Tech Won't Save Us

Bring Back Meddling With Tech Hardware w/ Chris Person

Paris Marx is joined by Chris Person to discuss the state of hardware and manufacturing in the tech industry, ways to hack your stuff, options to undermine Microsoft’s software dominance, and how the AI boom is making consumer electronics more expensive. Chris Person is a co-founder of Aftermath [https://aftermath.site] and makes Highlight Reel [https://www.patreon.com/highlightreel]. 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: * CES showcased some weird gadgets [https://www.theverge.com/tech/855460/ces-2026-weirdest-announcements] this month. * Chris recently wrote about how AI is affecting tying your shoes [https://aftermath.site/ians-shoelace-site-is-still-the-best-destination-for-tying-your-shoes/]. * Chris also wrote about the new Steam Machine [https://aftermath.site/steam-machine-steam-frame-steam-controller-good-choices/]. * Paris wrote about how to get off US tech [https://disconnect.blog/getting-off-us-tech-a-guide/]. * A peak inside Chinese dark factories [https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/western-executives-shaken-visiting-china]. * For those interested in learning more about Bazzite [https://bazzite.gg]. * Canva buys Affinity [https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/affinity/]. * Chris shouts out Gamers Nexus [https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus]. * For those who want to dive deeper on RAM pricing [https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/memory/ram-and-storage-is-ridiculously-expensive-right-now-because-of-drumroll-ai-of-course-and-theres-little-reason-to-think-prices-will-drop-any-time-soon/].

Reimagining Our Relationship with Digital Tech w/ Paris Marx

Paris Marx marks the beginning of 2026 by discussing some of the big themes that will be moving the conversations he’ll be having this year, particularly digital sovereignty and rethinking the value of the tech we admit into our lives. 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: * Paris wrote about the lessons of the US invasion of Venezuela [https://disconnect.blog/the-united-states-is-a-rogue-state/] and why we need to reassess our relationship to digital technology [https://disconnect.blog/we-need-to-reassess-our-relationship-to-digital-tech/]. * Paris co-authored a white paper on reclaiming digital sovereignty [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/publications/2024/dec/reclaiming-digital-sovereignty?ref=disconnect.blog]. * A digital detox [https://www.verywellmind.com/why-and-how-to-do-a-digital-detox-4771321] is a great way to review your current relationship with tech.

We All Suffer from OpenAI’s Pursuit of Scale w/ Karen Hao [Replay]

Paris Marx is joined by Karen Hao to discuss how Sam Altman’s goal of scale at all costs has spawned a new empire founded on exploitation of people and the environment, resulting in not only the loss of valuable research into more inventive AI systems, but also exacerbated data privacy issues, intellectual property erosion, and the perpetuation of surveillance capitalism. Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist and the author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780593657508]. 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. This episode originally aired in June 2025. Also mentioned in this episode: * Karen was the first journalist [https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/02/17/844721/ai-openai-moonshot-elon-musk-sam-altman-greg-brockman-messy-secretive-reality/] to profile OpenAI. * Karen has reported on the environmental impacts [https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/03/ai-water-climate-microsoft/677602/] and human costs [https://www.wsj.com/tech/chatgpt-openai-content-abusive-sexually-explicit-harassment-kenya-workers-on-human-workers-cf191483?mod=author_content_page_1_pos_3] of AI. * The New York Times reported on why we're unlikely to get artificial general intelligence [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/technology/what-is-agi.html] anytime soon.

How Spotify Remade the Music Industry w/ Liz Pelly [Replay]

Paris Marx is joined by Liz Pelly to discuss how Spotify changes how we listen to music and the broader impacts it has on the wider music industry. This episode previously aired in February 2025. Liz Pelly is a music journalist and the author of Mood Machine. [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9781668083505] 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. Production for this episode was originally by Eric Wickham. Also mentioned in this episode: * Shout-out to the book The People’s Platform [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/212898/the-peoples-platform-by-astra-taylor/9780307360342] by Astra Taylor * You can read an excerpt [https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/] of Liz’s book in Harper’s. * The CEO of Suno AI said people “don’t enjoy [https://futurism.com/suno-ai-ceo-making-music]” making music. * The Edmonton Public Library [https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/sing-it-edmonton-library-releases-free-album-for-children-by-local-artists/] was mentioned for spearheading some cool projects featuring local musicians - combat capitalism by supporting the cool projects operating out of your own local library! * Hoopla [https://www.hoopladigital.com] works with local libraries to share music (and Libby [https://libbyapp.com/interview/welcome#doYouHaveACard] partners with libraries to share audiobooks)

The Year in Tech w/ Jathan Sadowski & Brian Merchant

Paris Marx is joined by Jathan Sadowski and Brian Merchant to reflect on the year in tech, discuss the worst people in Silicon Valley, and share what they’ll be keeping an eye on in 2026. Jathan Sadowski is the author of The Mechanic and the Luddite [https://bookshop.org/a/18331/9780520398078], co-host of This Machine Kills, and a Senior Lecturer at Monash University. Brian Merchant [https://brianmerchant.org/] is the author of Blood in the Machine [https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/] and writes a newsletter [https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/] of the same name. 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: * Visit Francesca Bria’s useful Authoritarian Stack [https://authoritarian-stack.info] * Trump signs an executive order [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmddnge9yro] to keep states from implementing their own AI legislation * The Trump administration is gutting the Department of Education [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/18/trump-administration-sets-out-massive-education-department-restructuring-plan-00656464], climate science programs [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-administration-moves-to-dismantle-national-climate-research-lab-in-colorado], and public health [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/trump-science-war-public-health-experts] * Disney and OpenAI [https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/disney-openai-1b-deal-star-wars-marvel-9.7011798] have reached a billion dollar deal * Bernie Sanders calls for a moratorium [https://www.pcmag.com/news/sen-bernie-sanders-heres-why-we-need-to-halt-ai-data-center-construction] on AI data centre construction