Burn Book

Kara Swisher, 2024

Understand how Silicon Valley gained power, why its promises faltered, and how independent journalism can hold technology leaders accountable.

8 parts, about 19 minutes to read.

Why read it

A veteran technology reporter traces how the builders she once admired let growth and power outrun responsibility
Helps you separate genuine invention from the self mythology that surrounds tech leaders
Written from inside the scene, naming both the leaders she faults and the ones who give her hope

Katie CouricJournalist and television broadcaster
Funny, smart, chic-y, and insightful.
Walt MossbergFormer Wall Street Journal columnist
The queen of all media.
Samantha BeeComedian and television host
The book is also deeply personal and frankly, very moving.

Kara SwisherAmerican journalist and cofounder of Recode
- Born 11 December 1962; grew up in Roslyn Harbor, Long Island, then Princeton, New Jersey
- Studied at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, undergraduate degree 1984, then a journalism master's at Columbia in 1985
- Returned to The Washington Post in 1986 as a Style desk news aide, then reporter
- Joined The Wall Street Journal in 1997 and wrote the Boom Town column on Silicon Valley
- In 2003 launched the All Things Digital conference with Walt Mossberg
- In 2014 cofounded Recode with Walt Mossberg; Vox Media acquired it in 2015
- Opinion writer at The New York Times from 2018 to 2022, then back to Vox Media
- Since September 2022 editor at large at New York Magazine and host of On with Kara Swisher

Goes deeperCharacter Limit
Kara Swisher argues Musk's achievements do not excuse using ownership and reach in ways that degrade a public platform; Kate Conger and Ryan Mac report how his politics shaped enforcement and how engineers boosted his own posts.