I've been writing BLOOD IN THE MACHINE for months, but I was on the fence about going all-in. Recent events have made the call easier. Elon Musk, the Silicon Valley oligarchs and their AI are taking over. I want to do all I can to push back. I hope you'll join me, and I'm asking for your support. - ThreadSky

bcmerchant.bsky.social • 89 days ago

I've been writing BLOOD IN THE MACHINE for months, but I was on the fence about going all-in. Recent events have made the call easier.

Elon Musk, the Silicon Valley oligarchs and their AI are taking over. I want to do all I can to push back. I hope you'll join me, and I'm asking for your support.

Comments

bibliotekot.bsky.social•87 days ago

We can't afford to support, we're a rural librarian on part-time in Poland. But we love to see it, and will for sure follow and spread the news. Thank you for your work, it's great to see and hear more voices like yours gaining more prominence.

randygdata.bsky.social•89 days ago

Proud to say I'm already a subscriber! And happy to own a copy of your book, Blood in the Machine, as well. Those of us who have been reading and listening to you over the last couple years really appreciate what you are doing and are excited about everything you have planned!

randygdata.bsky.social•89 days ago

And here's an idea for you! How about having a competition for your subscribers - who can come up with the best and most accurate explanation of what DOGE stands for? Here's my sign from the march in NYC yesterday - I'm sure other subscribers can do better!

migs846.bsky.social•89 days ago

Really appreciate your work. Been enjoying your new pod, and Blood in the Machine is one of my favorite books from the last year 🔨

Question… want to subscribe, but is there any possibility of moving the newsletter off substack to a platform that doesn’t support Nazis?

nfgworld.com•89 days ago

Came to say this. 👍

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

Yes — long and short of it is I started on Ghost, they froze me out by accident, couldn’t get my domain back. Substack was a temporary solution — I’m working on a project aimed to address this issue in fact, so more soon. If you want to support w/o substack, subscribe to the System Crash patreon!

gryphonmyers.dev•88 days ago

Sounds exciting! Lmk if u need any help. I'm a web guy and would be happy to donate some time to a worthwhile cause.

fasterandworse.com•89 days ago

good luck, man. The time is right and you've got what it takes

pjacobs.bsky.social•87 days ago

📌

thirdsister3.bsky.social•89 days ago

✊🏽

doomscroll.bsky.social•87 days ago

Blood in the Machine is a sick ass name

mortenbay.bsky.social•87 days ago

It's a very effective construction. A friend of mine once made a documentary where he (a tall, white, blond Scandinavian) went into mines in the DRC to document the children extracting conflict minerals for our phones. It was called 'Blood in the Mobile'
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_in_the_Mobile

pamfulkerson.bsky.social•88 days ago

📌

davidpham5.bsky.social•89 days ago

Subscribed. My colleague and friend recommended your work.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

cheers, thx so much!

john-gardi.bsky.social•89 days ago

Following me may be a way I can help. 😉

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

I didn't realize I wasn't already!!! my mistake john!! all the love

john-gardi.bsky.social•89 days ago

I figured it was an oversight!
On a good note, this crisis has been a 'coming out' for #BlueSky as folks bail on mass from 𝕏!

katiecannon.bsky.social•89 days ago

I don’t know why, but I followed you too

booond.bsky.social•89 days ago

Drop Google

strangenewwords.bsky.social•89 days ago

Sounds like a bargain, I'm in.

mitchellmebane.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌

siouxzqb.bsky.social•86 days ago

I’ve been saying this all along!

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

In my previous life, I was the tech columnist at the LA Times, where I wrote critical pieces about the AI industry, the gig economy and tech billionaires. Last year, I was laid off by—imagine this—a tech billionaire.

The newsletter was a way to continue that work.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

After all, I've been reporting on + writing about tech—for WIRED, the NYT, Motherboard—for 15 years. And my last book, also called BLOOD IN THE MACHINE, was about the deeply misunderstood Luddites, who rose up in a fierce rebellion the first time bosses used machines to exploit workers en masse.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

I have a pretty deep well of historical knowledge about technology, automation, and labor from which to draw, and my background as a tech journalist, I hope, leaves me uniquely poised to meet this moment. I intend to do all I can to do exactly that.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

There are lots of great tech writers out there. My mission is to center the countless among us getting squeezed by big tech—and those pushing back. The artists and writers facing down AI in their workplaces. The federal tech workers taking on Musk and DOGE. The gig workers organizing against Uber.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

OK, enough rambling. You can find more of my recent work at the homepage, and my older legacy clips at https://brianmerchant.org.

I do believe that there is much at stake if we do not build a loud and informed opposition to the tech oligarchs—I look forward to doing it together.

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/

katiecannon.bsky.social•89 days ago

Try to get @rohangrey.bsky.social on your podcast

Legal scholar with a focus on financial institutions & crypto

tcarmody.bsky.social•89 days ago

Subscribed! My friendly colleague suggestion, having been where you are, is to build your audience quickly at Substack and then move on to a email/payment platform that takes less money, offers you more control, and is less swayed by the tech billionaires you criticize. I like Buttondown these days.

justzuki.bsky.social•89 days ago

Do you have something we can subscribe to that isn't a substack?

zota.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'd love to support this work. I hope you can move it off substack soon.

perahlberg.bsky.social•87 days ago

Not only deeply misunderstood, but deliberately maligned and misrepresented. For the usual obvious reasons.

johnflores.bsky.social•89 days ago

best of luck!

aehickerson.bsky.social•89 days ago

Thank you. Now a paid subscriber. Appreciate the work.

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

🤖🔨❤️

drunkendirewolf.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌

richardazia.bsky.social•89 days ago

We are pushing back. By using Mistral rather than US versions, by using Bluesky rather than FB and TW. We also push back by self-hosting, or using European alternatives. MySpace was huge, until a leadership change imploded it. Without users GAMA is nothing. We can push tech giants to care.

richardazia.bsky.social•89 days ago

I know it's idealistic, but still, why not?

lucastosborne.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌

shortsedinburgh.bsky.social•84 days ago

The NY Times bottled out of running an advert asking who is in power: Musk or Trump but I dearly wish The Independent paper would launch a mass online petition demanding change in the way elections are financed. Bribery is unacceptable & Musk bribed voters in swing states. True representation?

lucyksy.bsky.social•88 days ago

A world run by AI. What could go wrong? As the Security Conference in Munich showed there is literally no opposition to this idea. Our corporate overloads are on board with it. We can not absorb all the layoffs, it is also difficult to support all the people who left legacy media. A real conundrum.

nychis.bsky.social•89 days ago

📌

picklefactory.org•89 days ago

loved your book. not going to give any money to substack but I will subscribe so I notice any moves

bcmerchant.bsky.social•89 days ago

thank you and I understand! if you want to support elsewhere, you can here:

https://www.patreon.com/systemcrashpod

picklefactory.org•89 days ago

now we're talking

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