Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx is joined by Jacob Silverman to discuss Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire’s Islamophobic attack on Zohran Mamdani, what it tells us about the state of tech’s politics, and how Donald Trump is enriching himself through crypto scams. Jacob Silverman is a journalist and the author of the forthcoming book Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781399419987]. 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. Support the show on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Jacob has reported on the Aqua 1 Foundation’s mysterious crypto [https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/revealed-trumps-100-million-man] deal that puts $75 million dollars in Donald Trumps pocket. * Trump signed the GENIUS Act [https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/7/18/trump-says-newly-signed-crypto-law-will-establish-american-dominance] last week, which aims to make crypto more mainstream and is widely viewed as openly corrupt [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/17/trump-crypto-memecoin-corruption]. Trump has already made millions of dollars [https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/21/trump-djt-bitcoin-net-worth.html] from crypto. * Crypto is coming [https://www.ft.com/content/07906211-5ab8-4917-bcad-5397c0bc3170] for the US 401k. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss the global push by governments to rapidly adopt AI at all costs and how citizens can critically rethink our dependence on these technologies while imagining a collective future that benefits everyone. Dan McQuillan is a lecturer at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the author of Resisting AI [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781529213508]. 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. Support the show on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Dan recently gave a talk about decomputing as resistance [https://danmcquillan.org/decomputing_as_resistance.html] and published the text on his website. * The UK Labour Government is going all in on data centre development [https://www.techpolicy.press/the-uks-ai-strategy-risks-entrenching-the-power-of-big-tech/], while planning for future water shortages [https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/sep/26/southern-water-considers-shipping-supplies-from-norwegian-fjords]. * Academic institutions are rapidly adopting [https://www.eweek.com/news/ai-education-cheating-chatgpt/] AI technologies, with a little help from industry leaders [https://www.aft.org/press-release/aft-launch-national-academy-ai-instruction-microsoft-openai-anthropic-and-united]. * The GKN Factory Collective offers an inspiring example [https://www.fbu.org.uk/blog/fbu-supports-italian-gkn-workers-struggle-jobs-and-climate-justice] of collective action. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Nathan Grayson to discuss the latest round of Microsoft layoffs and how the company’s ambition to remake the video game industry around its streaming service has had significant consequences. Nathan Grayson is a co-founder of Aftermath and author of Stream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781982156763]. 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. Support the show on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * An Xbox producer told laid off staff to use AI [https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/ai-can-provide-emotional-clarity-and-confidence-xbox-executive-producer-tells-staff-after-microsoft-lays-off-9000-employees/ar-AA1I6VUA] to help cope with unemployment. * Microsoft is moving towards pressuring staff to use AI [https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ai-is-no-longer-optional-microsoft-is-allegedly-pressuring-employees-to-use-ai-tools-through-manager-evaluations/] through employee evaluations. * Nathan mentions that it’s unclear whether Game Pass is even profitable [https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/07/08/why-it-does-matter-if-xbox-game-pass-is-profitable-or-not/] given how they balance the books. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Laleh Khalili to discuss how the United States uses its control of key technologies to shift global power dynamics, and how that specifically plays out in the Middle East. Laleh Khalili is Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of the forthcoming book Extractive Capitalism [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781836740285]. 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. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Laleh mentions Iran’s accusations towards Meta [https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/6/18/meta-concerned-iran-could-ban-whatsapp-after-snooping-claims] regarding WhatsApp.  * Tech executives [https://archive.ph/eNyz3] are joining the US army. * Laleh mentioned The Global Interior [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780674271197] by Megan Black. * Several years ago, Israel used an AI-assisted gun [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-fakhrizadeh-assassination-israel.html] to kill an Iranian nuclear scientist. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]

Paris Marx is joined by Yangyang Cheng to discuss how Huawei became one of the most powerful companies in China and how current geopolitical narratives distract from the issues at the heart of surveillance capitalism in the US and China. Yangyang Cheng is a Research Scholar in Law and Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. 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. Support the show on Patreon [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]. The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Kyla Hewson. Also mentioned in this episode: * Yangyang wrote about how Huawei is emblematic of China’s capitalist model for ChinaFile [https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/viewpoint/capitalism-chinese-characteristics]. * We also discuss Eva Dou’s The House of Huawei [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780593544631]. * Donald Trump discussed [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-us-hacking-china-b2779104.html] how the USA uses the same tactics the government accuses China of employing in bad faith. Support the show [https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus]