Tech Won't Save Us

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

13 Jul 20231h 17min

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

6 Jul 20231h 4min

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

29 Jun 202354min

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

22 Jun 20231h 3min

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: Tech Won’t Save Us was in the New York Times! 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. Prometheum Capital registered to deal in crypto securities. 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

15 Jun 20231h 10min

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

8 Jun 20231h 3min

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

1 Jun 20231h 10min

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

25 Mai 202358min