Podcast / Tech Won’t Save Us / Aug 1, 2024

Escaping the Processed World

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Chris Carlsson on the legacy of Processed World, an anti-capitalist magazine that took on tech.

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.

Escaping the Processed World w/ Chris Carlsson | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us, Paris Marx is joined by Chris Carlsson to discuss Processed World, a tech-critical, anti-capitalist magazine that satirized the absurdity of work in its publishing run between 1981 and 2005. 

Chris Carlsson is the author of many books, including most recently When Shells Crumble. He’s the director of Shaping SF and a cofounder of Critical Mass. He was also one of the people behind Processed World.

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

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

Speakers sit onstage during “Why Can’t Tech Save Politics?” at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 8, 2014, in San Francisco, California.

Speakers sit onstage during “Why Can’t Tech Save Politics?” at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 8, 2014, in San Francisco, California.

(Michael Kovac / Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, we’re joined by Chris Carlsson to discuss Processed World, a tech-critical, anti-capitalist magazine that satirized the absurdity of work in its publishing run between 1981 and 2005.

Chris Carlsson is the author of many books, including, most recently, When Shells Crumble. He’s the director of Shaping SF and a cofounder of Critical Mass. He was also one of the people behind Processed World.

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.

The AI Buildout is a Boon for the Fossil Fuel Industry w/ Ketan Joshi / Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

Tech companies are working with the fossil fuel industry to push unnecessary data center projects while misrepresenting the climate impact — and governments are letting it all happen. Ketan Joshi joins Paris Marx to discuss how the data center buildout is driving a surge in fossil fuel investment, and how it’s all playing out in Australia.

Ketan Joshi is a climate writer and data analyst based in Oslo working with climate and environmental groups.

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 the author of Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires. He hosts the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast and writes the Disconnect newsletter.

More from The Nation

The NEXTDC data center in the northern Canberra suburb of Bruce, Australia, on August 26, 2026.

The AI Buildout Is a Boon for the Fossil Fuel Industry—With Ketan Joshi The AI Buildout Is a Boon for the Fossil Fuel Industry—With Ketan Joshi

Paris Marx talks to Ketan Joshi about how the data center buildout is driving a surge in fossil fuel investment, and how it’s all playing out in Australia.

Paris Marx

Google headquarters campus in Mountain View, California.

How Mass Layoffs Changed Working in Tech—Clarissa Redwine & JS Tan How Mass Layoffs Changed Working in Tech—Clarissa Redwine & JS Tan

Discussing the state of worker organizing in the tech industry, including how it’s changed since the mid-2010s and where it needs to go from here.

Paris Marx

Congressional Candidate Sam Husseini and Talking NBA Over-Unders

Congressional Candidate Sam Husseini and Talking NBA Over-Unders Congressional Candidate Sam Husseini and Talking NBA Over-Unders

Green Party candidate Sam Husseini joins the show and Arya returns.

Dave Zirin

Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy—With Gil Durán

Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy—With Gil Durán Tech Fascism Has Come for American Democracy—With Gil Durán

Paris Marx is joined by Gil Durán to discuss Silicon Valley’s embrace of far-right politics and the tech billionaires seeking to consolidate corporate and political power.

Paris Marx

https://bookshop.org/a/15865/9780316450850

Government Is Putting AI Before People and the Planet—With Matt Haugen Government Is Putting AI Before People and the Planet—With Matt Haugen

Paris Marx is joined by Matt Haugen to discuss how AI policy benefits tech giants at the planet’s expense—and what a people- and climate-first alternative could look like.

Paris Marx

Concerned Rockland County residents joined members of Food & Water Watch, Indivisible Rockland and the Bi-State Data Center Crisis Coalition of NY/NJ outside the Orangetown Town Hall in Orangeburg, New York.

Data Center Opposition Is Uniting Communities—With Saul Levin Data Center Opposition Is Uniting Communities—With Saul Levin

Saul Levin joins Paris Marx to discuss how rising opposition to data center construction is uniting people across party lines.

Paris Marx

x