This Machine Kills

We start with a story designed to hit so many of our pressure points all at once: police have been using pseudoscience machine learning to render 3D avatars of suspects from DNA samples, sometimes from decades ago, and then running these 3D avatars through facial recognition. Then, ending with less horrific and more absurd, we get into an interview between Peter Thiel and John Gray where we learn a surprising fact about Thiel. ••• Cops Used DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face—and Tried to Run Facial Recognition on It https://www.wired.com/story/parabon-nanolabs-dna-face-models-police-facial-recognition/ ••• John Gray and Peter Thiel: Life in a postmodern world https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2024/01/john-gray-peter-thiel-discussion-post-modern-world 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)

We’re joined by Tamara Kneese — author of Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond — to discuss her work on how experiences of death and dying shape the internet, the afterlife promised by digital resurrection, the strange quest to solve death, the transhumanist urge to escape death, and the entropic decay of digital infrastructure. ••• Follow Tamara | https://twitter.com/tamigraph ••• Death Glitch: How Techno-Solutionism Fails Us in This Life and Beyond https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300248272/death-glitch/ ••• Memento Mori https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/memento-mori-kneese ••• Measuring Justice: Field Notes on Algorithmic Impact Assessments https://medium.com/datasociety-points/measuring-justice-field-notes-on-algorithmic-impact-assessments-c6cfeccc668d 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)

We riff about a true vortex of power in America: Jungle Jims. Then we get into a totally absurd – but also refreshingly direct – startup from Germany called Vay that just launched in Las Vegas. And we wrap up by checking in on Sam Altman who has finally decided that, in the name of democracy, OpenAI is ready to get into the “military and warfare” business. ••• Vay launches commercial driverless mobility service with remotely driven cars in Las Vegas, Nevada https://vay.io/press-release/vay-launches-commercial-driverless-mobility-service-with-remotely-driven-cars-in-las-vegas-nevada/ ••• OpenAI Is Working With US Military on Cybersecurity Tools https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-16/openai-ceo-altman-says-it-doesn-t-want-to-train-on-new-york-times-after-lawsuit ••• AI-driven misinformation ‘biggest short-term threat to global economy’ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/10/ai-driven-misinformation-biggest-short-term-threat-to-global-economy 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)

This episode delves into the rise and monopolistic control of Nvidia in the AI hardware market. It explores the journalistic style of covering powerful companies and their leaders, discusses the extravagant lifestyle and debt of Masayoshi Son, and touches on the concept of the omniverse. The hosts also make nonsensical comments and mention their Patreon page.

We discuss Chapter 9 – Value, Class, and Competition – and get deeper into the vertical relations between classes, the connection between domination by value and domination by class, and the universalizing power of competition as an ordering and disciplining force that compels everybody to act according to the laws of capital. ••• Mute Compulsion: A Marxist Theory of the Economic Power of Capital – Søren Mau https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/2759-mute-compulsion 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)

The podcast explores the decline in venture capital funding and the struggles of unicorns and startups. It discusses the state of business models and funding in the tech industry, proposing alternative strategies. The rise of dominant individuals in the tech sector is highlighted. The ongoing labor dispute involving Tesla in Scandinavia and cross-class solidarity are discussed. The hosts also delve into Elon Musk's alleged drug habits and lack of sleep.

We get back into the Q&A, picking up where we left off by talking about the profession of academia and working in institutions that are working against you, then get into advice for organizing in tech startups, how to counter the anti-luddite propaganda and deny the doomposting tendency, what our alternative podcasts would be about, and finally our bucket list for TMK guests. The Traditional Catholic Iceberg: https://twitter.com/PapistB/status/1741989796090974217 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)

Hosts answer listener questions on video game industry, writing process, and breaking into critical tech journalism. They discuss their love for video games and tabletop gaming, addressing issues like micro-transactions and profit-driven game design. They reflect on the negative impact of game design that prioritizes profits over player enjoyment. They also explore the speaker's preference for writing on paper and their disillusionment with news consumption.

The podcast discusses the universal power of value in capitalism and how it becomes an abstract source of domination. They explore value theory, laborer-capitalist relationship, and the production of surplus value.

Salomé Viljoen, a data analyst and researcher, discusses the relationship between social data and value creation. They explore the conversion problem of turning data into money and the need to consider social data's 'prediction value.' They also highlight the inadequacy of current data governance and the necessity for change in the political economy of social data.