Why Tech Sucks – Cory Doctorow on Enshittification and how to fix it
It’s the word of the moment. “Enshittification” is the reason Google is all ads and no useful results, Amazon serves you crappy overpriced products, your phone spies on you and you can’t find your friends on social media – but you WILL be persecuted by bots, brands and Nazis all day long. So how are we going to fix it? Leading tech critic Cory Doctorow joins Andrew Harrison and Rafael Behr to talk about whether digital platform rot is inevitable, his book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It … and the many, many ways to conjugate the verb “to enshittify”.
NB Trust us, this is NOT an edition you want to listen to at 1.5x speed.
• Buy Enshittification through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund Oh God, What Now? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
ESCAPE ROUTES
• Cory recommends the podcast No Gods No Mayors.
• Raf went to see the touring production of Fiddler on the Roof which you can still just about catch in Sunderland and Birmingham.
• Andrew recommends child abduction drama All Her Fault on Now TV plus colossal CD box sets from Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Propaganda.
• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.
• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee!
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr. Audio and Video Production by: Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.
www.podmasters.co.uk
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Cruel Britannia – Labour loses it on migration
Labour’s controversial asylum plans have sparked a backlash and it’s not clear they’ll even work. So, why have they gone down this route? What options might be better? Plus, AI – the bubble is going to burst, but has it already broken our brains? Then in the extra bit for supporters – what would we want to bring back from 100 years ago?
Escape Routes
• Matt is watching Death by Lightning
• Zoe is watching Stranger Things
• Jason is reading Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene by Ian Greaves
• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Ros Taylor with Matt Green, Zoë Grünewald and Jason Hazeley. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.
www.podmasters.co.uk
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Deface The Nation – Is Trump starting to lose? – with Molly Jong-Fast
Is Trump finally falling apart? His approval ratings are catastrophic, the Republicans took a hammering in the November elections, his gross-out distraction tactics no longer work… and as more Epstein emails are released, the scandal is lapping ever-higher around his cankles. Molly Jong-Fast of The Atlantic, Vanity Fair and the unmissable Fast Politics podcast joins Andrew Harrison and Rafael Behr to discuss the teetering tyrant and the damage he will leave.
• This episode recorded before Trump decided he wanted the Epstein Files released after all.
ESCAPE ROUTES
• Raf has been reading Moby-Dick (because why not?) and listening to funk and soul covers by Scary Pockets.
• Molly recommends When All The Men Wore Hats by Susan Cheever.
• Andrew is going crazy for Pluribis on Apple TV+.
When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop you help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.https://nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr. Audio and Video Production by Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.
www.podmasters.co.uk
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Make Auntie Great Again – Will Trump destroy the BBC?
Trump and the right wing press are gleefully hounding the BBC over a clumsy speech edit – will they succeed in taking down the broadcaster? Plus, manifesto promises – there’s a huge fuss over Labour potentially breaking them, but is that anything new? And in the extra bit for supporters – reasons to be a Luddite! The panel rallies against smart technology.
• Rachel suggests Fergus Butler-Gallie’s book Touching Cloth
• Jonn recommends Fergus Craig’s upcoming book I'm Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home
• Marie is reading New Boy by William Sutcliffe
When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop you help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.
• If you want to find out more about Energise Africa and register as an investor, visit energiseafrica.com/ogwn.
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Seth Thevoz with Marie Le Conte, Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.
www.podmasters.co.uk
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Budget ’25 – Why Rachel Reeves should hold her nerve
Tax rises! Cuts to everything! Here comes the pain! Seldom has a Budget been heralded with such dire warnings… if you believe the Toryform Press. But according to Giles Wilkes – Institute for Government fellow and former adviser to Vince Cable and Theresa May – Britain isn’t in such a disastrous state after all. In a weirdly optimistic conversation he joins Andrew Harrison and Jonn Elledge to look at the real story of Britain’s finances; why Brexit is an even bigger drag anchor than the Treasury will admit; and why the embattled Chancellor needs to stick to her course.
ESCAPE ROUTES
• Jonn has been watching The Celebrity Traitors, yes that again, do our panel ever watch anything else?
• Giles recommends Wellington: The Iron Duke by Richard Holmes.
• Andrew recommends the old school BBC adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guinness.
When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop you help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Andrew Harrison with Jonn Elledge Audio and Video Production by Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.
www.podmasters.co.uk
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Making sense of our political hell every Tuesday and Friday! Oh God, What Now? is the no-bulls**t politics podcast, making the unbearable bearable with top quality guests and analysis, plus poor quality jokes.
Regulars include: Guardian writer Rafael Behr • Rachel Cunliffe of the New Statesman • New Statesman columnist Jonn Elledge • Writer and host of This Is Not A Drill Gavin Esler • Social affairs journalist Hannah Fearn • Comedian Matt Green • The Lead's Westminster Editor Zoë Grünewald • Group Editor Andrew Harrison • Podmasters Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis • Journalist Marie Le Conte • Former Mirror editor Alison Phillips • Writer and commentator Ros Taylor
Sign up and get ad-free shows earlier than anyone else: patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow.
Oh God, What Now? is a Podmasters production
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