A podcast about technology and political economy /// Agitprop against innovation and capital /// Hosted by Jathan Sadowski and Edward Ongweso Jr., Produced by J...
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)
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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)
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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)
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1:18:38
389. The Year of Polycrisis
We round up and run down many of the big themes that we think will be important in the coming year and demand our sustained critical attention. Our analysis spans from the new golden age of crypto to further consolidation in the (corporate) venture capital industry, from the ramping up of investment and partnerships in the market for military technology to the ways in which AI will keep growing as a story about the collisions between multiple massive interconnected infrastructures.
Standing Plugs:
••• Register for Jathan’s book launch in San Francisco on January 30th: citylights.com/events/jathan-sadowski-the-mechanic-and-the-luddite/
••• 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 more analysis in our 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)
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1:30:13
Patreon Preview – 388. The On-Demand Degradation of Nursing
We get into an excellent new report on the rise of on-demand platforms for nursing, which have spurred further exploitation of labor and degradation of care in an industry that has already been hollowed out by suppression of worker rights and financialization by private equity firms. The destruction of healthcare wouldn’t be complete if tech innovators didn’t use re-skinned versions of algorithmic management software to make things even worse by further stripping the sector to its bare bones.
••• Pre-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
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••• Uber for Nursing https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/uber-for-nursing/
Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! 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.
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