Tech Won't Save Us

Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Sebastian Lehuede, a lecturer at King’s College London. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon. Support the show

29 Nov 20245min

Paris Marx is joined by MV Ramana to discuss the tech industry’s push to have nuclear energy power its data centers and why the reality of nuclear power isn’t as great as its promoters often make it seem.MV Ramana is a Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Nuclear Is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Langdon Winner wrote The Whale and the Reactor and Do Artifacts Have Politics?. Timothy Mitchell wrote Carbon Democracy. Microsoft made an agreement to try to restart Three Mile Island, but it’s not a done deal yet. Data centers are fueling fossil fuel use, despite claims about nuclear and renewables.  Leaked documents in October confirmed Israel has nuclear weapons. Support the show

28 Nov 20241h 2min

Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss the right-wing project to shape the internet in the 1990s and how we’re still living with the legacies of those actions today.Becca Lewis is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford 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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Paris wrote about Marc Andreessen mentioning the Italian Futurists in his Techno-Optimist Manifesto. Ruth Eveleth wrote about the Italian Futurists in the context of Silicon Valley. In 1995, Wired published a story on how “America’s futurist politicians” Al Gore and Newt Gingrich were in an epic struggle to shape the internet. Becca mentioned the work of Nicole Hemmer and Patricia Aufderheide. Support the show

21 Nov 202459min

Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. We’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Cecilia Rikap, an Associate Professor in Economics at University College London. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon. Support the show

19 Nov 20246min

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the fallout from the US election, what it means for the tech industry, and more importantly, what it might mean for all of us. They also celebrate the show hitting 250 episodes!Brian Merchant is a longtime tech writer and author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: Brian wrote about the results of the election on his newsletter. Paris wrote about why we need to remember who enabled Elon Musk to obtain his power. There are already reports of advertisers returning to Twitter/X to gain favor with Musk and Trump. OpenAI is moving away from its original non-profit status. Uber chief legal officer Tony West told Kamala Harris to stop attacking big business. Support the show

14 Nov 20241h 4min

Our Data Vampires series may be over, but Paris interviewed a bunch of experts on data centers and AI whose insights shouldn’t go to waste. Starting this week, we’re releasing those interviews as bonus episodes for Patreon supporters. Here’s a preview of this week’s premium episode with Ali Alkhatib, Logic(s) data editor and former interim director of the Center for Applied Data Ethics. For the full interview, support the show on Patreon. Support the show

13 Nov 20244min

Paris Marx is joined by tante to discuss troubling developments in the open source world as Wordpress goes to war with WP Engine and a new definition of open source AI doesn’t require being open about training data.tante is a sociotechnologist, writer, speaker, and Luddite working on tech and its social impact.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: tante wrote about the problem with the Open Source Initiative’s definition of open source AI. Check out this link for the full breakdown on the Wordpress drama. Wordpress changed its trademark guidelines on September 19 regarding the use of the WP abbreviation. Tumblr and Wordpress started selling user data for AI training earlier this year. A lot of the controversy around Richard Stallman started blowing up in 2019. Support the show

7 Nov 20241h 4min

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss all the money Elon Musk is pouring into the US election and what Silicon Valley’s political influence will mean regardless of who becomes president.Jacob Silverman is the author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, coming in September 2025 from Bloomsbury. His book Easy Money is now available in paperback.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. Support the show on Patreon.The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.Also mentioned in this episode: The New York Times reported on Elon Musk’s efforts to get Trump elected in the final two weeks of the campaign. The Pennsylvania district attorney sued Elon Musk’s PAC to stop his $1 million giveaways. Marc Andreessen wrote the Techno-Optimist Manifesto and the Little Tech Agenda. FTX was up to way more shady things that didn’t make it into the first trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. The second didn’t go ahead after he was found guilty in the first. The canvassing operation for Trump by Elon Musk's PAC has been flagged as potentially fraudulent. The US Supreme Court’s Chevron decision will have significant consequences for federal regulators. Support the show

31 Okt 20241h 1min