Tech Won't Save Us

Elon Musk is wants Starlink to become a wireless provider, powering mobile phones in the United States and beyond. But that would grant him even more control over our communications. Paris Marx is solo this week to discuss how Starlink is striking deals to realize those ambitions, all while hiking prices and throttling internet speeds at the whims of its power hungry CEO.

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 your copy of Paris' book Hyperscale at hyperscalebook.com.
• Join Paris at an upcoming event near you.
• Paris has written about Starlink on his newsletter, Disconnect.
• The Canadian government will continue working with Starlink even as Musk limits Ukrainian internet access.
• Starlink is already implementing dynamic pricing on customers with no alternatives.

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Lula has made history as the first candidate to win a presidential election despite losing the first round of voting, all while Meta seemed to be putting its thumb on the scale for his far-right competition. Laís Martins joins Paris Marx to discuss the Brazilian presidential election, how Meta’s moderation heavily favored Flávio Bolsonaro while limiting Lula’s reach, and where Brazilian tech policy might go next.

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:

• Order your copy of Paris' book Hyperscale at hyperscalebook.com.
• Join Paris at an upcoming event near you.
• Meta was ordered to prove both candidates received equal treatment during the election.
• Flavio Bolsonaro has fled Brazil amidst a money laundering investigation.
• Laís has recently written about some of Bolsonaro’s US election spending.

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No one is comfortable with police surveillance in the US, which is why there’s a bipartisan backlash to Flock cameras. Jason Koebler joins Paris Marx to discuss the rise of Flock, how their cameras are being pitched by right-wing politicians and police agencies, and how they’re being used to stalk residents from coast to coast.

Jason Koebler is a co-founder of 404 Media and co-host of the 404 Media Podcast.

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.
• Here’s the latest from Jason on Flock cameras being used to track opposition to the company.
• Cops are hiding their Flock camera searches behind jokes and nonesense to obscure their actions.
• DeFlock is mapping flock cameras.
• Have I Been Flocked? lets people see if their licence plate has been searched.
• No, the anti-Flock movement isn’t Chinese propaganda.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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