This Machine Kills – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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This Machine Kills

Technology

Frequency: 1 episode/4d. Total Eps: 493

A podcast about technology and political economy /// Agitprop against innovation and capital /// Hosted by Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr., Produced by Jereme Brown /// Hello friends and enemies Listen anywhere that fine podcasts are distributed. Subscribe at patreon.com/thismachinekills to get premium episodes every week.

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Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - technology
21/08/2026
#82
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
20/08/2026
#64
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
19/08/2026
#82
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
18/08/2026
#76
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
17/08/2026
#71
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
16/08/2026
#58
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
16/08/2026
#96
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
15/08/2026
#75
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
14/08/2026
#61
🇬🇧 Great Britain - technology
14/08/2026
#79

Spotify

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Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
93 shares
https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
86 shares
https://www.bonfire.com/store/this-machine-kills-podcast/
25 shares

https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
274 shares
http://patreon.com/thismachinekills
9 shares
https://www.patreon.com/davidgerard
1 share

https://twitter.com/doctorow
5 shares
https://twitter.com/DA_Banks
4 shares

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 53%

Publication history

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Patreon Preview - 364. CopGPT

Monday, September 2, 2024 • Duration 07:49

We chat about a heinous crossover as Axon – major police tech firm, maker of tasers and body cameras – creates a new AI product with ChatGPT that automates police reports using audio recordings from body cameras. We get into this whole political economy of cop power and carceral tech. Then we talk about how all the economists are Big Mad because of proposed bans for price gouging of food. ••• Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court? https://apnews.com/article/ai-writes-police-reports-axon-body-cameras-chatgpt-a24d1502b53faae4be0dac069243f418 ••• The Body Camera: The Language of our Dreams | Alec Karakatsanis https://campuspress.yale.edu/yjll/volume-4/3/ ••• Sometimes You Just Have to Ignore the Economists https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/economists-kamala-harris-price-gouging/679547/ ••• Kamala Harris and America’s broken capitalism https://www.ft.com/content/41d31b4b-b0bd-4971-9f0f-543990a27103 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.x.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.x.com/braunestahl)

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363. Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go.

Thursday, August 29, 2024 • Duration 01:25:16

{Producer’s note: this episode has an electronic buzz in parts due to a dying microphone. I cleaned it up as much as possible, but it couldn’t be totally removed. So it goes!} We go deep on the recent federal antitrust case against Google, which ruled that the company is a monopoly (obviously). We get into the details of the case, before spinning off to talk more broadly about market domination and disaster capitalism, then get back to the potential remedies for addressing Google’s power over search and the implications for techno-economic regulation. ••• Disaster Capitalism Revisited https://theideasletter.substack.com/p/disaster-capitalism-revisited ••• Will Google’s Monopoly Be Vanquished? https://prospect.org/justice/2024-08-09-will-googles-monopoly-be-vanquished/ ••• Google as monopolist https://www.ft.com/content/1d01b2d1-fc70-4d4a-823a-13fb24c9a7ef ••• Monopoly Money https://www.wheresyoured.at/monopoly-money/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.x.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.x.com/braunestahl)

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Premium – 354. Capital Questions Gen AI

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 • Duration 10:03

We take a look at recent reports where venture capitalists like Sequoia and the investment banks like Goldman Sachs are starting to wonder out loud whether AI will ever be able to generate enough revenue and consumer demand to make the bubble feel solid. The returns on AI necessary for this massive infrastructure buildout to make sense are looking increasingly fantastical. It was only a matter of time until capital finally came around to our skepticism of generative AI. ••• AI’s $200B Question https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/follow-the-gpus-perspective/ ••• AI’s $600B Question https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/ais-600b-question/ ••• Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit? https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/gs-research/gen-ai-too-much-spend-too-little-benefit/report.pdf Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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

Saturday, July 22, 2023 • Duration 02:10:40

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 geopolitics of its creation in Cold War Latin America, and the legacy of Salvador Allende, Fernando Flores, and the man who looms largest of all: Stafford Beer. This podcast series is not like any story of Cybersyn you might have read before. Morozov has take a mountain of research — over 200 hundred original interviews, deep archival investigations, all compiled into an online resource accessible via the link below — and turned it into a thrilling narrative about a radical system that almost was, a world that could have been, and the people who fought to the end for those dreams. ••• The Santiago Boys: https://the-santiago-boys.com ••• Outro song: Fela Kuti - International Thief Thief (I.T.T.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jptR_YwCs3o Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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268. High Quality, Certified Organic, Entertainment Product

Friday, July 21, 2023 • Duration 01:31:45

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 and the potential future divisions between artificial content vs organic products in the entertainment industry. Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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*Unlocked* – For a Political Theory of Insurance

Friday, July 14, 2023 • Duration 01:14:56

[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 the aborted cage fight between Zuck and Musk. Then somehow make our way to a long discussion of behavioral insurance technologies and start sketching out a political theory of insurance and its institutional forms in society. Stuff we reference: ••• The Circle | Ed's new story https://logicmag.io/supa-dupa-skies/the-circle/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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Patreon Preview – 267. Psychonauts for Capital

Thursday, July 13, 2023 • Duration 07:36

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. Then we get into reporting on the rampant use of psychedelics in Silicon Valley. But they aren’t taking drugs for cool reasons, but rather to become more productive and creative with microdosing. This is yet another way to chemically create the most productive workforce, who are also more resilient against the soul crushing brutality of a capitalist regime. It’s like if MKUltra took place in a Stanford lab with VC funding. Stuff we reference: ••• Screenshot of Twitter v. Threads letter (part one): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0YXx0qaUAEpR05?format=jpg&name=large ••• Screenshot of Twitter v. Threads letter (part two): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0YX0SDakAA1F6U?format=jpg&name=large ••• Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley. https://www.wsj.com/articles/silicon-valley-microdosing-ketamine-lsd-magic-mushrooms-d381e214 Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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266. Your Own Personal Intelligence

Friday, July 7, 2023 • Duration 01:13:58

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, that is meant to be your ultra friendly, personal companion, coach, creative partner and more. We place our bet that this won’t be the last time we hear about Inflection AI. Everything about this company — its funding partners, founders’ pedigrees, AI product, and public mission – points to Inflection AI becoming even bigger and unavoidable. Stuff we reference: ••• AI Funding Explosion: Inflection AI Nabs $1.3B, Runway and Typeface Also Raise Big https://news.crunchbase.com/ai-robotics/funding-explosion-venture-generative-ai-unicorn/ ••• Inflection AI https://inflection.ai/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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Patreon Preview – 265. For a Political Theory of Insurance

Friday, June 30, 2023 • Duration 08:23

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 and Musk. Then somehow make our way to a long discussion of behavioral insurance technologies and start sketching out a political theory of insurance and its institutional forms in society. Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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

Tuesday, June 27, 2023 • Duration 01:12:10

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 into the heart of darkness at the center of American capitalism: the National Automobile Dealers Association. We discuss why a critical analysis of car dealers is necessary for understanding the real composition of class power and wealth in society. The politics of how car dealerships became a network of deeply entrenched fiefdoms with the power of king makers is absolutely stunning. Plus, we talk about the debauchery and decadence on display at the NADA conference. ••• Alex’s car dealers article: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/rich-republicans-party-car-dealers-2024-desantis.html ••• Alex’s Trump streamers article: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/06/trump-miami-courthouse-indictment-desantis.html ••• Alex’s twitter: https://twitter.com/alex_sammon ••• American Gentry | Patrick Wyman https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/trump-american-gentry-wyman-elites/620151/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)

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This Machine Kills – 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

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

This Machine Kills – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other99+

Patreon3

Twitter74

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other99+

Patreon3

Twitter74