Down With the AI Overlords—With Sarah Myers West
Tech expert Sarah Myers West discusses how AI is concentrating power among a handful of oligarchs—and how its future could be made more democratic.

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.
You've already heard us rant about AI. What if you could hear someone who's actually super smart and profoundly informed… also rant about AI? We're joined by tech expert Sarah Myers West, who lays out why AI, as it's currently structured, is all about the consolidation of power among a handful of oligarchs, but also how that's not how it needs to be.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrives to court at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on April 30, 2026 in Oakland, California.
(Benjamin Fanjoy / Getty Images)You’ve already heard us rant about AI. What if you could hear someone who’s actually super smart and profoundly informed… also rant about AI? We’re joined by tech expert Sarah Myers West, who lays out why AI, as it’s currently structured, is all about the consolidation of power among a handful of oligarchs, but also how that’s not how it needs to be.
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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.
Hey! Smile! Good things are happening! The U.S. had an amazing election just now… and we weren’t the only ones. Brazil also recently experienced a massive victory against fascism, with President Lula defeating Flavio Bolsonaro (their equivalent of Don Trump Jr.) in a come-from-behind win that we frankly weren’t expecting.
To get the skinny on Lula, the Brazilian far right, and the lessons we can learn from this election, we spoke with Andre Pagliarini, a scholar of Brazilian politics and the guy who literally wrote the book on President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (the Fighting Fascism family’s second favorite DaSilva).
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