This Machine Kills

*Unlocked* – In the Shadow Banks of Silicon Valley (part 2)

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

(While Jereme works to overcome a technical problem from our last record, we are unlocking an episode.) We continue our discussion of Hilary Allen’...

Patreon Preview – 162. Bring on the Eternal Winter

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

(Sorry for the delay!) We comb through Andreessen Horowitz’s inaugural 2022 State of Crypto Report, devoting more time and attention to discussing i...

161. Visions of Bubbles Dancing in My Head

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We check in on our old friend / enemy / mentor, Masayoshi Son, and see how the SoftBank Vision Fund has been faring over the last year. The Masa multi...

Patreon Preview – 160. TMK BC3, Ch.8, Dawn of Everything

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 8 – Imaginary Cities – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We talk about the origins of cities and contradict t...

159. Big Tech Trouble in China

13 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We review China’s hard, fast, and big regulatory responses to big tech’s rising power over the last year, discuss the vastly different political t...

Patreon Preview – 158. In the Shadow Banks of Silicon Valley (part 2)

08 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our discussion of Hilary Allen’s paper on DeFi and shadow banking and dive into her comparative analysis between Wall Street and Silicon...

157. In the Shadow Banks of Wall Street (part 1)

05 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss an extremely good paper by law professor Hilary J. Allen – DeFI: Shadow Banking 2.0 – which lays out a very clear, critical, and compar...

Premium – 156. TMK BC3, Ch.7, Dawn of Everything

01 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 7 – Ecology of Freedom – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. In which we discuss the tragedy of the commons, ec...

155. TMK Side Quest

28 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We take a walk on the weird side as a brief reference to the novel Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove—a graphomaniac author of alternative histor...

Patreon Preview – 154. What If An Algorithm Bought Your Home?

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the absurdities of proptech – or the real estate technology sector – which is jam packed with out-of-control purchasing by house-fli...

*Unlocked* – 151. Sharecropping by Another Game

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are unlocking a premium episode in which we discuss Ed’s new reporting on the political economy of play-to-earn games, focusing on Axie Infinity ...

Patreon Preview – 153. TMK BC3, Ch.6, Dawn of Everything

17 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 6 – Gardens of Adonis – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. Here we bust the myth of the “Agricultural Revolu...

152. Mr. Worldcoin and the Orb (ft. Richard Nieva)

14 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Richard Nieva, reporter at Buzzfeed, who, along with his colleague Aman Sethi, just published a massive investigation into Worldcoin...

Patreon Preview – 151. Sharecropping by Another Game

10 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 “mana...

Patreon Preview – 149. TMK BC3, Ch.5, Dawn of Everything

07 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

150. The Cynics of Web3 (ft. Molly White)

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

148. Tesla: The World’s Most Valuable Racism Factory

31 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Content warning: this episode has explicit discussion of anti-Black racism experienced by Black workers at Tesla, including racist discrimination, ima...

Patreon Preview – 147. Anarchish and the Billionaire’s Bard

27 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our impromptu discussion last week about Jame C. Scott and dual use anthropology made us revisit a classic essay in which Malcolm Harris critically an...

146. SXSW: Underwhelming, Mundane, and Frankly Pathetic

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our intrepid reporter goes gonzo as Ed descends into the doltish phantasmagoria of SXSW. There are nightmares of humanoid rabbits as Web3 meets Midsom...

Patreon Preview – 145. TMK BC3, Ch.4, Dawn of Everything

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 Wengro...

*Unlocked* – 144. Buy Now, Pay Later, Screw You

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Patreon Preview – 144. Buy Now, Pay Later, Screw You

13 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

143. FTC Destroys Algorithms; Uber Drives Down Pay

09 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

First up is old friend FTC’s recent actions ordering companies to destroy “models and algorithms” derived from “ill-gotten data.” This is a ...

Patreon Preview – 142. TMK BC3, Ch.3, Dawn of Everything

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into chapter 3 – Unfreezing the Ice Age – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We travel back to prehistoric times to learn h...

141. – The DAOs of War

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rather than try to hit you with hot takes and quick analysis on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we take a step back and round up of the most craven p...

Patreon Preview – 140. TMK Mail Bomb

26 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You’ve got questions; we’ve got answers! In our first Mail Bomb episode, we riff on some of the excellent questions submitted by subscribers and c...

139. – Infinite Crisis (ft. Phil Neel)

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Phil Neel, a communist economic geographer, to dig deep into different theories of crisis in capitalism. While theorizing crisis is ...

Patreon Preview – 138. TMK BC3, Ch.2, Dawn of Everything

20 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for chapter 2 – Wicked Liberty – of The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow. We dig deep into the colonial origins of the Enligh...

137 – Tech Workers of the World (ft. Bjorn Westergard)

17 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing our radical tech worker occasional series, we’re pleased to be joined by Bjorn Westergard—senior software engineer at NPR and Marxist u...

Patreon Preview – 136. NFT: ‘Nother Financialization Tactic

12 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the complete disaster that is the NFT ecosystem before zooming out to discuss how the real promise and purpose of NFTs is as an instrument...

*Unlocked* – Socializing Machines /// Machining Society (ft. Nick Chavez)

08 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Because it was so damn good, we’re unlocking part two of our discussion with Nick Chavez, focusing on the possibilities and limitations of reenginee...

Patreon Preview – 135. TMK BC3, Ch.1, Dawn of Everything

06 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We kick off the next installment of the TMK book club with The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow. Join...

134. Morozov Watch! (ft. Evgeny Morozov)

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Well it’s finally happened. We are joined by Evgeny Morozov—preeminent critic of digital capitalism and founder of The Syllabus—for a very long ...

Patreon Preview – 133. Socializing Machines /// Machining Society (ft. Nick Chavez)

29 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We pick up on part two of our discussion with Nick Chavez, focusing on the possibilities and limitations of reengineering capitalist forces of product...

132. Automating Service /// Serving Automation (ft. Nick Chavez)

26 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined once again by Nick Chavez, a Marxist mechanical engineer, to discuss the political economy of automation – providing the groundwork fo...

Patreon Preview – 131. Slow, Self, Sabotage

23 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We talk more about (digital) sabotage, the different scales and intensities these actions can take, and the risks of inconvenience or worse, which sab...

130. Get Your Ass to Elysium!

19 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the different visions that tech billionaires have for space – whether it’s Elon Musk’s ambitions for lording over Mars colonies or J...

Patreon Preview – 129. Ecological Leninism, Technological Luddism

17 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss recent work Andreas Malm – Marxist historian, ecologists, and radical climate activist – as analysed through a large synthetic review e...

128. – The Year of Magical Thinking (ft. Wendy Liu)

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kicking off the new year, we are joined by returning champion Wendy Liu – author of Abolish Silicon Valley – to look back on all the very dumb thi...

*Unlocked* – Rolling-Out Aadhaar

05 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're back next week with fresh episodes! Until then, here's part 2 of our in-depth discussion on Aadhaar. We pick up with part two of our deep dive ...

*Unlocked* – Khan Thought Redux

30 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're taking a break from recording for the holidays. Enjoy this unlocked Patreon episode. As the Federal Trade Commission files suit to block the m...

Patreon Preview – 127. More Tech Reckoning (ft. Matt Lech, David Griscom)

26 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In part two of our discussion with hosts of Left Reckoning, Matt Lech and David Griscom, we pick right back up where we left off. We get into the envi...

126. A Tech Reckoning (ft. Matt Lech, David Griscom)

23 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Opening song: Venceremos – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11MlvWKfL7s We’re very excited to be joined by the hosts of Left Reckoning, Matt Lech ...

Patreon Preview – 125. TMK Book Club 2.0, Chapter 5

19 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We wrap up with the last chapter of Wendy H.K. Chun’s book, Control and Freedom. We discuss: the book’s value as a lens for analyzing current deve...

124. The Assassination of Thinking by the Coward Web3

16 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We do a close reading of a new article in Foreign Policy by futurist Parag Khanna and venture capitalist Balaji Srinivasan, which stands as a monument...

Patreon Preview – 123. Khan Thought Redux

12 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the Federal Trade Commission files suit to block the merger between Nvidia and Arm, we take the opportunity to revisit the excellent and necessary ...

122. Going DAO the Rabbit Hole

09 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We kept ignoring DAOs and web3 hoping it would go away, but sadly it hasn’t. So we pick apart each part of the acronym—decentralized, autonomous, ...

Patreon Preview – 121. TMK Book Club 2.0, Chapter 4

04 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing sci-fi week at TMK, we dig into Chapter 4, “Orienting the Future,” of Wendy H.K. Chun’s book. Grounded in Chun’s in-depth analysis ...

120. The Butlerian Jihad – Why Sci-Fi Needs Luddism

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We get into a great discussion about the Butlerian Jihad — or the war against all computation that catalyzed the events of the Dune series — and t...

Patreon Preview – 119. Rolling-Out Aadhaar

28 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We pick up with part two of our deep dive into Aadhaar, looking at the social issues, political implications, and street-level implementation. Buildin...

118. Building Aadhaar, The World’s Largest Biometric Database

24 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We start the show looking back at a Wired cover story from 1997 predicting the next 25 years would be The Long Boom. But oops! Turns out all the bad f...

Patreon Preview – 117. TMK Book Club 2.0, Chapter 3

21 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cold open: MCI “Anthem” commercial (1997): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioVMoeCbrig We dig into Chapter 3, “Scenes of Empowerment, of Wendy ...

116. Disability / Tech for Whom? (ft. Britt H. Young)

16 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re very pleased to be joined by Britt Young, a PhD candidate in geography at UC Berkeley, who works on the intersection of technology and disabil...

Patreon Preview – 115. Crypto Colonialism

14 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Why don’t people like crypto? Obviously because they’re old fuddy duddies who don’t want to wrap their mind around new technology! We talk about...

114. – Engineering Capitalism /// Communist Engineers (ft. Nick Chavez)

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Nick Chavez, a mechanical engineer working in R&D, to discuss his incisive essay exploring the capitalist origins and purpose of eng...

113. Metastatic

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Metastasis is the process of cancer cells spreading to other parts of the body. Facebook is in its full on metastatic phase. We talk about the big new...

Patreon Preview – 112. TMK Book Club 2.0, Ch. 2

30 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 2, “Screening Pornography” of Wendy H.K. Chun’s book. Diving into the cultural panic around cyberporn in the 90s, we talk abo...

*Unlocked* – Waymo Dumber

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

••• Jathan is doing an intensive residency program so we're unlocking an older patreon episode that many comrades in the TMK Discord said was on...

Patreon Preview – 111. State-as-a-Platform

24 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a good old TMK where we get mad talking about two stories. First, the increasingly influential “state-as-a-platform” model of governance th...

110. Decolonial Ethic for Tech and Labor (ft. Noopur Raval, Rida Qadri)

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Outro: Eva B - Mukhtasir Baatein https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T--NV__iJA We’re joined by two excellent scholars — Noopur Raval, research fell...

Patreon Preview – 109. TMK Book Club 2.0, Chapter 1

17 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 1, “Why Cyberspace?” of Wendy H.K. Chun’s book and dive into the origins, politics, and ideology behind this weird metaphor f...

108. I Fucking Love Science (ft. Danielle Carr)

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We are very pleased to be joined by returning guest Danielle Carr, anthropologist and historian of science who is finishing her PhD at Columbia, to ch...

Patreon Preview – 107. Put Facebook on the UN Security Council

09 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Outro: And We Thought That Nation-States Were a Bad Idea by Propagandhi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNWZ6THAUPo We give you our raw reactions ...

*Unlocked* – 106. TMK Book Club 2.0, Intro

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For this week's free episode, we are unlocking the first episode of our new TMK Book Club Patreon series, which will be running biweekly for the next ...

Patreon Preview – 106. TMK Book Club 2.0, Intro

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We dive into our next instalment of the TMK Book Club – “Control and Freedom: Power and Paranoia in the Age of Fiber Optics” by Wendy H.K. Chun....

105. A Netradyne in Every Garage

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We take a hard look at Netradyne, the latest piece of shitty surveillance tech already forced on Amazon delivery drivers—and perhaps coming soon to ...

Patreon Preview – 104. The Collapse of Evergrande

25 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

To quote the headline for Ed’s article, “Ok, what the fuck is Evergrande and is it going to blow up the global economy?” First question: Evergra...

103. The Venality of Evil

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

outro: https://youtu.be/JanZSDIWpmg We start with a quick moratorium on self-deprecating apologia for doompill. Confronting, with sober senses and ru...

Patreon Preview – 102. Rhythms and Flows in Human Society

18 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Intro: https://youtu.be/7YynqVvgZYI We spend the first half finishing our discussion of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s essay. Then, in the second...

101. Inequality: The Last 40,000 Years

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We go back in time—with the help of groundbreaking work by anthropologist David Graeber and archaeologist David Wengrow—to examine what the histor...

Patreon Preview – 100. 9/11 20th Anniversary: The Forever War Machine (ft. Kelsey D. Atherton)

11 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s part two of the Never Forget Extravaganza! We’re joined again by military tech journalist Kelsey D. Atherton to explore the deep and decades ...

99. 9/11 20th Anniversary: Move Fast and Leave Things Broken (ft. Kelsey D. Atherton)

08 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the Never Forget Extravaganza! We’re joined by military tech journalist Kelsey D. Atherton to breach the memory hole of forever war and consi...

Patreon Preview – 98. Logistics of Tragedy and Farce

04 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

outro: Funeral Candies – You're Dead https://youtu.be/TjvQPijYEZ8 We start with discussing an investigation into the harrowing—and fatal—worki...

*Unlocked* – 95. Everyday Insurtech

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're unlocking a premium episode for the main feed this week. We talk about insurance technology as Jathan gives the lowdown on a big grant he just r...

Patreon Preview – 97. Castles Made of Sand

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We talk about the geopolitics of microchip manufacturing, the complex factors causing the current global shortage of semiconductors, the centrality of...

96. Taking Control of the Data Pipeline (ft. Meredith Whittaker, Salomé Viljoen)

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Intro: Contra – This Machine Kills (remixed) https://contra805.bandcamp.com/track/this-machine-kills We’re joined by two of the sharpest minds on...

Patreon Preview – 95. Everyday Insurtech

21 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Outro: Processory - Take Me To Your Leader https://sugars.bandcamp.com/track/take-me-to-your-leader We talk about insurance technology as Jathan give...

94. Stripping the Content Mines (ft. Taylor Lorenz)

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined by Taylor Lorenz – business reporter at the New York Times, twitter.com/TaylorLorenz – for an excellent discussion about the evolut...

Patreon Preview – 93. TMK Book Club, part 8

14 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the final chapter of Autonomous Technology: “Frankenstein’s Problem.” We talk for a while about the story of Frankenstein as an allegory ...

92. Fully Automated Luxury Surveillance (ft. Chris Gilliard)

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’re delighted to be joined by Chris Gilliard (twitter.com/hypervisible) – one of the best experts on privacy and surveillance around – for a f...

Patreon Preview – 91. Monsanto Farm of the Future

08 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Outro: Mr. Suit by New Bomb Turks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VraBz96VbLA We get deeper into the political economy of precision agriculture and...

90. All Data is a Social Construct

04 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Outro: St. Lorelei - https://stlorelei.bandcamp.com/track/outside-the-green We kick things off with an announcement about TMK sweeps month. Then we ...

Patreon Preview - 89. TMK Book Club, part 7 (ft. David A. Banks)

31 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 7 of Autonomous Technology: “Complexity and the Loss of Agency.” Ed couldn’t be here for this episode, so we’re joined agai...

*Unlocked* – Potemkin AI

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're taking a week off recording so we're unlocking one of our favorite episodes from the Patreon feed for you to enjoy. Cold open: Ghost in the She...

88. Bring Down the Hammer (ft. Paris Marx)

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After way too long, we finally got our friend and comrade Paris Marx—host of the excellent podcast Tech Won’t Save Us—on TMK for a great convers...

Patreon Preview – 87. TMK Book Club, part 6 (ft. David A. Banks)

17 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For a blockbuster of a book club episode, we’re joined by friend of the show David Banks to discuss Chapter 6 of Autonomous Technology: “Technolog...

86. Khaaaaan!

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We do a deep dive into the ideas of Lina Khan, the newly confirmed chair of the Federal Trade Commission. We discuss her large body of scholarship—d...

Patreon Preview – 85. Waymo Dumber

11 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Rather than our usual doompilled analysis, we take a big dose of dumbpill as we spend the whole episode on a reading series of the stupidest article w...

84. Killing Us Infrastructurally

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the tech news roundup, yeehaw! We look at a few recent stories in techno-politics worth discussing. First, businesses are blaming Amazon for dr...

Patreon Preview – 83. TMK Book Club, part 5.5

03 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the second half of Chapter 5 of Autonomous Technology: “Artifice and Order” — diving deeper into the social philosophy and political ...

82. Crisis in the Gig Mills

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Further notes toward a ruthless criticism of digital capitalism — we lay out how the inherent contradictions of the “gig economy” are starting t...

Patreon Preview – 81. TMK Book Club, part 5

26 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss the first half of Chapter 5 of Autonomous Technology: “Artifice and Order.” This is a really juicy chapter where Winner is really layin...

80. Tech Work and its Discontents (ft. Wendy Liu and Jason Prado)

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As an antidote to the constant glowing profiles of tech executives and venture capitalists, TMK is starting an ongoing, occasional series where we hig...

Patreon Preview – 79. The Great Power Competition

19 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In an action packed episode continuing our updates on ongoing topics of TMK interest, we deconstruct the political economy of massive health data shar...

78. On Useful Idiots and Snake Oil

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we bring y’all some updates on ongoing topics of TMK interest: things we’ve done whole episodes on in the past but keep rearing the ugly...

Patreon Preview – 77. TMK Book Club, Part 4

12 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 4 of Autonomous Technology: “Technocracy.” We get into different historical ideas of technocracy – from Francis Bacon to Thor...

76. Smart City Colonialism, Brought to You By McKinsey

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss how the failed promises of smart city megaprojects around the world – really honing in on Africa and a case study of Konza City in Kenya ...

Patreon Preview - 75. Here’s to the Pigs

05 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

(Jathan's mic is busted for this episode – sorry!) We hit y’all with a double header about what happens when the cop in our mind is allowed to thr...

74. Let’s Talk About Sex Work (ft. Liara Roux)

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In our mission to analyse capitalism and technology from the experiences of workers, we would be remiss if we ignored a crucial form of labor that peo...

Patreon Preview - 73. TMK Book Club, Part 3

29 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We discuss Chapter 3 of Autonomous Technology: “The Flaw and its Origins.” First, we dispel the metaphysical arguments based on assertions about h...