This Machine Kills

351. How AI is Boiling the Oceans

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We get into how the massive global expansion of data centres — thanks largely to demand from training and operating AI — is putting major strain o...

Premium – 350. Most Data Work is Bullshit

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We chat a bit about some upcoming international travel, then do a reading series by a data scientist who wrote a great blog post about how most of the...

349. Death By A Thousand Prices (ft. David Dayen, Lindsay Owens)

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by David Dayen (editor, American Prospect) and Lindsay Owens (director, Groundwork Collaborative) to discuss the special issue of the Am...

348. Lost Futures of AI (ft. Evgeny Morozov)

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined once again by Evgeny Morozov to discuss his new podcast series, A Sense of Rebellion, which tells the story of a wild bunch of eccentric...

Patreon Preview – 347. The Insulin Empire, Part 2 (ft. Athena Sofides)

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We keep rolling with our discussion about the Insulin Empire with Athena. ••• The Insulin Empire https://thebaffler.com/after-the-fact/the-insu...

346. The Insulin Empire, Part 1 (ft. Athena Sofides)

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Athena Sofides who co-wrote (with Ed) a brilliant essay in The Baffler, which provides an in-depth analysis of insulin, the social he...

Patreon Preview – 345. Thuggish Ruggish Live Nation

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We do a reading series on a major anti-trust lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice against Live Nation / Ticketmaster and the absolutely wild t...

344. How Uber Weaponizes Complexity to Abuse Workers and Bully States

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We check in with an old enemy of the show, Uber, to discuss it’s recent battles with states over wage floors and worker rights, and get a masterclas...

Patreon Preview – 343. Broken Windows Redux

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Discussing a new surveillance program by NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the public-private partnerships with Fusus by Axon, we dig into how the moral panic ...

342. Superalignment with Sam Altman’s Values

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about how everybody on the superalignment team at OpenAI—focused on safety, risk, adversarial testing, societal impacts, and existential con...

Patreon Preview – 341. Cyber Freak Beat

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After revisiting our discussion of stimulants from last episode, we dive deep into a new hive of freaks on the internet and examine the psychology of ...

340. With AI Friends Like These, Who Needs Society?

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

First we dive into some exciting news of actual innovation: ultrasonic extraction for cold brew coffee. Then offer a live react to OpenAI’s new prod...

Patreon Preview – 339. Reality is Downstream from the Unreal Engine

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In what feels like a curse of eternal return, we discuss the news that Softbank is leading a $1 billion funding round into what is now the premier UK ...

338. Certified Rap Beef // Campus Actions, Deranged Reactions

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Because we are all rap heads at TMK, we have been feeling juiced up by the beef between Kendrick and Drake, so we spend the first half breaking that d...

*Unlocked* – 333. JSOC for the Environment

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

[Jathan got married last weekend! So no new shows until next week.] We dig into reporting on a special forces unit in the Brazilian ministry of envir...

Premium – 337. A History of Fossil Empire in Palestine, Part 2

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our discussion of Andreas Malm’s new, giant, magisterial essay, which lays out a longue durée analysis of the ongoing genocide in Gaza,...

336. A History of Fossil Empire in Palestine, Part 1

23 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We start with the announcement of Jathan’s new book, plus direct attention to a new special issue on ideologies and power in AI. Then we send our so...

Patreon Preview – 335. Seto Kaiba is My Role Model

19 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

First we eulogize the dream deferred of Neom, then we add more lore to Palmer Luckey who, as we find out, has modeled his whole life on a literal-mind...

334. Israel’s AI Kill List: “Once you go automatic, target generation goes crazy.”

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part of the show, we talk about a ridiculous new paper funded by OpenAI that aims to reconcile all human values by combining them into a ...

Patreon Preview – 333. JSOC for the Environment

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into reporting on a special forces unit in the Brazilian ministry of environment which is composed of tier one operators who are also all scien...

332. Opening the Vicious Circle of Risk Rating (ft. Ariel Bogle)

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Ariel Bogle — an investigative reporter with The Guardian Australia — to discuss her new, big piece uncovering the Security Risk ...

Patreon Preview – 331. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 13

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 13 – Surplus Populations and Crisis – and get deeper into the role of surplus populations in capitalism, how your relative posi...

330. The Silicon Empire in Eastern Europe (ft. Erin McElroy)

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Erin McElroy — author of Silicon Valley Imperialism — to first discuss their work as a co-founder of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Pr...

Patreon Preview – 329. Surging Forward

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part we chat about fast food and the spread of surge pricing to everything, then use some recent announcements in the tech sector to get ...

328. The Universal Science of Advertisement (ft. Lee McGuigan)

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Lee McGuigan — author of Selling the American People — to discuss the origins of advertising / adtech and how the ad industry has...

Patreon Preview – 327. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 12

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 12 – The Power of Logistics – and get deeper into how, as Mau writes, “mobility is power, and means of transportation and com...

326. The Problem With America’s Ban on TikTok

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the latest proposed legislation to ban TikTok — which is quickly moving in the US House with broad bipartisan support — and the jingoi...

Patreon Preview – 325. Medium Anxiety

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We talk for a while about the data monetization deals happening now between platforms like Reddit and AI companies like OpenAI, then get into cultural...

324. Dune Dudes 2 // Evicting RENTMaximizer

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We start with a long chat about Dune 2 – to avoid spoilers, or if you just don’t want to hear about Dune, skip to this timestamp: 34:43. We then g...

Patreon Preview – 323. The Supermarket into Prison Pipeline

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We look at the intensifying systems of surveillance and control that are being integrated into supermarkets to further exploit labor, monitor customer...

322. Nvidia: 2 Boom 2 Bust

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

First we chat about the very dumb debacle with Google’s Gemini AI being “absurdly woke,” when in reality the story here is that they were extrem...

Patreon Preview – 321. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 11

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 10 – The Capitalist Reconfiguration of Nature – and get deeper into why capital seeks to subsume nature, generally, and how cap...

320. How the World Became Uninsurable

24 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We go in for another edition of Crisis Watch: Insurance Death Drive and talk about how insurers are flailing and floundering, grabbing onto anything t...

Patreon Preview – 319. A Visit from the Smiling Man (ft. Ed Zitron)

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by the Smiling Man and friend of the show, Ed Zitron. We discuss Flat Earth, CES, How to lose 50k, and everyone’s favorite tech journa...

*Unlocked* – 312. Not Paid Content for Jungle Jim’s

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We riff about a true vortex of power in America: Jungle Jims. Then we get into a totally absurd – but also refreshingly direct – startup from Germ...

317. The Art and Science of Communism, Part 1 (ft. Nick Chavez, Phil Neel)

10 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first part of our giant chat with Nick Chavez and Phil Neel about their new essay published by Endnotes – Forest and Factory – which o...

Patreon Preview – 316. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 10

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 10 – The Despotism of Subsumption – and get deeper into the impersonal domination of capital and why the concepts of formal sub...

315. Net Zero Change in the Tech Sector (Ft. Mel Gregg)

02 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Mel Gregg – an anthropologist who worked at Intel for a long time before becoming an industry consultant for sustainability in the ...

Patreon Preview – 314. Cops Love Forensic Pseudoscience

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We start with a story designed to hit so many of our pressure points all at once: police have been using pseudoscience machine learning to render 3D a...

313. The Web of Death (ft. Tamara Kneese)

27 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Tamara Kneese — author of Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond — to discuss her work on how exp...

Patreon Preview – 312. Not Paid Content for Jungle Jim’s

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We riff about a true vortex of power in America: Jungle Jims. Then we get into a totally absurd – but also refreshingly direct – startup from Germ...

311. Selling Pickaxes for the AI Gold Rush

19 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We take a deeper look at Nvidia, a company that has — compared to software firms like OpenAI — flown under the radar for both investigative and cr...

Patreon Preview – 310. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 9

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 9 – Value, Class, and Competition – and get deeper into the vertical relations between classes, the connection between dominati...

309. Does the World Feel $800 Billion Better?

13 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off with a critical look at reporting on the peaks and valleys, upswings and downturns in venture capital and start-up exits—and ask the $80...

Patreon Preview – 308. TMK Q&A (part 2)

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We get back into the Q&A, picking up where we left off by talking about the profession of academia and working in institutions that are working agains...

307. TMK Q&A (part 1)

05 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off the new year by answering your questions from the TMK Discord! We talk about the video game industry, our writing / composing processes, a...

Patreon Preview – 306. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 8

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 8 – The Universal Power of Value – and get deeper into the particular social form that value takes in capitalism and the way it...

305. What’s the Value of Data? (ft. Salomé Viljoen)

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Returning champ Salomé Viljoen joins us once again to discuss her latest work analyzing the relationship between social data and value creation. We g...

Patreon Preview – 304. How Leftist Groups Get the Blowback for Right-Wing Extremism

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With Cop City as a case study, we draw together two recent articles — one on the historical connection between right-wing racism, environmental grou...

*Unlocked* – 303. Israel’s AI-Powered “Mass Assassination Factory”

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into a new report that details Israel’s military strategy of wiping out “power targets” and “family homes,” which is bolstered and j...

Patreon Preview – 303. Israel’s AI-Powered “Mass Assassination Factory”

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into a new report that details Israel’s military strategy of wiping out “power targets” and “family homes,” which is bolstered and j...

302. God is the Machine

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the history of AI by drawing out the often very explicit millenarianism that undergirds so much of this technology and its culture over ...

Patreon Preview – 301. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 7

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 6 — Capitalism and Difference — and get deeper into the relations between the social logic of capital and social structures of ...

300. Wait, You’re Telling Me the Capitalists Now Control AI?

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the dust settling, we can take a broader view of the whole OpenAI debacle, what likely caused an internal culture war to boil over into a corpora...

299. Stories About Ordinary People (ft. Joanne McNeil)

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss her new novel Wrong Way, which skillfully blends a beautiful literary style — focused on characterization,...

Patreon Preview – 298. Ways of Seeing Infinite Art

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We step into the art world by way of a long profile of Holly Herndon, an experimental artist and musician who works with artificial intelligence to cr...

297. The Unbearable Existence of Insurance

17 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off with a talk on insurtech that Jathan gave last week on the politics of machine learning and actuarial science, then get deeper into dynami...

Patreon Preview – 296. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 6

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 6 — Transcendental Class Domination — and get deeper into an analysis of class relations, the nature of economic power, and how...

*Unlocked* – Kill the Ecomodernist in Your Head

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

[We are traveling and other stuff, so enjoy this exceptional episode from our Patreon archives] We jump off the absurd twitter debate about degrowth ...

Patreon Preview – 295. Accelerate the Eschaton

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into effective accelerationism—its cult of personality, capitalist metaphysics, techno-theology, and lukewarm manifestos. We connect it to p...

294. The Material Power That Rules Computation (ft. Cory Doctorow)

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Returning champion Cory Doctorow joins us to discuss his latest book, The Internet Con, which lays out how the basis of so much material power in the ...

Preview – 293. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 5

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 5 — Metabolic Domination — which brings us to the end of the first section outlining the material conditions (of human nature, ...

292. On Strikes and Solidarity (ft. Alex Press)

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Alex Press — labor reporter for Jacobin — for a broad survey of the very large, active landscape of labor union actions happening...

Patreon Preview – 291. The Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried (ft. David Z. Morris)

23 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by David Z. Morris, a crypto journalist who has been covering the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. We hear from David about what’s been rev...

290. Luddite Tribunal (ft. Paris Marx)

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Paris joins us to recap the Luddite Tribunal that happened last week with an all star lineup of generals in the Ludd Army passing judgment—and bring...

Patreon Preview – 289. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 4

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 4 — The Human Corporeal Organisation — and look more deeply at how, as Mau writes, “The double mediation at the heart of the ...

288. A Hive of Fraud and Dishonesty

07 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We take a deeper dive into the intellectual chicanery, moral corruption, and sociopathic tendencies at the heart of behavioral economics and its most ...

Patreon Preview – 287. Never Trust a Wunderkind

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We check in on a forgotten friend, Sam Bankman-Fried, on the eve of his big trial for one of the largest frauds in history. But this time with a nice ...

286. No King But Ludd (ft. Brian Merchant)

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Brian Merchant—LA Times tech columnist, author of Blood in the Machine, dear friend of TMK, general in the Ludd Army—to talk abou...

Preview – 285. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 3

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss chapter 3 of Mute Compulsion – The Social Ontology of Economic Power – and get into questions about the structure of social reality, wh...

*Unlocked* – 259. The Forever Polymers in Our Blood

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

[Due to illness, we are unlocking this classic episode — which has only become more relevant as the news coverage and regulatory response to PFAS fo...

Patreon Preview – 284. The Techno-Jingoism Will Continue Until Morale Improves

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss an interview with the latest tech billionaire, Alexandr Wang of Scale AI, to push the jingoistic position that Silicon Valley has a duty to...

283. Nerds of the Lowest Order (ft. Quinn Slobodian)

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Quinn Slobodian — author of Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy — to discuss the libe...

Patreon – 282. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 2

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss chapter two – Power and Marxism – which offers a survey of how Marxist theories of power have largely been caught between the two poles...

281. The Smoking Gun of Techno-Capitalism (ft. Meredith Whittaker)

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by one of our favorite friends — Meredith Whittaker — for a giant discussion that bridges her two latest articles. First a historica...

Preview – 280. Step into the Saudi Zone

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We start with news about the latest attempt to build a smart city from scratch as a collection of venture capitalists have been secretly buying huge a...

279. The Power of Wellness Capitalism (ft. Tamara Nopper, Eve Zelickson)

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Tamara Nopper and Eve Zelickson —— from the Data & Society Research Institute —— to discuss their excellent primer on Wellne...

Preview – 278. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 1

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss chapter one – Conceptualising Power and Capital – which lays the groundwork for analyzing these two fundamental concepts and their rela...

*Unlocked* – 275. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Introduction

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

[We are unlocking the intro episode for the new book club. The first taste is free, find the rest on the premium feed.] We kick off the TMK book club...

Patreon Preview – 277. All the World’s a Casino / And All the People Merely Gamblers

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In another instalment of What the Fuck is Happening in America, we talk about how sports betting has totally saturated society since the Supreme Court...

276. China’s Zombie Economy and Capital Crackdown

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We start with a visit to that smart city we all love, New Orleans, and see how the police department’s facial recognition surveillance is going. The...

Patreon Preview – 275. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Introduction

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off the TMK book club with the excellent new book – Mute Compulsion by Søren Mau – which offers a foundational analysis of power, value, ...

274. Uber’s Politics of Low Expectations (ft. Katie Wells, Kafui Attoh)

12 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Katie Wells and Kafui Attoh to discuss their new book – Disrupting DC: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City – which offers a...

Patreon Preview – 273. Checking on Enemies, Old and New

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We check in on some enemies of the show to see what’s new with them. Uber has finally posted an operating profit for the first time in history – a...

272. Locked into Starlink’s Low Earth Iron Cage

04 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the a new investigation on the exponential growth of Starlink – Elon Musk’s satellite internet communication network – its geopoliti...

Premium – 271. Kill the Ecomodernist in Your Head

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We jump off the absurd twitter debate about degrowth and bananas in global communism to discuss much deeper issues about why any alternative to capita...

Patreon Preview – 270. The Kayfabe of Climate Capital

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the kayfabe of the green transition as the woke capitalists at Blackrock appoint Aramco to its board of directors, meanwhile the social ...

269. The Mythology of Cybersyn (ft. Evgeny Morozov)

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are excited to be joined again by Evgeny Morozov, host of The Santiago Boys, a new narrative podcast series about the history of Cybersyn, the geop...

268. High Quality, Certified Organic, Entertainment Product

21 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We start chatting about Jathan going on television to talk about AI – friend or foe? hype or hysteria? – then discuss SAG-AFTRA going on strike an...

*Unlocked* – For a Political Theory of Insurance

14 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

[Unlocking this one from the paywall] We start by talking about Ed’s new sci-fi / cosmic horror story in the latest issue of Logic(s). We cruise by ...

Patreon Preview – 267. Psychonauts for Capital

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We start off with the very funny legal letter that Musk’s lawyers sent to Zuckerberg threatening legal action for Threads stealing IP from Twitter. ...

266. Your Own Personal Intelligence

07 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We look into a new startup – Inflection AI – that has raised $1.5 billion, was co-founded by tech elites, and just released an AI chatbot, Pi, tha...

Patreon Preview – 265. For a Political Theory of Insurance

30 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We start by talking about Ed’s new sci-fi / cosmic horror story in the latest issue of Logic(s). We cruise by the aborted cage fight between Zuck an...

264. Every Dealership a Fiefdom, Every Middleman a Lord (ft. Alex Sammon)

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Alex Sammon – politics reporter at Slate – to discuss one of the best pieces of gonzo reporting in recent memory. Alex journeyed ...

Patreon Preview – 263. Running Wild

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We get into Ed’s new column for The Nation, what he’s got planned, the long arc of arguments he’s building, and how the key to good tech critici...

262. – How Israel Battle Tests Occupation for the World (ft. Antony Loewenstein)

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Antony Loewenstein — author of The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World — to di...

Patreon Preview – 261. The Reality Distortion Field Comes For Us All

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The tech asset bubble is now so massive that its reality distortion field is affecting the major indices like the S&P 500, warping their ability to se...

260. Organizing Tech Labor (ft. Alphabet Workers Union)

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Auni Ahsan and Stephen McMurtry – organizers with the Alphabet Workers Union – to talk about the nuts and bolts of organizing at ...

Patreon Preview – 259. The Forever Polymers in Our Blood

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We take a deeper look at the political ecology of the “forever chemicals” that are integral to the existing microchip manufacturing process, the v...

*Unlocked* – The Tescreal Theology

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the technological theology that has been taking hold in Silicon Valley and its orbital communities – in various ways, different degrees,...