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© 2024 Tech Won't Save Us
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Silicon Valley wants to shape our future, but why should we let it? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its big promises, and the people behind them. Tech Won’t Save Us challenges the notion that tech alone can drive our world forward by showing that separating tech from politics has consequences for us all, especially the most vulnerable. It’s not your usual tech podcast.
225 Episodes
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1Paris Marx is joined by Paolo Gerbaudo to discuss how Chinese electric car maker BYD operates, its growing international success against Tesla, and whether it will be able to move into the North American market.Paolo Gerbaudo is the author of The Digital Party and The Great Recoil. He’s a senior research fellow at the Department of Political History, Theories and Geography of Complutense University in Madrid.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider so...
Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss Tesla's stagnation as an electric vehicle manufacturer and what that could mean for its future as competitors cut into their market share.Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and co-host of the Autonocast.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. Support the show on Patreon.The...
Paris Marx is joined by Nicole Lipman to discuss SHEIN’s rise to the top of the fast fashion industry and how it exacerbates the sector’s labor and environment problems.Nicole Lipman is a writer and assistant editor at n+1.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickh...
Paris Marx is joined by Meghan O’Gieblyn to discuss parallels between transhumanism and Christian narratives of resurrection, despite the fact many transhumanists identify as staunch atheists. Meghan O’Gieblyn is an advice columnist at Wired and the author of God, Human, Animal, Machine.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is...
Paris Marx is joined by Alex Shephard to discuss the legalization of sports betting in the United States, the growing influence of gambling in professional sports, and its negative impact on the lives of sports fans.Alex Shephard is a senior editor at The New Republic.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnershi...
Paris Marx is joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss Kara Swisher’s attempt to rebrand herself as the most feared journalist in Silicon Valley, how she spent her career forwarding the industry’s narratives, and the larger problems with access journalism. Edward Ongweso Jr. is finance editor at Logics Magazine and co-host of This Machine Kills.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 ...
Paris Marx is joined by Kat Tenbarge to discuss the proliferation of AI-generated, non-consensual sexual images, their impact on the victims, and the potential fallout for tech companies who helped make it all possible. Note there is some discussion of self-harm and suicide in this episode.Kat Tenbarge is a tech and culture writer at NBC News.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...
Paris Marx is joined by Zach Weinersmith to discuss why building space colonies will be much more difficult than the space billionaires want us to believe. Zach Weinersmith co-wrote A City On Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? with Kelly Weinersmith. He also makes the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to dem...
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the motivations behind the proposed TikTok ban and what the effort tells us about US tech policy.Jacob Silverman is a tech journalist and the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made i...
In a bonus episode, Paris Marx is joined by Ed Ongweso Jr. and Brian Merchant to share their thoughts on Dune: Part Two, how it relates to the modern tech industry, and whether today’s Luddites can take anything from Dune’s Butlerian Jihad.Ed Ongweso Jr is finance editor at Logic(s) Magazine and cohost of This Machine Kills. Brian Merchant is a technology journalist and the author of Blood In the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical persp...
Paris Marx is joined by Ed Zitron to discuss the public’s growing disillusionment with the tech industry as it pivoted to chasing profits instead of providing us with anything useful. Ed Zitron is the host of Better Offline and writes the Where’s Your Ed At newsletter. He’s also the CEO of EZPR.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. Support the show on Patreon.The po...
Paris Marx is joined by Dharna Noor to discuss widely-held misconceptions about the effectiveness of plastic recycling and how industry lobbies invented them to protect the market for plastic products.Dharna Noor is the fossil fuels and climate reporter at The Guardian.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnersh...
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Wray to discuss why the European Union’s Platform Work Directive isn’t moving forward, what hope remains for gig workers’ rights in Europe, and what we should make of Uber’s first annual profit.Ben Wray is the coordinator of the Gig Economy Project and the author of Scotland after Britain: The two souls of Scottish independence.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand bett...
Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss the dangers and consequences of companies and politicians leveraging nostalgia for their own purposes. Grafton Tanner is the author of Foreverism. He also teaches at the University of Georgia.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Pro...
Paris Marx is joined by Zachary Kaiser to discuss the power of tech interfaces, why data isn’t an accurate reflection of the world, and why we need to discuss democratic decomputerization.Zachary Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Experience Architecture at Michigan State University. He’s also the author of Interfaces and Us: User Experience Design and the Making of the Computable Subject.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider so...
Paris Marx is joined by Nastasia Hadjadji to discuss Emmanuel Macron’s plan to run France like a start-up, how that justified a further dismantling of France's welfare state, and how his desire to create national tech champions is having domestic consequences.Nastasia Hadjadji is a French journalist looking at tech from the lens of political economy and the author of “No Crypto. Comment Bitcoin a envoûté la planète.”Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and ...
Paris Marx is joined by Victor Pickard to discuss the continued layoffs in news media, and how they are symptomatic of a deeper, structural crisis in journalism.Victor Pickard is Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy at University of Pennsylvania. He’s also the author of Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society.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 tec...
Paris Marx is joined by Eric Silver to discuss Spotify’s big plan to dominate podcasting, why it’s now pulling back from those efforts, and the difference between highly produced and more independent podcasts.Eric Silver is a podcast producer and head of development at Multitude.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in...
Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss the past year in AI hype, how AI companies have shaped regulation, and tech’s relationship to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute. 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. Support the show on Patreon. The podcast is prod...
Paris Marx is joined by Vincent Bevins to discuss the mass protests of the 2010s, the role that social and traditional media played in them, and why the horizontalism of those movements ultimately didn’t work.Vincent Bevins is a longtime foreign correspondent who has worked for the Washington Post, Financial Times, and LA Times. He’s the author of The Jakarta Method and If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution.Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its...
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Paris!! Talk less! You're always just recapping what your guests have just said. It's aggravating!
This was like listening to 2 high, sophomoric twits yammer over a joint. It was an uncritical, facile, blathering armchair exploration of a lazy, loose hypothesis.
Right?
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This was simply stupid. In addition to many other misrepresentations in this conversation, effective accelerationism and effective altruism were presented as birds of a feather. However, effective accelerationism arose *in opposition* to effective altruism (which the former call "doomers"). To see it in action, see the recent fisco with Sam Altman at OpenAI.
Another episode beating on a straw man. Paris is more interested in guffawing at misrepresentations and wallowing in mischaracterizations than in understanding a topic or testing ideas. It's childishness masquerading as thoughtfulness for the sake of hollow self-righteousness.
@1:05:35: Although I generally agree with most of the criticisms against Israel mentioned in this episode, Paris's equivocation about Oct. 7th was reprehensible. Is he so stupid as to think it undercuts Palestinian advocacy to reproach the vile barbarism of Oct. 7th? It seems as if Paris is so zealously obsequious towards his guests that he often finds himself with a mouthful of foot... and that's the generous interpretation.
You started this episode with a complete misrepresentation of what Summers said. You've made such a habit of strawmanning that I just don't find you credible anymore.
I dislike many things about Elon Musk, but this whole Musk sub-series was quite weak. It included many legitimate criticisms, but it was padded out with too many loose connections, weakly argued criticisms, and vague aspersions.
Tezla?
I'm often impressed by just how off-putting vocal fry is for me. In this case, I couldn't stop the episode fast enough. What's especially strange is how the prevalence of vocal fry has sky-rocketed in the last 10 years (along with other affectations, such as up-talk and some forms of lisping).
Host....please use another word or phrase when confirming or agreeing with something your guest says. The response "Absolutely! " is soooo over used by your generation.
Much too race-centric, even to the point of racializing geography and claiming that each of us inherits the sins (and grievances) of historical people of the same race (even irrespective of a lack of genealogical connection). This is just more "race-first" garbage made combustible with misappropriated words, such as "colonial".
Fascinating discussion.
Summary: P: kind of in particular kind of in particular A: sort of sort of sort of sort of
@50:30: Another lazy commentator who fancies herself a journalist, yet spreads rumors (which were started to undermine unions' negotiating positions) that could be dispelled with a simple Google search. "The Apprentice" began in 2004. It's beginning had nothing to do with the 2007 labor strike. Good grief. Do your job.
@52:50: Paris thinks there's only a weak genetic component of intelligence, and that there's little evidence to the contrary? Good grief, he does like to speak confidently--with hedged hyperbole--about things he clearly knows little about. Ugh, it seems a "liberal education" increasingly entails training people to make smug, ignorant "critiques" and has little to do with learning anything... presumably because that would evince a colonially hegemonic othering of their lived ways of knowing, or some such BS.
@9:15: The guest thinks no one had ever heard of rationalism or effective altruism before 2022?! Talk about solipsism. Just because it's new to her doesn't mean it's new to the universe. She might even discover that if she were to, I don't know, look into things a bit--almost like a journalist would. And she thinks rationalism and effective altruism are "right-wing"? What is this crap? Is she equating effective altruism with the narrow issue of "earning to give"? If so, the criticism shouldn't be against the process that identifies that course as effective, but against the economic system that makes the observation true... or perhaps against its misuse in practice. In any case, she's bad at thinking or bad at communicating. Many podcast guests seem more interested in provocation than in accuracy. Maybe accuracy doesn't "drive engagement"--and yet again, a podcast criticizing tech replicates its vices.
@9:04: Anti-entropy? I assume that's more deontological than teleological. If it's a goal, good luck with that.
@3:22: Good effort. It's pronounced ay-oh-tay-ah-roh-ah, meaning Land of the Long White Cloud, the Maori name from before it was called New Zealand.