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

This Machine Kills

#Tech #Machine Kills #Cold Open

32:08

Did you know there’s an actual science to uncovering your hidden genius? It’s not about filling out a “dream job” worksheet—it’s about understanding how your brain is wired, identifying your natural aptitudes, and using them to thrive. This isn’t just a self-discovery exercise. It’s a game-changer for your career, your relationships, and how you show up in the world. Betsy Wills and Alex Ellison are redefining how we approach career discovery, proving that finding the right path isn’t just about landing a job—it’s about creating a life that aligns with who you actually are. ✅ Betsy Wills – Cofounder of YouScience, a groundbreaking psychometric assessment platform reshaping how we understand our talents. She’s also the Director of Marketing & Branding at Diversified Trust and a frequent lecturer at Vanderbilt University and NYU’s Stern School of Business. ✅ Alex Ellison – Founder of Throughline Guidance, a global college and career counseling practice. She’s a sought-after writer, speaker, and expert in college readiness and career development. ✅ Together, they co-authored Your Hidden Genius: The Science-Backed Strategy to Uncovering and Harnessing Your Innate Talents. Discovering your hidden genius isn’t just about career success—it’s about tapping into what makes you, you . Connect with Betsy & Alex: Website (Free Downloads): www.yourhiddengenius.com Book: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/your-hidden-genius-elizabeth-m-willsalexandra-ellison Related Podcast Episodes: How To Be You, But Better with Olga Khazan | 288 Finding Purpose Through Human Design with Emma Dunwoody | 228 195 / Finding (And Using) Your Voice with Amy Green Smith Share the Love: If you found this episode insightful, please share it with a friend, tag us on social media, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! 🔗 Subscribe & Review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music…

год назад 7:33

MP3•Главная эпизода

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 progressive spirit, and your optimism in a future led by a16z’s vision. Oh yeah, and also billions of dollars to invest in bringing about “the glory of a Second American Century.” ••• Blackstone set to acquire Australian data centre business AirTrunk https://www.ft.com/content/d7399891-15a4-47fb-b8f3-47970e156956 ••• American Dynamism https://a16z.com/american-dynamism ••• Building American Dynamism https://a16z.com/building-american-dynamism/ ••• The Little Tech Agenda https://a16z.com Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.x.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.x.com/braunestahl)

424 эпизодов

This Machine Kills

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

This Machine Kills

265 subscribers

published год назад

MP3•Главная эпизода

424 эпизодов

#Tech #Machine Kills #Cold Open

All episodes

This Machine Kills

1
400. Well, Somebody Has to Do Something! (ft. Malcolm Harris) 1:49:28

6 дней назад1:49:28

1:49:28

We have a big chat with Malcolm Harris about his new book — What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis — which takes seriously the fact that “the whole total world is in crisis” and then seriously advances three different ways to understand, confront, and overcome these disastrous conditions. We walk through the pathways that Malcolm stakes out — marketcraft, public power, and communism — and use the bland discourse around Abundance as a foil for the far more incisive analysis he lays out in What’s Left. ••• What’s Left: Three Paths Through the Planetary Crisis | Malcolm Harris https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/malcolm-harris/whats-left/9780316577434/ ••• Malcolm’s book tour https://linktr.ee/WhatsLeftTour ••• Malcolm’s review of Abundance https://thebaffler.com/latest/whats-the-matter-with-abundance-harris 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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 399. The Business of Management (ft. Katie Wells) 5:58

13 дней назад5:58

5:58

We are joined by Katie Wells — Director of Research at Groundwork Collaborative — to discuss her new report with the Fairwork Project which examines the current labor conditions in the gig platform market in the US. We chat about how core features of the broader economy are becoming extremely abnormal — prices are no longer fixed and standard, income is piecemeal and unstable, people can use short-term credit to buy their fast food dinner, platform services are integrating with and replacing government services. The abnormalities keep piling up until they become the new normal. Plus we draw connections between the managerial techniques of platform companies and private equity firms. ••• Fairwork US Ratings 2025: When AI Eats the Manager https://fair.work/en/fw/publications/fairwork-us-ratings-2025/ 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)…

This Machine Kills

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398. The Treacherous Eunuch 1:11:06

20 дней назад1:11:06

1:11:06

We try to figure out what the fuck is happening in the US as we chat about the low rent car commercial at the White House, the human shields of cops protecting Tesla dealerships, how Musk has become (by his own actions) a scapegoat for the public’s hatred, and the ongoing disintegration of social bonds and moral solidarity under a fascist regime. Plus a new data analysis system called ShadowDragon that is supercharging the surveillance capabilities of ICE, DEA, DoS, and more. We endeavor to analyze the abyss, organize against the abyss, but not get caught staring into the abyss. ••• Stalled Audits and a Skeleton Staff: Inside Trump’s War on the I.R.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/us/politics/irs-taxes-trump-musk-federal-workers.html ••• The Abduction of Mahmoud Khalil https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/the-abduction-of-mahmoud-khalil ••• Yale Suspends Scholar After A.I.-Powered News Site Accuses Her of Terrorist Link https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/us/yale-suspends-scholar-terrorism.html ••• The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/ 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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 397. The Silicon Valley Consensus 4:14

27 дней назад4:14

4:14

We dig into a grand theory that Ed is building through a series of essays on the AI industry and the Silicon Valley Consensus, or how “a bunch of independent profit-seeking actors have converged on sustaining a certain technology through a frenzy of overbuilding, overvaluing, and overinvesting in order to realize excessive gains that can be translated into political power aimed at restructuring society.” ••• The Silicon Valley Consensus & AI Capex (Part 1) https://thetechbubble.substack.com/p/the-silicon-valley-consensus-and 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)…

This Machine Kills

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396. Need to Justify? Need an Alibi? Blame the AI! 1:31:44

5 weeks назад1:31:44

1:31:44

We run through a roundup of recent stories about how different types of AI are already having real, material, immediate impacts on people’s lives — including AI facial recognition used by police to shortcut actually investigating crimes, AI systems used by bosses to monitor, control, and threaten to replace human workers, AI tools for coding that are actively deskilling programmers. Across these examples, AI is treated as a convenient justification and scapegoat by those who use the systems to do awful things to other people. Then we end on up note about a new organization that’s training lawyers and advocates how to fight back against forms of algorithmic discrimination by government agencies. ••• Arrested by AI: Police ignore standards after facial recognition matches https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2025/police-artificial-intelligence-facial-recognition/ ••• Your boss is watching https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/24/1111664/worker-monitoring-employee-surveillance/ ••• AI is Creating a Generation of Illiterate Programmers https://nmn.gl/blog/ai-illiterate-programmers ••• New Junior Developers Can’t Actually Code https://nmn.gl/blog/ai-and-learning ••• Rage Against The Algorithm https://www.levernews.com/rage-against-the-algorithm/ 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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 395. How Workers are Building Power (ft. Eric Blanc) 7:09

6 weeks назад7:09

7:09

We chat with Eric Blanc — author of the new book We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Organizing Is Revitalizing Labor and Winning Big — about how the model of labor organizing through grassroots, horizontal movements is taking off in a huge way. This growing model of worker-to-worker organizing is challenging the conventional model of large, hierarchical unions. By enrolling millions of new workers into the labor movement, worker-to-worker organizing is building a stronger base for greater victories with long-lasting impact. Effective labor organizing is crucial for advancing social equality and democratic power—and our models of organizing should embody those values. ••• We Are the Union | Eric Blanc https://www.ucpress.edu/books/we-are-the-union ••• Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee https://workerorganizing.org/ ••• Save Our Public Services https://actionnetwork.org/forms/thank-you-for-taking-action-stay-in-the-fight/ 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)…

This Machine Kills

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394. Who Let the DOGE Out 1:41:12

7 weeks назад1:41:12

1:41:12

We dig into DOGE. After some background on what Musk and his harem of broccoli-headed bozos have been up to as they strip the copper out of federal agencies, we zoom out to ask where did DOGE come from? Not just literally, but also politically (as a right-wing project of weaponizing and hollowing out the administrative state), materially (as the next phase in the relationship between tech/finance capital and the state), and ideologically (as the convergence of multiple right-wing movements who find common ground in Trump and Musk). In other words, we ask the question on everybody’s mind: Who let the DOGE out? ••• Speed up the Breakdown | Quinn Slobodian https://www.nybooks.com/online/2025/02/15/speed-up-the-breakdown/ ••• The federal tech workers facing down DOGE | Brian Merchant https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/the-federal-tech-workers-facing-down ••• At Oval Office, Musk Makes Broad Claims of Federal Fraud Without Proof https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/trump-musk-oval-office.html ••• Trump and Musk Hunt for Corruption, Very Selectively https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/politics/trump-musk-corruption.html ••• Elon Musk’s Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html 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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 393. The Age of Disability Comes for Us All (ft. Sunaura Taylor) 6:41

8 weeks назад6:41

6:41

Jathan sits down with Sunaura Taylor—author of Disabled Ecologies—in her lab at UC Berkeley to discuss her excellent work which brings together critical disability studies with enironmental justice. Against the backdrop of her research on toxic waste dumps, military industires, racial capitalism, injured communities, and social movements in Tuscon, AZ, we explore the “expansive webs of injury” that now entrap everybody, giving rise to what Sunaura calls the Age of Disability. ••• Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert | Sunaura Taylor https://www.ucpress.edu/books/disabled-ecologies ••• Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation | Sunaura Taylor https://thenewpress.com/books/beasts-of-burden 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)…

This Machine Kills

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392. Deep Freak Out 1:05:08

9 weeks назад1:05:08

1:05:08

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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 391. TMK x CES x Vegas 10:33

10 weeks назад10:33

10:33

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)…

This Machine Kills

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390. We All Live in the Firestorm 1:18:38

11 weeks назад1:18:38

1:18:38

[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)…

This Machine Kills

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389. The Year of Polycrisis 1:30:13

12 weeks назад1:30:13

1:30:13

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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 388. The On-Demand Degradation of Nursing 9:54

14 weeks назад9:54

9:54

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 –– ••• 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)…

This Machine Kills

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387. Getting Fleeced in Nature’s Casino 1:27:27

15 weeks назад1:27:27

1:27:27

[Note: we explain TMK's new structure from 0:00-10:28, so skip that to get straight into the episode] We dive into the market for catastrophe bonds (or, “cat bonds”) and talk about how this complex financial instrument is sold as the silver bullet for climate finance — especially for under-developed countries that are at risk of devastation from disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes — which is meant to be an alternative to insurance for places that cannot access or afford policies. In reality, they have given institutions like the World Bank the perfect neoliberal policy for climate (in)action, they have provided extremely lucrative windfalls for hedge funds, and they have left people in devastated regions with nothing to show for their expensive premiums. ••• 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 —— ••• The Harsh Reality of ‘Hurricane Insurance’ https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-jamaica-hurricane-catastrophe-bonds/ ••• The Risky Business of Predicting Where Climate Disaster Will Hit https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-flood-fire-climate-risk-analytics/ ••• In Nature’s Casino https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/magazine/26neworleans-t.html 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)…

This Machine Kills

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Patreon Preview – 386. The FIRE Sector is Under Water 6:18

16 weeks назад6:18