philosophical engineering,” which proclaim that all our socio-technical problems would be solved if we all agreed to adhere to some new ethical blueprint for life. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Patreon Preview – 71. Evil Empire
22 mei 2021 · 7 min
We look at two new books about Amazon—Fulfillment by Alec Macgillis and Amazon Unbound by Brad Stone—as an occasion to further consider the galactic expansion of this evil empire, the relentlessly sociopathic god-emperor at the top, and bad takes that revere Bezos as a quirky innovator and blame consumer choices in the market for the human misery Amazon causes. We’ve dug into Amazon a lot over the last couple months. But Amazon is big. It contains multitudes and contradictions. There’s always more to cover, to analyze, to track, to just try wrapping our minds around. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America | Alec MacGillis: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374159276
• Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire | Brad Stone: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Amazon-Unbound/Brad-Stone/9781982132613
• To Understand Amazon, We Must Understand Jeff Bezos | Ben Smith: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/books/review/amazon-unbound-brad-stone.html
• We know about Amazon’s sins. Do we care? | James Kwak: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/we-know-about-amazons-sins-do-we-care/2021/03/18/b7ff73ce-7acb-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.htmlSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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Solidarity is Contagious (ft. Astra Taylor)
18 mei 2021 · 1 uur 29 min
Cold open: What is Democracy?
Outro: Jeff Mangum and Guy Picciotto at the Rolling Jubilee telethon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztyj7kE9tNc Lees meerExtremely excited to be joined by Astra Taylor – acclaimed author, activist, filmmaker, and dream TMK guest – for a wide-ranging discussion about engaging with big important things like democracy, debt, and technology, about putting politics into practice to improve people’s lives, about paying close attention to not just the operators of the machine, but those who are thrown into its gears, and about so much!
Grab Astra’s latest book: haymarketbooks.org/books/1635-remake-the-world
Follow Astra: twitter.com/astradisastraSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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*Unlocked* 65. TMK Book Club (Part 1)
13 mei 2021 · 1 uur 6 min
We're unlocking the first episode of our biweekly TMK book club series – only on Patreon! You can get the other episode, plus more premium content every week, by subscribing at patreon.com/thismachinekills Lees meer
We’re discussing the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought by Langdon Winner. Follow along with us as we take you on a guided tour of a foundational text in technological politics – one that has greatly influenced our own thinking about these issues and which has, for better and worse, remained extremely relevant today. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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68. Fight for Your Right (to Repair)
13 mei 2021 · 1 uur 11 min
We give y’all a primer on the debates about the “right to repair.” Corporations and conservative think tankers love spouting bad faith arguments that frame the right to repair as an issue of innovation, property, and nationalism. But their lobbying against it really boils down to running interference in favor of ongoing expansions of rentier capitalism and digital enclosure, all while trying to resolve the dual crises of overproduction and underconsumption. Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• ‘Right to Repair’ Is Bad for Your Health | Tom Giovanetti: wsj.com/articles/right-to-repair-is-bad-for-your-health-11619986159
• Right to Repair Roundup: One Step Forward, One to the Side | Jerri-Lynn Scofield: nakedcapitalism.com/2020/02/right-to-repair-roundup-one-step-forward-one-to-the-side.html
• Your Smartphone Should Be Built to Last | Damon Beres: nytimes.com/2021/04/25/opinion/iphone-apple-electronics-technology.html
• Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware | Jason Koebler vice.com/en/article/xykkkd/why-american-farmers-are-hacking-their-tractors-with-ukrainian-firmware
• Subscriber City | David A. Banks: reallifemag.com/subscriber-citySubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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67. Klobbering Klobuchar vs. Howling Hawley (patreon promo)
8 mei 2021 · 2 min
We give y’all an update on the state of antitrust politics in the US by riffing on two new books about antitrust that offer two different visions from two senators: Amy Klobuchar and Josh Hawley. It’s a knock-down drag-out match for the trustbuster title. In the center corner is Klobbering Klobuchar, offering a pretty good history, plenty of fire and fury, but with little weight behind her punches. In the far, far, far right corner is Howling Hawley, doing his damndest to confuse his foes into submission with revisionism, bullshit, and buffoonery. Our referee for this title fight is Matt “The Brawler” Stoller. You won’t wanna miss this pay-per-listen match! Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• How the Senate’s antitrust chair would take on monopolies | Matt Stoller: washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-the-senates-antitrust-chair-would-take-on-monopolies/2021/04/29/abb7120a-a2a5-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html
• Amy Klobuchar on Breaking Up Giant Corporations | Liaquat Ahamed: nytimes.com/2021/04/26/books/review/antitrust-amy-klobuchar.html
• Josh Hawley’s Virtual Reality | Gilad Edelman: wired.com/story/josh-hawley-virtual-reality-book-review/Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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66. Down and Out in the Neoliberal Code Academy (ft. Daniel Greene)
5 mei 2021 · 1 uur 19 min
We’re joined by Dan Greene, author of an excellent new book, The Promise of Access: Technology, Inequality, and the Political Economy of Hope. Dan’s work provides a deep analysis of how public institutions like libraries and schools are being transformed in the image of startups — pivoting away from the communities and missions they ought to serve — and the decades of punitive neoliberal reforms that brought us here. We deconstruct noxious policy slogans like “learn to code” and “digital divide,” and discuss why leftists must pay attention to the radical politics — both actual and potential — of libraries. Lees meer
Grab Dan’s book: mitpress.mit.edu/books/promise-access
Follow Dan: twitter.com/Greene_DMSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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65. TMK Book Club (Part 1) (patreon teaser)
1 mei 2021 · 8 min
The TMK Book Club is now in session! We’re discussing the Introduction and Chapter 1 of Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought by Langdon Winner. Follow along with us as we take you on a guided tour of a foundational text in technological politics – one that has greatly influenced our own thinking about these issues and which has, for better and worse, remained extremely relevant today. You can find a free pdf of the whole book here: https://www.ratical.org/ratville/AoS/AutonomousTechnology.pdf Lees meer
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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64. Platform Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics
29 april 2021 · 1 uur 37 min
Cold open: https://www.npr.org/2021/04/13/984994360/he-tried-to-organize-workers-in-chinas-gig-economy-now-he-faces-5-years-in-jail Lees meer
We dig deeper into our explorations of technological and financial capitalism in China by discussing an invaluable source for rigorous, ruthless analysis: Chuang, a collective and journal “analyzing the ongoing development of capitalism in China, its historical roots, and the revolts of those crushed beneath it.” We then start getting into a long, detailed, investigative report on the working conditions of platform labor in China. While some ghouls in Western countries might look at the horrors we discuss and say, “See, it could be worse.” We must instead assert, “No, it should be better.”
Some stuff we reference:
• Delivery Workers, Trapped in the System | Chuang: https://chuangcn.org/2020/11/delivery-renwu-translation/
• Social Contagion: Microbiological Class War in China | Chuang: https://chuangcn.org/2020/02/social-contagion/Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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63. Prime Labor, Living and Dead (patreon teaser)
25 april 2021 · 8 min
In part two of our analysis of Amazon, we focus on the labor processes and managerial practices within Amazon warehouses. “Factory work exhausts the nervous system to the uttermost,” Marx wrote in Capital Vol. 1, and through the despotic discipline of dead labour used to dominate living labour, capital “does away with the many-sided play of the muscles and confiscates every atom of freedom [from workers], both in bodily and intellectual activity.” Lees meer
Some stuff we reference:
• Machinic dispossession and augmented despotism: Digital work in an Amazon warehouse | Alessandro Delfanti | New Media & Society: sci-hub.mksa.top/10.1177/1461444819891613
• Surviving Amazon | Sam Adler Bell | Logic Magazine: logicmag.io/bodies/surviving-amazon/
• Seasonal Associates | Heike Geissler | Semiotext(e): mitpress.mit.edu/books/seasonal-associate
• Chapter 15: Machinery and Modern Industry | Karl Marx | Capital Vol. 1: marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htmSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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62. Amazon, Vanguard of Class War (ft. Alex N. Press)
21 april 2021 · 1 uur 30 min
To conduct a post-mortem investigation on the Amazon warehouse union vote in Bessemer, Alabama, we’re joined by Alex N. Press—staff writer for Jacobin and one of our favorite labor reporters. As Alex wrote recently, “In the United States, every step of the unionization process is stacked against workers. It is a miracle that anyone ever unionizes.” We discuss the militancy of capital, the organizing conditions of labor today, and the battle for building worker power. The deck was stacked. We lost this fight. But the class war wages on. Lees meer
Follow Alex: https://twitter.com/alexnpress
Read Alex: https://www.jacobinmag.com/author/alex-press• Amazon Waged a Brutal Anti-Union Campaign. Unsurprisingly, They Won. | Jacobin | Alex N. Press: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/04/amazon-bessemer-union-drive-vote-nlrb
• Sabotage: The Conscious Withdrawal of the Workers' Industrial Efficiency | Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: https://www.marxists.org/subject/women/authors/flynn/1917/sabotage.htm
• How tech workers feel about China, AI and Big Tech’s tremendous power | Protocol | Emily Birnbaum, Issie Lapowsky: https://www.protocol.com/policy/tech-employee-survey/tech-employee-survey-2021
• Amazon's New Algorithm Will Set Workers' Schedules According to Muscle Use | Motherboard | Ed Ongweso: https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xeba/amazons-new-algorithm-will-set-workers-schedules-according-to-muscle-useSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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61. Potemkin AI (patreon teaser)
17 april 2021 · 11 min
Cold open: Ghost in the Shell Lees meer
There is a long list of services that purport to be powered by sophisticated software, but actually rely on humans acting like robots. We discuss a critical concept—whether we call it Potemkin AI, fauxtomation, or ghost work—for understanding how so much so-called artificial intelligence is just a spectacle, a simulation, designed to mystify the labor that really turns the crank of smart systems sold as advanced innovations. They are the humans hidden inside mechanical minds.
Some stuff we reference:
• Potemkin AI | Jathan Sadowski: https://reallifemag.com/potemkin-ai/
• The Automation Charade | Astra Taylor: https://logicmag.io/failure/the-automation-charade/
• Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass | Mary L. Gray Siddharth Suri: https://ghostwork.info/
• Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media | Sarah T. Roberts: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300235883/behind-screen
• Difference and Dependence among Digital Workers: The Case of Amazon Mechanical Turk | Lilly Irani: https://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article-abstract/114/1/225/3763/Difference-and-Dependence-among-Digital-WorkersSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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60. We Live in a Society (of Control) (ft. Liv Agar)
14 april 2021 · 1 uur 22 min
Cold open: Garden Glossary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBMRWwjGJHQ Lees meer
It’s time for theory chat! To analyse the techno-politics of smart systems, we need good theories at hand. And we’re joined by the great Liv Agar – philosopher, podcaster, streamer – to discuss the hyper-prescient work of Gilles Deleuze on societies of control and the transition away from disciplinary societies. We’re talking rhizomes, dividuals, passwords, capitalism, power, and smart technology as we break down a critical theory for understanding a society driven mad by control.
Follow, listen, read, watch Liv: https://linktr.ee/livagar
Some stuff we reference:
• Postscript on the Societies of Control | Gilles Deleuze: cidadeinseguranca.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/deleuze_control.pdf
• Control and Becoming | Gilles Deleuze, Antonio Negri: uib.no/sites/w3.uib.no/files/attachments/6._deleuze-control_and_becoming_0.pdf
• Too Smart | Jathan Sadowski: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/too-smartSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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59. TMK x 4ZZZ Radio Reversal (ft. Anna Carlson and Natalie Osbourne)(patreon teaser)
10 april 2021 · 11 min
This episode is from a guest appearance by Jathan on 4ZZZ Radio Reversal, a community radio show in Brisbane, hosted by great friends of TMK and critical scholars: Anna Carlson and Natalie Osbourne. We had a really fun conversation talking about the ramping up of workplace surveillance, labor organising in the tech sector, the political economy of academia, and luddism as liberation. Enjoy! Lees meer
Check out 4ZZZ (4zzzfm.org.au) and follow Radio Reversal (twitter.com/RadioRevers), Natalie Osborne (twitter.com/DrNatOsborne), and Anna Carlson (twitter.com/annajcarlson)
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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58. Suez Canal /// Imperialist Infrastructure (ft. Laleh Khalili)
7 april 2021 · 1 uur 14 min
Okay, so the big boat is no longer blocking the Suez Canal. But that doesn’t mean we can go back to ignoring the global networks of capitalism and colonialism that make our world run. Laleh Khalili – author of the brilliant new book, Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula – joins us for a wide-ranging discussion of her rich, historical analysis of global shipping, imperialist infrastructure, and technological fantasy. Lees meer
Grab Laleh’s book: versobooks.com/books/3172-sinews-of-war-and-trade
Follow Laleh: twitter.com/LalehKhaliliSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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57. The Arbiters of Asset Allocation (patreon teaser)
4 april 2021 · 7 min
Premium – 57. The Arbiters of Asset Allocation
We pick back up on our discussion of market indices and index providers, honing in on the close relationship they have with asset managers, how they exercise private authority by setting standards for corporate governance and evaluating the worthiness of “emerging markets,” and the need to reckon with the authority these kingmakers of finance—these arbiters of asset allocation—have in the world today. Who gave them this great power? Not me! Not you! And yet, here they are, with the ability to wave a wand, change a classification, and magically, instantly, automatically make billions of dollars move from one place to another. Lees meerArticle we discuss:
• Steering capital: the growing private authority of index providers in the age of passive asset management | Johannes Petry, Jan Fichtner, Eelke Heemskerk | Review of International Political Economy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2019.1699147Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: https://www.bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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56. The Kingmakers of Finance
31 maart 2021 · 1 uur 16 min
This week’s episodes are part of our ongoing, irregular series where we dive into the deepest, darkest crevices of how financial and technological capital operates today. In a sequel to our episodes on index funds and asset managers — the big three of BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — we examine the other side of this unholy marriage: market indices and index providers. If the index funds are like the treasury of global capitalism, holding and managing trillions in assets, then the index providers are like the executive branch: making decisions that directly and automatically cause mass movements in capital investment. We build on a fantastic new paper (ref below) investigating the private authority of this largely ignored industry to “steer capital.” As political economists, we are only just now starting to recognize, let alone reckon with, the power that index providers possess in contemporary financial capitalism — an industry that is weirdly coincidentally also concentrated in just just three firms: S&P Dow Jones, FTSE Russell, and MSCI. Lees meer
Article we discuss:
• Steering capital: the growing private authority of index providers in the age of passive asset management | Johannes Petry, Jan Fichtner, Eelke Heemskerk | Review of International Political Economy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2019.1699147Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
TMK shirts are now available here: https://www.bonfire.com/mech-luddite/
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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55. Journey into the Absurd (patreon teaser)
27 maart 2021 · 10 min
cw: we discuss school shootings and sexual assault in the second half of this episode. Lees meer
Cold open: We need to talk about AI ethics (H&M): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0x0zsVlp30
Sometimes you just gotta confront the absurdity of it all head-on. We give y’all a news feed roundup as we discuss some of the most inane tech stories that crossed our desks this week. Which all hang together by the ridiculous notion that the most pressing problems in society will be solved through a commitment to engaging in endless debate and downloading the right app.
Some stuff we reference:
• Meet Linda Leapold, Head of AI Policy for H&M | https://hmgroup.com/news/meet-linda-leopold-head-of-ai-policy/
• ‘Enough is enough’: South Mississippi man creates desk to keep children safe during school shootings | https://www.fox8live.com/2021/02/15/enough-is-enough-south-mississippi-man-creates-desk-keep-children-safe-during-school-shootings/
• Cameras Watching Students, Especially in Biloxi | https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/nyregion/cameras-watching-students-especially-in-biloxi.html
• NSW police commissioner admits his sex consent app proposal 'could be a terrible idea' | https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/18/critics-ridicule-nsw-police-commissioners-idea-for-sexual-consent-appSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! http://patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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54. Shooting for the Stars (ft. Aaron Thorpe)
24 maart 2021 · 1 uur 14 min
The great Aaron Thorpe — co-host of Trillbillies, host of A Time of Monsters, the poster formerly known as posadist_trapgd — joins us for an extremely fun episode as we riff about why aliens would be communists, the paranoid imagination of imperialism, the wonders of luxury surveillance, the spectacle of convenience, and the ways tech companies really do be manufacturing consent. Lees meer
• Follow Aaron on twitter: twitter.com/thotteusstevens
• Listen to Trillbillies: patreon.com/trillbillyworkersparty
• Listen to A Time of Monsters: patreon.com/atompodSubscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)