The Joe Reis Show Cory Doctorow on Enshitification, The AI Bubble, Reverse Centaurs, and The Post-American Internet
Jan 21, 2026
Cory Doctorow, a renowned science fiction author and digital rights activist, joins to discuss his viral concept of Enshitification, describing the tragic decay of platforms from user-friendly to exploitative. He analyzes the inflated AI bubble, suggesting it's driven by flawed financial incentives rather than true value. Doctorow introduces the idea of the 'Reverse Centaur,' revealing how workers are increasingly subordinated to machine workflows. He also emphasizes the importance of process knowledge in software engineering versus the superficiality of 'vibe coding'.
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Episode notes
Three-Act Platform Decline
- Platforms follow a three-act decline: serve users, lock them in, then extract value from everyone.
- Enshitification explains why once-helpful platforms become trapped, extractive monopolies that users cannot escape.
Power Concentration Kills Market Discipline
- Concentration of market power and weakened regulation removed the forces that once disciplined firms.
- This loss of competition and regulatory bite made platforms durable zombies rather than firms that fail when they misbehave.
Legal Barriers Broke Interoperability
- Anti-circumvention IP laws and legal barriers stopped interoperability and user repair.
- These legal changes created felonies for modifying devices and removed technical checks on vendor misbehavior.
