The Data Fix

Solidarity, with Shannon Wait

The Data Fix

Show Notes

In this episode, Shannon Wait — Alphabet Workers Union-CWA organizer — speaks with me about the labour conditions for data center and AI workers. We talk about contracts, sub-contracts, sub-sub-contracts, NDAs, invisible labour -- and how all of this leads to unions, solidarity, and a fight for tech workers’ rights globally. Recorded May 8, 2025. Released June 2, 2025.

Interview with Shannon Wait, Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Organizer (2024) https://poweratwork.us/shannon-wait-interview

A union of Alphabet workers in the U.S. and Canada https://www.alphabetworkersunion.org/

Google Raters Participated in Historic Action at Google HQ to Demand Google End Poverty Wages for 5,000 Workers https://code-cwa.org/news/google-raters-participated-historic-action

The woman who took on Google and won (2021) https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56659212 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from The Data Fix

Oct 12, 2026

Please treat yourself to the Trust Control podcast series with journalist Kate Kaye, who I get to be in conversation with for this episode of The Data Fix. We unpack what trust means to researchers, scientists. and entrepreneurs, especially in relation to AI, automation, and the media. We'll give you trust issues! Recorded October 5, 2026. Released October 12, 2026.

Sep 14, 2026

This episode is about care, attentiveness and the skill of being in relationship(s). (Jennifer) Jill Fellows and I discuss the rise of AI intimacy and the programmed sycophancy of generativeAI today, and what it reveals is that our emotional attachments to chatbots might be more about how easily we can convince ourselves of its significance than about any sophisticated technology. That said, when you talk to these chatbots, you enter into a relationship with a corporation that always already has money as a bottom line, not your wellbeing. This serves as an analysis and a warning. Recorded Sept 4, 2026. Released Sept 14, 2026.

Aug 31, 2026

When is AI 'going rogue' and when is it just sloppy oversight by the companies designing the models? The answer won't surprise you -- probably -- but in this episode we discuss why we can both not believe the doom-hype marketing hype of AI companies and still be a bit worried about where this is all taking us. Erik Salvaggio unpacks and explains all of this better than anyone I know. Recorded Aug 27, 2026. Released Aug 31, 2026.

Aug 10, 2026

Tracy Valcourt and I discuss this strange new AI phenomenon of using ads to sell both conservative veering on fascist ideology and AI production in itself, as a package. We meander through the strange worlds of advertising and AI and (re)consider the plausible. Recorded July 30, 2026. Released August 10, 2026.

Jul 27, 2026

The Coalition for Responsible Data Center Development co-released the Data Center Opposition Report in April 2026, which we discuss in this episode with Kris Akin and Matthew Shaw. Recorded June 23, 2026. Released July 27, 2026.

See all episodes →