Polite Conversations

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Ep 81 - Pinker’s Pernicious Politeness (Pt 1) Jul 15, 2024

Show notes

Linguist, noted ‘Pinkerologist’ and friend of the show Dr. Caitlin Green joins me to analyze and discuss the Extremely Rational thoughts of one Steven Pinker.

In part 1 we discuss hats, gloves, rationality, hypocrisy, Pinker’s special brand of ‘positivity P 0rn’ and more!

Links:

Steven Pinker's aid in Jeffrey Epstein's legal defense renews criticism of an increasingly divisive public intellectual. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/07/17/steven-pinkers-aid-jeffrey-epsteins-legal-defense-renews-criticism-increasingly

A thread on the ironically named organization FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism) - a who’s who of some of the most intolerant and racist rightwing hacks around https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1367585945160146947?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

The Harvard Crimson: Pinker is often willing to defend his colleagues — even when it attracts controversy.

In 2012, the University of Miami philosopher Colin McGinn was accused of sexual harassment by a graduate student. When the matter became public, Pinker wrote in an open letter that McGinn was a “brilliant and distinguished scholar” and that if the University of Miami pursued disciplinary action against McGinn for “exchanging sexual banter with a graduate student,” it would “put a chill on communication between faculty and graduate students and on the openness and informality on which scholarship depends.”

In our conversation, Pinker often brings up “The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature,” which, even two decades after its release, illustrates core aspects of his thinking today. The book argues that our individual behaviors — our intelligence, our sociability, our tendencies toward violence — are rooted in our genes, not just the environment in which we are raised. “.. in 2006 Pinker published a favorable review of a scientific paper which argued that Ashkenazi Jews may have evolved to have higher IQs than other racial and ethnic groups.”

One of the first academics to be canceled, Pinker says, was E. O. Wilson. Wilson was a biologist and professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard. Today, he is known for two things: his award-winning work on biodiversity and his public branding as a racist. In 1975, Wilson published a book called “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis,” which argues that behaviors result from genes — “very much in the strain of work that I wrote about on human nature,” Pinker says — and stepped into a debate about scientific racism. In his book, Wilson writes that there should be a “discipline of anthropological genetics” to explore whether cultural differences are biological. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/27/steven-pinker-scrut/ Pinker currently serves on the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s board of advisers https://eowilsonfoundation.org/about-us/our-team/

Screenshot, Pinker upset at anti-scientism and historians ‘historicizing’ https://x.com/mccormick_ted/status/1182645627169263616?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Pinker smears anti-genocide students as ‘Pro-Hamas’ https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1810472709580570796?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Pinker’s video about how ‘Political Correctness is redpilling America’ https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1138497096569540609?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Pinker Publishes response about associations with Epstein on Jerry Coyne’s blog which has also done the Just Asking Questions routine about whether convicted child r*pist Jerry Sandusky was truly guilty or not. https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1150216005114912769?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

——

Pls subscribe via patreon.com/nicemangos to support the show Pt 2 available early to patrons

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SAMPLE: Ep 81 - Pinker’s Pernicious Politeness (Pt 1) Jul 12, 2024

Show notes

*This is a public sample of an upcoming episode.

Please subscribe via patreon.com to hear the full episode. Part 2 is available via the Premium tiers on Patreon.*

——

Linguist, noted ‘Pinkerologist’ and friend of the show Dr. Caitlin Green joins me to analyze and discuss the Extremely Rational thoughts of one Steven Pinker. In part 1 we discuss hats, gloves, rationality, hypocrisy, Pinker’s special brand of ‘positivity P 0rn’ and more!

——

Links:

The Harvard Crimson: Pinker is often willing to defend his colleagues — even when it attracts controversy. In 2012, the University of Miami philosopher Colin McGinn was accused of sexual harassment by a graduate student. When the matter became public, Pinker wrote in an open letter that McGinn was a “brilliant and distinguished scholar” and that if the University of Miami pursued disciplinary action against McGinn for “exchanging sexual banter with a graduate student,” it would “put a chill on communication between faculty and graduate students and on the openness and informality on which scholarship depends.”

“.. in 2006 Pinker published a favorable review of a scientific paper which argued that Ashkenazi Jews may have evolved to have higher IQs than other racial and ethnic groups.”

In 1975, Wilson published a book called “Sociobiology: The New Synthesis,” which argues that behaviors result from genes — “very much in the strain of work that I wrote about on human nature,” Pinker says — and stepped into a debate about scientific racism. In his book, Wilson writes that there should be a “discipline of anthropological genetics” to explore whether cultural differences are biological. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/10/27/steven-pinker-scrut/

Pinker currently serves on the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation’s board of advisers https://eowilsonfoundation.org/about-us/our-team/

Screenshot, Pinker upset at anti-scientism and historians ‘historicizing’ https://x.com/mccormick_ted/status/1182645627169263616?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Pinker smears anti-genocide students as ‘Pro-Hamas’ https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1810472709580570796?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Pinker’s video about how ‘Political Correctness is redpilling America’ https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1138497096569540609?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

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Ep 80 - Ex-Mus to TradFash Pipeline Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

I’m writing a series over on my patreon…on something thats pretty personal to me - the Ex-Mus to TradFash pipeline.

It’s a path I’ve seen too many go down and completely descend into blatant far right f*ckery. I’ve dedicated a fair bit of time this month to unpacking this phenomenon more broadly and to documenting the far right trajectory of one Ex-Muslim in particular, previously thought to be one of the better, more moderate ones by many who had followed the new atheist and Ex-Muslim scenes.

If you are interested in learning more about this particular form of radicalization, do check out the series on my patreon.

Parts 1 & 2 are up for all Patrons, Part 3 (the wildest ride of the series) coming soon.

***

Find part 1 here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106445369

Find Part 2 here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106501752

Once you’re a Patron you can also check out other Patreon Exclusive posts like “Black History Month with Sam Harris: https://www.patreon.com/posts/black-history-98603534?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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UNLOCKED: Global Far Right 4 - Israel & The Jewish Far Right (FULL) Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

Researcher (from Political Research Associates) & coauthor of Safety through Solidarity, Ben Lorber (@BenLorber8) joins me for a convo about the far right in both Israel & more broadly, the Jewish far right.

We discuss far-right Israeli ministers Ben Gvir/Smotrich, rhetoric we are seeing coming from so many Israeli officials, extremist anti-miscegenation groups like Lehava, & American-Israeli extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. We also discuss the ADL and the demonization of solidarity protests/encampments, as well as the concerning new pipelines for liberals to make common cause w the right on the topic of Israel. Christian Zionists, tokenization, & more.

If u enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos

——

Links: Ben’s book, co-authored w Shane Burley, ‘Safety Through Solidarity’ here https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741043/safety-through-solidarity-by-shane-burley/ Ben’s article on Bronze Age Zionists https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1757871425925333192?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

thread on ADL’s inconsistent methodology for antisemitism audit https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1780623385971540469?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

CNN clip on tokenization that came up in our chat https://x.com/abbydphillip/status/1785147804668616941?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Greenblatt of the ADL saying “we are not the Jews of trembling knees” https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1787536049465413921?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Greenblatt referring to students, incl Jewish groups, as ‘Iranian proxies’ https://www.thedailybeast.com/cair-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-adl-boss-over-iranian-proxies-remark

The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/04/us-anti-semitism-jewish-american-safety/677469/

Tom Cotton calls encampments ‘little Gazas’ https://www.axios.com/local/nw-arkansas/2024/05/01/tom-cotton-campus-protests-gaza

Former US ambassador to Israel says students marching in support of Hamas https://x.com/davidm_friedman/status/1719070572083040616?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Columbia Prof Shai Davidai refers to students as terrorists https://x.com/palmena_ic/status/1782361692900384969?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ted Cruz saying these protests are antisemitic while perpetuating antisemitic tropes https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1785406268607287383?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ben Shapiro tweet on antisemitism vs support for Israel: https://x.com/benshapiro/status/644505141299671041?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht enthusiastic abt rising antisemitism https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1783539026022006823?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ben Gvir’s association w extremist group Lehava https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-extremist-benzi-gopstein-said-advising-ben-gvir-on-police-issues/

Isaac Herzog referred to intermarriage as ‘plague’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/incoming-jewish-agency-head-walks-back-calling-intermarriage-a-plague/

Meet Lehava, the Israeli Fascists https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meet-lehava-israeli-fascists-mounting-vicious-crusade-keep-their-women-away-arabs-1466584

Israel’s Finance Minister Says He's 'A Fascist Homophobe' https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-01-16/ty-article/.premium/israels-far-right-finance-minister-im-a-fascist-homophobe-but-i-wont-stone-gays/00000185-b921-de59-a98f-ff7f47c70000

Meir Kahane’s Cousin drove into anti-genocide protesters in NYC https://www.huffpost.com/entry/reuven-kahane-arrested-columbia-gaza-protest-assault_n_663bbd77e4b0c38baf0eacd4

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Ep 79 - Left Reckoning Jun 08, 2024

Show notes

I was joined by the wonderful hosts of Left Reckoning for this episode, David Griscom (@DavidGriscom on Twitter) & Matt Lech (@Mattlech on Twitter), many of you may know Matt Lech from Majority Report too.

(Pls note this episode was recorded a couple of weeks ago, which is why you wont hear us mention more recent developments) We chat about a lot of High Level Ideas; Free Speech, grifters like Dave Rubin, centrists like David Pakman, Texas, Gaza, the ICC, Leftists vs Democrats & more!

If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos

——

Links:

Find Left Reckoning here: https://www.youtube.com/@LeftReckoning

Check out our previous hang out on New Atheists finding god, here: https://youtu.be/Fywb4l0PcWM?si=TqyNnAH9xEp5YJLL

The threatening video to Ireland that the Israeli Foreign Ministry put out: https://x.com/israelmfa/status/1792943282105848152?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

“An angry President Reagan described Israel's bombing of west Beirut as a 'holocaust' in an angry phone call to Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister said.” https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/30/Begin-Mr-President-I-know-what-is-a-holocaust/7292399528000/

My recent Technofascism episode that came up in our conversation: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0nPioIhFQt6Obo8rWqTBkO

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PREMIUM (SAMPLE) Global Far Right 4 - Israel & The Jewish Far Right May 31, 2024

Show notes

[This is a SAMPLE of my new Premium Miniseries, pls subscribe to the premium tiers via patreon.com/nicemangos to access the full episode]

Researcher (from Political Research Associates) & co-author of Safety through Solidarity, Ben Lorber (@BenLorber8 on Twitter) Joins me for a conversation about the far right in both Israel and more broadly, the Jewish far right. We discuss far right Israeli ministers Ben Gvir and Smotrich, the rhetoric we are seeing coming from so many Israeli officials, extremist anti-miscegenation groups like Lehava, and American-Israeli extremist rabbi Meir Kahane. We also discuss the ADL and the demonization of solidarity protests and encampments, as well as the concerning new pipelines for liberals to make common cause with the right on the topic of Israel. Christian Zionists, tokenization, and more, right here on episode 4 of The Global Far Right.

If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos

Links:

Find Ben’s book, co-authored with Shane Burley, ‘Safety Through Solidarity’ here https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741043/safety-through-solidarity-by-shane-burley/

Ben’s article on Bronze Age Zionists https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1757871425925333192?s=61&t=

Ben’s thread on ADL’s inconsistent methodology for their antisemitism audit https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1780623385971540469?s=61&t=

CNN clip on tokenization that came up in our chat https://x.com/abbydphillip/status/1785147804668616941?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Greenblatt of the ADL saying “we are not the Jews of trembling knees” https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1787536049465413921?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Greenblatt referring to students, including Jewish groups, as ‘Iranian proxies’ https://www.thedailybeast.com/cair-calls-on-msnbc-to-ban-adl-boss-over-iranian-proxies-remark

The Atlantic: The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/04/us-anti-semitism-jewish-american-safety/677469/

Tom Cotton calls encampments ‘little Gazas’ https://www.axios.com/local/nw-arkansas/2024/05/01/tom-cotton-campus-protests-gaza

Former US ambassador to Israel says students are marching in support of Hamas https://x.com/davidm_friedman/status/1719070572083040616?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Columbia Professor Shai Davidai refers to students as terrorists https://x.com/palmena_ic/status/1782361692900384969?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ted Cruz saying these protests are antisemitic while perpetuating antisemitic tropes himself https://x.com/tedcruz/status/1785406268607287383?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ben Shapiro tweet on antisemitism vs support for Israel: https://x.com/benshapiro/status/644505141299671041?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw “.@anncoulter tweets re: Jews awful, nonsensical. @anncoulter is also super pro-Israel, and has always been so, so I won't lose sleep.”

Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht enthusiastic about rising antisemitism https://x.com/benlorber8/status/1783539026022006823?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Ben Gvir’s association with far right leader of extremist group Lehava https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-extremist-benzi-gopstein-said-advising-ben-gvir-on-police-issues/ Isaac Herzog referred to intermarriage as a ‘plague’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/incoming-jewish-agency-head-walks-back-calling-intermarriage-a-plague/

Meet Lehava, the Israeli Fascists Mounting a Vicious Crusade to Keep their Women Away from Arabs https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/meet-lehava-israeli-fascists-mounting-vicious-crusade-keep-their-women-away-arabs-1466584

Israel’s Far-right Finance Minister Says He's 'A Fascist Homophobe' but 'Won't Stone Gays' Israel’s Far-right Finance Minister Says He's 'A Fascist Homophobe' but 'Won't Stone Gays'

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Twitter Space: IDW - ‘Heterodox or RW Rebrand’? (Full episode) May 27, 2024

Show notes

Since we are around the 6 year anniversary of the IDW debut in the NYT, myself and political writer/podcaster (former rightwinger himself) Matthew Sheffield (@mattsheffield on Twitter) did a Twitter Space last week (14th May 2024) to honour this magnificent group of intellectual giants…We took an in-depth look at the history of both the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’ and more broadly…the history of rightwing movements rebranding as new, exciting, different, transgressive or even ‘counter cultural’/ ‘heterodox’ while they continue to spout the same orthodoxies and viewpoints upholding the status quo.You will never believe the SHOCKING conclusion …..are the IDW truly Heterodox or just another attempt at a rightwing movement rebranding themselves?We also did a bit of a ‘where are they now’ segment, let me tell you dear listeners — they are not in the greatest intellectual shape, these Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web…Please note this is a live event, so the audio is not up to usual podcasting standards - apologies! We cleaned it up as best we could.———If you enjoy the show pls consider subscribing via patreon.com/nicemangosLinks:Archived version of the original IDW article in the New York Times by Bari Weiss https://web.archive.org/web/20180508113210/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/opinion/intellectual-dark-web.htmlArchived version of the ‘Sleek Website’ that Bari references in her ‘Meet the Renegades of the IDW’ piece which is essentially just a list of awful people https://web.archive.org/web/20180509020318/http://intellectualdark.website/The IDWesque article from 1995 that Matthew was referring to, also from the NYT https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/12/magazine/the-counter-counterculture.htmlA piece I wrote a couple of years ago on Harris’ rightwingery and how New Atheism in general has been useful for the Christian Right https://x.com/mattsheffield/status/1490457060307177472?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50LqwEric Weinstein’s unhinged ‘to the victims go the spoils theory’ re: Palestinians https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1790462571537133925?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50LqwThe Evopsych episode mentioned in the Space: pt 1 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4jSFhcmT6xNJ4JOwbEkscE?si=By3wE6dxSs-oRRqHfyzYqQPt 2 https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gvuP3xLyqKSpJgTjf43A3?si=jLKlykmWTj6tcu3dbW65igMy recent ep on Dawkins mentioned in the Space https://open.spotify.com/episode/1uSIJRoF9LxkkNtRYBZvRV?si=1abadRJkRw-RK7O7nP1orAPolite Conversations episode on the IDW in Pakistan & Saudi which also came up in the Space: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4OWPkudZ6zfH7p9swNXAtI?si=Ofpw6DuYReOjtX_AKzyCBw

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Ep 78 - Technofascism w/ Paris Marx May 22, 2024

Show notes

Tech critic Paris Marx (@parismarx on Twitter) of the excellent ‘Tech Won’t Save us’ Podcast joins me for a fascinating & frightening discussion about the intersection of Tech & Fascism.

Tech Won’t Save Us is a podcast that critically examines the tech industry.

———

Links:

Find Tech Won’t Save us Here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3UhsI7s4bkH1FcMZI5u9iD?si=15c68cd79657412d

Find Paris’ newsletter Disconnect here: https://disconnect.blog

Tech Won’t Save us Miniseries on Musk is available here: Pt 1 https://open.spotify.com/episode/7M6jMwkb9cJ0kOrMTqzQDi?si=tHJgsAnQTlKVUlmOEYKTwg

My Miniseries on Harris ‘Woking Up’ is available here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1caIpbHnvDjKu0Ph4DA0Nb?si=66ec707de5ec4fd9

Polite Conversations Food & Fascism ep: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ESZbJst9wpaEaEGziGSFo?si=scsteHS7QbaIi7XbFcEI1Q

———

More about Balaji & his ‘Tech Zionism’ https://x.com/veenadubal/status/1783896103823585538?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

The New York Times instructed journalists covering Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip to restrict the use of the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” and to “avoid” using the phrase “occupied territory” when describing Palestinian land, according to a copy of an internal memo obtained by The Intercept. The memo also instructs reporters not to use the word Palestine “except in very rare cases” and to steer clear of the term “refugee camps” to describe areas of Gaza historically settled by displaced Palestinians expelled from other parts of Palestine during previous Israeli–Arab wars. https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt-israel-gaza-genocide-palestine-coverage/

Australian PM has called Elon Musk an "arrogant billionaire" in an escalating feud over X's reluctance to remove footage of a church stabbing. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68878967

Meta has apologised for adding "terrorist" to the biographies of some Instagram users describing themselves as Palestinian. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67169228

Meta censors pro-Palestinian views on a global scale, report claims: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/21/meta-facebook-instagram-pro-palestine-censorship-human-rights-watch-report

Twitter Removes BBC Doc Criticizing Indian PM Narendra Modi: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/twitter-elon-musk-bbc-india-modi-1234667887/

Jerry Coyne accused of spitting on pro Palestinian protester: https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/05/01/credentialed-leftist-at-work/ https://x.com/yumcoconutmilk/status/1785638690678620577?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

Coyne saying the more minorities u let into a school the less quality you have: https://x.com/nicemangos/status/1725166190945833392?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza The Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/

CNN Political & Foreign Policy Analyst, Barak Ravid, shares what he heard from IDF soldiers - “The orders are basically just shoot every man of fighting age": https://x.com/abierkhatib/status/1775778192608931922?s=61&t=w7q_ejvwZ_gCFj9WV50Lqw

——

If you enjoy the show pls consider supporting via patreon.com/nicemangos - the show is entirely listener funded.

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SAMPLE: Twitter Space: IDW - ‘Heterodox or RW Rebrand’? May 21, 2024

Show notes

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SAMPLE: Ep 78 Technofascism w/Paris Marx May 17, 2024

Show notes

This is a SAMPLE version of the episode, access the full episode via patreon.com/nicemangos——Tech critic Paris Marx (@parismarx on Twitter) of the excellent ‘Tech Won’t Save us’ Podcast joins me for a fascinating & frightening discussion about the intersection of Tech & Fascism. Tech Won’t Save Us is a podcast that critically examines the tech industry.

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