Tech Won't Save Us

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

Governments are prioritizing data centers at the expense of communities and the planet, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Matt Haugen joins Paris Marx to discuss how national strategies are dismantling environmental protections while enriching a handful of megacorporations, and what an alternative agenda could look like.

Matt Haugen is Research and Editorial Manager at the Climate and Community Institute.

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

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Check out the new report Matt co-wrote AI First.
• If you missed it, Molly White recently broke down how the tech industry is spending big on elections.
• Big tech’s emissions are continuing to rise.
• Colossus is still being powered by unpermitted gas turbines.

Support the show

Canada has tech bros too, like Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke who has a new idea to link voting rights to how much income tax you paid. Rachel Gilmore joins Paris Marx to discuss how Canadian tech companies like Shopify are pushing terrible right-wing policy ideas while influencing Mark Carney’s agenda.

Rachel Gilmore is an award-winning independent journalist and creator of the Bubble Pop 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.
• You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
• Rachel has written about Tobi Lütke’s most recent awful ideas, including why it matters what the Canadian tech elite say.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney appears to be implementing policies for tech oligarchs.
• Press Progress has done reporting on conservative media outlets platforming white nationalists.
• Check out the recent episode Paris did with Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood for a deeper dive on Canada’s AI policies.

Support the show

As Big Tech’s power continues to grow, it's more important than ever to understand how companies use their control over cloud infrastructure and services to shape more than just the digital world. Cecilia Rikap joins Paris Marx to discuss how these networks of corporate power operate, including how they are systematically used to influence global politics, the economy, and how society views the world.

Cecilia Rikap is an Associate Professor at University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and the author of The Rulers: Corporate Power in the Age of AI and the Cloud.

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.
• Cecilia and Paris worked on a white paper offering a roadmap to reclaiming digital sovereignty.

Support the show

Librarians are working harder than ever to support their neighbourhoods — including by teaching and promoting digital literacy. Hannah Cyrus and Alison Macrina join Paris Marx to discuss the role of library workers in the digital landscape, including how they’re helping patrons navigate privacy basics and artificial intelligence, and how the tech industry is making their jobs harder. 

Hannah Cyrus is a digital media librarian at the Bangor Public Library. Alison Macrina is an activist librarian and the director of Library Freedom Project.

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.
• The Library Freedom Project has a ton of resources on critically approaching technology.
• Bangor Daily News wrote about librarians like Hannah helping patrons get AI off their devices.
• Shout out to friend of the pod Brian Merchant and his book Blood in the Machine.
• Learn more about the Luddite Club.
• Learn more about the organization Libraries For The People, working to strengthen and expand libraries.
• Support your local library! Say hello, get a card if you don’t have one, and participate in community events.

Support the show

We are often told that resisting technological development is impossible and ‘progress’ is inevitable, but history says otherwise. Thomas Dekeyser joins Paris Marx to discuss how understanding radical resistances of the past can help us rethink our modern relationship with technology and reshape our vision of the future.

Thomas Dekeyser is a lecturer in human geography at the University of Southampton, author of Techno-Negative: A Long History of Refusing the Machine, and co-creator of the documentary Machines in Flames.

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.
• Shout out to friend of the pod The Luddite Club.
• This article by Saul Levin and Astra Taylor discusses the growing bipartisan opposition towards data centers.

Support the show

Last time it was the crypto industry; now the AI industry is stepping up to join it. Molly White joins Paris Marx to discuss how the tech sector is spending big to buy influence in the US midterm elections to ensure new laws serve its interests over those of the public.

Molly White is the creator of Tech Influence Watch and Web3 is Going Just Great. She writes the Citation Needed 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:

• You can now pre-order Paris’s new book Hyperscale.
• Molly just wrote about Trump’s $1.4 billion crypto disclosure.
• Molly wrote about the crypto industry’s recent election spending.
• Molly also wrote about how the Citizens United decision is affecting elections today.

Support the show

Public ire toward AI keeps growing as the data center boom continues to hit people’s pockets. Chris Person joins Paris Marx to discuss the soaring cost of consumer electronics, including why prices are unlikely to fall anytime soon, and how people can experiment with homespun cyberpunk tech.

Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath and makes Highlight Reel.

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.
• Chris mentioned the BC250, an e-waste machine he’s written about recently.
• Chris also wrote a review of the Steam Machine.
• Xbox and Apple both announced price hikes this month.
• Stock prices for memory companies like SK Hynix are hitting record highs.

Support the show