This Machine Kills

We kick off with a talk on insurtech that Jathan gave last week on the politics of machine learning and actuarial science, then get deeper into dynamics of speculative asset bubbles, why insurers live...

17 Nov 20231h 38min

We discuss Chapter 6 — Transcendental Class Domination — and get deeper into an analysis of class relations, the nature of economic power, and how capital wields this form of “impersonal domination” t...

15 Nov 20234min

[We are traveling and other stuff, so enjoy this exceptional episode from our Patreon archives] We jump off the absurd twitter debate about degrowth and bananas in global communism to discuss much de...

9 Nov 20231h 6min

We dive into effective accelerationism—its cult of personality, capitalist metaphysics, techno-theology, and lukewarm manifestos. We connect it to previous movements like Singulatariansim, strip away ...

8 Nov 20236min

Returning champion Cory Doctorow joins us to discuss his latest book, The Internet Con, which lays out how the basis of so much material power in the world exists at the intersection of information te...

2 Nov 20231h 36min

We discuss Chapter 5 — Metabolic Domination — which brings us to the end of the first section outlining the material conditions (of human nature, society, life) that allow for the existence of somethi...

31 Okt 20236min

We are joined by Alex Press — labor reporter for Jacobin — for a broad survey of the very large, active landscape of labor union actions happening in the United States. After updates on strikes, we th...

26 Okt 20231h 10min

We are joined by David Z. Morris, a crypto journalist who has been covering the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. We hear from David about what’s been revealed and made clear during the trial as major witne...

23 Okt 20237min