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.
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Don’t Give Surveillance for Christmas w/ Chris Gilliard
Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss the ethics of tech media recommending surveillance devices, aspects of “smart” technologies you might not have considered, and why we should think twice about surrounding ourselves with cameras and microphones.Chris Gilliard is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center. Follow Chris on Twitter at @hypervisible.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Chris wrote about the history of home surveillance, and the concept of luxury surveillance with David Golumbia.Caroline Haskins went in-depth on what Ring does to communities.Health apps and fitness trackers help rich people but don’t do much for poor people.The New York Times thinks the Theranos scandal soured the media on Silicon Valley. (We don’t buy it.)US Infrastructure Bill will require monitoring systems for drunk driving in new vehicles as early as 2026.Amazon has worked to kill or undermine privacy legislation across 25 US states.In 2019, video circulated of a man talking to someone’s 8-year-old daughter after he hacked the Ring camera in her bedroom.In the US, wage theft matches all other property theft combined, but the media sensationalizes shoplifting while ignoring wage theft.Chris recommended people read Simone Brown’s Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness.The Wirecutter Union is asking people not to visit the website from November 25-29.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Net-Zero Uses Technofixes to Delay Climate Action w/ Sabrina Fernandes
Paris Marx is joined by Sabrina Fernandes to discuss what came out of COP26, what it actually means to have net-zero emissions by 2050, and all the mechanisms that countries are developing to delay necessary action to reduce emissions.Sabrina Fernandes is an IRGAC postdoctoral fellow at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. She’s the producer of Tese Onze and a contributing editor at Jacobin. Follow Sabrina on Twitter at @safbf.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Sabrina and Claudia Horn wrote about COP26 and what Brazil’s far-right government was up to at the conference.Paris wrote about why Elon Musk won’t save us from the climate crisis.The International Rights of Nature Tribunal has a resource on the false solutions to the climate crisis.Melissa Moreano and Juliane Schumacher wrote about REDD+ and the discourse around forests at COP26.Daniel Aldana Cohen worked on the Green New Deal for Public Housing.COP26 agreed on the Glasgow Climate Pact, but pledges would still result in 2.4º of warming.Climate scientists say net-zero is about “a need to protect business as usual, not the climate.”Jeff Bezos should cut Amazon emissions, not focus on forests.Amazon’s emissions increased by 15% in 2019 and 19% in 2020.Painting the street white causes people to absorb the heat that streets aren’t.Juice Media did good videos on the problems with net-zero and carbon capture.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
How Amazon is Changing the Books We Read w/ Mark McGurl
Paris Marx is joined by Mark McGurl to discuss how Amazon is reshaping the publishing industry and altering the form of the novel itself.Mark McGurl is a Professor of Literature at Stanford University. He’s also the author of The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing and Everything and Less: The Novel in the Age of Amazon. Follow Mark on Twitter at @markjamesmcgurl.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Jeff Bezos’ valedictorian speech was about space colonization.Paris wrote about Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s early days.US publishers, authors, and booksellers have written to Congress about Amazon’s effective monopolization of book sales, with more than 50% of the US book market.Jane Friedman explains how Amazon shut down many of its writer-oriented programs, makes exclusivity hard to avoid, and dominates Kindle charts.Novels and authors mentioned: Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You, Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, Rachel Cusk, and Ben Lerner.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Why the Metaverse Must Be Stopped w/ Brian Merchant
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss Mark Zuckerberg’s big plans for the metaverse, everything that’s wrong with it, the concept’s scifi origins, and why Silicon Valley is desperate to make it happen.Brian Merchant is the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine, coming in 2022. Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Brian wrote about the dystopian origins of the metaverse for Motherboard and why Silicon Valley wants it to succeed for The Atlantic.Paris wrote about how the metaverse is a way to get us to spend more time and money in digital spaces for Business Insider.Matthew Ball made the business case for the metaverse last year.Apple’s changes to iOS privacy settings cost Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat an estimated $9.85 billion in revenue.Emails sent by Oculus CEO Jason Rubin in 2018 asserted that consumers want the metaverse (something that’s not at all clear).David Karpf wrote about how VR keeps failing and getting revived for Wired.Apple’s AR headset or glasses are supposedly coming in 2022.Microsoft is trying to get in on the metaverse with workplace applications of its own.Brian hosted a series for Motherboard about the themes of Dune.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Can Nostalgia Inspire a Better Future? w/ Grafton Tanner
Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss how social and environmental crises fuel nostalgia, how companies profit from it, and whether it can be reoriented to inspire a better future.Grafton Tanner is the author of “The Hours Have Lost Their Clock: The Politics of Nostalgia” from Repeater Books. Follow Grafton on Twitter at @GraftonTanner.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Paris reviewed Grafton’s book in Jacobin.TikTok has already gone through a phase of nostalgia for the early pandemic and its lockdowns.Malls have been closing for years, but many people have nostalgia for their heyday.In 1996, Jennifer Light compared emerging digital spaces to shopping malls.Matthew Ball wrote one of the key essays on what the metaverse should look like (from a corporate perspective).A message mentioned in the opening crawl of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was broadcast exclusively in Fortnite.When Amazon bought MGM, it said it wanted to redevelop much of its accumulated intellectual property.At the end of the 2010s, some people questioned what algorithms were doing to our sense of time.The internet doesn’t get properly preserved and its history is being permanently lost.Tim Maughan wrote about how the world is too complex.Nishant Shahani’s “Queer Retrosexualities: The Politics of Reparative Return” and Badia Ahad-Legardy’s “Afro-Nostalgia: Feeling Good in Contemporary Black Culture.”Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
What Gig Work Means for Women in India w/ Noopur Raval
Paris Marx is joined by Noopur Raval to discuss India’s gig economy, the specific conditions of women who provide services through beauty and wellness apps, and how workers organize to improve their conditions.Noopur Raval is a postdoctoral research fellow at the AI Now Institute at New York University. Follow Noopur on Twitter at @tetisheri.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Noopur wrote about organizing in the gig economy and the conditions of workers in beauty and wellness.Julia Ticona and her colleagues wrote about tech’s impacts on domestic work.More than 100 women who worked through a beauty app recently went on strike outside the company’s office.Aditi Surie has written about platforms and informal work in India.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Beating Uber at the UK Supreme Court w/ Yaseen Aslam
Paris Marx is joined by Yaseen Aslam to discuss the UK Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers are not self-employed, the long fight to reach that point, and the next steps in the push for gig workers’ rights in the UK.Yaseen Aslam is the president of the App Drivers and Couriers Union and a lead claimant in the Aslam v Uber case. Follow Yaseen on Twitter at @Yaseenaslam381 and the ADCU at @ADCUnion.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:In February, the UK Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling the Uber drivers were not self-employed, but were covered by a “worker” status. The following month, Uber reclassified workers, but didn’t observe the Court’s definition of what it meant to be a worker.On September 28, Uber drivers in 8 UK cities went on strike, demanding better hourly rates and the full implementation of the Supreme Court ruling/The ADCU sued Uber in the Netherlands over automated dismissal and not providing drivers their data under the GDPR. In April, the court made Uber reinstate 5 drivers.In October, the ADCU announced it was suing Uber over its racially biased facial recognition algorithms.Find out more about the ADCU.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Solidarity in Canada’s Gig Economy w/ Jennifer Scott & Brice Sopher
Paris Marx is joined by Jennifer Scott and Brice Sopher to discuss the campaign to unionize Foodora and the fight for gig workers’ rights in Canada.Jennifer Scott is a gig worker and president of Gig Workers United. Brice Sopher is also a gig worker and vice president of Gig Workers United. Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @PalimpsestJenn, Brice at @this_is_walmer, and Gig Workers United at @GigWorkersUnite.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:If you’re in Canada, sign the Gig Workers’ Bill of Rights.Paris wrote about why Uber’s Flexible Work+ would be a disaster in Canada.In February 2020, the Ontario Labour Board ruled that Foodora workers could unionize. The company soon after announced plans to leave Canada, but workers voted 88.8% in favor of unionization. In August, they negotiated a $3.46 million settlement with the company.Sara Mojtehedzadeh (episode 79) made a podcast series about the Foodora campaign called Hustled.Canada’s Conservative Party presented a gig work plan written by an Uber lobbyist.Ontario has a committee looking at the future of work that gig workers fear will pave the way for Flexible Work+.Find out more about Gig Workers United (CUPW) and Uber Drivers United (UFCW).Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Gig Work is Not a Novelty in Brazil w/ Rafael Grohmann
Paris Marx is joined by Rafael Grohmann to discuss the state of app-based work in Brazil, organizing by food delivery workers to demand better conditions, and even a recent strike by click farm workers. Rafael Grohmann is a professor at UNISINOS, coordinator at DigiLabour Research Lab, and principal investigator in Brazil of Fairwork Project. Follow Rafael on Twitter at @grohmann_rafael. 🚨 T-shirts are now available! 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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter. Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com. Also mentioned in this episode:DigiLabour is organizing a PhD symposium on October 27-28. Find out more here.Some of the people and work mentioned in this episode: Callum Cant, Fabian Ferrari and Mark Graham, Noopur Raval, Rosana Pinheiro Machado, Cheryll Soriano and Jason Cabañes, and Wendy Brown.DigiLabour is looking into worker-owned platforms in Brazil.Vice wrote about gig work organizing in Latin America and talked a lot about the Anti-fascist deliverers.Rafael and his colleagues also looked at political struggle around gig work and the importance of communication.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
The Fight for Gig Workers’ Rights in Europe w/ Ben Wray
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Wray to discuss the state of the gig economy in Europe, including the Spanish riders law, recent court ruling on employment status in the Netherlands, strikes in Germany and Greece, and the forthcoming platform workers directive from the European Commission.Ben Wray is a coordinator at the Gig Economy Project and a freelance journalist. Follow Ben on Twitter at @Ben_Wray1989.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Sign up for the Gig Economy Project’s newsletter for updates on what’s going on in Europe.A Dutch court ruled that Uber drivers are employees.Spain’s Riders Law came into effect, but the companies didn’t comply.Glovo dark supermarkets workers in Barcelona went on strike in August.E-food workers in Greece went on strike and won a huge victory.Gorillas fired workers for wildcat strikes.The European Commission will deliver platform work regulations in December. It’s been meeting a lot with gig companies.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Migrant Workers in Australia’s Gig Economy w/ Tyler Riordan
Paris Marx is joined by Tyler Riordan to discuss the state of the gig economy in Australia, the ongoing efforts to improve their conditions, and Tyler’s research on migrant food couriers in Brisbane.Tyler Riordan is a PhD candidate in hospitality and anthropology at the University of Queensland. Follow Tyler on Twitter at @tyler_riordan. 🚨 T-shirts are now available! 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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter. Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com. Also mentioned in this episode:The deaths of gig economy workers have become a major focus on governments and the media over the past yearAustralia’s federal government has an ongoing Senate committee on gig workUber settled a case in December 2020 to avoid a ruling on employment status, but another test case has been filed in Federal CourtFoodora pulled out of Australia in 2018Menulog announced it was making some workers employees earlier this yearSupport the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
How Race Was Central to Prop 22 w/ Veena Dubal
Paris Marx is joined by Veena Dubal to discuss how Proposition 22 and the contract status of gig workers is reminiscent of the United States’ history of racial wage codes, which codified lower wages for Black workers. Veena Dubal is a Professor of Law at UC Hastings. Follow Veena on Twitter at @veenadubal. Go back to episode 10 (May 21, 2020) for Veena’s first appearance on the podcast. 🚨 T-shirts are now available! 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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter. Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com. Also mentioned in this episode:If you’ve ever assigned an episode of the podcast in a college or university course, let me know by Twitter DM, email, or through this form.Read Veena’s essay on The New Racial Wage Code.Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois had opposing philosophies for Black social and economic progress.Robert C. Weaver and David Roediger wrote about differential wages.Uber put up a billboard saying, “If you tolerate racism, delete Uber.” Drivers were not happy.Uber and Lyft held up workers’ unemployment claims, and Lyft charged for PPE.After Prop 22, gig companies raised fees despite promising not to, and workers reported earning even less money.In August, Prop 22 was found to be unconstitutional.New York City recently passed new protections for delivery couriers after organizing by Los Deliveristas Unidos.Find out more about Rideshare Drivers United.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
The Amazon Union Drive Comes to Canada w/ Sara Mojtehedzadeh
Paris Marx is joined by Sara Mojtehedzadeh to discuss the Teamsters’ organizing at Amazon warehouses in Canada and the working conditions that workers face at those facilities.Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a labour reporter at the Toronto Star and the host of Hustled, a podcast about Foodora workers’ fight for a union. Follow Sara on Twitter at @SaraMojtehedz.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:If you’ve ever assigned an episode of the podcast in a college or university course, let me know by Twitter DM, email, or through this form.In June, the Teamsters voted to put resources behind unionizing Amazon.The Teamsters Canada applied for a union vote in Edmonton, Alberta, and said it’s organizing at nine warehouses. Amazon is hiring 15,000 workers and raising wages.During the pandemic, the Canadian government signed a deal with Amazon to deliver PPE. The contract fell apart.After an Amazon worker died in Indiana, the governor intervened to overturn the citations.California is regulating productivity quotas at warehouses.Discussions are picking up about sectoral bargaining in Canada.Sara wrote about the high injury rates at Amazon’s Canadian warehouses and the temporary closure of its Brampton, Ontario warehouse after a Covid outbreak.Find out more about Teamsters Canada’s Amazon campaign and the Warehouse Workers Centre.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
What Apple Won’t Tell You About the iPhone w/ Brian Merchant
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the development of the iPhone, how Apple manages the press, and how the parts of the company’s supply chain that get too little attention.Brian Merchant is the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine, coming in 2022. Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter, ⚒️ THE HAMMER ⚒️.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:In 1968, Douglas Engelbart showed off the “Mother of All Demos.”David Nye wrote the American Technological Sublime.Paris thinks Apple’s Steve Jobs Theater has big church vibes.Disgraced former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes tried to emulate Steve Jobs.IBM built the Simon smartphone in the 1990s, but it was ahead of its time.In 2011, Apple made $473,000 per retail employee — far more than other retailers. Its revenue per square foot was almost double Tiffany’s. That year, Cory Moll also led a push for an Apple Retail Workers Union, but Apple fought back and he left the company in 2013.In 2010, after facing criticism, Steve Jobs said the suicide rate at Foxconn factories was “well below the China average.”In December 2020, workers at a Wistron iPhone factory in India ransacked the factory because they weren’t getting paid.Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, and Ngai Pun wrote Dying for an iPhone: Apple, Foxconn, and The Lives of China’s Workers (US/UK).Apple files annual conflict minerals reports. You can read their 2021 report here.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
The Creation of a Black Cyberculture w/ André Brock
Paris Marx is joined by André Brock to discuss the history of Black people’s online activity, the internet’s association with whiteness, and what Black Twitter can tell us about the centrality of Black people to digital culture.André Brock is an associate professor of media studies at Georgia Tech. He writes on Western technoculture, Black technoculture, and digital media. His award-winning book, Distributed Blackness: African American Cybercultures, theorizes Black everyday lives mediated by networked digital technologies. You can get if from NYU Press, and it’s available through open access. Follow André on Twitter at @DocDre.🚨 T-shirts are now available!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, support the show on Patreon, and sign up for the weekly newsletter, ⚒️ THE HAMMER ⚒️.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode:Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald did portraits of the Obamas, while Kara Walker made “A Subtlety” at the Domino Sugar Refinery.Achille Mbembe is a Cameroonian philosopher and social theorist.Janelle Monáe, Sun Ra, and John Jennings are notable people engaging with Afrofuturism.Books mentioned: Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, from the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter by Charlton D. McIlwain and Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich.Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)