Blood in the Machine: The Podcast

About Blood in the Machine: The Podcast

A show about AI, labor, and power. Veteran tech journalist Brian Merchant chronicles the growing backlash and resistance to Silicon Valley and big tech. www.bloodinthemachine.com (https://www.bloodinthemachine.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Brian Merchant

Category

society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 May 2025

Latest episode

2 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

13 of 16 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   2 Oct 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The two words the AI industry hates more than anything

   Host interviews Professor Emily M. Bender, University of Washington, about why the term "stochastic parrots" enrages the AI industry by challenging its narrative of machine god creation.

2. 

   25 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   What’s really behind AI ‘super intelligence’

   Host Brian Merchant interviews Joan Kinyua and Michael Geoffery Asia about the invisible human labor powering AI and their fight for fair conditions.

3. 

   20 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   How to kick Flock out of your town

   Ed, an organizer with DeFlock, guides listeners on how to remove Flock Safety surveillance tech from their communities in this interview.

4. 

   13 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   AI may “kill all humans,” industry leaders say. So why won’t they stop building it?

   Host Brian Merchant interviews Astra Taylor about the paradox of developing AI despite existential risks, exploring the underlying motivations and societal implications.

5. 

   4 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The real AI jobs apocalypse

   Host Brian Merchant interviews sociologist Alex Hanna about how AI is making workers miserable rather than replacing them.

6. 

   28 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The revolt against Meta’s ‘pervert glasses’ is part of a growing storm

   Host explores the growing backlash against Big Tech with author and surveillance scholar Chris Gilliard, uncovering insights into the revolt against Meta's AI glasses.

7. 

   21 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Charting the rise of tech fascism

   Host Gil Duran interviews author and journalist Gil Duran about the rise of tech fascism and its impact on democracy.

8. 

   14 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   The State of the AI Bubble with Ed Zitron

   Host Brian Merchant interviews AI skeptic and analyst Ed Zitron about the precarious state and potential collapse of the current AI bubble.

9. 

   24 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   What is an 'Elon Musk'?

   Host Malcolm Harris interviews historian and author Quinn Slobodian about the rise of "Muskism" and its impact on the modern economy.

10. 

    17 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

    Xbox workers speak out about layoffs, AI, and how big tech brought a crisis to gaming

    Host Brian Merchant interviews three Microsoft workers about the recent Xbox layoffs, AI's impact, and the gaming industry's crisis.

11. 

    10 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

    The Luddites take New York

    Host [Host Name] interviews Luddite documentarian Amanda Hanna-McLeer about the Summer of Ludd protests challenging big tech's influence.

12. 

    3 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

    How and why to de-Google your life

    Host Ryan Hodes interviews tech journalist Paris Marx about practical strategies for de-Googling your digital life and the implications of AI in search.

13. 

    26 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

    The AI industry is pouring hundreds of millions into US elections

    Host Ryan Hodes interviews technologist and journalist Molly White about the AI industry's massive spending to influence US elections and its impact on democracy.

14. 

    10 Nov 2025

    How to dis-enshittify the world, with Cory Doctorow

    Host [Host Name] interviews author and activist Cory Doctorow about how workers can combat the degradation of the internet and technology.

15. 

    31 Oct 2025

    Understanding the tech oligarchy and its gilded rage with Jacob Silverman

    Host explores the tech oligarchy's radicalization and resentment with tech journalist Jacob Silverman, author of Gilded Rage.

16. 

    20 May 2025

    Dismantling the Empire of AI with Karen Hao

    Host Brian K. interviews tech journalist Karen Hao about her book "Empire of AI," exploring OpenAI's secretive origins and its imperial ambitions.

Inside a recent episode

The two words the AI industry hates more than anything

Published 2 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So, for example, what's a likely next token is a terrible way to do arithmetic. That's just not how math works, right? So if you've got pretty decent output on arithmetic from these systems, it's probably because they've bolted on a calculator and also a little text classifier up front. that's used to find the prompts that are actually math queries, turn them into input appropriate for the calculator, and get the calculator's answer. So there's that. There's something called RAG, which is Retrieval Augmented Generation. So user prompt is turned into a web query or query over some document set, and then the user doesn't see any of this, right? […]

Who has been a guest on Blood in the Machine: The Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Emily M Bender
• Joan Kinyua
• Michael Geoffery Asia
• Ed
• Alex Hanna

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

21 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

22 ratings

Contact Blood in the Machine: The Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Blood in the Machine: The Podcast