Tech Won't Save Us

Hyperscale data centers are not an inevitable infrastructure, but a product of capitalist financialization pushing us further from a livable future. Ingrid Burrington interviews Paris Marx about his new book Hyperscale, discussing the history behind the rise of hyperscale data centers and how companies are obscuring their true social and environmental costs to maximize profits before the overinflated bubble bursts.

Ingrid Burrington is the author of Networks of New York and host of RIP Corp. She’s been writing about internet infrastructure for over a decade, including an 18-story online series for The Atlantic in 2015.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Order Hyperscale at hyperscalebook.com.
• Join Paris at an upcoming event near you.
• Check out some of Ingrid’s writing.
• Check out the episode where Paris chatted with Chris Carlsson.

Support the show

Data centers are being approved without proper oversight into their broader impacts, but there are organizations pushing back. Martha Dark joins Paris Marx to discuss her work at Foxglove and how legal challenges against data centers are imposing stronger rules and reframing false narratives from policymakers and Big Tech.

Martha Dark is co-executive director of Foxglove.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Click here to get your first month of Proton Unlimited for just $1.
• Preorder Hyperscale at hyperscalebook.com.
• Join Paris at an upcoming event near you.
• Foxglove is pushing policymakers for stronger data center regulations.
• Data centers are not creating jobs, and policymakers should stop pretending they do.
• The carbon emissions from UK data center development are higher than ExxonMobil.
• Shout out to the organizations Legal Resources Centre and The Housing Assembly based in South Africa

Support the show

Brazil’s renewable energy is being exploited to justify unnecessary data center construction. Laís Martins joins Paris Marx to discuss why the renewable energy sector is behind a rise in Brazilian data center development, how this is impacting communities, and the ways this greenwashing is redirecting funding away from more socially progressive projects.

Laís Martins is a technology reporter at The Intercept Brasil.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at Bookshop or find more links at hyperscalebook.com.
• Laís has written about the connection between wind energy and data center construction.
• Laís has written about the social impacts of the renewable energy driven data center build out in Brazil.

Support the show

Tech companies are working with the fossil fuel industry to push unnecessary data center projects while misrepresenting the climate impact — and governments are letting it all happen. Ketan Joshi joins Paris Marx to discuss how the data center buildout is driving a surge in fossil fuel investment, and how it’s all playing out in Australia.

Ketan Joshi is a climate writer and data analyst based in Oslo working with climate and environmental groups.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Click here to get your first month of Proton Mail for just $1.
• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.
• Ketan wrote a report on how Big Tech is greenwashing their destructive climate impacts.
• Ketan worked with Greenpeace to put out a report on how NVIDIA is greenwashing to hide their climate impacts.
• Ketan worked with Greenpeace on a report that explores how Australia’s data center buildout is completely derailing their renewable energy transition.

Support the show

Paris’ new book Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires is coming out in October. To celebrate, we’re revisiting the series that planted the seeds for his deep dive into hyperscale data centers, the communities they’re affecting, and the future Silicon Valley is trying to build. This is episode 4 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

The show is hosted by Paris Marx. Original production on Data Vampires was by Eric Wickham. Current production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.
• Postdoctoral candidate at Case Western Reserve University Émile P. Torres, Vanity Fair tech and business correspondent Julia Black, Goldsmiths University lecturer Dan McQuillan, and former head of the Center for Applied Data Ethics Ali Alkhatib were interviewed for this episode.
• Pieces by Sam Altman, Marc Andreessen, and an interview with Elon Musk were cited.

Support the show

Paris’ new book Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires is coming out in October. To celebrate, we’re revisiting the series that planted the seeds for his deep dive into hyperscale data centers, the communities they’re affecting, and the future Silicon Valley is trying to build. This is episode 3 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

The show is hosted by Paris Marx. Original production on Data Vampires was by Eric Wickham. Current production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.
• Sustainable AI Group cofounder Sasha Luccioni, Associate Professor in Economics Cecilia Rikap, former head of the Center for Applied Data Ethics Ali Alkhatib, Goldsmiths University lecturer Dan McQuillan, and Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute Alex Hanna were interviewed for this episode.
• Interviews with Sam Altman and Brad Smith were cited.

Support the show

Paris’ new book Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires is coming out in October. To celebrate, we’re revisiting the series that planted the seeds for his deep dive into hyperscale data centers, the communities they’re affecting, and the future Silicon Valley is trying to build. This is episode 2 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

The show is hosted by Paris Marx. Original production on Data Vampires was by Eric Wickham. Current production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.
• People Before Profit TD Brid Smith, Tu Nube Seca Mi Río organizer Aurora Gomez Delgado, and King’s College London lecturer Sebastian Lehuede were interviewed for this episode.
• Some pieces by Dara Kerr in NPR, Sarah Emerson and Emily Baker-White in Forbes, and Hannah Daly in The Irish Times were cited.

Support the show

Paris’ new book Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech’s Data Empires is coming out on October 20. To celebrate, we’re revisiting the series that planted the seeds for his deep dive into hyperscale data centers, the communities they’re affecting, and the future Silicon Valley is trying to build. This is episode 1 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

The show is hosted by Paris Marx. Original production on Data Vampires was by Eric Wickham. Current production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Preorder Hyperscale to support Paris at hyperscalebook.com.
• Senior cloud consultant Dwayne Monroe and Associate Professor in Economics Cecilia Rikap were interviewed for this episode.
• If you missed it, check out Cecilia Rikap’s latest chat with Paris here and grab her book The Rulers.
• Interviews with Jeff Bezos and The Oregonian journalist Mike Rogoway were cited.

Support the show

Not long ago, tech jobs were sought after for their security, benefits, wages, and the progressive values promoted by Silicon Valley companies. But now workers are barely hanging on. Clarissa Redwine and JS Tan join Paris Marx to discuss the state of worker organizing in the tech industry, including how it’s changed since the mid-2010s and where it needs to go from here.

Clarissa Redwine is a tech worker and labor activist. JS Tan is a PhD candidate at MIT and writes the Value Added newsletter. They are the authors of Against Tech Oligarchy: Worker Resistance in the World's Most Powerful Industry.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
• Learn more about Kickstarter United in Clarissa’s oral history podcast.
• Layoffs in 2026 have surpassed last year.
• Tech workers are pushing back against AI use.
• Paris talked to JS last year about the connection between tech and oil & gas.

Support the show

A cult of fascist ideology has gripped Silicon Valley, and the tech industrial complex is threatening US democracy. Gil Durán joins Paris Marx to discuss the radical billionaire cabal that is hellbent on the consolidation of corporate and political power, including the visions they have for the future and the strategies they’re using to drive us there.

Gil Durán is the author of The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy and writes The Nerd Reich newsletter. 

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Support the show on Patreon.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Click here to get your first month of Proton Mail for just $1.
• Gil has written about Paulina Borsook’s prescient warning about tech libertarians from more than twenty years ago.
• Gil has written the foreword for the new edition of Cyberselfish.
• Balaji Srinivasan has moved his commune project to Kazakhstan after being booted from Malaysia. 
• Shout-out to friend of the pod Quinn Slobodian, who’s work you can find here. Paris recently talked to Quinn, check out that episode here if you missed it.

Support the show