Podcast – Cory Doctorow's craphound.com

Dive into the fascinating exploration of 'enshittification' and how it's reshaping the tech landscape. The discussion reveals the troubling consequences of gig economy practices on workers, particularly nurses. It critiques the rise of monopolies and highlights historical shifts in antitrust laws impacting corporate power dynamics. The renewed focus on antitrust enforcement worldwide promises to challenge tech giants. Finally, the podcast emphasizes the importance of labor unions and collective action in fostering social justice amid evolving economic demands.

Yanis Varoufakis, an economist and former Greek finance minister, joins host David Moscrop to launch Cory Doctorow's "Picks and Shovels." They dive into the tumultuous history of Silicon Valley and discuss the monopolistic tendencies of tech giants. Varoufakis highlights the alarming rise of oligarchy and economic inequality, using Bill Gates as a case study. The conversation also touches on the need for collective action against technofeudalism and the challenges posed by restrictive digital laws, making for a thought-provoking discussion.

The discussion highlights how MLMs prey on vulnerable groups, transforming social capital into monetary gain. They exploit relationships under the guise of community support, pushing members to sell products they don’t need. The episode critiques this manipulation, revealing how MLMs prioritize recruitment over genuine connection. It also explores historical cases like the fictional Fidelity Computing to illustrate the damaging impact of these schemes on community bonds. Ultimately, the conversation encourages listeners to recognize and challenge these predatory dynamics.

This discussion dives into Canada's trade strategies amid growing U.S. tariffs, critiquing retaliatory measures that hurt consumers. Instead of tariffs, a Canadian App Store is proposed, offering lower fees for local developers. There's also a look at how trade agreements impact the working class, advocating for local industry support. The conversation includes innovative solutions against monopolies and a humorous comparison to the War of 1812—turning historical context into modern economic strategy.

Dive into a whimsical tale where a malfunctioning electric blanket leads to unexpected reflection. Discover the unboxing of a charming robot named Matt, which sparks deeper themes of companionship and personal growth. As characters navigate their past, powerful insights on forgiveness and regret emerge, blending lighthearted moments with emotional depth. This journey reveals the complexities of human relationships in a world where artificial intelligence plays a role in our introspections.

Join a deep dive into the troubling trend of 'inshittification' in social media. Discover how platforms like Facebook went from community hubs to user hellscapes, questioning the motivations behind these changes. The discussion reveals insights into corporate greed and the demand for profit, challenging the narrative that venture capital alone drives these transformations. Explore alternatives like federated systems and the importance of prioritizing user rights. It’s a thought-provoking take on why understanding these dynamics matters for everyone online.

This week on my podcast, I’ve got Wil Wheaton reading the first chapter of the audiobook of Picks and Shovels, the next Martin Hench novel, which is out next month. Please consider supporting my work by pre-ordering the book as a hardcover, DRM-free ebook, or DRM-free audiobook in my Kickstarter! The year is 1986. The city is San Francisco. Here, Martin Hench will invent the forensic accountant–what a bounty hunter is to people, he is to money–but for now he’s an MIT dropout odd-jobbing his way around a city still reeling from the invention of a revolutionary new technology that will change everything about crime forever, one we now take completely for granted. When Marty finds himself hired by Silicon Valley PC startup Fidelity Computing to investigate a group of disgruntled ex-employees who’ve founded a competitor startup, he quickly realizes he’s on the wrong side. Marty ditches the greasy old guys running Fidelity Computing without a second thought, utterly infatuated with the electric atmosphere of Computing Freedom. Located in the heart of the Mission, this group of brilliant young women found themselves exhausted by the predatory business practices of Fidelity Computing and set out to beat them at their own game, making better computers and driving Fidelity Computing out of business. But this optimistic startup, fueled by young love and California-style burritos, has no idea the depth of the evil they’re seeking to unroot or the risks they run. In this company-eat-company city, Martin and his friends will be lucky to escape with their lives. MP3

This week on my podcast, it’s our annual Daddy-Daughter Podcast, a tradition since 2012! The kid’s sixteen now, a senior in high school and getting ready to head off to university next year, so this may well be the final installment in the series. Here are the previous year’s installments: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023. MP3

This week on my podcast, I read the sixth and final installment of “Spill“, a new Little Brother story commissioned by Clay F Carlson and published on Reactor, the online publication of Tor Books. Also available in DRM-free ebook form as a Tor Original. Spill will be reprinted in Allen Kaster’s 2025 Year’s Best SF on Earth. I didn’t plan to go to Oklahoma, but I went to Oklahoma. My day job is providing phone tech support to people in offices who use my boss’s customer-relationship management software. In theory, I can do that job from anywhere I can sit quietly on a good Internet connection for a few hours a day while I’m on shift. It’s a good job for an organizer, because it means I can go out in the field and still pay my rent, so long as I can park a rental car outside of a Starbucks, camp on their WiFi, and put on a noise-canceling headset. It’s also good organizer training because most of the people who call me are angry and confused and need to have something difficult and technical explained to them. My comrades started leaving for Oklahoma the day the Water Protector camp got set up. A lot of them—especially my Indigenous friends—were veterans of the Line 3 Pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and other pipeline fights, and they were plugged right into that network. The worse things got, the more people I knew in OK. My weekly affinity group meeting normally had twenty people at it. One week there were only ten of us. The next week, three. The next week, we did it on Zoom (ugh) and most of the people on the line were in OK, up on “Facebook Hill,” the one place in the camp with reliable cellular data signals. MP3

This week on my podcast, I read part five of “Spill“, a new Little Brother story commissioned by Clay F Carlson and published on Reactor, the online publication of Tor Books. Also available in DRM-free ebook form as a Tor Original. I didn’t plan to go to Oklahoma, but I went to Oklahoma. My day job is providing phone tech support to people in offices who use my boss’s customer-relationship management software. In theory, I can do that job from anywhere I can sit quietly on a good Internet connection for a few hours a day while I’m on shift. It’s a good job for an organizer, because it means I can go out in the field and still pay my rent, so long as I can park a rental car outside of a Starbucks, camp on their WiFi, and put on a noise-canceling headset. It’s also good organizer training because most of the people who call me are angry and confused and need to have something difficult and technical explained to them. My comrades started leaving for Oklahoma the day the Water Protector camp got set up. A lot of them—especially my Indigenous friends—were veterans of the Line 3 Pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and other pipeline fights, and they were plugged right into that network. The worse things got, the more people I knew in OK. My weekly affinity group meeting normally had twenty people at it. One week there were only ten of us. The next week, three. The next week, we did it on Zoom (ugh) and most of the people on the line were in OK, up on “Facebook Hill,” the one place in the camp with reliable cellular data signals. MP3