Tech Won't Save Us – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx

Technology

News

Arts

Frequency: 1 episode/6d. Total Eps: 355

Silicon Valley wants to shape our future, but why should we let it? Every Thursday, Paris Marx is joined by a new guest to critically examine the tech industry, its big promises, and the people behind them. Tech Won’t Save Us challenges the notion that tech alone can drive our world forward by showing that separating tech from politics has consequences for us all, especially the most vulnerable. It’s not your usual tech podcast.

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - technology
20/08/2026
#15
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
20/08/2026
#23
🇩🇪 Germany - technology
20/08/2026
#57
🇺🇸 USA - technology
20/08/2026
#61
🇫🇷 France - technology
20/08/2026
#54
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
19/08/2026
#24
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
19/08/2026
#35
🇩🇪 Germany - technology
19/08/2026
#76
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
18/08/2026
#24
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
18/08/2026
#63

Spotify

🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
21/08/2026
#48
↗
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
20/08/2026
#49
↘
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
19/08/2026
#48
↘
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
18/08/2026
#45
↘

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://harbingermedianetwork.com/
82 shares
http://harbingermedianetwork.com/
65 shares
https://www.bonfire.com/store/tech-wont-save-us/
30 shares

https://twitter.com/techwontsaveus
193 shares
https://twitter.com/parismarx
193 shares

https://patreon.com/techwontsaveus
336 shares
https://www.patreon.com/techwontsaveus
239 shares
https://www.patreon.com/posts/43806329
3 shares

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 58%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

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Latest published episodes

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Google and Meta Are A Threat to Journalism w/ Matt Pearce

Episode 237

Thursday, September 12, 2024 • Duration 01:01:22

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Pearce to discuss how Google sidestepped two California bills aimed at funding journalism and how major tech companies are transforming the web to make hyperlinks less relevant.

Matt Pearce is the President of Media Guild of the West and a former reporter at the Los Angeles Times.

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.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Matt wrote about the disingenuous arguments against the California Journalism Preservation Act and the changing nature of hyperlinks online.
Google sidestepped the two California bills to carve out a separate deal that includes funding for an AI initiative.
When you compare per capita public broadcast funding across wealthy nations, Canada is near the bottom, but the United States is barely on the chart.
Google will distribute $100 million to news publishers in Canada after a bargaining process there.
Digital media companies have been doing layoffs and shutting down in droves.
The New York Times used AI to assist in identifying the deadly weapons Israel is using against the people of Gaza.
The Media Ecosystem Observatory looked at the effects of Meta's news ban on its platforms in Canada.

Support the show

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Mark Zuckerberg is Burning Meta to the Ground w/ Dave Karpf

Episode 139

Thursday, October 27, 2022 • Duration 01:11:12

Paris Marx is joined by Dave Karpf to discuss Meta’s misguided attempt to turn Facebook into a metaverse company, how Wired Magazine has evolved, and why the tech billionaires are destroying the world.

Dave Karpf is an Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs, George Washington University. He’s also the author of The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy and Analytic Activism: Digital Listening and the New Political Strategy. Follow Dave on Twitter at @davekarpf.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Dave wrote about the history of WIRED Magazine’s future predictions and why VR never dies.
People Make Games made a video looking at what’s going on in VRChat.
Meta’s legs demo wasn’t real.

Don’t Fall for the Longtermism Sales Pitch w/ Émile P. Torres

Episode 138

Thursday, October 20, 2022 • Duration 01:03:44

Paris Marx is joined by Émile P. Torres to discuss the ongoing effort to sell effective altruism and longtermism to the public, and why they’re philosophies that won’t solve the real problems we face.

Émile P. Torres is a PhD candidate at Leibniz University Hannover and the author of the forthcoming book Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation. Follow Émile on Twitter at @xriskology.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Émile recently wrote about the ongoing effort to sell longtermism and effective altruism to the public.
Peter Singer wrote an article published in 1972 arguing that rich people need to give to charity, which went on to influence effective altruists.
NYT recently opined on whether it’s ethical for lawyers to defend climate villains.
Nathan Robinson recently criticized effective altruism for Current Affairs.

How Tech is Remaking the Food System w/ Jim Thomas

Episode 137

Thursday, October 13, 2022 • Duration 54:39

Paris Marx is joined by Jim Thomas to discuss how digital technologies are being integrated into the industrial food system, how it empowers agribusiness firms and major tech companies, and its implications for farmers and farm workers.

Jim Thomas is the research director at ETC Group, which has over 25 years international experience tracking the impact of emerging technologies on human rights, biodiversity, equity and food systems. Follow Jim on Twitter at @jimetc or follow @ETC_Group.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

ETC Group recently released its Food Barons 2022 report, providing a snapshot of the world’s the biggest players up and down the industrial food and agriculture chain, with a lot of insight on the use of technologies throughout the food system.
The ETC Group has also put together a children’s book and video to make information about the digital takeover of food more accessible.
The war in Ukraine is only exacerbating preexisting problems in the global food system.

Why Green Capitalism Won’t Fix Climate Change w/ Adrienne Buller

Episode 136

Thursday, October 6, 2022 • Duration 53:27

Paris Marx is joined by Adrienne Buller to discuss how the tech and finance industries are selling us false solutions to the climate crisis that are designed for their own benefit.

Adrienne Buller is the Director of Research at Common Wealth and the author of The Value of a Whale: On the Illusions of Green Capitalism. Follow Adrienne on Twitter at @adribuller.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Adrienne originally wrote about the problem with the finance industry’s approach to climate change for Novara Media. She recently wrote about the failure of green capitalism for the Guardian and the power BlackRock wields for Jacobin.
Common Wealth recently produced a report on Asset Management Capitalism.
Elon Musk called ESG a scam after Tesla was booted from the S&P 500’s ESG fund.

Why Google’s Toronto Smart City Failed w/ Josh O'Kane

Episode 135

Thursday, September 29, 2022 • Duration 54:42

Paris Marx is joined by Josh O’Kane to discuss how Sidewalk Labs decided to build a city “from the internet up” in Toronto, the concerns that existed with the project, and why it ultimately fell apart.

Josh O’Kane is an award-winning technology reporter at the Globe and Mail and the author of Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy. Follow Josh on Twitter at @joshokane.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

An excerpt of Josh’s book was published in the Globe and Mail.
Josh wrote about how Canada’s Liberal government under Justin Trudeau isn’t as friendly with tech companies as it was earlier in its time in power.
Around the time of Sidewalk Toronto, opponents were able to defeat Amazon’s HQ2 project in New York, Google’s Berlin startup hub, Apple’s planned , and its planned store in .

Science Fiction As Tech Criticism w/ Brian Merchant and Claire Evans

Episode 134

Thursday, September 22, 2022 • Duration 45:37

Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant and Claire Evans to discuss their new science fiction anthology, how it uses the genre to critically interrogate the technologies being rolled out around us, and how it pushes back on the desire of tech billionaires to use science fiction to get the public to buy into their corporate futures.

Brian Merchant is a tech journalist and author of The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone. Claire L. Evans is the author of Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet and singer of the Grammy-nominated pop group YACHT. They are the cofounders of Terraform at VICE's Motherboard and the co-editors of Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn. Follow Brian on Twitter at @bcmerchant and follow Claire at @TheUniverse.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Brian and Claire wrote about their science fiction anthology and what you can expect from it.

Electric Vehicles Are Driving a Mining Boom w/ Thea Riofrancos

Episode 133

Thursday, September 15, 2022 • Duration 01:09:05

Paris Marx is joined by Thea Riofrancos to discuss how the push for electric vehicles is driving governments in the United States and Europe to onshore mining after decades of doing the reverse, what that means for companies in the sector, and how movements are pushing back against this resource-intensive vision for a green transition.

Thea Riofrancos is an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, and a member of the Climate + Community Project. She’s also the author of Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador. Follow Thea on Twitter at @triofrancos.

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. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Thea wrote about the push to onshore mining activities and what it means for climate justice, and recently published an academic article on the “security-sustainability nexus” relating to lithium onshoring.
EV raw material costs doubled during the pandemic, forcing to raise prices.

Tech Won't Save Us – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Tech Won't Save Us – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Twitter99+

Patreon7

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Twitter99+

Patreon7

Apple Podcasts

Spotify