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Shop nowSilicon States
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreWelcome to the Silicon States.
Silicon Valley is imperializing the planet. With nearly bottomless supplies of cash and ambition, a small group of companies have been gradually seizing symbolic and practical civic leadership in America and worldwide. But Silicon Valley does not answer to the electorate; nor have they been voted into office. And the perils of their influence are only now making themselves known. The institutions of Facebook, Google, and Twitter are implicated in the investigation of Russian interference into U.S. elections, providing the public their first opportunity to glimpse the wizards behind the curtain: how these businesses operate, where their interests lie, and the power they wield over an unsuspecting citizenry.
While the promise of Silicon Valley is bold, futuristic, and seductive, it is important to understand these corporations' possible impact on our future. Silicon States emphasizes that before we hand our future over to a rarified group of companies, we examine the world they might build: its benefits, prejudices, and inherent flaws. And to ask, ultimately, if we really want it.
Lucie Greene is the Worldwide Director of the Innovation Group at J. Walter Thompson, JWT's in-house futures and innovation think tank. The Innovation Group's work is frequently cited in publications including the New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Guardian, WWD, USA Today, and the London Times. She's a thought leadership columnist for Campaign, writes for the Financial Times on futures, and has spoken at conferences including CES, SXSW, Web Summit, Cosmoprof, and Ad Week, discussing future trends across multiple lifestyle sectors. She has appeared on BBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg TV as an expert on the future.
Esther Wane is a British actor and voice-over artist. After a career in finance Esther fulfilled a childhood dream of going to drama school in London, and her life as an actor began at age forty. She has a lifelong passion for literature and can often be found browsing bookshops at any spare moment. She owes her career in audiobooks to her impression of Joanna Lumley and has since narrated books in many genres, including memoir, politics, romantic fiction, and children's literature. She enjoys taking her listeners on a journey in time and space and bringing the characters on the page to life in their imagination. She lives with her family and collection of books in Hertfordshire, just outside London, where she has built a professional voice studio in the bottom of her garden.