In this episode, we chat with Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, journalist, and commentator on technology. We discuss the phenomenon of platform enshittification, its relationship to an unregulated tech industry and unorganized workers, monopsony power of platforms, centaurs and reverse centaurs, and his take on AI superintelligence and recursive self-improvement.

Find Cory Doctorow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation eff.org, his blog https://pluralistic.net/ and check out his latest two books The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI and Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It.

• The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI, June 2026, https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621575/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/
• Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It, October 2025, https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/

This week we're joined by Vu, an undergraduate at Stanford University and representative of Stanford SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) to discuss the role of technology in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, student activism at Stanford including the recent commencement walkout, and the experience of students looking toward careers in tech.

Find more about Stanford SJP on Instagram @stanfordsjp.

Further Reading

• Stanford SJP Link In Bio: https://lnk.bio/stanfordsjp

• Stanford Daily, June 2026, Google CEO addresses graduates amid student walkout

• Bay Area Current, Feb 2026, Pro-Palestine Stanford Students Await Trial Verdict

• NYT, August 2026, Gen Z Fell Out of Love With Work. I Don't Blame Them.

This week, Kate and Émile discuss AI 2040, a new document by some of the same authors behind AI 2027.

The authors argue, if AI companies come to their senses and prioritize AI safety, the result could be a superintelligence that brings about a utopian world of immortality and space colonization and property rights. We dismantle the silly arguments in AI 2040 with a good dose of mockery.

Further Reading

• Thomas Larsen, Romeo Dean, Brendan Halstead, Eli Lifland, Ryan Greenblatt, Daniel Kokotajlo. AI 2040: Plan A, https://ai-2040.com

• Daniel Kokotajlo, Scott Alexander, Thomas Larsen, Eli Lifland, Romeo Dean. AI 2027, https://ai-2027.com/