Paris Marx is joined by Timnit Gebru to discuss where the AI industry stands in 2025 as AI increasingly becomes a geopolitical football even as the big promises made by AI companies fail to materialize. 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 pod...
Mar 13, 2025•55 min•Ep. 267
Paris Marx is joined by James Meadway to discuss how the UK Labour Party is embracing AI regardless of the cost and the consequences of allowing US companies to dominate the digital economy in so many other countries. James Meadway is an economist and the host of Macrodose. 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 partn...
Mar 06, 2025•45 min•Ep. 266
Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss the trouble with Tesla’s business model and how that makes Elon Musk’s power vulnerable to protest and boycott. Ed Niedermeyer is the author Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors and a 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 podcast is made in partner...
Feb 27, 2025•54 min•Ep. 265
Paris Marx is joined by Makena Kelly to discuss how Elon Musk’s DOGE is reshaping the US government and the consequences that has for government employees and the wider public. Makena Kelly is a senior writer at WIRED and writes the weekly Politics Lab newsletter. 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 wit...
Feb 20, 2025•53 min•Ep. 264
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Alex Hanna, the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Institute. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Feb 17, 2025•6 min
Paris Marx is joined by Eoin Higgins to discuss how tech billionaires set out to change the media ecosystem and made it profitable for influential voices to shift to the political right. Eoin Higgins is a journalist and the author of Owned: How Tech Billionaires on the Right Bought the Loudest Voices on the Left . 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 ...
Feb 13, 2025•53 min•Ep. 263
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Julia Black, a reporter on The Information’s Weekend Team. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Feb 10, 2025•6 min
Paris Marx is joined by Liz Pelly to discuss how Spotify changes how we listen to music and the broader impacts it has on the wider music industry. Liz Pelly is a music journalist and the author of Mood 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 made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Also me...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 262
Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss David Golumbia's final book Cyberlibertarianism and how right-wing politics shaped how we think about the internet. Chris Gilliard is co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute and author of the forthcoming book Luxury Surveillance, coming in 2026. 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 Pa...
Jan 30, 2025•58 min•Ep. 261
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Émile P. Torres, a postdoctoral researcher at Case Western University. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Jan 27, 2025•5 min
Paris Marx is joined by Gaby Del Valle to discuss the inauguration of Donald Trump and what the tech oligarchy hopes to get from their relationship with him. Gaby Del Valle is a policy reporter at The Verge and is working on a book on ecofascism that will be released by Bloomsbury in 2026. 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 ...
Jan 23, 2025•53 min•Ep. 260
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Dan McQuillan, author of Resisting AI and a lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Jan 20, 2025•5 min
Paris Marx is joined by Jathan Sadowski to discuss the relationship between technology and capitalism, and what lessons can be taken from the Luddites to properly assess and understand these systems. Jathan Sadowski is is the author of The Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism . He’s also the co-host of This Machine Kills and a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on t...
Jan 16, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 259
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Dwayne Monroe, a senior cloud architect and longtime consultant these kinds of projects. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Jan 14, 2025•5 min
Paris Marx is joined by Will Tavlin to discuss how the Netflix model transformed film into the Typical Netflix Movie and how the company uses claims about data to deceive the public. Will Tavlin is a New York-based writer who has written for n+1, Bookforum, and the Columbia Journalism Review. 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 podca...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 258
Paris Marx is joined by Cecilia Rikap to discuss the ways Amazon, Microsoft, and Google gain power from companies becoming dependent on their cloud services and how generative AI exacerbates that problem. Cecilia Rikap is an Associate Professor in Economics at University College London. 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 ...
Jan 02, 2025•44 min•Ep. 257
Paris Marx is joined by Ali Alkhatib to discuss the difficulty of holding the AI industry accountable and why sometimes it makes sense for people to destroy AI systems that are harming them. Ali Alkhatib works with Logic(s) magazine and was previously the director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics. 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 ....
Dec 26, 2024•36 min•Ep. 256
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White, Brian Merchant, and Eric Wickham to discuss the highs and lows (mostly lows) of this year in tech news. Molly White is the creator of Web3 is Going Just Great and Follow the Crypto. Brian Merchant is my co-host on System Crash, a new podcast we’re hosting. He’s also a longtime tech journalist and author of Blood in the Machine. Eric Wickham is the producer for Tech Won’t Save Us, along with a bunch of other podcast, and an independent journalist. Tech Won’t S...
Dec 19, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 255
Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Mull to discuss the data-informed decisions that are changing the way we all experience air travel, mostly for the worse. Amanda Mull is a senior reporter and Buying Power columnist at Bloomberg Businessweek. 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...
Dec 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 254
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Aurora Gomez Delgado of Tu Nube Seca Mi Río. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show
Dec 10, 2024•4 min
Paris Marx is joined by Cam Wilson to discuss Australia’s plan to ban under-16s from social media, the interests driving it, and whether it’s the right approach to tackle the harms of those platforms. Cam Wilson is associate editor at Crikey. 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...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 253
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Brid Smith, a former TD or Member of Parliament in the Irish Parliament in Dublin. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Dec 03, 2024•5 min
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Sebastian Lehuede, a lecturer at King’s College London. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Nov 29, 2024•6 min
Paris Marx is joined by MV Ramana to discuss the tech industry’s push to have nuclear energy power its data centers and why the reality of nuclear power isn’t as great as its promoters often make it seem. MV Ramana is a Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Nuclear Is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change . Tech Won’t Save ...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 252
Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss the right-wing project to shape the internet in the 1990s and how we’re still living with the legacies of those actions today. Becca Lewis is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. 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 ...
Nov 21, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 251
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Cecilia Rikap, an Associate Professor in Economics at University College London. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Nov 19, 2024•6 min
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the fallout from the US election, what it means for the tech industry, and more importantly, what it might mean for all of us. They also celebrate the show hitting 250 episodes! Brian Merchant is a longtime tech writer and author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech . 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 ...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 250
Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. Starting this week, we’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Ali Alkhatib, Logic(s) data editor and former interim director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon . Support the show...
Nov 13, 2024•5 min
Paris Marx is joined by tante to discuss troubling developments in the open source world as Wordpress goes to war with WP Engine and a new definition of open source AI doesn’t require being open about training data. tante is a sociotechnologist, writer, speaker, and Luddite working on tech and its social impact. 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...
Nov 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 249
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss all the money Elon Musk is pouring into the US election and what Silicon Valley’s political influence will mean regardless of who becomes president. Jacob Silverman is the author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley , coming in September 2025 from Bloomsbury. His book Easy Money is now available in paperback. Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of ...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 248
