Giving listeners a glimpse into his new book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, guest Malcolm Harris joins Ayana in a vast conversation dealing with the shape and form of Palo Alto’s specific place alongside overarching systems of capital. His dive into the history of Palo Alto simultaneously details the intricacies of events and people while also bringing to the fore a focus on the assemblages of social, political, and material capital that make systems of occupation and exploitation possible across spaces. 

Cutting through the romanticization and myth that surrounds much of the allure around California as place and as metaphor, Malcolm offers well-rooted thought touching on the history of Stanford University, the internet, Palo Alto’s military connections, and more. This conversation reveals the values of understanding our material realities and the structures that support society as it stands. When we understand these intricacies, how might knowledge allow us to subvert domination? 

Offering his critical thought to this conversation, Malcolm reminds us that this permutation of society was not inevitable, and neither is any particular future. As examples, the practices of Land Back movements, of student resistance, and of collective organizing spaces, offer hope for alternatives. If specific visions of justice are impossible within this system, how do we steward a future in which they are?

Malcolm Harris is a freelance writer and the author of Kids These Days, Shit is Fucked Up and Bullshit, and the new book Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World.

♫ The music featured in this episode is "G to B" by Little Foster Music (Harry Foster), "Moon is Rising" by Harrison Basch, and "The Wild & the Untamed" by Ian George.

Episode References

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcom Harris

Are We Living Under 'Technofeudalism'? by Malcolm Harris for NY Mag 

Kids These Days by Malcom Harris 

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