Paris 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...
May 16, 2024•55 min•Ep. 220
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...
May 09, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 219
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 Wi...
May 02, 2024•57 min•Ep. 218
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 i...
Apr 25, 2024•57 min•Ep. 217
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 partners...
Apr 18, 2024•54 min•Ep. 216
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 a ...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 215
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 ...
Apr 04, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 214
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 deman...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 213
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...
Mar 21, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 212
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 per...
Mar 18, 2024•2 hr 34 min
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...
Mar 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 211
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 partner...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 210
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...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 209
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. Product...
Feb 22, 2024•57 min•Ep. 208
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...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 207
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...
Feb 08, 2024•55 min•Ep. 206
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...
Feb 01, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 205
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 i...
Jan 25, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 204
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 produced by Eric...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 203
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, ...
Jan 11, 2024•57 min•Ep. 202
Paris Marx is joined by Naomi Klein to discuss the problems with personal branding pushed social media, how the left’s insufficient response to the pandemic created an opening for the right, and the fight over the roots of Western society that will shape our future. Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, New York Times bestselling author, and a columnist with The Guardian . She is the founding co-director of the UBC Centre for Climate Justice and Professor of Climate Justice at the Universi...
Jan 04, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 201
2023 is over, so it’s time to go through everything! In a special year-end episode, we review the biggest stories of 2023, what we’re thinking of the AI hype, how science fiction makes us think about the future, the worst villains in the tech industry, and what we’re watching in 2024. Gita Jackson is a journalist and cofounder of Aftermath. Molly White is the creator of Web3 is Going Just Great. Aaron Thorpe is co-host of Everybody Loves Communism. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspectiv...
Dec 28, 2023•2 hr 5 min•Ep. 200
Paris Marx is joined by Astra Taylor to discuss how capitalism creates insecurity to sustain itself, the way tech is used to make us more insecure, and what it will take to change that. Astra Taylor is a writer, filmmaker, and political organizer. She’s the author of The Age of Insecurity and co-founder of the Debt Collective. Her next book Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea , written with Leah Hunt-Hendrix, comes out in March. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 199
Paris Marx is joined by Émile Torres to discuss Silicon Valley’s recent obsession with effective accelerationism, how it builds on the TESCREAL ideologies, and why it shows the divide at the top of the AI industry. Émile Torres is a postdoctoral fellow at Case Western Reserve University. They’re also the author of Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspi...
Dec 14, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 198
Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss why the story we hear about Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation doesn’t reflect their real impact on education and health around the world. Tim Schwab is an investigative journalist and the author of The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning with the Myth of the Good Billionaire . 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...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 197
Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss her new novel dealing with the human labor behind self-driving cars and the challenges of being a good tech critic. Joanne McNeil is the author of Wrong Way and has written for Dissent Magazine, New York Magazine, and The Nation. 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 produced ...
Nov 30, 2023•57 min•Ep. 196
Paris Marx is joined by Mike Isaac to discuss the drama around Sam Altman being temporarily removed from OpenAI, what it means for the future of the company, and how Microsoft benefits from its partnership with the company. Mike Isaac is a technology reporter at the New York Times . He’s also the author of Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber . 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 bet...
Nov 23, 2023•50 min•Ep. 195
Paris Marx is joined by Marwa Fatafta to discuss the ongoing Israeli campaign in Gaza, the importance of social media for sharing what’s happening on the ground, and what listeners can do to support peace and Palestinian rights. Marwa Fatafta is a Palestinian digital rights advocate and researcher. She is Access Now’s Policy and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspi...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 194
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, why he was found guilty, and how his negative traits are common across Silicon Valley. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the co-author of Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud . He’s also the host of The Naked Emperor . Find more of Jacob’s work on jacobsilverman.com . Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of ...
Nov 09, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 193
After building an empire, now Elon Musk wants us to believe he deserves it. He built a myth of his genius, and now he’s using the same to seed harmful ideologies into the public that justify how he hoards wealth to pursue the projects he should be central to humanity’s future, leaving behind a ton of suffering in their wake. But is Musk’s future really the one we want? This is episode 4 of Elon Musk Unmasked, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critica...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 192
