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. 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 Rep...
Jan 28, 2021•51 min•Ep. 46
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. 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...
Jan 21, 2021•51 min•Ep. 45
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. 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 C...
Jan 14, 2021•44 min•Ep. 44
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. 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 so...
Jan 07, 2021•50 min•Ep. 43
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. 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 d...
Dec 30, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 42
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. 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 W...
Dec 23, 2020•57 min•Ep. 41
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. 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 t...
Dec 17, 2020•54 min•Ep. 40
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. 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 Sav...
Dec 10, 2020•58 min•Ep. 39
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. 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...
Dec 03, 2020•38 min•Ep. 38
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. 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, it...
Nov 26, 2020•44 min•Ep. 37
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.” 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...
Nov 19, 2020•36 min•Ep. 36
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. 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 ...
Nov 12, 2020•48 min•Ep. 35
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. 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 Sav...
Nov 05, 2020•48 min•Ep. 34
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. 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 @ev...
Oct 29, 2020•46 min•Ep. 33
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. 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 Xiaow...
Oct 22, 2020•44 min•Ep. 32
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. 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 H...
Oct 15, 2020•42 min•Ep. 31
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. 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 Twitt...
Oct 08, 2020•35 min•Ep. 30
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. Maria Bustillos is the founding editor of Popula and Brick House. She recently wrote about the major publishers’ lawsuit against the Internet Archive f...
Oct 01, 2020•45 min•Ep. 29
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. 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...
Sep 24, 2020•38 min•Ep. 28
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. 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 Polytechn...
Sep 17, 2020•50 min•Ep. 27
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. 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...
Sep 10, 2020•50 min•Ep. 26
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. 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...
Sep 03, 2020•45 min•Ep. 25
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. 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...
Aug 27, 2020•53 min•Ep. 24
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). 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 pro...
Aug 20, 2020•38 min•Ep. 23
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. 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&a...
Aug 13, 2020•36 min•Ep. 22
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. 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 ...
Aug 06, 2020•34 min•Ep. 21
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. 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 ...
Jul 30, 2020•38 min•Ep. 20
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. 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 Delawar...
Jul 23, 2020•39 min•Ep. 19
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. Juan Ortiz Freuler is an Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet &...
Jul 16, 2020•42 min•Ep. 18
Paris Marx is joined by Jathan Sadowski to discuss the politics of smart technology, how it enables powerful actors to further control the population, and why we should be more comfortable dismantling technologies that don’t serve the public good. Jathan Sadowski is the author of “ Too Smart: How Digital Capitalism is Extracting Data, Controlling Our Lives, and Taking Over the World ” and a Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University. He recently wrote about ho...
Jul 09, 2020•41 min•Ep. 17
