As we approach the 30th anniversary of its release, Alex and Liz look back quasi-fondly at the Nintendo 64, including:

• Its historical place, as the first Nintendo console to debut during Japan's Lost Decades and after the Cold War.
• Why it was so difficult to develop for, even for seasoned software shops.
• How it was in retrospect a failed attempt at what the Nintendo Switch ultimately achieved: a technical breakthrough that ran on old-fashioned ROM carts

Alex and Liz discuss only some of the works of linguist, philosopher, and academic David Golumbia, including:

• The Cultural Logic of Computation (2009)
• The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism (2016)
• Cyberlibertarianism: The Right-Wing Politics of Digital Technology (2024)

Technology and Silicon Valley are often associated with left-leaning politics. Still, various causes (SOPA/PIPA discourse, internet publication and copyright discourse, digital innovation) have roots in libertarian or conservative and reactionary narratives. Golumbia’s work shows that it’s difficult (read: impossible) to divorce reactionary values from Silicon Valley and its staunchest supporters.

Reading list:

• The Great White Robot God
• A declaration of the independence of cyberspace
• The Language of Science and the Science of Language: Chomsky's Cartesianism

Alex and Liz talk about the Glassdoor reviews of their old employer, touch upon the depravity of working for an SEO content mill, and compare monopoly and monopsony.

• The classic Popula article about working at this very content mill.
• What is monopsony?
• Liz's site
• Alex's blog