This Machine Kills

Patreon Preview – 258. A Writer, Producer, and Robot Walk Into a Mini-Room…

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We get into the Writers Guild of America strike, why this is an important labor action to watch, the terrible conditions they are striking again, the ...

257. Red Team Blues (ft. Cory Doctorow)

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cory Doctorow — returning champion, friend of the show, and author of the new novel Red Team Blues — joins us to chat about fiction (science), fin...

Patreon Preview – 256. The Tescreal Theology

19 May 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,...

255. Saudi Arabia x Silicon Valley (ft. Jonathan Guyer)

16 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Jonathan Guyer – senior foreign policy writer at Vox – to discuss his reporting on how the intimate relationship between Silicon ...

Patreon Preview – 254. The Healthcare System Works, It Just Doesn’t Work For You

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We spike our blood pressure with a discussion about recent reporting on the systems used by health insurers to automate rejecting claims. It’s one o...

253. The Cold War Origins and Future of Today’s AI

06 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We get into Evgeny Morozov’s latest essay on the geopolitical interests and military neoliberalism that’s really driving the AI arms race. Morozov...

Patreon Preview – 252. Taco Bell Sublime

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We cruise into the drive-thru of Taco Bell’s Innovation Lab and discuss the strange sublime of food that has been industrially engineered to hit eve...

251. The Triforce of Corporate Power in AI (ft. Sarah Myers West)

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are very pleased to be joined by Sarah Myers West— managing director of AI Now Institute and former Senior Advisor on AI to the FTC—to discuss ...

249/250. We Built This City on Authenticity (ft. David A. Banks)

23 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Returning champion David A. Banks joins us for a supersized discussion about his new book, The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban ...

Patreon Preview – 248. Capitalism With All the Cheat Codes

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the federal intelligence agencies being big fans of great books and movies, and writing about them in their little newsletters. Then mov...

247. Automated Welfare – the Simple Violence of Complex Machines

14 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We go in-depth on an article that has not received the attention it is due: an investigation into an automated welfare fraud system in the Netherlands...

Patreon Preview – 246. American Psycho 2.0 // SPAC Jesus Returns

11 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We cruise through a few topics: talk about the anti-China alliance between Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill pushing to ban TikTok; the bizarre post-mor...

245. Shook Ones (Tech Style)

07 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a fan cam episode for our favorite tech columnist, Brian Merchant, who had two pieces come out recently that are back-to-back bangers. First is...

Patreon Preview – 244. Using Neuro-Linguistic Programming to Hack Civilization

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We give ourselves a concussion by talking about yet another opinion essay about AI written by three “experts” and published by a major newspaper. ...

243. GPT-4 and the Politics of OpaqueAI (ft. Abeba Birhane)

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Abeba Birhane — Senior Fellow in Trustworthy AI at the Mozilla Foundation — for a critical discussion about the release of GPT-4 ...

Patreon Preview – 242. Time Bombs in the Financial System

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the clear and present danger throughout the global financial system, with crises happening in the banking sector that have not been seen si...

*Unlocked* – 241. Euthanasia of Silicon Valley Bank (ft. Brian Merchant)

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've unlocked this episode for the free feed. It's been a long time since we’ve seen a good old fashioned bank run lead to the collapse of a venera...

Patreon Preview – 241. Euthanasia of Silicon Valley Bank (ft. Brian Merchant)

18 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Been a long time since we’ve seen a good old fashioned bank run lead to the collapse of a venerable financial institution, but leave it to Silicon V...

240. Anthropology of Algorithms, Ethnography of Engineers, Theory of Traps (ft. Nick Seaver)

17 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Nick Sever – author of the new book Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation – to discuss his excellent...

Patreon Preview – 239. Ventures in Capitalist Innovation, Part 2: Constraints and Consequences

14 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Disclaimer: this episode was recorded before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. We will do a post-mortem on that debacle in the next premium episode. In ...

238. Ventures in Capitalist Innovation, Part 1: History and Mechanics

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s episodes, we dig into an excellent (and very long) new law article, which is crucial for understanding the history, mechanics, constr...

Patreon Preview – 237. Kissinger Has Seen the True Face of AI God

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Now we know why Henry Kissinger looks the way he does. He peered into the true face of the New God // New Technology. He is paying the price for this ...

236. Butterflies on History’s Collage (ft. Malcolm Harris)

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Malcolm Harris—author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World—to discuss his magisterial book on how a h...

Patreon Preview – 235. Fired By an Al-guy-rithm Named Bob

25 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We look at the latest way bosses are outsourcing the dirty work of owning capital and managing workers to techno-consultants. Then see why venture cap...

234. Supermarket Data Sweep!

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the supermarkets for data – giant grocery chains like Kroger have created powerful capacities for data extraction and monetization. This ...

Patreon Preview – 233. Floating Objects, Vinyl Chloride, Buy American

18 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this installment of What the Fuck is Happening in America: floating “objects” keep getting shot down; a train carrying the toxic gas vinyl chlo...

232. 400 Hundred Years of Capitalism Led Directly to Microsoft Viva Sales

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jumping off an FT op-ed on venture capital and tech hype – which aligns great with TMK thought – we discuss the value and risk models of venture c...

231. Paris Syndrome

10 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We get some Parisian updates and stories from Ed. Then we enter the mind palace of a libertarian who, with all the annoying pretension of a philosophy...

229. Capitalist Manufacturing // Manufacturing Communism – Part 1 (ft. Nick Chavez)

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Part 1 –– We welcome returning champ Nick Chavez – mechanical engineer, marxist political economist – for a long conversation about his new es...

Patreon Preview – 228. “Big” “Ideas” in “Tech” for 2023

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We dip into the a16z omnibus of predictions for the tech industry in 2023. Time to learn what the thought masters of the universe are trying to wishca...

227. Don’t Bootstrap the Eschaton

28 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ed takes us on a guided tour of Odin Intelligence, SweepWizard, CloudFactory and other tech bullshit that sounds like embarrassing nonsense while also...

Patreon Preview – 226. Changing the World, One Rogue Geoengineer at a Time

24 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been a while since we’ve done a real reading series. So we spend time with a group of rogue entrepreneurs who are taking it upon themselves t...

225. How AI Makes Living Labor Undead

19 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We spend more time talking about the political economy of AI – the production and application of AI within a capitalist system and how it might (and...

Patreon Preview – 224. The Bleakness of Low Expectations

17 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They don’t make things like they used to… No really. They don’t. We discuss how a perfect storm of things like stagnant wages, rising inflation,...

223. Money for Nothing? In this Economy?

13 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We offer some thoughts on where the tech sector is heading right now, how the markets are performing amidst a down turn, and what big trends for tech ...

Patreon Preview – 222. Weird That All These Canaries of Tech Capitalism Keep Dying

08 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We do a postmortem on 2022, the year of Web3, talking about the goofs and grifts, speed and scale, crashes and canaries, with our major takeaway and t...

*Unlocked* – The Insurtech Will Continue Until Morale Improves

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We give some personal updates, then get distracted talking about a new survey on consumer sentiments and insurance technology. It turns out that actua...

Patreon Preview – 221. ChatGPT: From Fetish Object to AI Oracle

03 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We breakdown ChatGPT, the conversational large language model created by OpenAI. How this system works. How it has been fetishized by consumers and re...

220. The Landlords Who Own the Internet (ft. Dan Greene)

30 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If we want to understand the cloud, then we need to study real estate. We are joined by Dan Greene—from the University of Maryland’s College of In...

Patreon Preview – 219. The Insurtech Will Continue Until Morale Improves

27 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We give some personal updates, then get distracted talking about a new survey on consumer sentiments and insurance technology. It turns out that actua...

218. Ecosystems-as-a-Service (ft. Mél Hogan)

20 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We take a look at the critical ecologies of the cloud with Mél Hogan – Director of the Environmental Media Lab at the University of Calgary – who...

Patreon Preview – 217. How ESG Investing is Making Capitalism Sustainable

19 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our analysis of all things green by looking deeper at the operations of a core mechanism directing cash flows into sustainable investments...

216. How Green Finance is Making an Investable Future

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) recently happening, we dig into the political economy of green policy, green investing, green finance, g...

Patreon Preview – 215. Ed, Ed, and Aaron’s Shitposters Party (ft. Ed Zitron, Aaron Thorpe)

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

While Jathan is busy with his day job, Ed and Jereme are joined by Ed Zitron and Aaron Thorpe for a shitposters party. Topics include: dystopias, cat ...

*Unlocked* – 202. New Guy Who is Going to Hell Just Dropped

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are taking a break to catch up on stuff. Enjoy this classic (and infuriating) premium episode. Take beta blockers before this episode. In a compan...

Patreon Preview – 214. The People’s Ledger (part 2)

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our deep dive into a provocative, radical blueprint for democratizing finance and taking control of the economy. We detail Omarova’s det...

213. The People’s Ledger (part 1)

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive deep into a provocative, radical blueprint for democratizing finance and taking control of the economy. A recent paper by law professor – an...

Patreon Preview – 212. TMK BC4: Can’t All Be Winners

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re pulling the ripcord on this book. After slogging through five chapters, we discuss why this book just isn’t working for our needs with the T...

211. Living in the Aftermath // Death of Dark Stores, Ghost Kitchens (ft. Aaron Shapiro)

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As the tech economy faces a massive turn down, we dig deeper into a market segment that experienced meteoric overcapitalized growth, a huge pandemic b...

Patreon Preview – 210. worldoptimization.tumblr

19 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We riff on the artisanal race science of Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda Research, the crypto hedge fund linked to FTX. Then we introduce you to the ...

209. NOFTX

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the details of FTX’s collapse. FTX is not an isolated event. FTX is not a bad apple. FTX is not uniquely mismanaged. FTX is not a cauti...

Patreon Preview – 208. TMK BC4: An Engine, Not a Camera (Chapter 3)

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into Chapter 3 – Theory and Practice – and look at how, in the 1960s and 1970s, theories of finance like random-walk hypothesis and efficie...

207. Rent High? Blame Bob

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss a recent investigation by ProPublica into the convergence of real estate, private equity, and algorithmic pricing as they profile a particu...

Patreon Preview – 206. Chief Twit and the Hostile Takeover

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the chaos at Twitter as Elon drives the company into the ground, merging classic techniques of a private equity takeover with his patent...

205. Profits of Doom (ft. Jacob Silverman)

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Jacob Silverman – contributing editor at The New Republic – to discuss his profile of David Sacks, a venture capitalist and right...

Patreon Preview – 204. TMK BC4: An Engine, Not a Camera (Chapter 2)

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into Chapter 2 – Transforming Finance – and look at how, in the 1950s and 1960s, the economic study of finance started shifting from merely...

203. Saving the Planet with Green Crypto Arbitrage (ft. Avi Asher-Schapiro)

28 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by reporter Avi Asher-Schapiro who, along with his colleague Fabio Teixeira, has published an investigation into the crypto carbon credi...

Patreon Preview – 202. New Guy Who is Going to Hell Just Dropped

24 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Take beta blockers before this episode. In a companion piece for our episode on Health Communism, we dig into a concrete case that exemplifies everyth...

201. We Are All Surplus (ft. Beatrice Adler-Bolton, Artie Vierkant)

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie Vierkant — co-hosts of Death Panel — to discuss their truly excellent new book, Health Communism,...

Patreon Preview – 200. TMK BC4: An Engine, Not a Camera (Chapter 1)

18 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After an extended riff, we kick off the new TMK Book Club on An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets by Donald MacKenzie. In the f...

199. The CIA is a Land of Contrasts

15 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We check in on our old friends/enemies at the New York Time, then get to some listener mail about effective altruism, all before offering a smart, nua...

Patreon Preview – 198. The Eye of Sauron is Ethical

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We take a hard look at the White House’s new AI Bill of Rights and discover that the Eye of Sauron is actually ethical according to its principles. ...

197. The Limits of Tech Inquiry

06 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss recent events of a report by Tech Inquiry about big tech’s military contracts was pulled by its funders — a major union and a major soc...

Patreon Preview – 196. Rich, Powerful, Idiotic, Pathetic

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jathan debriefs on the insurtech conference. Then we discuss Elon Musk’s texts and emails that were made public during discovery for his litigation ...

*Unlocked* – 185. In the Long Term We Are All Dead

27 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are unlocking a recent episode about a topic that remains very relevant. We dig deep into Effective Altruism and Longtermism, laying out the origi...

Patreon Preview – 195. Vegas, Baby!

25 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s TMK Live in Vegas! Well, in real life recording live to tape in the same room for the first time ever. We talk about our adventures in Las Vega...

194 – Cultural Capture by Chokepoint Capitalism (ft. Rebecca Giblin, Cory Doctorow)

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Cory Doctorow and Rebecca Giblin – authors of the excellent new book Chokepoint Capitalism – to discuss how creative labor market...

Patreon Preview – 193. We Live in a Surveillance Society

19 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We cruise through recent stories about how our surveillance society continues developing. We’ve got biometric fingerprint scanners to enter the bath...

192. Why the Trains Don’t Run on Time (ft. Justin Roczniak)

16 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Justin Roczniak—of the excellent engineering disasters podcast, Well There’s Your Problem—to talk about the potential freight r...

Patreon Preview – 191. Family Policing Services

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss a powerful new essay on the multiple violences – domestic, data, administrative, racial – wrought by the state family police, aka “ch...

190. Beta Meta Mindset

09 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We get an update on Jathan’s journey into the heart of darkness as he returns to suburban America after a four years absence – a stranger in a str...

Patreon Preview – 189. Return of the Grift

06 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss a great new essay from Noah Kulwin that situates the modern crypto grift economy as a reincarnation of the Savings and Loans Crisis of the ...

188. Using AI to Say the Word

02 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss a new startup doing the rounds called Sanas that uses AI “accent translation” to make "non-white" call center workers speak English wit...

Patreon Preview – 187. The Mass Upgrading of Landlords

30 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the booming market for – and community organizing against – landlord technologies that use invasive surveillance to terrorize tenant...

186. Refusing the Everyday Fascism of Artificial Intelligence (ft. Dan McQuillan)

26 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Dan McQuillan to discuss his great new book Resisting AI. As Jathan wrote in a blurb for the book: “With analytical and moral clari...

Patreon Preview – 185. In the Long Term We Are All Dead

21 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig deep into Effective Altruism and Longtermism, laying out the origins, beliefs, and actions of this ideological moral system and the networks of...

*Unlocked* – Thiel’s Number One Boy (ft. Noah Lanard)

16 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

[We are unlocking this episode to share the interview with the main feed. Apologies for the feedback from Noah's audio causing a slight digital buzz w...

Patreon Preview – 184. Who Hunts the Hunters

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We melt our brains discussing two reality tv shows that are taking copaganda to the next level. First up is Ring Nation, a new show produced by Amazon...

183. The Nightmare of Ambient Computing (an Amazon Company)

11 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Based on Amazon’s recent acquisitions of One Medical and iRobot—just the latest in a shopping spree of vertical integration—we analyze how these...

Patreon Preview – 182. Thiel’s Number One Boy (ft. Noah Lanard)

07 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ed is joined by reporter Noah Lanard to talk about his recent profile of Peter Thiel’s apostle: Blake Masters. We track the origins and development ...

181. Two Bodies, One Brain, No Idea

05 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into a convoluted and confused scheme for people selling shares in their future to venture capitalists, which pushes logics of hyper-financiali...

Premium – 180. TMK BC3, Ch.12, Dawn of Everything

31 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

At long last, we dive into the last chapter of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We reflect on this odyssey of a book, pulling out its ma...

179. Welcome to the Jüngle (ft. Jörg Tittel)

27 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Jörg Tittel, creator of the new video game The Last Worker, which is part social satire, part interactive narrative, part adventure ...

Patreon Preview – 178. Fleshing out Fintech as a Systemic Phenomenon

24 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Now it’s time to get into the real analysis of fintech as laid out by Saule Omarova’s work. We walk through the dominant regulatory approach to fi...

177. A Rosetta Stone for Fintech

21 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We set up and begin discussing a paper that can be described as a Rosetta Stone for how to analyze the development, logics, mechanics, and impacts of ...

Patreon Preview - 176. TMK BC3, Ch.11, Dawn of Everything

18 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive back into chapter 11 – Full Circle – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We revisit the Indigenous critique of how human civ...

*Unlocked* – What If An Algorithm Bought Your Home?

13 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

{For this week we're unlocking a classic episode} We talk about the absurdities of proptech – or the real estate technology sector – which is jam...

Patreon Preview - 175. Why the Electrical Vehicle Won’t Save Us (ft. Paris Marx)

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Paris Marx is back for part two of our discussion about their new book Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Future of Transportat...

174. Pedal to the Metal (ft. Paris Marx)

07 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dear friend of the show, Paris Marx, has an excellent new book just out from Verso called Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong About the Fu...

Patreon Preview – 173. Stabbed for 9/11 Joke

04 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this real chill episode, the boys get loose, lay back, and just chat. We cover dental work, drug nerds, and oh yeah, that time Jereme got stabbed i...

172. Venture Capital, Chinese Style

30 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We have a special investigation from Professor Ed, who takes us on a journey through the history and development of innovation policy and venture capi...

Patreon Preview – 171. Technology + Capital + Cities

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Jathan is back from Sweden where he was giving a keynote at a smart cities conference. For this episode, Jathan delivers his keynote here — “State...

170. Seasons in the Crypto Abyss (ft. David Gerard)

24 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by David Gerard – longtime critic of blockchain, even before it was cool – to discuss the experience of staring into the crypto abys...

Patreon Preview – 169. TMK BC3, Ch.10 (part 2), Dawn of Everything

20 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive back into chapter 10 – Why the State Has No Origin – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. And finish up our discussion of how...

168. Blockchain Imperialism and the Pacific Ideology (ft. Olivier Jutel)

16 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Olivier Jutel to talk about a fantastic paper he wrote on blockchain imperialism in the Pacific. We discuss how blockchain projects ...

Patreon Preview – 167. TMK BC3, Ch.10 (part 1), Dawn of Everything

12 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 10 – Why the State Has No Origin – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. This is a massive chapter that gets deep...

166. Slumlords of the Internet (ft. Ben Tarnoff)

09 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Ben Tarnoff—author of Internet for the People; co-founder of Logic Magazine—to do some historical materialism on the internet. B...

Patreon Preview – 165. Phillip K. Dick Move

04 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We go from talking about how AI/ML research is dominated by the resources, interests, and tradeoffs of “top labs.” Then discuss how our algorithmi...

164. Untethered, Unleashed (ft. Crypto Critics’ Corner)

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Bennett Tomlin and Cas Piancey, hosts of the great podcast Crypto Critics’ Corner, for a deeper dive into stablecoins—a cornersto...

Patreon Preview – 163. TMK BC3, Ch.9, Dawn of Everything

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 9 – Hiding in Plain Sight – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We discuss the utopian experiment of Teotihuaca...