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.
Pondering the Orb w/ Molly White
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss Sam Bankman-Fried having his bail revoked and Sam Altman’s plan to scan all of our irises to get us into crypto and supposedly protect us from AI. Molly White is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and a fellow at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab. You can follow Molly 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 and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Molly wrote about Sam Bankman-Fried going to prison and what’s going on with Worldcoin in her newsletter.Paris also dug into Worldcoin in the Disconnect newsletter.The New York Times published a story about Caroline Ellison based on details provided by Sam Bankman-Fried.MIT Tech Review and Buzzfeed News did in-depth investigations of Worldcoin and its exploitation of people in the Global South.Worldcoin has been shut down in Kenya and is under regulatory scrutiny in the European Union.Support the show
Abolish Venture Capital w/ Edward Ongweso Jr.
Paris Marx is joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss how the venture capital industry works, why the technologies it funds don’t deliver on their marketing promises, and how that’s once again being shown in the hype around AI. Edward Ongweso Jr. is a freelance journalist, co-host of This Machine Kills, and guest columnist at The Nation. You can follow Ed on Twitter at @bigblackjacobin.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Edward wrote about the problems with venture capital and what the AI hype shows us about the industry for The Nation. Earlier this year, he wrote about the tantrum VCs threw after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.Paris wrote about where Elon Musk’s vision for the X superapp comes from, why his Twitter rebrand isn’t going so well, and why ChatGPT isn’t a revolution.In 2020, Sam Harnett wrote about the problem with tech media’s coverage of the gig economy.Uber used to want to be the “Amazon for transportation” and the “operating system for everyday life.”TIME reported on how OpenAI lobbying watered down EU AI rules.Marc Andreessen wrote his pitch for “Why AI Will Save the World.”Support the show
The Right is Building Its Own Platforms w/ Jacob Silverman
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss how the right-wing of the tech industry are funding media platforms like Rumble to reshape the political discourse and why they’re helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenge Joe Biden. 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 on CBC Podcasts. You can check out Jacob’s Substack.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Jacob wrote about Rumble as a MAGA platform, why tech is boosting Robert F. Kennedy Jr., revolutionary war reenactors getting caught up in Facebook’s purge of militia groups, and David Sacks.Mark Zuckerberg chose to go easy on Alex Jones and other right-wing figures on Facebook.Trump Media may be going public via a SPAC merger.Darren Blanton was involved in a scheme to keep Black voters from the polls.Wendy Siegelman put together a chart of the connections between Rumble, Trump Media, and other groups.Rumble went public via SPAC in 2022.Brandy Zadrozny wrote about RFK Jr. and his views for NBC News.Support the show
Are UFOs Really Out There? w/ Kelsey Atherton
Paris Marx is joined by Kelsey Atherton to discuss the renewed interest in UFOs, where the conspiracy theories of aliens in the sky came from, and whether flying saucers might really be watching us. Kelsey Atherton is a military technology journalist. He contributes to Popular Science and has written for Slate. Follow Kelsey on Twitter at @AthertonKD.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Kelsey has written about how the military’s culture of secrecy breeds UFO conspiracy theories, why sensors are an important aspect to consider, and the truth of Area 51.A U-2 pilot took a selfie with the Chinese balloon shot down earlier this year.The military later confirmed the Chinese balloon was not actually spying on the United States.One of the balloons that were shot down likely belonged to a hobbyist group called the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade.In 2019, a bunch of people online planned to hold a “Naruto run” at Area 51.Support the show
Big Tech Won’t Revitalize Indigenous Languages w/ Keoni Mahelona
Paris Marx is joined by Keoni Mahelona to discuss the colonial nature of data extraction by major tech companies, and how Te Hiku takes a very different approach to revitalize the Maori language. Keoni Mahelona is the Chief Technology Officer at Te Hiku Media. Follow Keoni on Twitter at @mahelona.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Keoni and some of his colleagues wrote about why OpenAI’s Whisper is another example of colonialism.Wired and MIT Tech Review have written about the work Te Hiku is doing with Maori language in Aotearoa New Zealand.Mark Zuckerberg owns a lot of land in Hawaii, and it’s quite controversial.Support the show
How Israel Uses Occupation to Develop Military Tech w/ Antony Loewenstein
Paris Marx is joined by Antony Loewenstein to discuss how the Israeli weapons industry tests new military technologies on occupied Palestinians before selling them internationally. Antony Loewenstein is an independent journalist who’s written for the New York Times and the Guardian. He’s the author of The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports The Technology Of Occupation Around The World. Follow Antony on Twitter at @antloewenstein.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Excerpts from Antony’s book have been published by In These Times, Declassified Australia, and Jamal Khashoggi-founded Democracy for the Arab World Now. Antony also wrote a good overview of the book for Middle East Eye.Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Yesh Din have called Israel’s actions apartheid.Google and Amazon workers protested Project Nimbus. They also faced shareholder revolts over the project.Airbnb lists properties in illegal Israeli settlements.Red Wolf is deployed at checkpoints to scan Palestinians’ faces and add them to surveillance databases without their consent.Facebook has been criticized for removing Palestinians’ posts.The New York Times reported on Israel’s use of NSO Group surveillance tools for diplomatic leverage.The Committee to Protect Journalists found Israel killed 20 journalists.Support the show
Google and Meta Are Fighting with Canada w/ David Moscrop
Paris Marx is joined by David Moscrop to discuss Canada’s plan to make Google and Meta pay news publishers, and what might happened now that they’re threatening to pull Canadian news from their platforms. David Moscrop is a freelance writer and the author of Too Dumb for Democracy?: Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones. Follow David on Twitter at @David_Moscrop.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:David Moscrop wrote about the larger context of the Online News Bill in his Substack newsletter.Paris also wrote about Google and Meta threatening to pull news in Canada and why Canada should take a hard line with them.Sandy Garossino wrote about how much money Google and Meta extract from Canada.Media conglomerates Postmedia and Nordstar are in talks to merge.California is also looking at a similar process to force Google and Meta to pay media in that state.On Wednesday, the Canadian government pulled advertising from Facebook and Instagram, but said Google was still talking to find a way forward. The government said it won’t back down, and two opposition parties — the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois — voiced their support.Support the show
Why AI is a Threat to Artists w/ Molly Crabapple
Paris Marx is joined by Molly Crabapple to discuss why AI image generation tools are a threat to illustrators and why we need to refuse the idea that Silicon Valley’s visions of technology are inevitable. Molly Crabapple is an artist and writer based in New York. She is the author of two books, Drawing Blood and Brothers of the Gun with Marwan Hisham. Follow Molly on Twitter at @mollycrabapple.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Molly wrote an op-ed for the LA Times about the threat of AI-generated tools for artists, and co-wrote an open letter about restricting AI illustration for the Center for Artistic Inquiry and Reporting.Karla Ortiz wrote about how teaching an AI to copy an artist’s style isn’t democratization; it’s theft.Corridor Digital claimed they were “democratizing” animation by using AI trained on Vampire Hunter D to generate their own animated video.Rest of World reported on how AI was being used to take video game illustrators’ jobs in China.AI is already being used to justify laying off journalists.In February, Creative Commons published an article arguing that using copyrighted works to train generative AI should be considered fair use.Stable Diffusion and Midjourney were hit with a copyright lawsuit, and Getty Images launched its own suit against Stable Diffusion.The US Copyright Office says AI generated images are not eligible for copyright protection.Support the show
We Don’t Need the Apple Vision Pro w/ Brian Merchant
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the vision of the future of computing offered by Apple’s Vision Pro headset and why it should be resisted. Brian Merchant is the technology columnist at the LA Times. He’s also the author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone and Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech. Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Paris will be in Edmonton, Alberta on June 24. More info here.Brian wrote a column about the Apple Vision Pro for the LA Times, and another about Uber drivers in California getting payouts.Paris also wrote about why Apple Vision Pro should be ridiculed for Disconnect.David Karpf called virtual reality the “rich white kid of technology.”Meta employees are not working in the metaverse.Mark Gurman reported on the internal division at Apple over whether to release the Vision Pro in its current form.Support the show
Crypto’s Final Boss Fight w/ Molly White
Paris Marx is joined by Molly White to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase and what they might mean for the future of the crypto industry. Molly White is the creator of Web3 Is Going Just Great and a fellow at Harvard Library Innovation Lab. Follow Molly 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 and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Molly wrote about the Binance and Coinbase cases for Rolling Stone. She also wrote about both cases in her newsletter.Amy Castor and David Gerard broke down the Coinbase lawsuit.Matt Levine has also written about the lawsuits and what it means for crypto being seen as a security.In 2020, Forbes reported on the Tai Chi documents about Binance’s efforts to evade regulators.Binance is also being sued by the CFTC and there are reports that criminal charges could also be coming from the Department of Justice.Binance recently withdrew from Canada.Robinhood ended support for tokens the SEC listed as securities.Crypto.com is winding down US institutional trading.Nigeria’s SEC said Binance’s operations are illegal.Elon Musk is being sued over manipulation of the price of Dogecoin.Support the show
The Influencer Industry Is Built on Precarity w/ Emily Hund
Paris Marx is joined by Emily Hund to discuss the creation of the influencer industry, how it’s been formalized by companies who profit from it, and what can be done to make it fairer for the people who work in it. Emily Hund is the author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media. She’s also a research affiliate at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Follow Emily on Twitter at @emilyadh.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:An excerpt of Emily’s book was published in Wired.After Elon Musk took over Twitter, a menswear account was suddenly in everyone’s feeds.Instagram is offering a paid subscription service that includes customer service.Countries have begun regulating the influencer industry. For example, Norway requires retouched photos to be labeled, while France has an even stricter law that regulates the types of products that can be promoted along with other requirements.Support the show
The Online Shopping Boom Is Over w/ Amanda Mull
Paris Marx is joined by Amanda Mull to discuss the history of consumerism and where ecommerce goes in the next few years as interest rates rise and its market share stalls. Amanda Mull is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she writes the Material World column. She’s also a shop steward at The Atlantic Union. Follow Amanda on Twitter at @amandamull.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Amanda has written about consumerism, buying less junk, the pivot to TikTok, and why free returns are coming to an end.Paris wrote about the problem with Apple’s town square store concept.Amazon curtailed massive warehouse expansion plans it made early in the pandemic.Lauren Smily wrote about the shut-in economy in 2015.William Leach wrote Land of Desire: Merchants: Power and the Rise of a New American Culture.Support the show
The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race w/ Mary-Jane Rubenstein
Paris Marx is joined by Mary-Jane Rubenstein to discuss how ideas that underpinned colonization and Manifest Destiny are now setting the foundation for the billionaire space race and the plan to colonize the cosmos. Mary-Jane Rubenstein is the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. She’s also a Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan 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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:An excerpt of Mary-Jane’s book was published in Metapolis.Paris wrote about the business behind the billionaire space race and the problem with Starlink.Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin recently got a contract to build a moon lander for NASA.One of Barack Obama’s legacies is pushing for the privatization of space flight.The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 and Artemis Accords are attempts to unilaterally rewrite space law for US commercial interest.Catherine L. Newell wrote Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America's Final Frontier.Support the show
Pronatalism and Silicon Valley’s Right-Wing Turn w/ Julia Black
Paris Marx is joined by Julia Black to discuss tech billionaires’ embrace of pronatalism and how it’s part of a broader rationalist project to remake society and protect their privileged positions. Julia Black is a senior correspondent at Insider and previously worked at Esquire and Vox. Follow Julia on Twitter at @mjnblack.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.Also mentioned in this episode:Julia wrote about pronatalism, Lex Fridman, and Sam Altman.Paris wrote about eugenics in Silicon Valley.Marc Andreessen wrote “It’s Time to Build” in April 2020.Timnit Gebru gave a presentation on the TESCREAL bundle of ideologies. Émile Torres made a thread on Twitter about it.Support the show
How Cities Sell Themselves to the Tech Industry w/ David A. Banks
Paris Marx is joined by David A. Banks to discuss how cities have been reshaped to attract tech companies and what the consequences have been for the people who live in them. David A. Banks is the author of The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America. He’s a lecturer in the Geography and Planning department at University at Albany, SUNY. David also writers Other Day and co-hosts Iron Weeds. Follow David on Twitter at @DA_Banks.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 produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network. Also mentioned in this episode:David wrote about Richard Florida, the creative class, and his book The New Urban Crisis.An excerpt of his book was published in Dwell.Support the show