Silicon Valley has a solution for everything, but who do its ideas really serve? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its thought leaders, and the worldview it spreads. They challenge the notion that tech alone can drive our world forward by showing that separating tech from politics has consequences for us all, especially the most vulnerable. But if tech won't save us, what will? This podcast isn't simply about tearing tech down; it also presents radical ideas for tech designed for human flourishing instead of surveillance, acquisitions, or to boost stock prices. A better world is possible, and so is better technology.
How Mass Layoffs Changed Working in Tech w/ Clarissa Redwine & JS Tan
Not long ago, tech jobs were sought after for their security, benefits, wages, and the progressive values promoted by Silicon Valley companies. But now workers are barely hanging on. Clarissa Redwine and JS Tan join Paris Marx to discuss the state of worker organizing in the tech industry, including how it’s changed since the mid-2010s and where it needs to go from here.
Clarissa Redwine is a tech worker and labor activist. JS Tan is a PhD candidate at MIT and writes the Value Added newsletter. They are the authors of Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World's Most Powerful Industry.
The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.
Also mentioned in this episode:
- You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
- Learn more about Kickstarter United in Clarissa’s oral history podcast.
- Layoffs in 2026 have surpassed last year.
- Tech workers are pushing back against AI use.
- Paris talked to JS last year about the connection between tech and oil & gas.