Podcasts · The LRB Podcast

Fascism in a time of AI

· 54 min

Episode Fascism in a time of AI

0:00 54:26

Since Trump first took office in 2016 there has been a debate on the left as to whether he and other authoritarian right-wing leaders, such as Viktor Orbán and Narendra Modi, should be described as fascist. Some have dismissed the label as rhetorical excess, while others have chosen to describe this new formation of right-wing politics as ‘post-fascist’. But, as Primo Levi wrote, ‘every age has its own fascism’, and in their recent book Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor have identified ‘end-times fascism’ as a feature of our time, offering a portrait of arsonists and accelerationists who are knowingly pushing the world towards new and greater catastrophes.

On this episode Klein and Taylor join Adam Shatz to discuss what fascism looks like in the age of AI, drone warfare and influencers, and why we have reached a point where tech billionaires declare they are ‘unapologetically on Team Humanity’.

Further listening:

Meehan Crist and Peter Godfrey-Smith on ecofascism:

Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/nicapplelrbpod

Spotify: https://lrb.me/nicspotifylrbpod

LRB wesbite: https://lrb.me/niclrbpod

From the LRB

Subscribe to the LRB: https://lrb.me/subslrbpod

Close Readings podcast: https://lrb.me/crlrbpod

LRB Audiobooks: https://lrb.me/audiobookslrbpod

Bags, binders and more at the LRB Store: https://lrb.me/storelrbpod

Get in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.