It must be controlled before it destroys us all

LIVE EVENT! In NYC!

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The NEFARIOUS RUSSIANS are doing another event — this one on AI and the politics of technology.

We’re in the middle of another industrial power grab. To make sense of the situation, me and Evgenia will be joined by Joe Costello — we’ll be talking about AI, the parasitic internet, industrialization’s destruction of democracy, the politics of technology, what it means to be monkeys who think they’re in control of the known universe… We’ll also be also be discussing Joe’s new book — The Politics of Ape and Machine: Power as Organization.

The KGB Bar. Sunday, November 23 @ 7:00PM

Get your tickets in advance! We’ll have books for sale and live music by Michelle Shocked.

My film Pistachio Wars just came out and watching it in the theater, I was reminded that at its core the film is a critique of industrialization and the planet-killing cult of technological progress…and how connected the film is thematically to my book Surveillance Valley and my renewed interest in the parasitic and extractionary nature of our “communication” technology. It’s all connected and it’s killing us and the planet, and it seems we’re powerless to do anything about it. But Joe thinks there is an upside. The AI boom we’re in potentially offers a historic opportunity to transcend our entrenched, stagnant politics. Promised automation across broad sectors of society and further centralized control will make mass reorganization of politics not just possible but a necessity — an opportunity that hasn’t been seen in many generations. Will people rise to the challenge? Or be passive, surrendering once again to technology. How would you bet?

If you’ve subscribed to our newsletter, you probably recognize the name.

Joe Costello has been on our podcast many times and I’ve republished his work before. He’s worked in politics all of his life and he’s one of the most clear thinkers and writers today on politics and on the meaning of democracy in our age of terminal industrialization. He’s great. And we’ll be selling his new book at the event! So bring some spare cash!

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See you there!

—Yasha

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