In this episode we’re discussing Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant, published in 2023 by Little, Brown and Company.
Blood in the Machine is an account of the Luddite rebellion in early 19th century England. Merchant's engaging study draws parallels between this account and contemporary questions about the effects of automation, big tech and AI, as well as efforts to resist and challenge the degradation of working conditions and society in general.
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The podcast music is Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio, 'Gente da minha terra (que me mete um nojo do caralho).' Reproduced from the Free Music Archive under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License, available here: https://bit.ly/35ToW4W
The podcast logo is an adapted version of the Left Book Club logo (1936-48), reproduced, edited and shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International licence. Original available here: https://bit.ly/35Nd6cv.
The image in this episode is a statue of a Luddite cropper and his daughter, which was erected in Liversage (West Yorkshire), 200 years after the attack on Cartwright Mills, an event which features prominently in Blood in the Machine.