Tech Won't Save Us
Paris Marx
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Silicon Valley wants to shape our future, but why should we let it? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its big promises, and the people behind them. Tech Won’t Save Us challenges 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. It’s not your usual tech podcast.



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Elon Musk Unmasked: Creating the Genius Myth (Part 2)
Tech Won't Save Us
10/19/23 • 44 min
5.0
Elon Musk is man, but he’s also a character that he crafted and which the media blew up to unimaginable scale. Without the media, Musk would not be the man he is today because that myth — and the way it exaggerated some of his traits and virtually hid others — was essential to his success. This is episode 2 of Elon Musk Unmasked, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.
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:
- Science fiction author Annalee Newitz, CNBC.com journalist Lora Kolodny, Ludicrous author Edward Niedermeyer, freelance journalist Karl Bode, and Insider senior correspondent Linette Lopez were interviewed for this episode.
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, The Founders by Jimmy Soni, and The PayPal Wars by Eric Jackson were the books cited.
- A full transcript can be found on the show's official website.
10/19/23 • 44 min

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Why We Must Resist AI w/ Dan McQuillan
Tech Won't Save Us
03/09/23 • 59 min
Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss how AI systems encourage ranking populations and austerity policies, and why understanding their politics is essential to opposing them.
Dan McQuillan is a Lecturer in Creative and Social Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He’s also the author of Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence. You can follow Dan on Twitter at @danmcquillan.
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:
- Dan wrote specifically about ChatGPT and how we should approach it on his website.
- Dan mentions TWIML as a podcast that has conversations with industry players that’s informative for how these technologies work (though you’re not likely to get a critical perspective on them), and Achille Mbembe’s book Necropolitics.
- OpenAI used Kenyan workers earning $2/hour to make ChatGPT less toxic.
- The UK had to scrap a racist algorithm it was using for visa applications and many councils dropped the use of algorithms in their welfare and benefits systems.
- Dan mentions a Human Rights Watch report on the EU’s flawed AI regulations and its impacts on the social safety net.
- The Lucas Plan was developed by workers at Lucas Aerospace in the 1970s, but rejected by their bosses.
03/09/23 • 59 min

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Robots Aren’t the Solution to Elder Care w/ James Wright
Tech Won't Save Us
03/16/23 • 57 min
Paris Marx is joined by James Wright to discuss Japan’s efforts to develop robots to care for its growing elderly population, what the government hoped to achieve with that plan, and why it hasn’t worked out as planned.
James Wright is a research associate with Turning Institute and a visiting lecturer at Queen Mary University of London. He’s also the author of Robots Won’t Save Japan. You can follow James on Twitter at @jms_wright.
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 is visiting New Zealand and doing a number of events through the latter half of March. Find all the dates and details here.
- James wrote about Japan’s efforts to automate elder care for MIT Tech Review.
- Jennifer Robertson spoke about the gendering of robots to cement conservative gender norms.
03/16/23 • 57 min

1 Listener
Elon Musk Unmasked: Origins of an Oligarch (Part 1)
Tech Won't Save Us
10/12/23 • 39 min
5.0
Elon Musk wasn't always the influential billionaire he is today. To begin our dive into the myth of Musk, we need to go back to his origins — to find out where he came from, what inspired him, and how he became the man he is today. Those details set the foundation for the three episodes to come. This is episode 1 of Elon Musk Unmasked, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.
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:
- Insider senior correspondent Linette Lopez, New York Times Johnannesburg bureau chief John Eligon, CBC documentary producer Ira Basen, and science fiction author Annalee Newitz were interviewed for this episode.
- Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, and The Founders by Jimmy Soni were the books cited.
- A full transcript can be found on the show's official website.
10/12/23 • 39 min

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Elon Musk Unmasked: Building An Empire (Part 3)
Tech Won't Save Us
10/26/23 • 52 min
5.0
Elon Musk has built himself a corporate empire, but how did he do it? He’s styled himself at as the cofounder of Tesla, but the real innovations came from its actual founders before he took the credit and spun a ton of deceptive tales he couldn’t follow through on to boost its share price. Ultimately, his interventions have had some serious consequences. This is episode 3 of Elon Musk Unmasked, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.
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:
- Insider senior correspondent Linette Lopez, CNBC.com journalist Lora Kolodny, Ludicrous author Edward Niedermeyer, transportation journalist Alissa Walker, and climate journalist Amy Westervelt were interviewed for this episode.
- Ludicrous by Edward Niedermeyer, Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson, and Road to Nowhere by Paris Marx were the books cited.
- A full transcript can be found on the show's official website.
10/26/23 • 52 min

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Reporting Critically on Tech w/ Jason Koebler & Samantha Cole
Tech Won't Save Us
08/31/23 • 68 min
Paris Marx is joined by Jason Koebler and Samantha Cole to discuss why they launched 404 Media, how it was inspired by their work at Motherboard, and their reflections on the state of tech media.
Jason Koebler and Samantha Cole are co-founders of 404 Media. Jason was editor-in-chief of VICE’s Motherboard. Samantha was a senior editor at Motherboard and is the author of “How Sex Changed the Internet.” Find out more about 404 Media.
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:
- Last week the 404 team introduced themselves. Among the stories they published were pieces looking into Apple AirPods Max and AI-generated porn.
- Vice declared bankruptcy in May 2023.
- Paris argued in Disconnect that the media failed the public in how they reported on Elon Musk.
08/31/23 • 68 min

1 Listener
Project Cybersyn Shows All Tech is Political w/ Eden Medina
Tech Won't Save Us
05/20/21 • 62 min
Paris Marx is joined by Eden Medina to discuss Project Cybersyn, a technological system created by Chile’s socialist government in the 1970s to manage production, and what it can teach us about political technology and innovation outside the Global North.
Eden Medina is the author of “Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile.” She’s also an associate professor at MIT and the Rita E. Hauser Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Follow Eden on Twitter as @edenmedina.
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:
- In 2020, Marian Schlotterbeck spoke to Jacobin about the fifty year anniversary of Salvador Allende’s election.
- Independent and left-wing delegates won major victories in the election for Chile’s constitutional assembly, making it hard for right-wing delegates to stall the process.
- In October 2020, Chileans voted overwhelmingly to draft a new constitution, following protests that began in 2019.
- Dictator Augusto Pinochet oversaw a brutal regime from 1973 to 1990, and the crimes of that period are still being prosecuted.
05/20/21 • 62 min

1 Listener
Thinking about Tech in the Present Tense w/ Ben Tarnoff
Tech Won't Save Us
09/03/20 • 44 min
Paris Marx is joined by Ben Tarnoff to discuss why we should look to the Luddites for inspiration, how history could inform a better future of technology, and what tech organizing might look like under a Joe Biden administration.
Ben Tarnoff is a co-founder of Logic Magazine and co-authored “Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do–and How They Do It” with Moira Weigel. The book will be released in October and can be preordered now. Follow Ben on Twitter as @bentarnoff.
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.
Mentioned in this episode:
- “To decarbonize we must decomputerize: why we need a Luddite revolution” by Ben Tarnoff
- “From Manchester to Barcelona” by Ben Tarnoff
- “The Making of the Tech Worker Movement” by Ben Tarnoff
- “The Making of the English Working Class” by E.P. Thompson
- “The Machine Breakers” by Eric Hobsbawm
- “Present Tense Technology” by David Noble
09/03/20 • 44 min
A Better Internet Requires Ending the Monopolies w/ Cory Doctorow
Tech Won't Save Us
09/10/20 • 50 min
Paris Marx is joined by Cory Doctorow to discuss how the problems we associate with Big Tech aren’t the result of mind-control systems, but corporation consolidation. Cory argues we need to stop buying the overblown sales pitch, stop collecting so much data, and enforce antitrust legislation against the tech monopolies.
Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist, and journalist. His most recent non-fiction book, “How to Defeat Surveillance Capitalism,” is available for free at OneZero. You can also preorder his next fiction book, “Attack Surface,” on Kickstarter or anywhere else books are sold. Cory has a daily blog at Pluralistic.net and you can follow him on Twitter as @doctorow.
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.
09/10/20 • 50 min
Major Publishers Want to Shut Down Digital Lending w/ Maria Bustillos
Tech Won't Save Us
10/01/20 • 45 min
Paris Marx is joined by Maria Bustillos to discuss the important work of the Internet Archive, why it opened a digital National Emergency Library during the pandemic, how access to culture is essential for the social good, and why the major publishers are trying to permanently restrict digital lending in a narrow-minded bid for short-term profit.
Maria Bustillos is the founding editor of Popula and Brick House. She recently wrote about the major publishers’ lawsuit against the Internet Archive for The Nation. Find out more about Brick House and follow Maria on Twitter as @mariabustillos.
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.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.
Also mentioned in this episode:
- Nail Gaiman explained how piracy is the digital equivalent of lending and increased the sales of his books.
- How long copyright terms make our culture disappear.
- Microsoft simply turned off access to all the ebooks it sold with DRM.
- Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell’s “1984” from people’s Kindles.
- The new North American trade agreement extended Canadian copyright terms by 20 years.
- It’s unlikely that US copyright terms will be extended again. The Authors Guild would even be open to reducing terms by 20 years.
10/01/20 • 45 min
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FAQ
How many episodes does Tech Won't Save Us have?
Tech Won't Save Us currently has 201 episodes available.
What topics does Tech Won't Save Us cover?
The podcast is about News, Future, Tech News, Podcasts, Books, Technology and Politics.
What is the most popular episode on Tech Won't Save Us?
The episode title 'Elon Musk Unmasked: Creating the Genius Myth (Part 2)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Tech Won't Save Us?
The average episode length on Tech Won't Save Us is 54 minutes.
How often are episodes of Tech Won't Save Us released?
Episodes of Tech Won't Save Us are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Tech Won't Save Us?
The first episode of Tech Won't Save Us was released on Apr 12, 2020.
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