236. Butterflies on History’s Collage (ft. Malcolm Harris)

We are joined by Malcolm Harris—author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World—to discuss his magisterial book on how a hellmouth in Northern California has, for the last two hundred years, been a vortex of power for capital. We discuss some of the lesser known people and products of Palo Alto—like Herbet Hoover and William Shockley—that have had very important impacts (for worse and worse) on the direction of modern society, but have largely been looked back on in very myopic ways. We only scratch the surface of the amazingly detailed histories, social maps, and historical materialist analysis that Malcolm digs up in his book. Buy a copy right now! ••• Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World | Malcolm Harris: https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/malcolm-harris/palo-alto/9780316592031/ ••• Follow Malcolm: https://twitter.com/BigMeanInternet Subscribe to hear more analysis and commentary in our premium episodes every week! https://www.patreon.com/thismachinekills Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (www.twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (www.twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (www.twitter.com/braunestahl)