This Machine Kills

Discussions on staying hydrated in hot weather and the future without bananas, frustration with anti de-growth arguments, critique of market-based socialism, unsustainability of consumption habits, historical context of bananas as a human right, exploration of sci-fi dreams and technological integration, and the need to move beyond the current system to replace the commodity form with something that serves human needs.

We dive into effective accelerationism—its cult of personality, capitalist metaphysics, techno-theology, and lukewarm manifestos. We connect it to previous movements like Singulatariansim, strip away the mercurial branding of these ideologies, and look more closely at the material politics at their core. ••• ‘It’s a Cult’: Inside Effective Accelerationism, the Pro-AI Movement Taking Over Silicon Valley https://www.theinformation.com/articles/its-a-cult-inside-effective-accelerationism-the-pro-ai-movement-taking-over-silicon-valley ••• The Techno-Optimist Manifesto https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/ 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)

Returning champion Cory Doctorow joins us to discuss his latest book, The Internet Con, which lays out how the basis of so much material power in the world exists at the intersection of information technology and intellectual property. We get into the mechanics of IT⇔IP, the necessity for interoperability in a world ruled by cartels, and the (intermediate) steps that must be taken now to fight back and create space for even more radical change. ••• Follow Cory: https://twitter.com/doctorow ••• Cory’s new book: https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3035-the-internet-con ••• Cory’s other new book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865939/thelostcause 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 discuss Chapter 5 — Metabolic Domination — which brings us to the end of the first section outlining the material conditions (of human nature, society, life) that allow for the existence of something like economic power. Here we see how economic power operates by inserting itself into, mediating and controlling, the processes of human metabolism—that is, the material things and social relations that people depend upon to live. The very thing that makes humans so powerful—the flexibility, porosity, and promiscuity of our social relations with other things, people, and environments—is also what makes us susceptible to domination of various forms. ••• 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)

We are joined by Alex Press — labor reporter for Jacobin — for a broad survey of the very large, active landscape of labor union actions happening in the United States. After updates on strikes, we then discuss the deep intersections of solidarity between labor movements and support for Palestine. The struggle for a better world is not just a bunch of isolated events, disconnected in time and place. We must stand together in the many big fights against domination of all kinds. ••• Writers Against the War in Gaza: https://www.writersagainstthewarongaza.com ••• Follow Alex: https://twitter.com/alexnpress ••• Read Alex’s work: https://jacobin.com/author/alex-press 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 are joined by David Z. Morris, a crypto journalist who has been covering the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried. We hear from David about what’s been revealed and made clear during the trial as major witnesses from FTX give testimony — and we learn that the cult of personality around SBF, and his interpersonal manipulation of others, really was much deeper and darker than people realized. ••• Follow David: https://twitter.com/davidzmorris ••• David’s substack: https://davidzmorris.substack.com/ ••• Coverage of the SBF trial: https://protos.com/sbftrial/ 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)

Paris joins us to recap the Luddite Tribunal that happened last week with an all star lineup of generals in the Ludd Army passing judgment—and bringing down the hammer—on technologies. Then we talk about the new series Paris is doing on Tech Wont Save Us about Elon Musk — we discuss the infrastructural control that is at the core of his power and wealth. ••• Follow Paris: https://twitter.com/parismarx ••• Tech Wont Save Us: https://www.techwontsave.us/ ••• Disconnect newsletter: https://www.disconnect.blog/ 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 discuss Chapter 4 — The Human Corporeal Organisation — and look more deeply at how, as Mau writes, “The double mediation at the heart of the human metabolism—the mediation of tools and the mediation of social relations—explains why it can take infinite different forms.” We can never escape mediation of any kind, whether social (by living alone) or technological (by rejecting tools). We must understand how such mediation is crucial to human nature, and then critically engage with the power of mediation, reject those forms dominated by the logic of capital, and create the forms of mediation that work for our ends. ••• 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)

A dive into the dark side of behavioral economics and its fraudulent 'experts'. Topics discussed include insurance incentives and nudges, a study on lying and original thinkers, lucrative opportunities in academia, productivity and ethical concerns, data fraud in behavioral economics and social psychology, and the scandal surrounding a researcher's fraudulent experiments.

We check in on a forgotten friend, Sam Bankman-Fried, on the eve of his big trial for one of the largest frauds in history. But this time with a nice addition of the freak beat as SBF’s parents enter the scene and come to his defense. On one hand, the legal defense for SBF is that he is just a dumb oaf who made some stupid mistakes. On the other, the moral defense for SBF, fronted by his parents, is that he is a big beautiful boy who is literally incapable of speaking “an untruth.” Stuff we reference ••• If It's Doomsday This Must Be Belfast https://captainplanet.fandom.com/wiki/If_It%27s_Doomsday_This_Must_Be_Belfast ••• Inside Sam Bankman-Fried’s Family Bubble https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/02/inside-sam-bankman-frieds-family-bubble 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)