This week we’re looking at the insidious and nefarious sides of tech, starting with a conversation with Esra’a Al Shafei discussing her new site Surveillance Watch, an incredible trove of data formulated into an easily searchable and interactive site that exposes the vast interconnected web of global authoritarian surveillance systems. Esra’a discusses the impunity with which these corporations and financial institutions operate, with no care for borders, side-stepping sanctions, and using genocide as a marketing tool. She highlights the importance of bringing this information to light, of acting to protect ourselves and each other and never normalizing the Orwellian panopticon.

Next, cohost Mickey Huff sits down with investigative journalist Peter Byrne to unveil a new 10-part series titled Military AI Watch: the dangerous militarization of AI and the profiteering behind it. Peter and Mickey discuss the first piece in the series, “One Ring to Rule them All,” where Peter names the cast of characters in this dark fantasy turned reality, their terrifying aims, the monopoly on murder, and more.

GUESTS:

Esra’a Al Shafei is a Bahraini civil rights activist, free-speech advocate, and the founder of Surveillance Watch, a website that monitors the global surveillance industry.

Peter Byrne is a veteran investigative reporter who has written on topics ranging from breast cancer, to wildlife conservation, to corruption at the Postal Service. Together with Project Censored, he is launching “Military AI Watch,” a ten-part series on the militarization of AI.

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