Tech Won’t Save Us is turning three years old, so Paris recorded a quick update on the show and announced plans for a new Elon Musk series if the show gets 200 new Patreon supporters in April. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast ( @techwontsaveus ) and host Paris Marx ( @parismarx ) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon . The podcast is produ...
Apr 01, 2023•7 min
Paris Marx is joined by Kate Wagner to discuss the goals behind Saudi Arabia’s architectural megaprojects, the incentives for major architects to work on projects for despotic regimes, and how architecture’s relationship to tech is driven by profits and PR. Kate Wagner is an architecture critic and journalist. She’s also the creator of McMansion Hell. Follow Kate on Twitter at @mcmansionhell . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goa...
Mar 30, 2023•53 min•Ep. 161
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, how it’s part of a larger crisis in the tech sector, and why it’s turning people against the industry’s venture capitalists. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the host of The Naked Emperor , a new CBC podcast. Follow Jacob on Twitter at @SilvermanJacob . 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 be...
Mar 23, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 160
Paris Marx is joined by James Wright to discuss Japan’s efforts to develop robots to care for its growing elderly population, what the government hoped to achieve with that plan, and why it hasn’t worked out as planned. James Wright is a research associate with Turning Institute and a visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He’s also the author of Robots Won’t Save Japan . You can follow James on Twitter at @jms_wright . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its...
Mar 16, 2023•58 min•Ep. 159
Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss how AI systems encourage ranking populations and austerity policies, and why understanding their politics is essential to opposing them. Dan McQuillan is a Lecturer in Creative and Social Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He’s also the author of Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence . You can follow Dan on Twitter at @danmcquillan . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, an...
Mar 09, 2023•59 min•Ep. 158
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Wray to discuss the fight to win a pro-worker Platform Work Directive in the European Union, Uber’s rollout of dynamic pricing, and how Barcelona taxi workers have fought back against ride-hailing. Ben Wray is the coordinator of The Gig Economy Project and the co-author of Scotland after Britain: The two souls of Scottish independence . You can follow Ben on Twitter at @Ben_Wray1989 . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider s...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 157
Paris Marx is joined by Rosie Collington to discuss the consequences of outsourcing tech to the private sector, how it causes governments to lose important capacities to serve the public, and how the push for open government data empowered large tech firms. Rosie Collington is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London. She’s also the co-author of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 156
Paris Marx is joined by Malcolm Harris to discuss the sordid history of Silicon Valley, including the long influence of eugenics at Stanford, how Silicon Valley profited from the United States’ wars throughout the 20th century, and why the libertarian narrative of tech hide a much darker reality. Malcolm Harris is the author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World . You can follow Malcolm on Twitter at @BigMeanInternet . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective o...
Feb 16, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 155
Paris Marx is joined by Edward Niedermeyer to discuss the rollercoaster ride of Tesla’s share price, the escalating regulatory and legal scrutiny the company faces, and the challenges it faces in the electric car market. Edward Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and a co-host of The Autonocast. You can follow Edward on Twitter at @Tweetermeyer or on Mastodon at @niedermeyer@sfba.social. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its world...
Feb 09, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 154
Paris Marx is joined by Anousha Sakoui to discuss the prospect of a writer’s strike later this year, what workers are fighting for, and how the move to streaming has affected working conditions and compensation in Hollywood. Anousha Sakoui is an entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles Times, covering topics including labor and litigation in Hollywood. She was part of the team that was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist in breaking news for work covering the tragic shooting on the “Rust” fi...
Feb 02, 2023•52 min•Ep. 153
Paris Marx is joined by Quinn Myers to discuss the launch of Google Glass, why the product failed so badly, and what lessons we can learn from it as tech companies make another push for AR glasses. Quinn Myers is the author of Google Glass and a freelance writer who used to write for MEL. You can follow him on Twitter at @quinmyers . 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 worl...
Jan 26, 2023•54 min•Ep. 152
Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss the misleading framings of artificial intelligence, her experience of getting fired by Google in a very public way, and why we need to avoid getting distracted by all the hype around ChatGPT and AI image tools. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed AI Research Institute and former co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google. You can follow her on Twitter at @timnitGebru . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical pe...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 151
Paris Marx is joined by Louise Matsakis to discuss the growing divide between the US and China, the long history of Western concern about the East, and why we should pay attention to who these anti-China narratives benefit. Louise Matsakis is a technology reporter at Semafor who previously worked at NBC News, Rest of World, and Wired. You can follow her on Twitter at @lmatsakis . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 150
Paris Marx is joined by Rose Eveleth to discuss the end of her long-running podcast, why thinking about the future is important, and how tech billionaires try to shape our idea of the future to serve their ends. Rose Eveleth is the creator and host of the Flash Forward podcast and the author of Flash Forward: An Illustrated Guide to Possible (And Not So Possible) Tomorrows . You can follow them on Twitter at @roseveleth . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, a...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 149
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant, Chris Gilliard, and Gita Jackson to discuss the year in tech, including Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the biggest stories of the year, what they’ll be watching in 2023, and the worst person in tech of 2022. Brian Merchant is the author of The One Device and Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech . Chris Gilliard is a Just Tech Fellow at the Social Science Research Council. Gita Jackson is a tech and culture journalist. You can ...
Dec 29, 2022•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 148
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss the ongoing collapse of the crypto industry, what to make of the implosion of FTX and Alameda Research, and what happens next with Sam Bankman-Fried. Molly White is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and a fellow at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab. You can follow her on Twitter at @molly0xFFF . 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...
Dec 22, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 147
Paris Marx is joined by Wendy Liu to discuss what it was like to work in tech in the 2010s and why structural changes in the industry are empowering an increasingly reactionary capitalist class to strike back at workers and upend the expectations of the boom period. Wendy Liu is a writer and the author of Abolish Silicon Valley: How to Liberate Technology from Capitalism . You can follow her on Twitter at @dellsystem . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and ...
Dec 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 146
Paris Marx is joined by Douglas Rushkoff to discuss why internet visions of the 1990s were wrong to ignore corporate power, how the dot-com boom was like a Ponzi scheme, and why we desperately need to stop elevating tech billionaires. Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His most recent book is Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires and he’s the host of Team Human podcast. You can follow him on Twitter at @rushko...
Dec 08, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 145
Paris Marx is joined by David Zipper to discuss how Silicon Valley pitched new technologies as the fix for a whole range of transport problems, and how that really just distracted us from solutions while allowing issues like road deaths, emissions, and traffic to get even worse. David Zipper is a Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Taubman Center for State and Local Government and a contributing writer at Bloomberg CityLab. You can find his articles and sign up for his newslette...
Dec 01, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 144
Paris Marx is joined by Daniel Joseph to discuss why advertising is central not just to the tech economy, but modern capitalism itself, and how the business models of companies are increasing shaped by serving ads and collecting data to inform them. Daniel Joseph is a Senior Lecturer of Digital Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University. He’s also written for a number of publications, including Briarpatch Magazine, Motherboard, and Real Life Magazine. Follow Daniel on Twitter at @DanjoKaz00...
Nov 24, 2022•53 min•Ep. 143
Paris Marx is joined by Julie Turnock to discuss the history of the visual effects industry, the role that George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic played in setting industry standards, and what its current form dominated by Disney means for visual effects workers. Julie Turnock is an associate professor of Media and Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the author of The Empire of Effects: Industrial Light and Magic and the Rendering of Realism . Follow Julie on Twi...
Nov 17, 2022•49 min•Ep. 142
Paris Marx is joined by Hussein Kesvani to discuss the mess of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the problem with his solution to blue check privilege, and what we should learn from how he posts. Hussein Kesvani is a journalist and the co-host of Trashfuture and Ten Thousand Posts. Follow Hussein on Twitter at @hkesvani . 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 po...
Nov 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 141
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, the politics of the PayPal Mafia tech billionaires, and how they’re trying to reshape US political discourse to serve themselves. Jacob Silverman is a journalist who writes for The New Republic, The Baffler, Slate, and many others. He’s also the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud with Ben McKenzie. Follow Jacob on Twitter at @SilvermanJacob . Tech Won’t Save Us of...
Nov 03, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 140
Paris Marx is joined by Dave Karpf to discuss Meta’s misguided attempt to turn Facebook into a metaverse company, how Wired Magazine has evolved, and why the tech billionaires are destroying the world. Dave Karpf is an Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University. He’s also the author of The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy and Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy . Follow Dave on Twitter a...
Oct 27, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 139
Paris Marx is joined by Émile P. Torres to discuss the ongoing effort to sell effective altruism and longtermism to the public, and why they’re philosophies that won’t solve the real problems we face. Émile P. Torres is a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation . Follow Émile on Twitter at @xriskology . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wide...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 138
Paris Marx is joined by Jim Thomas to discuss how digital technologies are being integrated into the industrial food system, how it empowers agribusiness firms and major tech companies, and its implications for farmers and farm workers. Jim Thomas is the research director at ETC Group, which has over 25 years international experience tracking the impact of emerging technologies on human rights, biodiversity, equity and food systems. Follow Jim on Twitter at @jimetc or follow @ETC_Group . Tech Wo...
Oct 13, 2022•55 min•Ep. 137
Paris Marx is joined by Adrienne Buller to discuss how the tech and finance industries are selling us false solutions to the climate crisis that are designed for their own benefit. Adrienne Buller is the Director of Research at Common Wealth and the author of The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism . Follow Adrienne on Twitter at @adribuller . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand ...
Oct 06, 2022•53 min•Ep. 136
Paris Marx is joined by Josh O’Kane to discuss how Sidewalk Labs decided to build a city “from the internet up” in Toronto, the concerns that existed with the project, and why it ultimately fell apart. Josh O’Kane is an award-winning technology reporter at the Globe and Mail and the author of Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy . Follow Josh on Twitter at @joshokane . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring peo...
Sep 29, 2022•55 min•Ep. 135
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant and Claire Evans to discuss their new science fiction anthology, how it uses the genre to critically interrogate the technologies being rolled out around us, and how it pushes back on the desire of tech billionaires to use science fiction to get the public to buy into their corporate futures. Brian Merchant is a tech journalist and author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone . Claire L. Evans is the author of Broad Band: The Untold Story of t...
Sep 22, 2022•46 min•Ep. 134
Paris Marx is joined by Thea Riofrancos to discuss how the push for electric vehicles is driving governments in the United States and Europe to onshore mining after decades of doing the reverse, what that means for companies in the sector, and how movements are pushing back against this resource-intensive vision for a green transition. Thea Riofrancos is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, and a member of the Climate + Community Project. ...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 133
