How ICE Is Mimicking 19th Century Slave Patrols, and What AI Tech Billionaires Really Want
The Preamble
Sharon McMahon
4.9 • 15.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Gen Z Historian Kahlil Greene explains how today’s ICE enforcement has chilling parallels to the slave patrols of the 19th Century, designed to hunt human beings for profit and power. Then, Sharon speaks with author Karen Hao to talk about her new book Empire of AI, and why the biggest names in tech aren’t just building tools, but chasing a quasi-religious vision of control. Karen reveals how that ideology is reshaping democracy, draining the planet, and quietly harming people right now… but, she says, there are ways to change the future of AI before it gets worse.
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Credits:
Host and Executive Producer: Sharon McMahon
Supervising Producer: Melanie Buck Parks
Audio Producer: Craig Thompson
(00:00:00) How ICE Is Mimicking 19th Century Slave Patrols?
(00:16:36) What AI Tech Billionaires Really Want?
(00:29:27) How AI Is Hurting Us, and the Planet, and What We Can Do About It?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Preamble Podcast. This week we're joined by Khalil Green for our lead story. |
| 0:09.1 | Khalil is known as the Gen Z historian, and he is a regular contributor to the preamble. |
| 0:15.6 | He's won a Peabody Award for his work and was recently listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Media List. This week he is looking |
| 0:23.2 | into the slave patrols of the 19th century and how ICE mimics the tactics they used. And ahead, |
| 0:30.8 | I'll speak with Karen Howe about her book, Empire of AI. She spent years investigating and found |
| 0:37.3 | the executives behind the AI boom have motives |
| 0:40.5 | beyond money, even the ones who claim to be doing it for good. I learned so much from this |
| 0:47.5 | conversation. I'm Sharon McMahon, and this is the Preamble podcast. Here's Khalil. |
| 0:56.6 | What's up, everyone? |
| 0:58.0 | My name is Khalil Green, aka the Gen Z historian, |
| 1:01.4 | and in my story for the preamble, |
| 1:03.1 | I'm exploring how ice tactics today look very similar |
| 1:06.1 | to the slave catchers of the 19th century. |
| 1:09.8 | On June 2nd, 1854, the city of Boston was under military occupation. |
| 1:15.9 | Federal troops with a loaded cannon stood ready as 1,500 militiamen formed a human corridor |
| 1:20.6 | from the courthouse to the harbor to march a single prisoner through the streets. |
| 1:25.3 | His name was Anthony Burns, and he was a 20-year-old |
| 1:27.7 | clothing store worker. His crime was escaping slavery. Shortly after Burns was first |
| 1:33.5 | captured and held, pending a hearing to confirm he was a fugitive slave, a mob gathered |
| 1:37.6 | at the courthouse and stormed the door in an attempt to rescue him. A brawl with law |
| 1:42.3 | enforcement ensued. By the time more police appeared and ended the riot, a federal deputy was dead and Burns remained |
| 1:48.7 | captive. |
... |
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