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AI Was Never About Helping You | Cory Doctorow

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June 19, 2026

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Cory Doctorow has a refrain: “The most important thing about a gadget isn’t what it does; it’s who it does it for and what it does it to.” In this episode of “Galaxy Brain,” he sits down with Charlie Warzel to talk about the AI boom, making the case that the hype, vision, and dreams of endless growth are unsustainable. Doctorow expands on his viral “enshittification” thesis: a critique of AI based around power and whether we are using AI tools or being used by them.

This episode of "Galaxy Brain" was produced by Renee Klahr and engineered by Miguel Carrascal. Our theme is by Rob Smierciak. Hadley Robinson is our senior supervising producer. Claudine Ebeid is the executive producer of Atlantic audio, and Andrea Valdez is our managing editor.

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Guests & Subjects Covered

Cory DoctorowGalaxy BrainCharlie WarzelRenee KlahrMiguel Carrascal OurRob Smierciak Hadley RobinsonClaudine EbeidAndrea Valdez

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