Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Anna Wiener to discuss her journey into the tech industry, how Silicon Valley’s desire for a “frictionless” world is affecting culture, and why it’s important to analyze Substack’s claims about the future of journalism.Anna Wiener is the author of “Uncanny Valley” (available in paperback on Bookshop) and a contributing writer at the New Yorker. Follow Anna on Twitter as @annawiener.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.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode: Read Anna’s articles on Substack, Section 230, and Salesforce Park in San Francisco. Ava Kofman, Francis Tseng, and Moira Weigel explain how Amazon self-publishing has become a haven for white supremacists. Venture-capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz wrote about what they see as the “passion economy.” Support the show

7 Jan 202150min

Paris Marx is joined by Mathew Lawrence and Thomas Hanna to discuss the problems with platforms, why antitrust alone is not enough to fix them, and how we can encourage the creation of democratic platforms that serve the public good.Mathew Lawrence is the founder and director of Common Wealth. He’s also the co-author of “Planet on Fire: A Manifesto for the Age of Environmental Breakdown.” Preorder it now from Verso Books and follow him on Twitter as @DantonsHead.Thomas Hanna is the research director at The Next System Project. He’s the author of “Our Common Wealth: The Return of Public Ownership in the United States.” Follow him on Twitter as @ThomasMHanna.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.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode: Mathew and Thomas wrote a new report with Nils Peters called “A Common Platform: Reimagining Data and Platforms.” Eric Levitz wrote about how venture capitalists are like US central planners. Dan Hind wrote a previous report called “The British Digital Cooperative.” Support the show

30 Des 20201h 3min

Paris Marx is joined by Tim Maughan to discuss the exploitative infrastructures that make the modern world possible, how complex technological systems rob us of our power to control our collective destiny, and why predicting trends isn’t hard when you understand capitalism.Tim Maughan is the author of “Infinite Detail” and “Ghost Hardware.” He’s also written for BBC Future, New Scientist, and Motherboard, and is writing a new column for OneZero. Follow Tim on Twitter as @timmaughan.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.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode: Read about the trip Tim took with Unknown Fields on a container ship, at manufacturing sites in China, and near a toxic lake in Inner Mongolia that’s the product of mining rare-earth minerals. Read the first article in Tim’s new column, No One’s Driving. Kim Stanley Robinson says billionaire space visions are “just a fantasy of our culture right now.” Media mentioned by Tim: Judge Dredd comics, The Running Man, RoboCop, Rollerball, and Ad Astra. Support the show

23 Des 202057min

Paris Marx is joined by David Banks to discuss how tech solutions to increase corporate control in cities will be sold to us as fun and convenient, and what that will actually means for access and equity in urban life.David Banks is a visiting assistant professor at the University at Albany. He’s the editor-at-large at Real Life, and has written for The Baffler, e-flux architecture, and Current Affairs. Follow David on Twitter as @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.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.Also mentioned in this episode: Read David’s articles for Real Life on the subscriber city and e-flux architecture on software as infrastructure. Paris wrote about the end of the Paramount Decrees, including what it could mean for the future of cinemas. How people are fighting back against landlords attempts to use tech against tenants (“proptech”). Slavoj Žižek gives a father/son example of totalitarianism (from ~0:00-3:00). David Harvey’s “Right to the City” essay mentions how homeownership makes people more conservative. Red Vienna remains a great example of public housing. Kevin Rogan wrote about how smart-city technologies are designed to hide human labor. Books in this show: “Radicalized” by Cory Doctorow, “Urban Warfare” by Raquel Rolnik, “Capital City” by Samuel Stein, and “Loft Living” by Sharon Zukin Support the show

17 Des 202054min

Paris Marx is joined by Emma Kinema to discuss how workers are organizing in the video game and tech industries, the challenges faced by those workers, and the importance of organizing to improve workplaces, but also larger economic structures.Emma Kinema is a former tech and games worker who is a Campaign Lead with the Communications Workers of America on the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees. She also co-founded Game Workers Unite. Follow Emma on Twitter as @EmmaKinema.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.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com and Passage at readpassage.com.Also mentioned in this episode: Emma spoke about labor organizing in the video games industry at XOXO Festival. Paris wrote about why game workers are organizing in Australia, Canada, and France. In January 2020, GDC’s State of Games Industry report found 54% of game workers thought they should unionize. Workers at Riot Games walked out in May 2019. Workers at Blizzard Entertainment walked out in October 2019. Workers at Lovestruck went on strike and got an average raised of 78%. Rockstar’s co-founder said there were 100-hour weeks ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2. Bioware workers said “depression and anxiety are an epidemic” within the company. CD Projekt Red said there wouldn’t be crunch on Cyberpunk 2077, then enforced it anyway. Support the show

10 Des 202057min

Paris Marx is joined by Wilfred Chan to discuss how gig companies misled California voters to back Prop 22, whether the Biden administration will be an ally to gig workers, and the need for solidarity in the fight to preserve (and expand) labor rights.Wilfred Chan is a contributing writer at the Nation. He has also written for Dissent, The Guardian, NBC News, and more. Read his recent piece on the fight for labor rights after Prop 22. Follow Wilfred on Twitter as @wilfredchan.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.If you want to join the Discord and check out the new supporter tiers, head over to Patreon.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.Also mentioned in this episode: The Economic Policy Institute published an explainer on California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) and worker misclassification The gig companies bought endorsements and sent out fake progressive mailers for Prop 22. The head of California’s NAACP stepped down after the election for taking $1.7 million to back ballot measures. VP-elect Kamala Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West is chief legal officer at Uber, and now there are calls to make him Attorney General in a Biden administration Biden’s transition team is full of people from Big Tech with concerning pasts, including from Uber and Lyft Uber and Lyft’s share prices soared after Prop 22 won Find out more about Rideshare Drivers United and New York Taxi Workers Alliance Support the show

3 Des 202038min

Paris Marx is joined by Liz Pelly to discuss how the Spotify model of streaming music continues a long trend of exploitation in the music industry and why musicians need to organize around a vision for a different world of music.Liz Pelly is a freelance writer and critic who has spent the past decade working with community arts spaces. She is also a contributing editor and columnist at The Baffler. Follow Liz on Twitter as @lizpelly.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.Read the plan for the future of the show and supporter benefits on Patreon.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.Also mentioned in this episode: Liz’s work looks at many aspects of Spotify, including the model it’s pushing on musicians and increasingly on podcasters Paris has written about how consolidation and the emergence of streaming is having similarly negative effects in film and television Naomi Klein explains how New Deal arts programs funded 225,000 musical performances which reached 150 million Americans — and much more Cherie Hu tweeted a diagram showing how different streaming and music companies have stakes in one another The Verge obtained Sony Music’s contract with Spotify How Galaxy 500 and Pavement had random songs take off on Spotify Spotify CEO says artists need to record music more frequently Henderson Cole’s proposal for an American Music Library The Union of Musicians and Allied Workers launched the Justice at Spotify campaign Support the show

26 Nov 202043min

Paris Marx is joined by Will Evans to discuss how excessive productivity targets are causing high rates of injury at Amazon warehouses, how executives have misled the public about the problem, and what that suggests about the impacts of the company’s “customer obsession.”Will Evans is a reporter at Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Read his investigation about Amazon’s safety crisis. Follow Will on Twitter as @willCIR.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.Read the plan for the future of the show and supporter benefits on Patreon.Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.Also mentioned in this episode: Paris reflected on what Will’s investigation suggested about the relationship between consumerism and workers’ rights for NBC News. Will did an earlier investigation about safety (or the lack thereof) at Tesla. Brian Merchant wrote an “op-ed from the future” looking at how technology hides the harm to workers in a fictional fully automated Amazon warehouse. Support the show

19 Nov 202036min