Paris Marx is joined by Annalee Newitz to discuss what’s wrong with Silicon Valley’s understanding of science fiction, and how tech leaders use it to justify terrible futures. Annalee Newitz is the author of Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age and The Future of Another Timeline. They are also the co-host of Our Opinions Are Correct and a wri ... Show More
Aug 27
How Mass Layoffs Changed Working in Tech w/ Clarissa Redwine & JS Tan
Not long ago, tech jobs were sought after for their security, benefits, wages, and the progressive values promoted by Silicon Valley companies. But now workers are barely hanging on. Clarissa Redwine and JS Tan join Paris Marx to discuss the state of worker organizing in the tech ... Show More
59m 52s
Jan 2020
Recode Decode: Annalee Newitz
Sci-fi novelist and science journalist Annalee Newitz talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about their new book, The Future of Another Timeline. Newitz, who was previously a founding editor of io9 and the editor in chief of Gizmodo, talks about their winding route to becoming a write ... Show More
50m 37s
Jan 2020
Fighting Back Against Big Tech, with Rana Foroohar and Ros Urwin
In this episode we were joined by Rana Foroohar, FT global business columnist and author of Don't Be Evil: The Case Against Big Tech, alongside Ros Urwin of the Sunday Times. According to Foroohar, Silicon Valley has lost its soul, and the tech behemoths like Google, Facebook, Ap ... Show More
38m 32s
Mar 2024
Is Science Fiction the New Realism?
Science fiction has historically been considered a niche genre, one in which far-flung scenarios play out on distant planets. Today, though, such plots are at the center of our media landscape. On this episode of Critics at Large, the staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, a ... Show More
50m 15s
Apr 2025
Adam Becker Takes Aim at Silicon Valley Nonsense
From visions of AI paradise to the project to defeat death, many dangerous and unscientific ideas are driving Silicon Valley leaders. Justin Hendrix spoke to Adam Becker, a science journalist and author of MORE EVERYTHING FOREVER: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s ... Show More
40m 19s
Dec 2022
Casey Newton, Kara & Nayeema Talk Tech
From the high speed train wreck that is Twitter 2.0, to the extradition of a fallen crypto kingpin and AI that can rewrite your dating profile, there’s a lot happening in tech right now. Nayeema Raza moderates a conversation with Kara Swisher and Casey Newton, the founder and edi ... Show More
53m 12s
Aug 2023
Neurotechnology (AI + BRAIN TECH) with Nita Farahany
<p>Machine poets. ChatGPT fails. Neurological surveillance. Brain implants that treat depression. Is it scary? Cool? Let’s firehose some questions at Duke Law professor, neuro and bioethicist, author and TED speaker Dr. Nita Farahany. She explains the history of AI, the dawn of c ... Show More
1h 19m
Apr 2024
Ghosts in the Machines: Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, & Capitalism
<p>In this episode, Alyson and Breht wrestle with the possible rise of artificial general intelligence and its implications. Together they discuss the Silicon Valley Techno-Cult and their dark religious search for immortality, their hubristic attempts to "build god" and escape de ... Show More
1h 57m