Favoriting Techtonic with Mark Hurst: Playlist from August 16, 2021 Favoriting

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Conversations with creators and thinkers who are charting the way forward in a tech-saturated society. Tech, community, video games, and whatever else is next.

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Favoriting August 16, 2021: The WeWork fiasco - with Eliot Brown, author, "The Cult of We"

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Playlist image Favoriting

Today: Eliot Brown, author, "The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion"

Links:

The Cult of We on Indiebound and the official book website

• @eliotwb (Twitter)

Eliot's bio

Eliot's WSJ articles

The We That Didn’t Work at WeWork (by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell, July 17, 2021)

• From the Washington Post profile of Philip Agre (Aug 12, 2021):

Agre earned his doctorate at MIT in 1989, the same year the World Wide Web was invented. At that time, even among Silicon Valley venture capitalists betting on the rise of computers, few people foresaw just how deeply and quickly the computerization of everything would change life, economics or even politics.

A small group of academics, Agre included, observed that computer scientists viewed their work in a vacuum largely disconnected from the world around it. At the same time, people outside that world lacked a deep enough understanding of technology or how it was about to change their lives. By the early 1990s, Agre came to believe the field of artificial intelligence had gone astray, and that a lack of criticism of the profession was one of the main reasons.

... In 2009, he simply dropped off the face of the earth, abandoning his position at UCLA. When friends reported Agre missing, police located him and confirmed that he was okay, but Agre never returned to the public debate.

• Past Techtonic shows on Afghanistan:
- Ali Latifi, journalist in Afghanistan (Sep 3, 2018 episode) on Facebook's negligence in helping create the chaos there, and
- Annie Jacobsen, author of First Platoon (Jan 22, 2021 show) on the U.S. military's biometric surveillance of countless people there.

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PAST EPISODES: techtonic.fm lists recent Techtonic shows

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Artist Track Album Images Approx. start time
  The WeWork fiasco - with Eliot Brown, co-author, "The Cult of We"
Tomaš Dvořák  Game Boy Tune   Favoriting  
Favoriting
 
  Mark's intro    
Favoriting
 
  Interview with Eliot Brown    
Favoriting
0:03:12 (Pop-up)
  Mark's comments    
Favoriting
0:46:38 (Pop-up)
Negativland  Don't Don't Get Freaked Out   Favoriting The World Will Decide 
Favoriting
0:56:10 (Pop-up)


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Listener comments!

Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:00pm
ultradamno:

Mark! Techtonople Like Us!
  6:00pm
listener James from Westwood:

Evening, Mark and all!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
DjLorraine:

Hi there friends Tech - Check
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
ultradamno:

After watching John Oliver last night I'm wondering who really wants a smart penis cage in the first place..
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:01pm
Webhamster Henry:

WeWork is dead! Bring back Lord & Taylor's!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
I k e:

I've been doing Fruit Jeopardy! or Food Jeopardy! in some comment sections recently, but I'm not tech-savvy enough to do a Tech Jeopardy! or anything like that. And I'm not sure there are any questions at the intersection of food and tech that I could ask. Like... nobody agrees on coders' favorite instant food, do they? Is it ramen? I have no idea, LOL.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
Greg from ZONE 5:

Evening Mark & all!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:02pm
DjLorraine:

I saw a realitor commercial with talking faces in cacti
  6:02pm
David in London:

Evening Mark and all Technoids.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
Webhamster Henry:

Answer: that's a Cray-1 that guy is climbing all over.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:03pm
chris in the redwoods:

hey, Mark and unicorns
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
Mark Hurst:

Hi all! ultra, james, lorraine, webham, ike, greg, DiL!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:06pm
joe mulligan:

never met a wework office I liked.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
Mark Hurst:

@webham just think if Cray had named its models with letters (Cray-A, Cray-B)... by now it would be ready for Silicon Valley, with Cray-Z.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:07pm
Little Danny:

Hi Mark, hi all.
Avatar 6:08pm
HyperDose:

Mark's got a kid? Guessing there are no baby monitors in that house!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:09pm
Webhamster Henry:

@Mark Cary-cray!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
Ken From Hyde Park:

Hello, Mark and wee worker bees! 🐝
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
WR:

I liked the free beer and exercise room at WeWork. What's not to like?
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:10pm
Webhamster Henry:

Speaking of marginally intelligent startup founders, a friend of mine had a boss who thought he could revolutionize data storage by running a compression algorithm on an already compressed file.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:13pm
Webhamster Henry:

That people learned nothing from the Dot Com bust is a triumph of capitalism.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:16pm
G:

Decisionmaking about money is just as subjective and imperfect as all other decisionmaking
  6:18pm
Jackie G:

What are we talking about again?
Avatar 6:18pm
Revolution Rabbit Nov63:

G: Nuh-uh ! ...The 'Free Market' is a manifestation of the State of Nature itself ! ...which is why I'm paying rent with oak leaves I've gathered...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:18pm
paul b:

I discovered the other day on a walk there is a WeWork building in the small town where I live and work College Park Md. It seemed an anachronism.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:18pm
WR:

Fast Company had effective major article on WeWork that came out just as the fall was starting and a major follow up article on Masayoshi Son who Fast Company wrote was main sponsor and supporter of Adam Newman.
  6:20pm
dano59:

... Because of the promise of money? Essentual to every con game.
One born every minute / a fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:21pm
Webhamster Henry:

I've been in some WeWork offices and similar "incubator" offices and they we pretty awful. I have a history as a devoted remote worker, though.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:24pm
ultradamno:

Crazy is a poor indicator of winning anything.
  6:25pm
ShelbyG:

Crazies gonna be cray zay.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:25pm
WR:

WeWorld
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:26pm
joe mulligan:

love this story, amazing interview!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:27pm
joe mulligan:

reminds me of the book Disrupted
  6:27pm
Jackie G:

Oh, crazy rip-off money stuff. Money. We want money. More money.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:27pm
Bas NL:

Hi Mark! People!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
G:

Life always seems to be a fight between irrational fear that's overblown, and irrational greed that will often blow up. WeWork was the latter.
  6:28pm
ShelbyG:

The interviews on this show are really eye openers.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:28pm
Greg from ZONE 5:

Sounds like the tech version of the Fyre festival.
  6:29pm
Marci:

Remarkable interview-thanks Mark!
  6:29pm
listener James from Westwood:

Extra hour in the ball pit.
  6:31pm
ShelbyG:

@Greg: I was just thinking the same thing!!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
Mark Hurst:

@Marci @joe thanks so much!
Avatar 6:32pm
Revolution Rabbit Nov63:

...our freedom-loving friends in Saudi Arabia ✔︎...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:32pm
Mark Hurst:

@Greg good point re Fyre festival. lots of distinct parallels.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:33pm
WR:

Weird how the latter day tech founders as being discussed make Bill Gates seem reasonable.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:33pm
Webhamster Henry:

Fyre Fest: Us Fest 2.0
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
Mark Hurst:

@Greg btw really enjoyed your guest hosting of Double Dip Recess last Saturday!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:34pm
chris in the redwoods:

hubris
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
mariano:

"You, me, and Jared Kushner are going to remake this region" LOLOLOLOLOL!!! Working and lurking, but just had to interject that.
  6:35pm
Sam:

Stuparrogance
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:35pm
Mark Hurst:

@Sam i LIKE it
  6:35pm
ShelbyG:

That is corruption. Supreme arrogance & supreme ignorance. That’s where we are.
  6:36pm
Jackie G:

Opposite of yep....nope
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:36pm
ultradamno:

Reminds me of the early claims that all cities would have to be redesigned to accommodate Segway scooters
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:36pm
bukowski.:

the disillusionment is staggering
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Mark Hurst:

@ultra there was a great 20-year retrospective article on the Segway fiasco, just in the past 2 weeks - I read much of it, really good. The definition of overblown claims.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:37pm
Megaroni:

I went to a free event at their space in Dumbo back in 2018 and found it bizarre to see so much free booze, now it all comes together that he was out of his mind
  6:42pm
Sam:

That’s an outrage. Only televangelists deserve private jets.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:44pm
WR:

Yes, Adam long kept control, and surprisingly he was allowed to keep on until the "going public" stalled and then the pot thing popped the bubble.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:45pm
WR:

And Adam got his parachute.
  6:46pm
listener James from Westwood:

Sounds like this would be a good pairing with BAD BLOOD, about Theranos.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:46pm
Handy Haversack:

Hey, Mark and all the Techyon Drives. Sorry I'm late! Been tuned in the past 15 mins. But I had a nice chat that might even lead to a publishing opportunity that kept me away the first half.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:46pm
Greg from ZONE 5:

Thanks Mark! Very much looking forward to yours this weekend!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:47pm
Mark Hurst:

@Handy welcome!
  6:47pm
Dayffid:

Sam - so true
  6:47pm
David in London:

It’s like the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with the blessing of the financial sector. It’s utterly infuriating.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:48pm
Handy Haversack:

Six impossible things before breaking the backs of the people, David.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:48pm
mariano:

Handy, David!
Avatar 6:49pm
Dayffid:

this guy's soft on con men
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:49pm
Handy Haversack:

Mariano! Up the Runzas!
  6:49pm
ShelbyG:

Great, great show. It is truly dispiriting.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:50pm
Webhamster Henry:

I was clearly not "crazy" enough.
Avatar 6:50pm
Dayffid:

he probably just doesn't want people thinking he's one sided
  6:50pm
David in London:

The cult of we was just a bottle of cold piss.
  6:50pm
David in London:

Mariano, Handy.
Runzas unite!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
ultradamno:

Kneepad baby clothes reminds me of Charlie's kitten mittens i.ytimg.com...
Avatar 6:51pm
Dayffid:

He obviously wasn't an idiot therefore he's a criminal
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:51pm
Handy Haversack:

To tutor it in the ways of righteousness -- and procure some uncontaminated urine.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:52pm
ultradamno:

You can be an idiot criminal, we elected a con man president that checked both boxes.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
WR:

Newman thought he is a genius. Unfortunately i don't think it is a big enough failure for the venture world to get the message.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
coelacanth∅:

hahah... but a lot of yuppie mothers would indeed fall for overprotective baby gear... like buying stands for your dogs' water that are raised so they don't have to bend their heads down!
people are idiots.
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:53pm
mariano:

Runza power!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:54pm
Handy Haversack:

Greg's Lyres shirt and Mark's Techtonic shirt both arrived today for SWAGVENT! Sorry, RPG-themed shirts, but that shelf space is needed ...
  6:54pm
KWilde:

Theranos another one
  6:54pm
?:

Stupidity + arrogance = chupzah
Avatar 6:55pm
Revolution Rabbit Nov63:

It would be interesting to put these people in MRIs & really get them analyzed by people who know how to...
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:55pm
mariano:

KWilde: I've seen a couple of documentaries and videos on Theranos. Holmes has the craziest eyes since Manson.
  6:56pm
Dayffid:

Ultradom - I stand corrected. Also I think I might come under the idiot criminal status sometimes
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
Webhamster Henry:

Yay DDR!
  6:56pm
David in London:

I hope you’re lining up your dad jokes Mark...
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
ultradamno:

Double Dip should consider kneepad onesies as a premium.
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
Handy Haversack:

I was really hoping that Greg was serious and that was the case! K8's album-release gig is Friday night, but I'll be up to hear you spin the tunes, Mark! That's so cool!

8-88 is the age range for Risk?
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:56pm
WR:

Mark Hurst DDR! WAHOOOO!
  6:57pm
anders:

mark, that is hilarious!!! we'll tune in
  6:57pm
Glistener MW:

Ha! I always remember “8-88” being the age range on those “Yes & KNOW” invisible-ink puzzle books
  6:57pm
listener James from Westwood:

Thanks, Mark!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
Bas NL:

Thanks Mark & Eliot!
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:57pm
chresti:

Thanks Mark!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:58pm
Handy Haversack:

Thanks, Mark! Great to be here, if too short a time. See you Techyon Drives Saturday morning, I hope!
Avatar 🤖 Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
DjLorraine:

Smeigel knees in the caves ...could use some pads
Avatar Swag For Life Member 6:59pm
coelacanth∅:

Thanks Mark! Thanks Eliot Brown!
  7:01pm
Dayffid:

I hate my computer
Avatar Swag For Life Member 7:01pm
Mark Hurst:

Thanks, everyone!
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