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It's been a long time since we’ve seen a good old fashioned bank run lead to the collapse of a venerable financial institution, but leave it to Silicon Valley to rediscover something old and call it new again. We are joined by Brian Merchant — LA Times tech columnist and author of Blood in the Machine — for a post-mortem on Silicon Valley Bank, breakdown its events and effects, and hold Ed to account for his incitements to violence against the most marginalized and traumatized people of them all: venture capitalists. 

••• Brian’s column: https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-03-12/column-silicon-valley-bank-is-broken-because-silicon-valley-is-broken
••• Brian’s book: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/brian-merchant/blood-in-the-machine/9780316487740/
••• Brian’s twitter: https://twitter.com/bcmerchant

Some stuff we reference
••• The Incredible Tantrum Venture Capitalists Threw Over Silicon Valley Bank | Ed Ongweso Jr. https://slate.com/technology/2023/03/silicon-valley-bank-rescue-venture-capital-calacanis-sacks-ackman-tantrum.html
••• Silicon Valley Bank profit squeeze in tech downturn attracts short sellers https://www.ft.com/content/0387e331-61b4-4848-9e50-04775b4c3fa7
••• Startup Bank Had a Startup Bank Run https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-03-10/startup-bank-had-a-startup-bank-run
••• How Bad Was the Silicon Valley Bank Bailout? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/opinion/silicon-valley-bank-bailout.html 

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)

*Unlocked* – 241. Euthanasia of Silicon Valley Bank (ft. Brian Merchant)

Charles and Alex worry that A.I. listicles may threaten the integrity of Eric Alper's prompts. Plus there is news of an 8-year-old rap god emerging in Pakistan. Fortune Kit on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fortunekit

154 - Eric Alper Cheat Sheet

"Unvaxxed sperm is the new bitcoin." A statement we couldn't help but look into. Are there online markets doubling as dating platforms to "exchange" unvaccinated sperm? Is one of them run by a dissident Chinese billionaire? Is another the scheme of an insanely racist guy called "Giorgio Della Pietra" living out of Thailand? Who can say. Except Liv, who went on an unadvised exploration.

Subscribe for $5 a month to get an extra episode of QAA every week + access to ongoing series like 'Manclan' and 'Trickle Down': http://www.patreon.com/QAnonAnonymous

Liv Agar: https://linktr.ee/livagar

Music by Pontus Berghe. Editing by Corey Klotz.

http://qanonanonymous.com

Premium Episode 207: Unvaxxed Sperm (Sample)

Charles and Alex find out that Motley Crue is feuding, Amazon sells cool hats, and the OK Go guy is making a Beanie Baby movie with Al Gore's daughter. Fortune Kit on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fortunekit

156 - Kelly Singer Clarkson Hat Flat-Brimmed Hat

We go in-depth on an article that has not received the attention it is due: an investigation into an automated welfare fraud system in the Netherlands, which is based on unprecedented access to the machine learning model, its training data, and operational handbooks. Through a deep analysis of the systems mechanics, this investigation goes beyond validating what we already know to be true about how such algorithms discriminate. It shows how these systems are complex and targeted in their discrimination, while also being simplistic and arbitrary in their decisions.

Articles we discuss 
••• Inside the Suspicion Machine https://www.wired.com/story/welfare-state-algorithms/ 
••• Welfare surveillance system violates human rights, Dutch court rules https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/welfare-surveillance-system-violates-human-rights-dutch-court-rules 

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)

247. Automated Welfare – the Simple Violence of Complex Machines

Returning champion David A. Banks joins us for a supersized discussion about his new book, The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America. How do cities have to act like social media influencers to attract new flows of capital? How are fundamental dynamics of capitalist urban development — growth machines, rent gaps, spatial fixes, destructive renovation, entrepreneurial competition — updated and upgraded to fit into the techno-financial conditions of today? Why does every downtown have the same damn wine bar now? Join us for answers to all these questions and much more.

••• David’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520383456/the-city-authentic 
••• David’s twitter: https://twitter.com/DA_Banks 
••• David’s substack: https://otherday.substack.com/ 

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)

249/250. We Built This City on Authenticity (ft. David A. Banks)

We get into Evgeny Morozov’s latest essay on the geopolitical interests and military neoliberalism that’s really driving the AI arms race. Morozov traces today’s developments back to the Cold War – not just as a metaphor, but by showing how many of the same people and institutions are still in positions of power. To understand the America vs China framing of technological competition, which is now so dominant and two-dimensional in the discourse about AI, we must see how it is stoked by people like Eric Schmidt and Gilman Louie and their  networks of influence, capital, and ideology.

Article we discuss:
••• AI: the key battleground for Cold War 2.0? | Evgeny Morozov https://mondediplo.com/2023/05/02china 

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)

253. The Cold War Origins and Future of Today’s AI

Cory Doctorow — returning champion, friend of the show, and author of the new novel Red Team Blues — joins us to chat about fiction (science), finance (crypto), forensics (accounting), and much more. You never knew forensic accounting could be so radical and thrilling, but Red Team Blues is an immanent critique of techno-financial capitalism in the guise of a page ripping novel. We cover a lot of ground, all of it fascinating, as we always do when Cory comes on TMK.

••• Buy Red Team Blues: https://craphound.com/shop/
••• Follow Cory: https://twitter.com/doctorow 
••• Cory’s blog: https://pluralistic.net/ 

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)

257. Red Team Blues (ft. Cory Doctorow)

This week we got bogged down in trying to answer some of the biggest ethical questions of our day

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Episode 292: Advice Column Filibuster

In this Live Interview with Nell McShane Wulfhart, we discuss the hidden labor and humiliation of the Airline Industry's "Swingin' 60's" image and how the "pretty faces" behind the tawdry ads fought back.

News Brief: "Go Fly Yourself": Marketing 'Sex' and the Great Stewardess Rebellion of the 1970s

TRIGGER WARNING: BEASTIALITY, PEDOPHILIA

We discuss Cornel West's 2024 presidential campaign.

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Grimace's Birthday

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

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247. Automated Welfare – the Simple Violence of Complex Machines

This Machine Kills