Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Ketan Joshi to discuss how hyperscale data centers are fueling the consumption of more oil and gas, what that means for climate targets, and the insidious relationship between the tech and fossil fuel industries.

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

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Exclusive $45-off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PARIS. Promo Code  PARIS

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Ketan has a page on his website sharing fascinating data sets.
• The International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook report was just released for this year.
• xAI was caught using enough illegal methane generators to power a city at a facility that powers Grok.
• Here is an in-depth look behind the scenes at the construction of the new data center from xAI, including the purchasing of a power plant just across the state line.
• Google's Chief of Investment loves Doug Burgum’s (Trump’s Secretary of the Interior) commitments to power AI growth with fossil fuels.
• Microsoft has been investing in nuclear energy.
• Learn more about the Enabled Emissions Campaign.
• Shout-out to the book Empire of AI by Karen Hao.

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Paris Marx is joined by Gil Duran to discuss how Peter Thiel’s bizarre obsession with the antichrist is really a desperate and embarrassing attempt to divert attention from his own misdeeds.

Gil Duran writes The Nerd Reich and is working on his first book, The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Global Democracy.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

Exclusive $45-off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/PARIS. Promo Code: PARIS

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Gil wrote about Peter Thiel’s Antichrist obsession and the apocalypse capitalism of Silicon Valley.
• This link is for Peter Thiel (or any Silicon Valley millionaires who may be listening); Gil recommends a brush-up on the French Revolution.
• Steve Bannon expects to go to prison.
• Donald Trump’s relationship to crypto continues to be awful.

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Paris Marx is joined by Nathan Grayson to discuss how Saudi Arabia is buying its way into the sports, comedy, and video game industries in order to broaden its investment portfolio and launder its international reputation.

Nathan Grayson is a cofounder of Aftermath and the author of Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Aftermath launched a refreshed website. Check it out!
• Nathan wrote about the problems with the Saudi-EA deal.
• GeoGuessr users made their maps unplayable in protest against the game’s announced participation in the Esports World Cup.
• Here’s a more comprehensive list of Saudi Arabia’s game investments.
• And here’s a history of Saudi Arabia’s investments in sports.

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Paris Marx is joined by Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear to discuss the many ways cars have negatively affected society, how tech companies seek to entrench those problems, and what can really be done to improve mobility in our communities.

Doug Gordon is a TV producer and writer. Sarah Goodyear is a journalist and author. They are the co-hosts of The War on Cars and co-authors of Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Fighting Traffic by Peter D. Norton
• Livable Streets by Donald Appleyard
• Your Six-Year-Old by Louise Bates Ames
• Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam

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Paris Marx celebrates the 300th episode of Tech Won’t Save Us by sharing his reasons to push for digital sovereignty and get off US tech. On top of explaining how that dependence gives the US governments and its tech companies power over us, Paris also provides tips of alternative services to consider migrating to.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Here is the Disconnect post offering a comprehensive list of options for getting off US tech.
• Producer Kyla seconds the recommendation of the library as an alternative to streaming, audiobooks, big box bookstores, and for plenty of other benefits (including inviting us to be more active community members).
• Trump’s sanctions against chief ICC prosecutor Karim Kahn has delayed proceedings, and resulted in Microsoft cancelling his email service.
• Here’s more information about when JD Vance annoyed most of Europe by comparing their governments to authoritarian regimes.
• Learn more about Alexandre de Moraes and his efforts to regulate US tech in Brazil.

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Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss the proliferation of delivery bots and robotaxis and how they recycle disproven claims about how technology will improve transportation.

Joanne McNeil is a freelance writer and the author of Wrong Way and Lurking: How a Person Became a User.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Joanne wrote about delivery bots and robotaxis for the New York Review of Architecture.
• She’s doing an event in Los Angeles discussing social media on November 1.
• Uber’s driverless car killed a pedestrian, and the company scapegoated the backup driver.
• Sleep Dealer is a sci-fi movie by Alex Rivera.
• A GM Cruise self-driving car hit a pedestrian and dragged them 20 feet before stopping.
• Even Chuck E. Cheese is getting into the ghost kitchen business.

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Paris Marx is joined by Chris Gilliard to discuss how tech CEOs are pushing a new generation of AI-powered smart glasses by promising they’ll be stylish and indispensable to workers in a desperate attempt to convince us we should want their luxury surveillance gadgets.

Chris Gilliard is the co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute and is working on a book called Luxury Surveillance.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Harvard students used Meta glasses to dox strangers.
• Apple tinkered with its AI shortly after Trump was inaugurated.
• AI may start answering 911 calls.
• Studies are suggesting that AI may be making doctors worse at diagnosing cancer.
• Rob Horning has written about overreliance on AI.
• Chris mentioned Emily Bender and her analogy comparing LLMs to plastic.

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Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Jacob’s new book Gilded Rage, which explores the radicalization of Silicon Valley leaders, who are exerting their growing influence to shape our society for the worse.

Jacob Silverman is an independent journalist and the author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Jacob recently wrote about Musk’s latest dodgy business dealings.
• The world continues to wonder at Trump’s ability to get away with corruption and scandal.
• Saudi Arabia has been involved in Silicon Valley more than folks may have realized (prior to the EA buyout, anyway).

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Paris Marx is joined by Tina Nguyen to discuss the divisions within the American far-right between the Trump administration, the wider MAGA movement, and the tech executives trying to show they’re on their side.

Tina Nguyen is a senior reporter at The Verge and author of The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out).

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Tina wrote about visiting NatCon and Charlie Kirk’s memorial event.
• Tina also wrote about Peter Thiel’s ongoing obsession with the antichrist.
• Jared Isaacman was revoked as a candidate to lead NASA, highlighting the rifts Tina is discussing.
• Elon Musk is talking about starting a new political party.

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Paris Marx is joined by Ed Niedermeyer to discuss the mission to turn Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire, Tesla’s growing interest in making robots instead of cars, and how other automakers are coming for the EV market it once dominated.

Ed Niedermeyer is the author of Ludicrous and co-host of the Autonocast.

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. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Tesla is paying out a series of lawsuits, and the California DMV has called for a one-month ban on Teslas being driven in the state.
• Curious to see what Tesla’s current Optimus robot is like?
• Is Tesla the world’s biggest meme stock?
• Tesla lied about data relating to a fatal accident until a hacker found it.
• ICE raided a Hyundai plant earlier this month.

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