Stay ConnectedA podcast about technology and political economy /// Agitprop against innovation and capital /// Hosted by Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr., Produced by Jereme Brown /// Hello friends and enemies
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We’re joined by Richard Nieva, reporter at Buzzfeed, who, along with his colleague Aman Sethi, just published a massive investigation into Worldcoin, a company that aims to distribute crypto to people around the world in exchange for having their eyes scanned by an ominous biometrics device called the Orb. We discuss the long list of major issues with Worldcoin’s operations—including faulty technology, delayed payments, labor exploitation, colonialist extraction, and much more—as uncovered by Richard and Aman’s reporting. Follow Richard: https://twitter.com/richardjnieva Follow Aman: https://twitter.com/Amannama Articles we discuss: ••• “What Did You Do With Our Eyes”: This Startup Promised People Free Crypto If They Scanned Their Eyeballs. Now People Feel They've Been Scammed | Richard Nieva, Aman Sethi https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/richardnieva/worldcoin-crypto-eyeball-scanning-orb-problems ••• Deception, exploited workers, and cash handouts: How Worldcoin recruited its first half a million test users | Eileen Guo, Adi Renaldi https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/06/1048981/worldcoin-cryptocurrency-biometrics-web3/ ••• Crypto Startup That Wants to Scan Everyone’s Eyeballs Is Having Some Trouble | Ellen Huet https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/worldcoin-the-eyeball-scanning-crypto-unicorn-hits-signup-snags Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We discuss Ed’s new reporting on the political economy of play-to-earn games, focusing on Axie Infinity and its super-exploitative system of “managers” and “scholars.” Surprise, surprise – the technological and financial foundation of Axie Infinity is just a house of cards built on a bed of sand. Its failure is inevitable. The question is: how much damage will it do along the way? Some stuff we reference: ••• The Metaverse Has Bosses Too. Meet the ‘Managers’ of Axie Infinity | Ed Ongweso Jr. https://www.vice.com/en/article/88g3ag/the-metaverse-has-bosses-too-meet-the-managers-of-axie-infinity ••• Miami Mayor Unveils Laser Eyes Robot Bull Statue at Bitcoin Conference https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5q9wm/miami-mayor-unveils-laser-eyes-robot-bull-statue-at-bitcoin-conference Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We dive into chapter 5 – Many Seasons Ago – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We’re joined by one of the best critical observers of Web3 around – Molly White, creator of Web3 is Going Just Great – to discuss what made her, as a software engineer who is immersed in the tech sector and discourse, finally have to take a stand on Web3. We then break down how Web3 fetishizes its own apparent complexity-as-convolution, the pitfalls in how it is covered by reporters, the cynicism of its biggest advocates, and the internal ideological contradictions at the heart of Web3. Check out Molly’s work: ••• Web3 is Going Just Great https://web3isgoinggreat.com/ /// https://twitter.com/web3isgreat ••• The (Edited) Latecomers Guide to Crypto https://www.mollywhite.net/annotations/latecomers-guide-to-crypto ••• Molly’s website https://www.mollywhite.net/annotations/latecomers-guide-to-crypto ••• Molly’s twitter https://twitter.com/molly0xFFF Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
Content warning: this episode has explicit discussion of anti-Black racism experienced by Black workers at Tesla, including racist discrimination, imagery, and slurs. We discuss the details of a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 4,000 current and former Black workers at Tesla. The lawsuit is based on a long list of allegations of rampant, systemic, abhorrent acts of racism and discrimination in the company’s automotive plant in Fremont, California. Some stuff we reference: ••• California Department of Fair Employment and Housing vs. Tesla Motors, Inc. https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/e8/c4/932fafa44013b4e7a4bc082b9615/dfeh-tesla-complaint.pdf ••• Black Tesla employees describe a culture of racism: ‘I was at my breaking point’ https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-25/black-tesla-employees-fremont-plant-racism-california-lawsuit ••• Tesla Now Runs the Most Productive Auto Factory in America https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-tesla-factory-california-texas-car-production/ ••• The “Lost Cause” Goes West: Confederate Culture and Civil War Memory in California https://boomcalifornia.org/2020/06/07/the-lost-cause-goes-west-confederate-culture-and-civil-war-memory-in-california/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
Our impromptu discussion last week about Jame C. Scott and dual use anthropology made us revisit a classic essay in which Malcolm Harris critically analyzes the anarcho-liberal politics advocated for by Scott. Imagine if the normative basis for your “radical” politics amounted to: throw your hands up like you just don’t care, because nothing matters anyway. We then move on to a new essay offering a thoughtful critique of sci-fi author Neal Stephenson and his latest book that centers on an anarcho-capitalist billionaire geoengineering our salvation. Some stuff we reference: ••• Anarchish: James C. Scott’s “Two Cheers for Anarchism” | Malcolm Harris https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/anarchish-james-c-scotts-two-cheers-for-anarchism/ ••• Professor Who Learns From Peasants | https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/books/james-c-scott-farmer-and-scholar-of-anarchism.html ••• The Billionaire’s Bard | Rob Madole https://thebaffler.com/latest/the-billionaires-bard-madole Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
Our intrepid reporter goes gonzo as Ed descends into the doltish phantasmagoria of SXSW. There are nightmares of humanoid rabbits as Web3 meets Midsommar. Spectacles and speculations of all varieties multiply faster than the mind can process. The old world is dying; long live the new flesh. Ed’s article – At SXSW, A Pathetic Tech Future Struggles to Be Born https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gb75/at-sxsw-a-pathetic-tech-future-struggles-to-be-born Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We dive into chapter 4 – Free People, the Origin of Cultures, and the Advent of Private Property – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. This chapter is bookended by discussions of two key political distinctions that organize societies in fundamentally different ways. We start with formal freedom vs substantive freedom. Or, freedom as an ideology (e.g. the land of the free; the pursuit of liberty; spreading democracy) and freedom as a practice (e.g. the ability to actually do things and live life in certain ways). We then conclude on the question of the origins of property. Here we indigenous conceptions of property in the form of sacred objects/knowledge based on relations of caring and sharing. Which evolve into contemporary conceptions (based on Roman law) of property as private possessions based on relations of domination and exclusion. Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We're unlocking the latest episode from the premium feed on the political economy of Buy Now, Pay Later companies. What are they, where did they come from, how do they work, why are they booming, and who is winning and losing? We focus our analysis on the big three BNPLs – Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm – each one a super decacorn company that has benefited immensely from debt fuelled spending during the pandemic. Some stuff we reference: ••• Would You Take Out a Loan for a Pair of Jeans? | Susie Cagle racked.com/2017/11/29/16710502/affirm-loan-shopping ••• Buying a new purse? This startup wants to help you pay for it — but could also get you into debt. | Susie Cagle vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/1/14/18178772/afterpay-stores-installment-urban-outfitters ••• BNPLs: Businesses Needing Provided Legibility | Patrick McKenzie bam.kalzumeus.com/archive/buy-now-pay-later/ ••• I Bought a Burrito From Chipotle in Four Easy Payments | Ryan Felton consumerreports.org/shopping-retail/the-downsides-of-expanding-buy-now-pay-later-plans-a2840564542/ ••• The Risks of Buy Now, Pay Later Programs | Penelope Wang consumerreports.org/shopping-retail/risks-of-buy-now-pay-later-programs-a1000664957/ ••• Predatory Inclusion and Education Debt: Rethinking the Racial Wealth Gap | Louise Seamster, Raphaël Charron-Chénier journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2329496516686620 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
We investigate the political economy of Buy Now, Pay Later companies. What are they, where did they come from, how do they work, why are they booming, and who is winning and losing? We focus our analysis on the big three BNPLs – Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm – each one a super decacorn company that has benefited immensely from debt fuelled spending during the pandemic. Some stuff we reference: ••• Would You Take Out a Loan for a Pair of Jeans? | Susie Cagle racked.com/2017/11/29/16710502/affirm-loan-shopping ••• Buying a new purse? This startup wants to help you pay for it — but could also get you into debt. | Susie Cagle vox.com/platform/amp/the-goods/2019/1/14/18178772/afterpay-stores-installment-urban-outfitters ••• BNPLs: Businesses Needing Provided Legibility | Patrick McKenzie bam.kalzumeus.com/archive/buy-now-pay-later/ ••• I Bought a Burrito From Chipotle in Four Easy Payments | Ryan Felton consumerreports.org/shopping-retail/the-downsides-of-expanding-buy-now-pay-later-plans-a2840564542/ ••• The Risks of Buy Now, Pay Later Programs | Penelope Wang consumerreports.org/shopping-retail/risks-of-buy-now-pay-later-programs-a1000664957/ ••• Predatory Inclusion and Education Debt: Rethinking the Racial Wealth Gap | Louise Seamster, Raphaël Charron-Chénier journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2329496516686620 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! patreon.com/thismachinekills Grab fresh new TMK gear: bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/ Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
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