Tech Won't Save Us - TopPodcast.com

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Facebook Is A Battleground w/ Avi Asher-Schapiro and Maya Gebeily Jun 17, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Avi Asher-Schapiro and Maya Gebeily to discuss how Facebook isn’t fully enforcing its ban on conversion therapy in Arabic, what that means for LGBTQ people in Arabic-speaking countries, and how social media has become a battleground.
Avi Asher-Schapiro is a journalist covering technology for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Maya Gebeily is the Middle East Correspondent at the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Follow Avi on Twitter as @AASchapiro and follow Maya as @GebeilyM.
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:

Avi and Maya wrote about how Facebook is letting conversion therapy posts continue being shared on the platform in Arabic.
Maya wrote about social media companies blaming glitches for disappearing posts about Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem.
In September, Buzzfeed published an internal letter by Sophie Zhang on how Facebook was ignoring its impacts on the politics of countries around the world. Zhang has gone on to to do work with The Guardian and Rest of World.
The United Nations says conversion therapy “may amount to torture” and should be banned.
Lebanon provides more freedom for LGBTQ people, but there are still barriers.
Saudi Arabia infiltrated Twitter to identify dissidents, and in 2020 convicted a Yemeni blogger for supporting gay rights.
In September 2020, Algerian police arrested 44 people for attending a “gay wedding,” using the decoration as evidence against them.
Israeli security agencies work to ensure Facebook censors Palestinian content at their request.

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Embracing Glitch Feminism w/ Legacy Russell Jun 10, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Legacy Russell to discuss how glitch feminism challenges existing ideas of what constitutes the body and the effects of having those conceptions embedded within our technological systems.
Legacy Russell is the associate curator of exhibitions at The Studio Museum in Harlem, and will become executive director and chief curator of The Kitchen in September. She’s the author of “Glitch Feminism: A Manifesto” and is currently writing “Black Meme.” Follow Legacy on Twitter as @LegacyRussell.
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:

Donna Haraway, Sadie Plan, and Katherine Hayles on cyberfeminism.
Alondra Nelson on afrofuturism.
Nathan Jurgenson’s work on digital dualism and IRL.

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The Sunset of the Californian Ideology? w/ Richard Barbrook Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Richard Barbrook to discuss how the Californian Ideology illustrated the neoliberalism of Silicon Valley, whether it’s still relevant in the present, and how games can be used for political purposes.
Richard Barbrook is the author of “Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machines to the Global Village” and “Class Wargames: Ludic subversion against spectacular capitalism.” He’s a senior lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of Westminster. Follow Richard on Twitter as @richardbarbrook.
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:

Read the original Californian Ideology essay in Mute Magazine and Richard’s thoughts on the 20th anniversary in “The Internet Revolution: From Dot-com Capitalism to Cybernetic Communism.”
France Insoumise presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon released a game called Fiscal Combat that helped inspire Corbyn Run.
Richard mentions Guy Debord’s “A Game of War” and Bertell Ollman’s “Class Struggle” board games.
Other resources: Marshall McLuhan, Fred Turner’s “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism,” and Guy Debord’s “The Society of the Spectacle.”

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Why the Soviet Union Didn’t Build the Internet w/ Benjamin Peters May 27, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Benjamin Peters to discuss the proposals for national computer networks in the Soviet Union, the challenges they faced in getting approval, and what lessons they hold for how we think about networks.
Benjamin Peters is the author of “How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet” and the co-editor of “Your Computer Is On Fire.” He’s also the Hazel Rogers Associate Professor at the University of Tulsa and affiliated faculty at Yale Law School. Follow Ben on Twitter as @bjpeters.
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:

Ben summarized his research on the Soviet network proposals for Aeon.

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Project Cybersyn Shows All Tech is Political w/ Eden Medina May 20, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Eden Medina to discuss Project Cybersyn, a technological system created by Chile’s socialist government in the 1970s to manage production, and what it can teach us about political technology and innovation outside the Global North.
Eden Medina is the author of “Cybernetic Revolutionaries: Technology and Politics in Allende's Chile.” She’s also an associate professor at MIT and the Rita E. Hauser Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Follow Eden on Twitter as @edenmedina.
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:

In 2020, Marian Schlotterbeck spoke to Jacobin about the fifty year anniversary of Salvador Allende’s election.
Independent and left-wing delegates won major victories in the election for Chile’s constitutional assembly, making it hard for right-wing delegates to stall the process.
In October 2020, Chileans voted overwhelmingly to draft a new constitution, following protests that began in 2019.
Dictator Augusto Pinochet oversaw a brutal regime from 1973 to 1990, and the crimes of that period are still being prosecuted.

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How Many Times Has the Internet Already Died? w/ Kevin Driscoll May 13, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Kevin Driscoll to discuss the history of France’s Minitel system, the insights it provides about the modern platform economy, and whether the internet will one day be shut down too.
Kevin Driscoll is the co-author of “Minitel: Welcome to the Internet” with Julian Mailland. He’s also a professor at the University of Washington and the author of the forthcoming book “The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media.” Follow Kevin on Twitter as @kevindriscoll, or find out more about his Minitel research at minitel.us or @MinitelResearch.
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:

In November 2020, Paris wrote about the potential future of the internet if the value of digital ads collapsed.
Vice published an article about the artists on Canada’s pre-internet network, Telidon.
In “The Internet Revolution,” Richard Barbrook wrote that he thought Britain would eventually import Minitel after experiencing it.
Other resources mentioned: “The Computerization of Society” by Simon Nora and Alain Minc, and “The Platformization of the Web” by Anne Helmond.

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How State Funding Built Silicon Valley w/ Margaret O’Mara May 06, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is joined by Margaret O’Mara to discuss how the state and military have been at the center of the US tech industry since the very beginning, but how it was written out of the popular narrative during the neoliberal turn in the 1980s.
Margaret O’Mara is the author of “The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America” and a professor at the University of Washington. Follow Margaret on Twitter as @margaretomara.
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:

“Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128, with a New Preface by the Author” by AnnaLee Saxenian
Another relevant book: “From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism” by Fred Turner

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Celebrating One Year of Tech Won’t Save Us! Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

Paris Marx is solo this week, providing an update on the podcast, the series of guests planned for May, and what’s coming next for Tech Won’t Save Us!
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:

Paris wrote about the future of the internet, why Elon Musk is planning for climate apocalypse, the problems with Jeff Bezos’ space future, and why a socialist future won’t look like a capitalist one.
Paris was recently on the Digital Void podcast.

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What’s Next for Amazon Workers? w/ Kim Kelly Apr 22, 2021

Show notes

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.

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Vaccine Passports Are Not the Solution w/ Elizabeth Renieris Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

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.

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