Enshittification and the Rot Economy: A Deep Dives Conversation with Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron

Video Description

October 22, 2025 Clarion West Deep Dives Conversation Series was sponsored by the King County 4Culture Public Free Access Grant, Linda Breneman, the Seattle Public Library, and Third Place Books. Interested in supporting more conversations like this one? Please consider making a year-end donation to Clarion West! https://www.clarionwest.org/get-involved/give/ The Deep Dives conversation series brings speculative fiction authors to Seattle for conversations with local and international experts on the real-world intersections of sci-fi and science and how each can inspire and inform the other. Join Cory Doctorow (Enshittification), Ed Zitron (Better Offline), and moderator Whitney Beltrán for a discussion of how reckless tech policy created an enshittogenic environment that allowed the worst people in our most structurally important corporations to turn them into vast, remorseless extraction machines, without facing any government, market, technological or labor consequences - and to learn how we can build a new, good internet that will serve as the nervous system for a 21st century where we are confronting genocide, environmental collapse and fascism. CORY DOCTOROW (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently PICKS AND SHOVELS and THE BEZZLE (followups to RED TEAM BLUES) and THE LOST CAUSE, a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His most recent nonfiction book is THE INTERNET CON: HOW TO SEIZE THE MEANS OF COMPUTATION, a Big Tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include RED TEAM BLUES, a science fiction crime thriller; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; the LITTLE BROTHER series for young adults; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. ED ZITRON is the CEO of national Media Relations and Public Relations company EZPR. He hosts the Better Offline Podcast with iHeartRadio and Cool Zone Media, named one of the Best Podcasts of 2024 by Esquire, Vulture and The Information. His book WHY EVERYTHING STOPPED WORKING is forthcoming from Penguin Random House in 2026. WHITNEY BELTRÁN is an award winning narrative designer and writer for video games, and is currently working at CDPR on Cyberpunk 2. She's best known for Bluebeard's Bride and HoloVista. Find out more at BrightWhitney.com Video filmed by Michael B. Maine: https://www.michaelbmaine.com/