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Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Bonus Sample #310 - The Torment Nexus

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Jay Tomlinson

Marx, Political, Feminism, Jacobin, Left, Hightower, Politics, Counterspin, News, News Commentary, Maddow, Hartmann, Democracynow, Antiracism, Marxism, Socialism, Capitalism, Ezra, Liberal, Intercepted, Hayes, Progressive, Intercept, Intersectionality, Wolff

4.63.4K Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Air Date: 6-30-24
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- the baffling trend of tech companies using cautionary tales from dystopian fiction as a blueprint for what to create next
- how the people who build or champion tools of oppression never think those same tools will inevitably be turned on them
- the use of drones as first responders, and the long term effects this has had on the residents
- a different perspective on how to think about the end
- humanity's seeming inability to think about longterm repercussions of technology before we put something into use

REFERENCES:
What Is 'Torment Nexus?' The 'Man-Made Horrors' Trope Explained

Author of cautionary tale about Torment Nexus creates tech company to build Torment Nexus

‘Snow Crash’ Author Neal Stephenson Is Building a ‘Free Metaverse’ Called Lamina1

The Age of the Drone Police Is Here

Watch a swarm of cyborg cockroaches controlled by computers

Are We Doomed? Here’s How to Think About It

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Leave a message at 202-999-3991

Produced by:
Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of Left Podcast. This is a sample of our recent bonus episode usually only available to members.

0:14.0

These episodes are comprised of our crew of researchers, Amanda, and myself all getting together

0:19.3

for a roundtable discussion on topics that we find interesting. So here's a few minutes for free so you can

0:24.9

know what all the fuss is about.

0:26.0

So a few months ago we came across the term polycrisis which has become

0:36.2

integral to understanding the state of the world and I think today we've come

0:41.1

across another one and this one's much more fun and it comes in meme form.

0:47.0

So we had to learn this week the meaning of the torment nexus and the origins of this.

0:55.0

So it comes from a tweet by Alex Bleckman who wrote

1:00.6

Sci-Fi author colon. In my book I invented the torment nexus as a cautionary tale.

1:07.6

Tech Company, colon. At long last we have created the torment nexus from classic sci-fi novel

1:15.0

Don't Create the torment nexus.

1:17.0

So perfect.

1:18.0

Which goes so far toward explaining the state of technology that is completely

1:27.0

understandable how that has become the meme that explains tech these days.

1:32.4

Amanda you were actually reminded like we've sort of touched on this before, did you want to just like rehash?

1:38.0

Sure, so I think like about a year ago, a little over a year ago, we were talking about tech and all of its idiocy and I relate a story

1:46.4

from my childhood that I think is a good analogy for where tech CEOs are right now.

1:51.7

I watched a TV show as a kid. It was about someone creating a

1:55.9

burn book. This is before Mean Girls, just to be clear. And it showed the fallout and like how awful it was

2:03.0

and how upset everyone got and like the destruction of friendships and I was like

2:07.7

I can make a burn book and no one will be sad about it and so

...

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