meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Factually! with Adam Conover

Why Big Tech is Ruining Our Lives with Brian Merchant

Factually! with Adam Conover

Headgum

Comedy

4.42.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2024

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Express skepticism about technology and you might be labeled a "Luddite." However, the true story of the historical Luddites offers a fascinating perspective on the relationship between workers and technology. In this episode, Adam chats with tech journalist Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, about the historical Luddites and their fight against wealthy elites replacing the working class with machines—a struggle made only more relevant by the state of the tech industry today. Find Brian's book at at factuallypod.com/books

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/adamconover

SEE ADAM ON TOUR: https://www.adamconover.net/tourdates/

SUBSCRIBE to and RATE Factually! on:

» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577

» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0fK8WJw4ffMc2NWydBlDyJ

About Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com.

» SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1

» FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum

» FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/

» FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum

» Advertise on Factually! via Gumball.fm


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is a headgum podcast. I don't know what to think I don't know what to say.

0:15.0

Yeah, but that's all right.

0:19.0

That's okay.

0:21.0

I don't know anything.

0:25.0

Hello and welcome to Factually, I'm Adam Conover.

0:29.0

Thank you so much for joining me on the show again.

0:31.0

You know, I was born in the 80s and for the first decades of my life,

0:34.1

technology kept making my life better. It really felt like technological change

0:39.5

was an unalloyed good because there were so many cool inventions coming out year after year

0:45.4

there was the birth of video games the birth of the internet the cell phone

0:49.9

MP3 players all sorts of other things that I thought were cool and interesting and fun and actually

0:57.0

made life for me and everyone I knew better.

1:00.4

Well guess what?

1:01.4

I do not feel that way about technology today.

1:04.0

Like millions of others, I have become a bit of a skeptic about the tech industry.

1:09.0

You know when Apple pushes their dumb new AR goggles or AI Boosters promised they're making a godlike

1:15.1

chatbot who's going to replace everyone's jobs, or some company promises a brand

1:19.8

new app-enabled convenience that's going to hurt workers.

1:23.0

My impulse is now to call bullshit.

1:26.0

And that's because a lot of the tech industry's promises have turned out to be bullshit.

1:30.6

And that is a really interesting shift in how all of us think about technology.

1:35.0

You know, there's a word that we always use to describe someone who's skeptical or fearful of technology,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Headgum, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Headgum and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.