A podcast about technology and political economy /// Agitprop against innovation and capital /// Hosted by Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr., Produced by J...
We dig into DOGE. After some background on what Musk and his harem of broccoli-headed bozos have been up to as they strip the copper out of federal agencies, we zoom out to ask where did DOGE come from? Not just literally, but also politically (as a right-wing project of weaponizing and hollowing out the administrative state), materially (as the next phase in the relationship between tech/finance capital and the state), and ideologically (as the convergence of multiple right-wing movements who find common ground in Trump and Musk). In other words, we ask the question on everybody’s mind: Who let the DOGE out?
••• Speed up the Breakdown | Quinn Slobodian https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/02/15/speed-up-the-breakdown/
••• The federal tech workers facing down DOGE | Brian Merchant https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-federal-tech-workers-facing-down
••• At Oval Office, Musk Makes Broad Claims of Federal Fraud Without Proof https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/trump-musk-oval-office.html
••• Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/trump-musk-corruption.html
••• Elon Musk’s Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
--------
1:41:12
Patreon Preview – 393. The Age of Disability Comes for Us All (ft. Sunaura Taylor)
Jathan sits down with Sunaura Taylor—author of Disabled Ecologies—in her lab at UC Berkeley to discuss her excellent work which brings together critical disability studies with enironmental justice. Against the backdrop of her research on toxic waste dumps, military industires, racial capitalism, injured communities, and social movements in Tuscon, AZ, we explore the “expansive webs of injury” that now entrap everybody, giving rise to what Sunaura calls the Age of Disability.
••• Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert | Sunaura Taylor https://www.ucpress.edu/books/disabled-ecologies
••• Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation | Sunaura Taylor https://thenewpress.com/books/beasts-of-burden
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
--------
6:41
392. Deep Freak Out
Ed and Jathan are together in the San Francisco Bay Area huddled over a single mic like a fire keeping us warm as we record an episode about DeepSeek before running off to our book launch event at City Lights (thanks all the wonderful TMK fans who made it a packed house!). DeepSeek, the disruptive new LLM from a Chinese startup / hedge fund, is being hailed as Silicon Valley’s “Sputnik moment.” We dig into how DeepSeek challenges the fundamental economics of the AI industry, while casting a skeptical eye on claims that DeepSeek solves any of the real problems of AI—financial, social, or political.
••• Deep Impact | Ed Zitron https://www.wheresyoured.at/deep-impact/
••• DeepSeek sends a shockwave through markets https://www.economist.com/business/2025/01/27/deepseek-sends-a-shockwave-through-markets
••• The real meaning of the DeepSeek drama https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/29/the-real-meaning-of-the-deepseek-drama
••• OpenAI targets $300bn valuation in SoftBank-led funding round https://www.ft.com/content/2c697ff8-dfe9-4c42-a328-d21216293aa3
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
--------
1:05:08
Patreon Preview – 391. TMK x CES x Vegas
Ed is back from his gonzo reporting trip at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We hear all about the biggest themes, the most stupid products, the most dangerous lies, and the mountains of bullshit being created in the place where futures are made—or, at least, where expectations are manufactured and where beliefs are harvested.
••• Jathan’s essay on AI and Tinkerbell: https://futurism.com/ai-tinkerbell
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
--------
10:33
390. We All Live in the Firestorm
[Due to the relevance of this episode — and requests from listeners in LA — we decided to make this week the free episode.]
We get into the crossover between the LA wildfires and the FIRE industry – finance, insurance, real estate. Where most people see a hellscape of risk and loss, the FIRE industry also sees a landscape of opportunity and profit. First are reports of landlords and investors never letting a good crisis go to waste as the latter jack up rents for people who need places to stay after losing everything, while the former snatch up burnt homes using the discounts code “devastation.” Second we then get into the simple narratives and material dynamics of how the insurance industry is dealing with the wildfire’s aftermath by leaning into their victim complex while also hiking rates, restricting policies, denying claims, and agitating for regulatory changes.
••• We All Live in the Firestorm: Infinite Crisis and the LA Wildfires https://thetechbubble.substack.com/p/we-all-live-in-the-firestorm-infinite
••• Real Estate Vultures Eye Middle-Class Enclave of Ravaged LA https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-15/fire-ravaged-altadena-attracts-real-estate-vultures-eyeing-deals
••• Experts say Los Angeles rental prices will ‘inevitably’ spike post-wildfires https://fortune.com/2025/01/11/los-angeles-rental-prices-will-inevitably-spike-post-wildfires-experts/
••• The costly calamity in Los Angeles https://www.ft.com/content/1ada4ad5-d992-42a2-89d9-99063883f91d
••• L.A. Is Burning. Will Insurance Companies Take Advantage? https://newrepublic.com/article/190048/california-insurance-los-angeles-fires
••• We Will All Be Paying For L.A.’s Wildfires https://www.levernews.com/we-will-all-be-paying-for-l-a-s-wildfires/
Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s new book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills
Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)
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.
Ireland