Exploding the Phone
The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell
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Narrated by:
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Johann North
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By:
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Phil Lapsley
About this listen
Before smartphones, back even before the Internet and personal computer, a misfit group of technophiles, blind teenagers, hippies, and outlaws figured out how to hack the world’s largest machine: the telephone system. Starting with Alexander Graham Bell’s revolutionary "harmonic telegraph", by the middle of the 20th century the phone system had grown into something extraordinary, a web of cutting-edge switching machines and human operators that linked together millions of people like never before. But the network had a billion-dollar flaw, and once people discovered it, things would never be the same.
Exploding the Phone tells this story in full for the first time. It traces the birth of long-distance communication and the telephone, the rise of AT&T’s monopoly, the creation of the sophisticated machines that made it all work, and the discovery of Ma Bell’s Achilles’ heel. Phil Lapsley expertly weaves together the clandestine underground of "phone phreaks" who turned the network into their electronic playground, the mobsters who exploited its flaws to avoid the feds, the explosion of telephone hacking in the counterculture, and the war between the phreaks, the phone company, and the FBI.
The product of extensive original research, Exploding the Phone is a groundbreaking, captivating book.
©2013 Philip D. Lapsley. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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By: Claire L. Evans
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The Idea Factory
- Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.
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Great story -- horrible pauses
- By Rodney on 01-29-13
By: Jon Gertner
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The Unbreakable Miss Lovely
- How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper
- By: Tony Ortega
- Narrated by: Tony Ortega
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1971 Paulette Cooper wrote a scathing book about the Church of Scientology. Desperate to shut the book down, Scientology unleashed on her one of the most sinister personal campaigns the free world has ever known. The onslaught, which lasted years, ruined her life and drove her to the brink of suicide. The story of Paulette's terrifying ordeal is told in full for the first time in The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.
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A "CHURCH" THAT IS DESTRUCTIVE. INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY
- By Count B on 09-29-16
By: Tony Ortega
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The Secrets of the FBI
- By: Ronald Kessler
- Narrated by: Michael Bybee
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The Secrets of the FBI by New York Times best-selling author Ronald Kessler reveals the FBIs most closely guarded secrets and the secrets of celebrities, politicians, and movie stars uncovered by agents during their investigations.
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Even-handed; an interesting history of the FBI
- By G-Man on 08-08-11
By: Ronald Kessler
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No Better Time
- The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet
- By: Molly Knight Raskin
- Narrated by: Christine Marshall
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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No Better Time tells of a young, driven mathematical genius who wrote a set of algorithms that would create a faster, better Internet. It's the story of a beautiful friendship between a loud, irreverent student and his soft-spoken MIT professor, of a husband and father who spent years struggling to make ends meet only to become a billionaire almost overnight with the success of Akamai Technologies, the Internet content delivery network he cofounded with his mentor.
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An Overlooked Hero of 9-11
- By Jean on 05-27-16
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Operation Shakespeare
- The True Story of an Elite International Sting
- By: John Shiffman
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In Operation Shakespeare, investigative journalist John Shiffman traces a high-risk undercover operation launched by an elite undercover Homeland Security unit created to stop the Iranians, Russians, Chinese, Pakistanis, and North Koreans from acquiring sophisticated American-made electronics capable of guiding missiles, jamming radar, and triggering countless weapons - from wireless IEDs to nuclear bombs.
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under our noses
- By Andy on 08-20-14
By: John Shiffman
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The Watchers
- The Rise of America's Surveillance State
- By: Shane Harris
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
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Our surveillance state was born in the brain of Admiral John Poindexter in 1983. Poindexter, President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, realized that the United States might have prevented the terrorist massacre of 241 Marines in Beirut if only intelligence agencies had been able to analyze in real time data they had on the attackers. Poindexter poured government know-how and funds into his dream---a system that would sift reams of data for signs of terrorist activity.
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Important context for privacy debate
- By Keefer on 09-17-11
By: Shane Harris
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War Dogs
- How Three Stoners From Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History
- By: Guy Lawson
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In January 2007 two young stoners from Miami Beach - one a ninth-grade dropout, the other a licensed masseur - won a $300 million Department of Defense contract to supply ammunition to the Afghanistan military. Incredibly, instead of fulfilling the order with high-quality arms, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz - the dudes - bought cheap Communist-style surplus ammunition from Balkan gunrunners.
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What is with those accents?
- By Reader808 on 08-22-16
By: Guy Lawson
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The Network
- The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age
- By: Scott Woolley
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the origin story of the airwaves - the foundational technology of the communications age - as told through the 40-year friendship of an entrepreneurial industrialist and a brilliant inventor. David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and equal parts Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, and William Randolph Hearst, was the greatest supporter of his friend, Edwin Armstrong, developer of the first amplifier, the modern radio transmitter, and FM radio.
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The Classic Struggle
- By Jean on 06-01-16
By: Scott Woolley
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Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
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Stealing Your Life
- The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
- By: Frank W. Abagnale
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Someone in the U.S. is an identity-theft victim every four seconds. It is extremely easy for anyone from anywhere in the world to assume your identity and, in a matter of hours, devastate your life in ways that can take years to recover from. Stealing Your Life is the reference everyone needs, by an unsurpassed authority on the latest identity-theft schemes.
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Want to Be Paranoid?
- By Sheila on 06-05-07
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The Killing of Karen Silkwood
- The Story Behind the Kerr-McGee Plutonium Case
- By: Richard Rashke
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Rashke leads us through the myriad of charges and countercharges, theories and facts, and reaches conclusions based solely on the evidence in hand. Originally published in 1981, his audiobook offers a vivid, edgy picture of the tensions that racked this country in the 1970s. However, the volume is not only an important historical document. Complex, fascinating characters populate this compelling insider's view of the nuclear industry.
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If you can get past the terrible narration. . .
- By Surrounded By Chocolate on 04-29-15
By: Richard Rashke
What listeners say about Exploding the Phone
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Moire
- 06-26-21
brilliant reporting
Phil Lapsly brilliantly tells a story about some obscure hackers with humor and a real sense of history. this book was meticulously researched for years and Lapsley has created a magnificent report. outstanding narration makes it all the better. highly recommend to anyone who used a landline phone before 1984.
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- Concerned Alumni
- 10-08-15
Phreaker 4 Lyfe
I'm a VoIP admin, and I firmly believe that you can't know where you're going without understanding your history.
This book illustrates the phreaker scene and telephone system vividly. I couldn't stop listening, and now I have to catch up on my podcasts.
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3 people found this helpful
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- m ortiz
- 03-21-15
Title says it all.
Enjoying story ties together the technology of the phone system, the people who just couldn't help explore the it, and the laws that couldn't keep up.
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- Rodney
- 02-20-19
Great book
Excellent book, takes you from the very very beginning of the phone system to the very last switch in the US. It's broken into sections and tells a different story depending on the timeframe, and this format works extremely well. The book moves at a very good pace and was never dull. I really enjoyed this book.
On the narration it was very good, so giving it a 4 and not a 5 doesn't mean anything negative, I just save 5 stars for truly special performances.
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- Moon
- 10-30-21
A pleb learns about hacking.
Do I know coding?
No.
Have I ever hacked anything?
I've only socially hacked, but that doesn't require a computer.
Did I find this book utterly fascinating? Yes. I was never aware of how many of the first hackers were blind persons using the tones of telephones to make free calls, or how influential phone hacking was in the development of Apple, but this book taught me all about it. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
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- Mark
- 12-06-22
Phone History and Network Discovery in one book
Great book, giving phone history from telegraph to ma bells monopoly. A look into those who started phone freaking and their exploring of the network to finally exploiting of the system. With an emphasis on the how to technical look at phone system and the various colored boxes.
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- Joanne Jin
- 06-18-24
It is still very much relevant today
Not for everyone but if you enjoy a technology history, this is an awesome must-read book!
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- Joseph Norton
- 04-18-14
Phonetastic! Great story of how the phone was!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes, I would recommend this book to any of my friends who are technically inclined because it is fascinating history
What did you like best about this story?
The author covered the subject well and even did justice to the people he interviewed.
What about Johann North’s performance did you like?
Johann North is a former phone phreak who is familiar with the concepts discussed in this book, and, his narration reflects this very well.
Any additional comments?
This book discusses the telephone as it was when I, and, many of my contemporaries were growing up. As a blind person, I was fascinated with the phone and the various sounds it made. I would have loved to read this book back when I was a kid. Anyway, it brings back memories of the way I felt about the phone back then. There were so many cool things that could be done with the phone at the time.Great book, and, great narration.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Lauren Chua
- 03-29-18
Fun with Phone Phreaks
well there may have been the occasional lag in the narrative, the author's writing style could make almost anything interesting, and the story provides an intriguing backdrop to the state of our current Information Age
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- bsracing1
- 02-16-23
Difficult Listen
It's a great book with a lot of great information. Worth listening to it you can get past the narrator. Very robotic sounding, makes it's difficult to just sit and listen. Highly recommend "Ghost In The Wires" if you enjoy these types of books.
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