Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Mar Hicks to discuss why we need to know the history of tech and how the British history of sexism and colonialism in computing has lessons for the present-day US tech industry.Mar Hicks is the co-editor of “Your Computer Is on Fire,” along with Thomas S. Mullaney, Benjamin Peters, and Kavita Philip. They are also the author of “Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge in Computing” and an Associate Professor of the History of Technology at Illinois Tech. Follow Mar on Twitter as @histoftech.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: Mar wrote about the story of COBOL computer systems in the early months of the pandemic and how Britain killed its tech industry. Google fired top AI ethicists Timnit Gebru and Margaret Mitchell after their research was critical of the company’s practices. Diversity recruiter April Christina Curley was also fired in September 2020. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss how Bill Gates wields his wealth to shape public policy, the many conflicts of interest of Bill and his Foundation, and how legitimate criticism of power is being positioned as conspiracy.Tim Schwab is an investigative journalist whose recent work on the Gates Foundation has been published by The Nation, the Columbia Review of Journalism, and the British Medical Journal. Follow Tim on Twitter as @TimothyWSchwab.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: Tim wrote about the Gates Foundation’s conflicts of interest, in particular during the pandemic. He also wrote about how Gates’ funding of media and health data produces accountability and transparency problems. Paris had a viral thread about Gates’ intervention in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, after which an interview said it was a conspiracy theory. After getting the rights to the Oxford vaccine, AstraZeneca ran into trouble in clinical trials. The Associated Press found three factories in Bangladesh alone that could be producing vaccines if patent protections were waived. The Mail and Guardian in South Africa published an article on Bill Gates’ complicity in vaccine apartheid and the author’s Twitter account was locked for tweeting about it. In 2015, Thomas Piketty talked to the BBC about the problems with billionaire philanthropy. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Callum Cant to discuss the UK Supreme Court ruling that Uber drivers are workers, his experience organizing as a Deliveroo worker, and how algorithmic management is transforming work.Callum Cant is the author of “Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy.” He’s also the head of communications at Momentum and an editor at Notes from Below. Follow Callum on Twitter as @CallumCant1.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: The UK Supreme Court ruled that Uber drivers are not self-employed. It’s a win for workers. In 1976, workers at Lucas Aerospace produced the Alternative Corporate Plan, otherwise known as the Lucas Plan, that reimagined how production could be used to address social needs. Thinkers mentioned: Stan Weir, Romano Alquati, Eric Blanc’s “Red State Revolt,” E.P Thompson. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Gavin Mueller to discuss who the Luddites really were, what they can teach us about how we think about technology today, and why they show the need for a decelerationist politics of the future.Gavin Mueller is the author of “Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job.” He’s also a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam and a member of the editorial collective of Viewpoint Magazine. Follow Gavin on Twitter as @gavinmuellerphd.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: An excerpt of Gavin’s book was recently published in Logic Magazine, and previously criticized fully automated luxury communism. Gavin recommends E.P Thompson’s “The Making of the English Working Class” Courts ruled that Uber drivers in the UK are workers, and Deliveroo couriers in Amsterdam are employees. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Lizzie O’Shea to discuss how Australia’s plan to make Google and Facebook pay news publishers entrenches a data-extractive business model and aligns the interests of tech giants and media companies against those of the public.Lizzie O’Shea is a human rights lawyer and the founder of Digital Rights Watch. She’s also the author of “Future Histories: What Ada Lovelace, Tom Paine, and the Paris Commune Can Teach Us about Digital Technology.” Follow Lizzie on Twitter as @Lizzie_OShea.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: Lizzie wrote about the problems with this plan for Overland Journal and Nikkei Asia. Paris wrote about why we shouldn’t link big tech and news giants for Tribune Magazine. Facebook restricted news sharing in Australia, while Google has signed deals with News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, and more for its News Showcase. Australia has among the most concentrated media ownership in the world. Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull called for a royal commission on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. Australia’s competition regulator released a digital platforms report with recommendations that included the bargaining code in 2019. Canada and the European Union may copy Australia’s model. French publishers are already getting paid by Google. Support the show

Rida Qadri, a PhD candidate at MIT, dives into the world of gig workers in Jakarta, specifically motorcycle taxi drivers. She discusses how these workers have forged networks of mutual aid due to minimal support from companies and the government. Qadri highlights the vital role of local knowledge in enhancing gig platforms like Gojek and Grab. The conversation also touches on the evolving relationship between drivers and technology, showcasing the resilience of workers amid challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paris Marx is joined by Lauren Kaori Gurley to discuss how Amazon surveils workers to stop them from organizing, the difficult working conditions in warehouses and for delivery drivers, and whether Jeff Bezos become Executive Chair will change anything.Lauren Kaori Gurley is a labor reporter at Motherboard/Vice. Follow Lauren on Twitter as @LaurenKGurley.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: Lauren wrote about how Amazon’s Global Security Operations Center has a massive surveillance operation involving Pinkertons, and how the company monitors Facebook groups and internal listservs. She also spoke to workers about how they felt about it. Paris wrote that Jeff Bezos’ legacy as CEO is one of brutal exploitation and that can’t be forgotten. Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You shows how the gig economy ruins people’s lives. During the pandemic, there were Amazon walkouts across the United States and global protests during the pandemic. Workers in Bessemer, Alabama are also voting on unionization. Amazon stole delivery drivers’ tips and has been forced to repay them $61.7 million. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Grafton Tanner to discuss how social media constantly resurfaces the past, why film and television uses nostalgia to keep us engaged, and whether there’s a way to wield nostalgia in pursuit of a better world.Grafton Tanner is the author of “The Circle of the Snake: Nostalgia and Utopia in the Age of Big Tech” and “Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts.” Grafton is also writing  “The Hours Have Lost Their Clock: The Politics of Nostalgia” for Repeater Books, due out in October 2021. Follow Grafton on Twitter as @GraftonTanner.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: Paris wrote about consolidation in the film and television industries. Disney lobbied to extend copyright terms and what it might mean when Mickey Mouse goes into the public domain. George Lucas describes how commercialism limits what kind of movies can be made (17:18-18:40). Hollywood is using AI to help decide which films get made. A Harry Potter television series is in early development at HBO Max. Books mentioned in this episode: “The Future of Nostalgia” by Svetlana Boym, “New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future” by James Bridle, “Protocol: How Control Exists After Decentralization” by Alexander Galloway, “The End of Forgetting: Growing Up with Social Media” by Kate Eichhorn, “Radical Nostalgia: Spanish Civil War Commemoration in America” by Peter Glazer, and “Left in the Past: Radicalism and the Politics of Nostalgia” by Alastair Bonnett. Movies and shows mentioned in this episode: Ready Player One, San Junipero (Black Mirror), eXistenZ, The Matrix, and The Merchants of Cool. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Becca Lewis to discuss YouTube’s history of incentivizing extreme content, how the storming of the US Capitol shows the power of media spectacle, and why we should see social media platforms as media companies.Becca Lewis is a PhD candidate in Communication at Stanford University. She’s also written for a number of publications, including NBC News, Vice News, and New York Magazine. Follow Becca on Twitter as @beccalew.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: Read Becca’s report for Data & Society, “Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube.” You can also read her articles on YouTube radicalization, the final report on the Christchurch shooting, and why Trump’s Twitter ban was an editorial decision. Jacob Hamburger explains why the “intellectual dark web” and its claims about political correctness are nothing new. Alex Nichols explains how New Atheism was a precursor to the IDW and alt-right influencers. The video of Ben Affleck pushing back against Sam Harris’ Islamophobia on Bill Maher’s show, which was supposedly Dave Rubin’s “classical liberal” awakening. Zeynep Tufekci describes how YouTube’s recommendation algorithm recommends increasingly more extreme videos. Twitter workers demanded Trump be banned before Jack Dorsey announced the decision. People who inspire how Becca thinks about platforms: Robyn Caplan at Data & Society and Tarleton Gillespie at Microsoft Research. Support the show

Paris Marx is joined by Salomé Viljoen to discuss existing proposals to expand individual data rights or treat it as a form of labor, why we instead need to see data governance as a collective democratic project, and how that would give us the power to decide what data is collected and what it’s used for.Salomé Viljoen is an affiliate at Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a joint postdoctoral fellow at NYU School of Law’s Information Law Institute and the Cornell Tech Digital Life Initiative. Follow Salomé on Twitter as @salome_viljoen_.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: Read Salomé article about data egalitarianism for Phenomenal World. People who write about informational capitalism: Shoshana Zuboff and Nick Couldry on one side, and Jathan Sadowski and Julie Cohen on the side that Salomé prefers. People talking about data as property or labor: Andrew Yang through the Data Dividend Project, Eric Posner and Glen Weyl in “Radical Markets,” and Jaron Lanier. Proto-data egalitarian examples: Andrea Nahler’s proposal for a civic data trust, Barcelona’s civic data trust, the US Census, and learning from libraries’ management of public information. Support the show