Beste Machine Kills Podcasts (2024)

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TMK on Holiday 0:49

14d ago0:49

0:49

Just a quick note – TMK is on holiday for a couple weeks! Jathan is enjoying his honeymoon totally disconnected from all work, while Ed and Jereme are taking a much needed break. We'll back later in November with more exciting episodes. Until then – later!Von This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 378. BYD’s Green Tech Red Scare 8:05

18d ago8:05

8:05

We bullshit about ICP, the Joker, and Megalopolis for the first 33 minutes. So jump a bit into the episode if you wanna skip the verbal shit posting and get to the analytical discussion of BYD. We chat broadly about the background and rapid rise of BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer. We explain why BYD is such a fascinating company that…

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377. The Real Cost of Uber/Lyft’s Driver Lockouts 1:33:12

23d ago1:33:12

1:33:12

First we have an update on an old startup as Worldcoin changes its name to World and redesigns its Orb to be more than just an eyeball scanner but also now an identification service called Deep Face. Repeat the satanic mantra after me: World, Orb, Deep Face. We then sit back as Prof Ed walks us through an in-depth investigation into how Uber and Ly…

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Patreon Preview – 376. Silicon Valley’s Political Machine 7:18

29d ago7:18

7:18

We chat about a great investigation into the powerful networks of political influence and intimidation that tech companies are bankrolling to ensure that politicians at local, state, and federal levels advance the interests of Silicon Valley—or at least not stand in their way. For example, one recently created pro-crypto super PAC has $170 million …

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375. Of Vampires and Empires (ft. Paris Marx) 1:13:05

1M ago1:13:05

1:13:05

We are joined by a dear friend of the show, Paris Marx, to talk about his new series on Tech Won’t Save Us called “Data Vampires” – which provides an excellent deep dive into the politics, ideologies, and consequences of the global expansion of data centers by big tech giants. Data Vampires is full of original research and interviews, plus excellen…

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Patreon Preview – 374. Bigger is Not Better in AI 8:10

1M ago8:10

8:10

Bringing together a few news items, we analyze the politics of scale in AI. First, OpenAI has one of the largest funding rounds ever at $6.6 billion raised for a valuation of $157 billion—with our boy Masayoshi finally getting his taste of OpenAI by investing $500 million. Second, CA Governor Gruesome Newsom vetoed an AI safety bill, which would ha…

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373. Press X to Start Revolution (ft. Marijam Did) 1:17:31

1M ago1:17:31

1:17:31

We chat with Marijam Did, author of the new book Everything to Play For, which bridges radical leftist politics and video games through a real material analysis of video games as an industry, art form, and social space. Marijam lays out the case for why these two communities of radical leftists and gamers—which have largely been distinct and even a…

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Patreon Preview – 372. The Sin-Eater of Zero Interest Rates 7:34

1M ago7:34

7:34

With the news of interest rates dropping again, we refocus our attention on Masayoshi Son, the man who perhaps most embodies the pathologies of technological capitalism. Thanks to a new biography, we learn fascinating color about Masa’s character which further support what we already to know to be true: he is an ambitious disrupter who is burdened …

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371. Optimizing for Planetary Crisis 1:11:12

2M ago1:11:12

1:11:12

Jumping off a spate of recent reporting, we revisit the deep relations between the tech sector and fossil fuel industry and discuss how companies like Microsoft are turning to oil and gas companies as a solution for AI’s profit problem. How are tech companies going to offset their trillion dollars of capital investment into AI infrastructure? One r…

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Patreon Preview – 370. Paranoid Android 5:23

2M ago5:23

5:23

We dive into a weird but revealing article about the phalanx of private security that Elon Musk has amassed around him, spending a small fortune on ex-operators who plan escape routes for his events, clear rooms before he enters, and assess (perceived) threats to his personal safety. His “mushrooming security apparatus” has caused a feedback loop o…

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369. The Third Most Amazing Race (ft. Gaby Del Valle) 1:11:52

2M ago1:11:52

1:11:52

We are joined by Gaby Del Valle who has written a great—and distressingly relevant—essay for The Baffler, which reports on the “eugenic foundations of the war on woke.” We dig into the beliefs of innate biological hierarchy and genetic superiority that underpin so much of mainstream right-wing politics. Whether it’s the convergence of Christian nat…

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Patreon Preview – 368. Building the Most Lethal University 8:46

2M ago8:46

8:46

Keeping with our recent theme of exploring the relations between the military and tech sector, we jump off a great essay in The Baffler to discuss a crucial part of this complex: university research. Universities – especially, academics in STEM faculties – must be understood as defense contractors who are partners with the military (and adjacent ag…

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367. A Brief History of Apocalypse 1:19:58

2M ago1:19:58

1:19:58

To mark the occasion of his new best selling airport book, we take a deeper look at Yuval Noah Harari’s impoverished thought and intellectual style via a great review essay by Daniel Immerwahr. We see how Harari’s doomsday scenarios are based on an extreme form of technological determinism + a romanticized humanism-as-critique + a disinterest in ma…

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Preview – 366. American Dynamism: Or, Libertarian Fascism with Silicon Valley Characteristics 7:33

2M ago7:33

7:33

We do a deep dive into Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism Strategy and Little Tech Agenda, which together lay out a clear ideology of how tech startups are integral to the American empire. All this venture capital firm asks for is your belief in a16z as a conduit for the spirit of innovation, your trust in America as a vessel for the progressi…

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365. The Pentagon Primes in Silicon Valley (ft. Michael Richardson) 1:29:26

2M ago1:29:26

1:29:26

We chat with friend of the show Michael Richardson—author of the new book Nonhuman Witnessing—about the ongoing, deepening relationships between Silicon Valley and the US military. We check up on new activities from old enemies—Y Combinator, Anduril, Palantir, among others—and get into the changing cultures on both sides as they converge around def…

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Patreon Preview - 364. CopGPT 7:49

3M ago7:49

7:49

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…

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363. Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go. 1:25:16

3M ago1:25:16

1:25:16

{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 of…

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Patreon Preview - 362. Alex Karp’s Freak Flag Flies 7:12

3M ago7:12

7:12

We get into a new profile of Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, which is written by Maureen Dowd, one of the NYT’s most credulous opinion writers, and thus the perfect person to coax Karp into being as weird as he wants to be. This piece reveals a lot of core lore about Karp and shines light on a man who is riddled with contradictions and has turned that …

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361. The Artists vs. the Machines (ft. Brian Merchant) 1:00:49

3M ago1:00:49

1:00:49

We’re joined by Brian Merchant to chat about his reporting on the frontlines of labor exploitations in video games development and animation studios where companies are using AI to replace and degrade jobs, fracture and disempower the workforce, and push the quality of artistic works down even further. When executives explicitly say they are going …

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Patreon Preview – 360. Bubbles and Black Markets 8:26

3M ago8:26

8:26

We get into the collapse of investor confidence in the AI boom, then turn to the thriving black markets for smuggling vast quantities of AI microchips into China and the geopolitics of technological progress and economic sanctions as AI becomes a site of proxy wars by other means.••• Burst Damage https://www.wheresyoured.at/burst-damage/ ••• With S…

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359. We Are All Cyborgs (ft. Danya Glabau, Laura Forlano) 1:13:11

3M ago1:13:11

1:13:11

We are joined by Danya Glabau and Laura Forlano, authors of Cyborg, a new book that explores how this archetype of sci-fi stories is also a critical theory for understanding the tangle of socio-technical relations that constitute our lives. The cyborg helps us think in terms of embodiment and environments, break down boundaries and barriers, and tr…

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Patreon Preview – 358. Se7en Voice What’s in the Benchmark? 8:52

3M ago8:52

8:52

We first get an update on regulatory arbitrage in the weed vape industry, then discuss how the benchmarks used to rank AI models—and make claims about their "intelligence" relative to humans—are largely low quality, out-of-date, not fit for purpose, or just meaningless and deceptive. Yet they are widely treated by industry as authoritative standard…

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357. CrowdStrike ClusterFuck 1:14:43

4M ago1:14:43

1:14:43

We first talk about how all news stories, even the most world historic ones, feel ephemeral and disposable, and how this is the perverse effect of a (news/social/cultural) media ecosystem that is designed around logics of optimizing for content production and audience attention. Then we get into the CrowdStrike outage and how it reveals (and requir…

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Patreon Preview – 356. Car Dealerships Are an Affront to God 6:11

4M ago6:11

6:11

We talk about that paragon of capitalism, car dealerships, and the deceptive, manipulative, extractive tactics they have perfected to make the experience as hellish as possible — particularly by turning the dealership’s finance and insurance department into an engine of 100 percent pure parasitic profit.••• Escape From the Box https://prospect.org/…

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355. The Rise of Shadow Finance 1:24:27

4M ago1:24:27

1:24:27

We are a bit ahead with recording, but we had to talk about the Trump assassination attempt and JD Vance being tapped for vice president (for like the first 30 minutes). Then we get into a great essay on how private financial markets — or the shadow finance system that is unregulated, unaccountable, and undemocratic — have become the dominant form …

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Premium – 354. Capital Questions Gen AI 10:03

4M ago10:03

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 …

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353. Slaughterbots, Roll Out! 1:17:47

4M ago1:17:47

1:17:47

We refocus on the war in Ukraine and the country’s pivot toward being the “Silicon Valley for autonomous drones and other weaponry.” Thanks to a combination of foreign investment, entrepreneurial governance, DIY scrappiness, and a ‘by any means necessary’ attitude, the future of cheap, lethal, autonomous warfare is being forged and tested in Ukrain…

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Patreon Preview – 352. Big Vape, Small Cigs 5:25

4M ago5:25

5:25

We chat about an interesting case study in technology governance: the rise of vapes and the return of cigarettes. How do you create new markets for a product that is highly addictive but also extremely regulated (even banned)? The answer is to flaunt regulation, disrupt competitors, and create an image of coolness using social media influencers. Pl…

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351. How AI is Boiling the Oceans 1:14:48

5M ago1:14:48

1:14:48

We get into how the massive global expansion of data centres — thanks largely to demand from training and operating AI — is putting major strain on energy systems and requiring the generation of more electricity. How’s all that new energy demand being met? Some renewables, a lot of fossil fuels, but also maybe futuristic magic technology? Big tech …

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Premium – 350. Most Data Work is Bullshit 6:41

5M ago6:41

6:41

We chat a bit about some upcoming international travel, then do a reading series by a data scientist who wrote a great blog post about how most of the work done by data scientists in large organizations feels totally worthless, pointless, unfulfilling, and unnecessary — in other words, the definition of bullshit. And yet data science is valorized a…

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349. Death By A Thousand Prices (ft. David Dayen, Lindsay Owens) 1:22:06

5M ago1:22:06

1:22:06

We are joined by David Dayen (editor, American Prospect) and Lindsay Owens (director, Groundwork Collaborative) to discuss the special issue of the American Prospect they put together on “how pricing really works.” We drill down into why pricing is the perfect window for seeing how power works in the economy. We explore the great many tactics and t…

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348. Lost Futures of AI (ft. Evgeny Morozov) 2:10:56

5M ago2:10:56

2:10:56

We are joined once again by Evgeny Morozov to discuss his new podcast series, A Sense of Rebellion, which tells the story of a wild bunch of eccentric hippies who had grand ideas for how to design interactive technologies and intelligent environments and cybernetic systems that are radically different from today’s smart tech and AI. Morozov takes u…

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Patreon Preview – 347. The Insulin Empire, Part 2 (ft. Athena Sofides) 8:52

5M ago8:52

8:52

We keep rolling with our discussion about the Insulin Empire with Athena.••• The Insulin Empire https://thebaffler.com/after-the-fact/the-insulin-empire-ongweso-jr-sofides ••• Mutual Aid Diabetes https://mutualaiddiabetes.com/ ••• T1International https://www.t1international.com/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes…

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346. The Insulin Empire, Part 1 (ft. Athena Sofides) 1:14:40

5M ago1:14:40

1:14:40

We are joined by Athena Sofides who co-wrote (with Ed) a brilliant essay in The Baffler, which provides an in-depth analysis of insulin, the social health factors of diabetes, and the global oligopoly of pharmaceutical corporations that exert total control over – and extract max profits from — this medicine that many millions of diabetics depend up…

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Patreon Preview – 345. Thuggish Ruggish Live Nation 8:00

6M ago8:00

8:00

We do a reading series on a major anti-trust lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice against Live Nation / Ticketmaster and the absolutely wild tactics the company used to intimidate competitors, enforce market domination, and totally lockdown the live entertainment industry. Then we wrap up with the new licensing deals between OpenAI and The …

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344. How Uber Weaponizes Complexity to Abuse Workers and Bully States 1:24:58

6M ago1:24:58

1:24:58

We check in with an old enemy of the show, Uber, to discuss it’s recent battles with states over wage floors and worker rights, and get a masterclass on how Uber weaponizes complexity through it’s platform to abuse workers and avoid regulation, while also wielding the threat of capital flight to great effect against politicians and governments. •••…

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Patreon Preview – 343. Broken Windows Redux 10:13

6M ago10:13

10:13

Discussing a new surveillance program by NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the public-private partnerships with Fusus by Axon, we dig into how the moral panic around “organized retail theft” has become a smoke screen / cynical moral alibi for an arms race of policing. It’s new software for the old hardware of an oppressive corporate state.••• Mayor Adams An…

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342. Superalignment with Sam Altman’s Values 1:16:33

6M ago1:16:33

1:16:33

We talk about how everybody on the superalignment team at OpenAI—focused on safety, risk, adversarial testing, societal impacts, and existential concerns—is resigning, including high-profile people like Illya Sutskever. And nobody can talk about it because of draconian rules (even for Silicon Valley) about non-disclosure and non-disparagement peopl…

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Patreon Preview – 341. Cyber Freak Beat 9:20

6M ago9:20

9:20

After revisiting our discussion of stimulants from last episode, we dive deep into a new hive of freaks on the internet and examine the psychology of forum posters on the Cybertruck Owners Club.••• Cybertruck Owners Club https://www.cybertruckownersclub.com/forum/ Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! ht…

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340. With AI Friends Like These, Who Needs Society? 1:29:59

6M ago1:29:59

1:29:59

First we dive into some exciting news of actual innovation: ultrasonic extraction for cold brew coffee. Then offer a live react to OpenAI’s new product GPT-4o, which is its new flagship model in the form of a voice assistant, and jump from there to talk more deeply about the problems with AI companions via a tech column in the NYTimes.••• Scientist…

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Patreon Preview – 339. Reality is Downstream from the Unreal Engine 7:10

6M ago7:10

7:10

In what feels like a curse of eternal return, we discuss the news that Softbank is leading a $1 billion funding round into what is now the premier UK AI startup, Wavye, which has a generative simulation model for driving data. We then transition to talking about a long piece of reporting on video game engines like Unreal and Unity, the dream of cre…

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338. Certified Rap Beef // Campus Actions, Deranged Reactions 1:26:22

6M ago1:26:22

1:26:22

Because we are all rap heads at TMK, we have been feeling juiced up by the beef between Kendrick and Drake, so we spend the first half breaking that down. Then we catch up on the campus protests and collective actions, the vibes on the ground in the encampments, and the range of deranged reactions by people who are disconnected from reality.Subscri…

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Unlocked – 333. JSOC for the Environment 1:09:28

7M ago1:09:28

1:09:28

[Jathan got married last weekend! So no new shows until next week.]We dig into reporting on a special forces unit in the Brazilian ministry of environment which is composed of tier one operators who are also all scientists that are driven by a singular righteous mission of protecting the Amazon rainforest, wildlife and Indigenous communities from i…

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Premium – 337. A History of Fossil Empire in Palestine, Part 2 6:21

7M ago6:21

6:21

We continue our discussion of Andreas Malm’s new, giant, magisterial essay, which lays out a longue durée analysis of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, situating it in a history of fossil empire, colonial annihilation, and ecological catastrophe that stretches directly back to 1840. The project of settler-genocide today is one that kicked off nearly tw…

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336. A History of Fossil Empire in Palestine, Part 1 1:19:14

7M ago1:19:14

1:19:14

We start with the announcement of Jathan’s new book, plus direct attention to a new special issue on ideologies and power in AI. Then we send our solidarity and support to Jodi Dean and others who are being punished for speaking out for Palestinian emancipation, before digging into the main subject of this episode and the next one: a giant, magiste…

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Patreon Preview – 335. Seto Kaiba is My Role Model 9:32

7M ago9:32

9:32

First we eulogize the dream deferred of Neom, then we add more lore to Palmer Luckey who, as we find out, has modeled his whole life on a literal-minded interpretation of a character from Yu-Gi-Oh!, then we talk more about the conspiratorial and immaterial thinking of the China-TikTok Hawks, finally we heap praise on a very astute essay about the m…

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334. Israel’s AI Kill List: “Once you go automatic, target generation goes crazy.” 1:25:50

7M ago1:25:50

1:25:50

In the first part of the show, we talk about a ridiculous new paper funded by OpenAI that aims to reconcile all human values by combining them into a “moral graph” to train Socratic LLM through reinforcement learning by people “voting on wisdom upgrades.” Then we dig into the latest reporting on yet more AI systems that Israel is using to intensify…

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Patreon Preview – 333. JSOC for the Environment 4:33

7M ago4:33

4:33

We dig into reporting on a special forces unit in the Brazilian ministry of environment which is composed of tier one operators who are also all scientists that are driven by a singular righteous mission of protecting the Amazon rainforest, wildlife and Indigenous communities from illegal miners and loggers. It’s almost like if the EPA had a wet wo…

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332. Opening the Vicious Circle of Risk Rating (ft. Ariel Bogle) 1:12:16

7M ago1:12:16

1:12:16

We are joined by Ariel Bogle — an investigative reporter with The Guardian Australia — to discuss her new, big piece uncovering the Security Risk Rating Tool created by the private contractor Serco and used to control the lives of people in Australia’s immigration detention centres. We get into the broader context of these tools and then dig into t…

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Patreon Preview – 331. TMK BC5: Mute Compulsion, Ch. 13 10:16

8M ago10:16

10:16

We discuss Chapter 13 – Surplus Populations and Crisis – and get deeper into the role of surplus populations in capitalism, how your relative position to the circuits of capital plays a big part in dictating what kind of life you have, and why capital needs a steady pool of people to sacrifice to help prevent, mitigate, and weather inevitable crise…

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Machine Kills Podcasts

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