Palo Alto
A History of California, Capitalism, and the World
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Narrated by:
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Patrick Harrison
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By:
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Malcolm Harris
About this listen
The history of Silicon Valley, from railroads to microchips, is an “extraordinary” story of disruption and destruction, told for the first time in this comprehensive, jaw-dropping narrative (Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth).
Palo Alto’s weather is temperate, its people are educated and enterprising, its corporations are spiritually and materially ambitious and demonstrably world-changing. Palo Alto is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system.
In PALO ALTO, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the "tragedy of the commons," racial genetics, and "broken windows" theory. The Internet and computers, too. It's a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century. PALO ALTO is an urgent and visionary history of the way we live now, one that ends with a clear-eyed, radical proposition for how we might begin to change course.
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Critic reviews
“Malcolm Harris's singular and brilliant PALO ALTO is a geologic survey of the bedrock of the imperial violence that lies beneath the surface of some of the country's wealthiest Zip Codes. The formations it follows stretch outward across the globe, to Asia, Europe, across the Americas and to the rest of the United States. In the end, the book provides not so much an account of strict cause and effect—the familiar history of the robber barons and tech tycoons—but a core sample of the thorough-going greed and pillage at the heart of American history: the expropriation, the violence, and the guilt that seep upward through the soil of neoliberalism's most fruitful plain.” —Walter Johnson, Winthrop Professor of History and African American Studies at Harvard University and author of The Broken Heart of America
"Extraordinary. In lucid, personal, often funny, and always insightful prose, Malcolm Harris finds the driving thrust of reaction not in capitalism’s left-behind regions but in its vanguard: California, and specifically Silicon Valley. We have not yet felt the full force of the shit storm that the titans of tech have been conjuring. We soon will. If you want to understand what’s coming, you need to read this book." —Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of Myth
"Harris painstakingly connects literature, geography, and economics to understand Palo Alto's history and its relationship to capitalism…Readers interested in U.S. history, particularly pertaining to capitalism and technology, will find an engaging and clear-eyed Silicon Valley tale of a small city with global importance.”—BOOKLIST
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America has a huge problem. It faces four major challenges, on which its future depends, and it is failing to meet them. In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, analyze those challenges - globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation's chronic deficits, and its pattern of energy consumption - and spell out what we need to do now to rediscover America and rise to this moment.
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We have met the enemy and it is us.... Pogo
- By Soudant on 09-16-11
By: Thomas L. Friedman, and others
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Plutocrats
- The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else
- By: Chrystia Freeland
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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There has always been some gap between rich and poor in this country, but in the last few decades what it means to be rich has changed dramatically. Alarmingly, the greatest income gap is not between the 1 percent and the 99 percent, but within the wealthiest 1 percent of our nation-as the merely wealthy are left behind by the rapidly expanding fortunes of the new global super-rich. Forget the 1 percent; Plutocrats proves that it is the wealthiest 0.1 percent who are outpacing the rest of us at break-neck speed.
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Good Storytelling but ... analysis is "eh'
- By Susan on 11-04-12
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Goliath
- The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy
- By: Matt Stoller
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 20 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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A startling look at how concentrated financial power and consumerism transformed American politics, resulting in the emergence of populism and authoritarianism, the fall of the Democratic Party - while also providing the steps needed to create a new democracy.
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The Fall of American Populist Economics
- By Charlie Morton on 02-26-20
By: Matt Stoller
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The Miracle
- The Epic Story of Asia's Quest for Wealth
- By: Michael Schuman
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning nine countries, filled with heroic tales of bold decisions and self-sacrifice, and probing vast historical undercurrents, "The Miracle" takes readers inside private boardroom meetings, heated business negotiations, factory floors, and presidential cabinet sessions for a behind-the-scenes look at the events that shaped Asia's economic ascent - and will shape the world in the century to come.
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Packed with stories of both bussinesses and gov
- By Roman on 11-21-12
By: Michael Schuman
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The World Is Flat
- Further Updated and Expanded
- By: Thomas L. Friedman
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 27 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, what will they say was the most crucial development in the first few years of the twenty-first century? The attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to become part of the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations?
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If you like cliches...
- By Jonathan Shultz on 09-08-07
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The World Turned Upside Down
- America, China, and the Struggle for Global Leadership
- By: Clyde Prestowitz
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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When China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, most experts expected the WTO rules and procedures would liberalize China and make it "a responsible stakeholder in the liberal world order". But the experts made the wrong bet. China today is liberalizing neither economically nor politically but, if anything, becoming more authoritarian and mercantilist. In this book, renowned globalization and Asia expert Clyde Prestowitz describes the key challenges posed by China and the strategies America and the Free World must adopt to meet them.
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Informative and engaging
- By Christopher P Pratt on 02-28-21
By: Clyde Prestowitz
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Superpower Showdown
- How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War
- By: Bob Davis, Lingling Wei
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the inside story of the US-China trade war, how relations between these superpowers unraveled, darkening prospects for global peace and prosperity, as told by two Wall Street Journal reporters, one based in Washington, DC, the other in Beijing, who have had more access to the decision-makers in the White House and in China’s Zhongnanhai leadership compound than anyone else.
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Boring. Waste of Time.
- By DING MING YING 丁明英 on 11-23-20
By: Bob Davis, and others
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Vanishing Frontiers
- The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together
- By: Andrew Selee
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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There may be no story today with a wider gap between fact and fiction than the relationship between the United States and Mexico. Through portraits of business leaders, migrants, chefs, movie directors, police officers, and media and sports executives, Andrew Selee looks at this emerging Mexico, showing how it increasingly influences our daily lives in the United States in surprising ways - the jobs we do, the goods we consume, and even the new technology and entertainment we enjoy.
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A mandatory read, now more than ever
- By Haydon Hill on 08-04-19
By: Andrew Selee
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The End of Power
- From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being In Charge Isn't What It Used to Be
- By: Moises Naim
- Narrated by: Matt Kugler
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In The End of Power, award-winning columnist and former Foreign Policy editor Moisés Naím illuminates the struggle between once-dominant megaplayers and the new micropowers challenging them in every field of human endeavor. Drawing on provocative, original research and a lifetime of experience in global affairs, Naím explains how the end of power is reconfiguring our world.
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Another Power book
- By Anonymous User on 04-12-24
By: Moises Naim
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The Redemption of Bobby Love
- A Story of Faith, Family, and Justice
- By: Bobby Love, Cheryl Love
- Narrated by: Harvey Reaves, Cheri VandenHeuvel
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Bobby and Cheryl Love were living in Brooklyn, happily married for decades, when the FBI and NYPD appeared at their door and demanded to know from Bobby, in front of his shocked wife and children: “What is your name? No, what’s your real name?” Bobby’s thirty-eight-year secret was out. As a Black child in the Jim Crow South, Bobby found himself in legal trouble before his 14th birthday. Sparked by the desperation he felt in the face of limited options and the pull of the streets, Bobby became a master thief.
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Heart Wrenching and Heart Warming
- By ArizonaBorn on 01-01-22
By: Bobby Love, and others
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Inside Money
- Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power
- By: Zachary Karabell
- Narrated by: Zachary Karabell
- Length: 17 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In Inside Money, acclaimed historian, commentator, and former financial executive Zachary Karabell offers the first full and frank look inside this institution against the backdrop of American history. Blessed with complete access to the company's archives, as well as a thrilling understanding of the larger forces at play, Karabell has created an X-ray of American power - financial, political, cultural - as it has evolved from the early 1800s to the present.
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Brilliant, well researched & highly insightful
- By Mongezi on 02-11-22
By: Zachary Karabell
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Americana
- A 400-Year History of American Capitalism
- By: Bhu Srinivasan
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Bhu Srinivasan
- Length: 21 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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From the days of the Mayflower and the Virginia Company, America has been a place for people to dream, invent, build, tinker, and bet the farm in pursuit of a better life. Americana takes us on a 400-year journey of this spirit of innovation and ambition through a series of Next Big Things - the inventions, techniques, and industries that drove American history forward: from the telegraph, the railroad, guns, radio, and banking, to flight, suburbia, and sneakers, culminating with the Internet and mobile technology at the turn of the 21st century.
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Excellent history!
- By L. Maranto on 10-14-17
By: Bhu Srinivasan
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The Company
- A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea [Modern Library Chronicles]
- By: John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Company, the largely unknown history of the joint-stock company is presented by the editors of Economist. One of history's greatest catalysts, the joint-stock company has dramatically changed the way human beings live, work, and conduct business. With companies now affecting the world on a global scale, it is more pressing than ever before to understand this driving force.
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unique history with a unique perspective
- By D. Littman on 10-31-05
By: John Micklethwait, and others
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From the Saddam’s Point of View.
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Technofeudalism
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Technofeudalism says Yanis Varoufakis, is the new power that is reshaping our lives and the world, and is the greatest current threat to the liberal individual, to our efforts to avert climate catastrophe—and to democracy itself. It also lies behind the new geopolitical tensions, especially the New Cold War between the United States and China. Drawing on stories from Greek myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men, Varoufakis explains this revolutionary transformation: how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of global power, and, ultimately, what it will take overthrow it.
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Fascinating explanation of our present and vision for the future
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What listeners say about Palo Alto
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- Alex halladay
- 02-15-23
Yes, it's Marxist. it's also good.
I imagine you'll see in the coming weeks, months, or years, no less than a dozen reviews that say "Wow what garbage, socialism in history? what are this guys qualifications?? I don't need this America hating garbage!" which first, very funny that you bought a book that describes itself as a "Marxist history" expecting something else, and second, is so bad faith an argument against this book that it isn't worth engaging with in the slightest.
Simply put, this is a work of genius. an elegant sweeping group of narratives that is, in fact, pretty fair to a lot of the players involved. From the earliest days of the American project to settle the furthest frontier to the screeching digital age, this strange patch of land just south of California is shown to be a synecdoche of a far larger world, a microcosm of soul sickness and horrors and fascinating uniquely American figures who themselves reflect social and economic forces beyond their personal control.
you can disagree with the conclusions or asides, certainly, and there are some ways where this shows itself to be more an informal history than an academic work of dry rote observation, but behind those conclusions, and before any of that, there are very interesting and well written passages that flow beautifully into this nearly 30 hour odyssey. there is a Hobsbawm style wit to the historiography, which kept me so engrossed that I literally ended up working an additional hour not realizing I was just sitting down mesmerized by the story of Herbert Hoover's adventures through Stanford University's founding class.
also the narrator is very good but my wife thinks he sounds sarcastic most of the time. which might be a selling point for some people.
five stars! give it a read if you love the film Chinatown! similar stories of california-cities-as-vampires
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- Shadie Ossei
- 09-17-23
The Ideal Silicon Valley Book
A must read for ambitious tech entrepreneurs who wish to go settle in Palo Alto and take part in the final Gold Rush
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- Anonymous User
- 01-02-24
Logical left-leaning view. On point
Fantastic information. The history and analysis covered in this book is second to none. I’ve already recommended it to 10 people, some of which are madly in love with Capitalist. Here’s to making them rethink and recalibrate their orientation.
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- Donal M. Silvestri
- 05-09-23
capitalism from there to here
An eye opening narrative. This should be a required course in college civics.
Wonderful
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- austin
- 03-27-23
Must Read
A solid history of Palo Alto and it’s role in US history. It is much in the spirit of Zinn’s ‘A People’s History.’
Gonna make sure it gets added to the kids’ school library and reading list.
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- Knitterati
- 03-25-23
Uneven
This book strays far afield from its title. Sometimes interesting, sometimes not. I found myself doubting some statements given as fact. The narration was very grating—the snark factor was off the charts.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-25-23
Great historical writing
Broad breath of subjects covered,m while making compelling connections between them. Outstanding work. Essential reading for those who want to understand current American affairs
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- david hendricks
- 02-21-24
The breadth of time and material and scope
Enjoyed the long ride through US expansionist history as seen via the Palo Alto Prism
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- Robert Harris
- 06-08-23
An view of Capitalism through Northern Cali
The Book is starts at the beginning of California with the removal of Native American Tribes and ends with the PayPal mafia. It’s an insightful exploration about innovation, greed, and power.
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- George Andrew Holtzen
- 03-21-23
Wonderful heterodox history
I’ve been looking forward to this one for awhile and it did not disappoint. Great!
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