Tech Won't Save Us
May 19, 2020
How Tech Platforms Affect Our Digital Lives w/ Joanne McNeil
Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss how our experience online has evolved over the past three decades, the class backgrounds of tech founders, how the AIDS crisis robbed us an important contribution to the early web, and whether COVID-19 will change how we use platforms in the future.
Joanne McNeil is the author of “Lurking: How a Person Became a User.” She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, WIRED, the Baffler, and more. Follow Joanne on Twitter as @jomc.
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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter.
More episodes from Tech Won't Save Us
23 hours ago
What’s Next for Amazon Workers? w/ Kim Kelly
Paris Marx is joined by Kim Kelly to discuss what it was like on the ground in Bessemer as workers tried to form a union at Amazon, the mood after the results came in, and where the organizing effort against Amazon goes from here.
Kim Kelly is a freelance labor reporter who has written for Teen Vogue, The Baffler, Vox, and many others. She is also writing a book for One Signal Publishers called “Fight Like Hell” that will come out in 2022. Follow Kim on Twitter as @GrimKim.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get *30 new supporters* at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, *become a supporter** and help us reach our goal*!
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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
* Kim wrote about the workers and organizers behind the Bessemer campaign, and how faith was an important motivating factor. She also reported on it for More Perfect Union.
* Alex Press outlined the history of civil rights unionism in the US South.
* Caroline O’Donovan explained how Amazon workers are organizing beyond Bessemer, and why some don’t plan to seek NLRB recognition.
* Luis Feliz Leon wrote about the growing international movement to challenge Amazon.
* The Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union challenged the result of the Bessemer union vote over Amazon’s union busting tactics.
* The New York Times spoke to some workers who voted “no” for the union.
* Amazon promotes its $15 minimum wage, but it actually pushes down wages in the warehousing sector.
* The PRO Act is a major change to US labor legislation that would make it easier to unionize.
Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
6 days ago
Vaccine Passports Are Not the Solution w/ Elizabeth Renieris
Paris Marx is joined by Elizabeth Renieris to discuss why we should be concerned about proposals for vaccine passports and how they could create a precedent for a larger rollout of digital identity documents.
Elizabeth Renieris is a practitioner fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab and a tech + human rights fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Follow Elizabeth on Twitter as @hackylawyer.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get *30 new supporters* at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, *become a supporter** and help us reach our goal*!
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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
* Elizabeth wrote about what’s really at stake in the vaccine passport debate.
* The US federal government has talked about leaving this to the private sector, the EU is planning a “digital green pass” for travel, and Israel rolled out a “green passport” for vaccinated people to gain access to various public and private spaces.
* Contact tracing apps did not deliver on their big promises.
* New York’s vaccine passport has already been forged.
* Rolling out vaccine passports has high costs for businesses who will want to use that infrastructure in other ways.
* Parts of the Global South may not receive mass Covid vaccinations until 2024.
* The modern passport regime was created in the 1920s, with the goal being to eventually abolish it. Now borders are being equipped with facial recognition cameras and border guards can check your phone.
Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)
Apr 8, 2021
Bursting the NFT Bubble w/ Jacob Silverman
Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss the implications of the recent NFT boom, the libertarian ideology that underpins crypto, and where the hype economy goes from here.
Jacob Silverman is a staff writer at The New Republic and the author of “Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection.” Follow Jacob on Twitter as @SilvermanJacob.
🎉 In April 2021, Tech Won’t Save Us celebrates its first birthday. If we get *30 new supporters* at $5+ per month, we’ll start a weekly newsletter in addition to the weekly podcast to provide a new way for people to access critical perspectives on technology. If you like the show, *become a supporter** and help us reach our goal*!
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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.
Also mentioned in this episode:
* Jacob wrote about all the things rich people are spending their money on during the pandemic, including NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
* Everest Pipkin explained all of the environmental problems with NFTs, and how they’re built into the core of the technology.
* Some people are buying NFTs, then finding they disappear or can’t be accessed.
* Bitcoin uses more energy than Argentina, but could consume more than Australia by 2024.
* Bill Gates said Bitcoin is a “pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment.”
* Anil Dash explained that NFTs were supposed to help artists, not just be another speculative asset.
* Taylor Lorenz wrote about how creators are monetizing their lives.
* The New York Times and Forbes (among others) sold NFTs while reporting on them.
* Tom Brady is the latest celebrity to get into NFTs.
* The NFT boom may already be going bust.
Support the show (https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus)