Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss the push to expand surveillance technologies in schools during the pandemic and in response to school shootings, and why they’re making life worse for students without addressing the problems they claim to solve. Chris Gilliard is Just Tech Fellow at the Social Science Research Council at a recurring columnist at Wired. Follow Chris on Twitter at @hypervisible . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider so...
Sep 08, 2022•57 min•Ep. 132
Paris Marx is joined by Thomas Coughlan to discuss Amazon’s foray into Tolkien’s fantasy world, the big subsidies it received to film in New Zealand, and how its decision to move the series to the UK is giving fuel to demands to reassess the support for Hollywood productions. Thomas Coughlan is a senior political reporter at NZ Herald, and formerly was a journalist at Stuff and Newsroom. Follow Thomas on Twitter at @coughlthom . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its world...
Sep 01, 2022•51 min•Ep. 131
Paris Marx is joined by JS Tan to discuss how Chinese tech workers fought against “996” work practices and whether the its phaseout is being driven by that movement or by the changing needs of the government and tech companies. JS Tan is a graduate student at MIT, a former tech worker, and a member of Collective Action in Tech, a project to advance the tech worker movement. Follow JS on Twitter at @organizejs . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider so...
Aug 25, 2022•49 min•Ep. 130
Paris Marx is joined by Kevin Driscoll to discuss the networks and services built by volunteers and hobbyists on top of the telephone network before the internet took over the in the 1990s, and what it can teach us about the internet and social media today. Kevin Driscoll is the author of The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media and an associate professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia. Follow Kevin on Twitter at @kevindriscoll . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a...
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 129
Paris Marx is joined by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to discuss the science behind the new space telescope, the problems with the billionaire space race, and why we need to challenge the capitalist and colonial forces driving the the effort to commercialize space. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is the author of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred . She’s also an assistant professor of Physics and core faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies at the Univers...
Aug 11, 2022•58 min•Ep. 128
Paris Marx is joined by Fenwick McKelvey to discuss the massive outage at Rogers, why it’s challenging the narrative that more competition will fix Canada’s telecom sector, and the need for better regulation and even public ownership. Fenwick McKelvey is the author of Internet Daemons: Digital Communications Possessed . He’s also an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University and a director of Machine Agencies at the Milieu Institute. Follow Fenwick on ...
Aug 04, 2022•54 min•Ep. 127
Paris Marx is joined by Malcolm Harris to discuss the legacy of Stewart Brand and why the myth we’re often told about him overstates the reality of his impact. Malcolm Harris is the author of Kids These Days , Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit , and his forthcoming book Palo Alto . He also writes for New York Magazine. Follow Malcolm on Twitter at @BigMeanInternet . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand...
Jul 28, 2022•58 min•Ep. 126
Paris Marx is joined by Dwayne Monroe to discuss what it’s like to work in a data center, how the cloud came to hold a dominant position, and the consequences of its control by companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Dwayne Monroe is a cloud technologist and aspiring Marxist theorist of technology, with twenty years of experience architecting large-scale computational systems. Follow Dwayne on Twitter at @cloudquistador . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldv...
Jul 21, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 125
Paris Marx is joined by Shoshana Wodinsky to discuss how the digital infrastructure that companies have built out over the past couple decades to track everything we do in order to serve us ads places us at risk, and how that’s come into focus since the overturning of abortion rights in Roe v Wade in the United States. Shoshana Wodinsky is a privacy reporter at Gizmodo. Follow Shoshana on Twitter at @swodinsky . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider s...
Jul 14, 2022•57 min•Ep. 124
In a special episode to celebrate the release of host Paris Marx’s new book Road to Nowhere , Brian Merchant takes over as guest host to interview Paris about the book, the tech industry’s visions for transportation, and why they don’t solve our mobility challenges. Paris is the host of Tech Won’t Save Us and the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation . Brian Merchant is a tech journalist, author of The One Device: The Secret History of the i...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 123
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the impact of the iPhone after 15 years, including its effects on how we work, how we use technology, and what it’s meant for Apple. Brian Merchant is a tech journalist, author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone , and co-editor of Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn . Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to de...
Jun 30, 2022•57 min•Ep. 122
To kick off a new monthly bonus series on tech in Canada, Paris Marx is joined by Bianca Wylie to discuss Canada’s COVID Alert app, the problems with the digital contract-tracing experiment, and why we need a public post-mortem so lessons are learned for next time. Bianca Wylie is a partner at Digital Public, a co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, and a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Follow Bianca on Twitter at @biancawylie . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical...
Jun 27, 2022•56 min•Ep. 121
Paris Marx is joined by David Nemer to discuss how residents of Brazil’s favelas reshape technologies developed in the Global North to serve their needs, and how technology alone does not solve social oppression. David Nemer is an assistant professor in the Department of Media Studies and in the Latin American Studies program at the University of Virginia. He’s also the author of Technology of the Oppressed: Inequity and the Digital Mundane in Favelas of Brazil . Follow David on Twitter at @Davi...
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 120
Paris Marx is joined by Gita Jackson to discuss how streaming has altered the film and television industry, what happens as their business models are coming under question, and whether cinemas have reason to celebrate streaming’s woes. Gita Jackson is a staff writer at Motherboard, Vice’s tech vertical. Follow Gita on Twitter at @xoxogossipgita . 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 ...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 119
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff to discuss why the problems with the modern internet, including its excessive concentration in the hands of a few companies and the way its dominant firms shape our interactions to generate profit, find their root in the decision to privatize the network. To fix them, that needs to be changed. Ben Tarnoff is the author of Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future and the co-founder of Logic Magazine. Follow Ben on Twitter at @bentarnoff . Tech ...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 118
Paris Marx is joined by Ed Zitron for a wide-ranging discussion on the responsibility tech media has to its readers, the problems with crypto, and why bosses like Elon Musk are desperate to force workers back into the office. Ed Zitron is the CEO of EZPR and writes the Where’s Your Ed At newsletter. Follow Ed on Twitter at @edzitron . 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 wor...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 117
Paris Marx is joined by Émile P. Torres to discuss why longtermism isn’t just about long-term thinking, but provides a framework for Silicon Valley billionaires to justify ignoring the crises facing humanity so they can accumulate wealth and go after space colonization. Émile P. Torres is a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A History of Thinking About the End of Humanity . Follow Phil on Twitter at @xriskology . Tech Won’t Save ...
May 26, 2022•55 min•Ep. 116
Paris Marx is joined by Bennett Tomlin to discuss last week’s crash of Terra and Luna, the problems with stablecoins, and whether this collapse will finally force regulators to take action on cryptocurrency. Bennett Tomlin is a co-host of Crypto Critics’ Corner and writer of the FUD Letter. Follow Bennett on Twitter at @BennettTomlin . 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 wo...
May 19, 2022•55 min•Ep. 115
Paris Marx is joined by Drew Pendergrass and Troy Vettese to discuss the environmental crises of climate change and mass extinction we face, and why taking them seriously while providing for everyone requires a radical change to how we structure society. Drew Pendergrass is a PhD candidate in environmental engineering at Harvard University and Troy Vettese is an environmental historian and a Max Weber fellow at the European University Institute. They are the co-authors of Half-Earth Socialism: A...
May 12, 2022•59 min•Ep. 114
Paris Marx is joined by ann haeyoung to discuss IBM worker organizing in the 1970s and 1980s against racism and apartheid, and how those stories are important to informing tech organizing in the present. ann haeyoung is a media artist interested in technology and labor. She is also a former tech worker and organizer, and a graduate student at UCLA. 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 an...
May 05, 2022•50 min•Ep. 113
Paris Marx is joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition, how technology is enabling an extension of speculation and gambling, and why those pressures need to be opposed. Edward Ongweso Jr. is a staff writer at Motherboard/Vice and a co-host of This Machine Kills. Follow Edward on Twitter at @bigblackjacobin . 🎉 This month is the show’s second birthday. To celebrate, we want to get 100 new supporters at $5/month or above to bring on a producer to help make the show....
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 112
Paris Marx is joined by Molly Taft to discuss why we need to act now to reduce emissions, what role carbon removal technologies can play, and how Silicon Valley is trying to shift our focus to future technologies rather than taking drastic action today. Molly Taft is a staff writer at Earther. Follow Molly on Twitter at @mollytaft . 🎉 This month is the show’s second birthday. To celebrate, we want to get 100 new supporters at $5/month or above to bring on a producer to help make the show. Help ...
Apr 21, 2022•59 min•Ep. 111
Paris Marx is joined by Lauren Smiley to discuss what we’ve learned about the Uber crash since in happened in March 2018, what that’s meant for the vehicle operator who’s been charged, and whether the justice system made the right call in blaming her instead of Uber. Lauren Smiley is a WIRED contributor and freelance journalist based in San Francisco. Follow Laren on Twitter at @laurensmiley . 🎉 This month is the show’s second birthday. To celebrate, we want to get 100 new supporters at $5/mont...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 110
Paris Marx is joined by Justine Medina and Karen Ponce to discuss how the Amazon Labor Union succeeded in unionizing Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, what it’s like working for Amazon, and where the movement to unionize Amazon goes next. Justine Medina is a packer at the JFK8 warehouse and is on the organizing committee of the Amazon Labor Union. Karen Ponce is a stower at JFK8 and the interim secretary of Amazon Labor Union. Follow Justine on Twitter at @jnmedina8989 and Karen at @Kare...
Apr 07, 2022•51 min•Ep. 109
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss the big Axie Infinity hack, what’s wrong with the New York Times ’ Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto, and what Molly’s years as a Wikipedia editor have taught her about the problem with web3’s vision of total commercialization. Molly White is a software engineer and the creator of web3 is going just great . Follow Molly on Twitter at @molly0xFFF . 🎉 This month is the show’s second birthday. To celebrate, we want to get 100 new supporters at $5/month or a...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 108
Paris Marx is joined by Will Tavlin to discuss the history of the film industry, how the digital revolution was promised to democratize film, and how it actually helped cement the power of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Will Tavlin is a writer and fact checker based in New York City. Follow Will on Twitter at @wtavlin . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the p...
Mar 24, 2022•48 min•Ep. 107
Paris Marx is joined by Grace Blakeley to discuss how low interest rates and quantitative easing fueled the tech economy’s post-recession growth, why raising them won’t fix the problems that’s created, and whether higher interest rates are the solution to rising inflation. Grace Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune Magazine and host of A World to Win. She’s also the author of Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialisation and The Corona Crash: How the Pandemic Will Change Capitalism . Foll...
Mar 17, 2022•59 min•Ep. 106
Paris Marx is joined by Moira Weigel to discuss Peter Thiel’s history, how the network he cultivated has influenced Silicon Valley, and his recent move into funding Republican candidates. Moira Weigel is an assistant professor at Northeastern University, a faculty associate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard Law School, and a founding editor of Logic magazine. She also co-edited Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk about What They Do--And How They Do It . Follow Moira on Twitter at @moi...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 105
Paris Marx is joined by Ryan Broderick and Hussein Kesvani to discuss how war gets filtered through social media and the content economy, and what that means for how we make sense of it. Ryan Broderick writes the Garbage Day newsletter and hosts Content Mines. Hussein Kesvani is a writer and the co-host of Trashfuture and Ten Thousand Posts. Follow Ryan on Twitter at @broderick and Hussein at @HKesvani . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society w...
Mar 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 104
Paris Marx is joined by Edward Niedermeyer to discuss how Elon Musk got involved in Tesla, promised things he couldn’t deliver to raise funds, and where it goes next now that he’s becoming a more controversial figure. Edward Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and a co-host of The Autonocast. Follow Ed on Twitter at @Tweetermeyer . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people...
Feb 24, 2022•58 min•Ep. 103
