This Machine Kills

We chat all about the growing market for humanoid robots. What are the financial incentives and social ideologies driving the creation of technologies designed to directly mimic (and replace) humans—even though such designs make little sense as engineering choices? What kind of society makes these technologies attractive for investors and consumers, but also ultimately doomed to fail as solutions for real problems?

••• Are Humanoid Robots Ready to Be Deployed? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/07/06/are-humanoid-robots-ready-to-be-deployed
••• The Repo Man Coming for Your Ride https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/29/the-repo-man-coming-for-your-ride

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)

Miracle cures! Get your miracle cures! What the hell are peptides? Why is this class of black/gray market drugs on everyone’s lips and being injected into everybody’s veins? Where did this multi-billion market suddenly come from? We take a look at the political economy of peptides, the pernicious consumerization of healthcare, and the potential consequences of this surging peptidal wave for society.

••• The Billion-Dollar Peptides Gold Rush https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-peptide-legalization-gold-rush/

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)

(Sorry we’re a little late; blame producer pneumonia) We open the nightmare world folder and go through a series of stories about technology, surveillance, and policing. Cops using AI to generate “evidential material” in criminal cases, cops using Flock automated license plate readers to stalk people, cops using Flock to wrongfully arrest folks, and then a wildcard: billions of images from the Pokemon Go databases are being used to develop geospatial models for robots and drones. We then end the episode with a fun bonus interview with the creator of Machines of Bone and Blood, a new D&D book that offers a fantastical retelling of the Luddite rebellion in the necro-industrial revolution.

••• Machines of Blood and Bone https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/somanyrobots/machines-of-bone-and-blood-necroindustrial-adventures-in-5e
••• Derbyshire police officer investigated over AI-generated ‘evidential material’ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jun/12/police-officer-under-criminal-investigation-over-alleged-use-of-ai
••• Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People https://www.404media.co/cops-keep-getting-arrested-for-using-flock-to-stalk-people/?ref=weekly-roundup-newsletter
••• A Flock license plate reader linked a San Diego man to a violent crime. He was five miles away. https://timesofsandiego.com/crime/2026/06/07/a-flock-license-plate-reader-linked-a-san-diego-man-to-a-violent-crime-he-was-five-miles-away/
••• Pokémon Go players unwittingly contributed to tech with military drone uses https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/06/pokemon-go-players-unwittingly-contributed-to-tech-with-military-drone-uses/

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)

If every billionaire is a policy failure, then the world’s first trillionaire is a far more serious omen of collapse. We spend this episode talking about Muskism, reflecting on an economy that is racing in two very opposite directions, and considering the broader public (non-)response and social ramifications of the Age of the Trillionaire.

••• Elon Musk Becomes the World’s First Trillionaire https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/technology/elon-musk-trillionaire.html
••• Wages Are Falling. Wealth Is Surging. No Wonder Americans Are Unhappy. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/13/business/economy-trillionaire-wealth-wages.html
••• Muskism as Fordism https://lpeproject.org/blog/muskism-as-fordism/
••• Landmark German ruling declares Google's AI Overviews are Google's own words and makes it liable for false answers https://the-decoder.com/landmark-german-ruling-declares-googles-ai-overviews-are-googles-own-words-and-makes-it-liable-for-false-answers/

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)

“Welcome to the Church of Ludd, it’s nice to see you join our congregation. Please pick up a pamphlet as you walk in, which explains how to set up your religious exemption from using AI at your workplace.” — After a fun story about religious refusal of AI, we then chat about the various policy proposals being put forth by folks like Sam Altman and Bernies Sanders which outline how public wealth funds, equity stakes in AI companies, and dividend payments can buy the public’s trust in these technologies.

••• She won a religious exemption from using AI at work. The Pope's remarks could fuel similar appeals. https://www.businessinsider.com/worker-got-religious-exemption-using-ai-at-work-2026-6
••• Senior U.S. Officials Eye Government Shares in AI Giants https://www.notus.org/technology/trump-ai-stake-openai
••• Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Sam Altman are all talking about public ownership in AI https://apnews.com/article/sam-altman-ai-bernie-sanders-trump-public-ownership-772224f9cd138eb79d3ef3336858a5d5

Standing Plugs:
••• Order Jathan’s book: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520398078/the-mechanic-and-the-luddite
••• Subscribe to Ed’s substack: https://substack.com/@thetechbubble
••• Subscribe to TMK on patreon for premium episodes: https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills

Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (bsky.app/profile/jathansadowski.com) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.x.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (bsky.app/profile/jebr.bsky.social)