Podcast / Tech Won’t Save Us / Oct 23, 2025

Silicon Valley Doesn’t Know What Makes a Good City

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us: Joanne McNeil unpacks Big Tech’s driverless transport fantasy.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Silicon Valley Doesn’t Know What Makes a Good City w/ Joanne McNeil | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss the proliferation of delivery bots and robotaxis and how they recycle disproven claims about how technology will improve transportation.

Joanne McNeil is a freelance writer and the author of Wrong Way and Lurking: How a Person Became a User.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

An Amazon Zoox driverless robotaxi drives on the Las Vegas Strip on August 7, 2025.

(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Paris Marx is joined by Joanne McNeil to discuss the proliferation of delivery bots and robotaxis and how they recycle disproven claims about how technology will improve transportation.

Joanne McNeil is a freelance writer and the author of Wrong Way and Lurking: How a Person Became a User.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Do Chatbots Really Belong in Schools? w/ Tom Mullaney / Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

Generative AI is making its way into many parts of society, and schools are no different. Tom Mullaney joins Paris Marx to discuss how generative AI has been adopted in K-12 education and the many concerns it presents for students and teachers.

Tom Mullaney is a high school social studies teacher in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Paris Marx

Paris Marx is a tech critic and host of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. He writes the Disconnect newsletter and is the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.

More from The Nation

A man checks in to vote at a polling location at the Los Angeles County Registrar during early voting in the state's primary election.

The Dems After Tuesday’s Primaries, plus Elmore Leonard’s Bad Guys The Dems After Tuesday’s Primaries, plus Elmore Leonard’s Bad Guys

John Nichols analyzes this week’s primary results in California and elsewhere, and, from the archives, Elmore Leonard talks about where his characters and plots came from.

Jon Wiener

Mickey Mouse in festive costume interacts with visitors at Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai, China.

Disneyland: Cold War Factory—With Roland Betancourt Disneyland: Cold War Factory—With Roland Betancourt

Danny and Derek speak with Roland Betancourt, Chancellor's Professor of Art History at UC Irvine, about Disneyland and the rise of automation in the US.

Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner

Demonstrators participate in a “March on Wall Street” to call for economic justice on August 28, 2025, in New York City.

Monopoly v. Democracy—With Matt Stoller & Zephyr Teachout Monopoly v. Democracy—With Matt Stoller & Zephyr Teachout

Matt Stoller and Zephyr Teachout on how democracy is an economic issue.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre as Israeli forces continued to expand their invasion in south Lebanon.

Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low Israel Escalates Lebanon Strikes, Taiwan Arms Sale Stalls, US Stockpiles Run Low

The AP UFC dome is regrettably being held up by producer Jake’s HOA

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

An oil tanker is loaded at the Westridge Marine Terminal at the end point of the Trans Mountain Pipeline System in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.

Why Big Oil Wants to Splinter Canada Why Big Oil Wants to Splinter Canada

Nora Loreto on the politics of Alberta separatism.

Jeet Heer

Do Chatbots Really Belong in Schools?—With Tom Mullaney

Do Chatbots Really Belong in Schools?—With Tom Mullaney Do Chatbots Really Belong in Schools?—With Tom Mullaney

Paris Marx talk to Tom Mullaney about how generative AI has been adopted in K-12 education and the many concerns it presents for students and teachers.

Paris Marx

x