Techno-Feudalism: Who Really Owns Your Devices? with Cory Doctorow

What does it mean to “own” something in 2026?More and more, we buy devices—and then discover we’re renting access to them: app stores that take a cut of everything, software locks that block repairs, and platforms that decide what you’re allowed to install, use, or fix.In this episode, Chalin is joined by Cory Doctorow—science fiction writer, journalist, and one of the sharpest critics of concentrated tech power—to unpack his idea of techno-feudalism: a system where the biggest companies don’t just compete in a market… they act like landlords, extracting rent from the roads everyone else has to travel.We talk about the App Store economy, antitrust, “interoperability” as a real-world escape hatch, why right-to-repair is a power issue (not a hobbyist issue), and what it would actually take to make the digital world work for users again.