Episode · a16z Podcast · 2026-11-14
Erik Torenberg & James Gleick: books mentioned on a16z Podcast
From the Telephone to Modern Computing | James Gleick
James Gleick — acclaimed science writer and bestselling author of Chaos: Making a New Science as well as biographies on polymaths Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman — joins Sonal Chokshi and Robert Hackett to discuss his new book, The Telephone: A New History. It is a story of a device — who really invented it, how?
Sonal Chokshi recommended Time Travel by James Gleick, and discussed Chaos by James Gleick and The Telephone by James Gleick. Robert Hackett recommended The Control Revolution by James Beniger and The Information by James Gleick, and discussed Isaac Newton by James Gleick. Also mentioned: When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut, The Code Book by Simon Singh, and World Brain by H.G. Wells.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Chaos
Discussed“In fact, I think we were both bonding Robert over chaos, which actually is a book that captivated me as a child.”
Where to get it
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The Telephone
Discussed“And the definition of a network effect is a network becoming more useful the more users there are.”
Where to get it
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The Control Revolution
Recommended“There was a book written about this called The Control Revolution that I really love. Sort of a niche academic book. But it describes sort of the long arc of what is happening, the digital transformation, as extending back to the first revolution that you were talking about with machines.”
Where to get it
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Isaac Newton
Discussed“I've been reading James's books my entire life. First one I read was his Isaac Newton biography.”
Where to get it
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The Information
Recommended“The Information, an amazing book about information theory, which, by the way, is a great sort of, I would say, prequel to the telephone book that he's just produced.”
Where to get it
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When We Cease to Understand the World
Recommended“Oh, I remember you're the one who recommended that Benjamin Labutut book, When We Cease to Understand the World and Our Reading List, and that Chris and everyone then read, and everyone was like passing it around.”
Where to get it
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Time Travel
Recommended“I also, by the way, loved his book Time Travel, because it talks about the significance and importance of time, and that's a theme I love in general.”
Where to get it
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The Code Book
Recommended“I'd probably, by the way, put Simon Singh in this category, too. Oh, yeah. He's incredible. Yeah. Code book. Yeah. Fantastic book.”
Where to get it
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World Brain
Discussed“Oh, world brain. H.G. Wells. Yeah. World brain is a collection of his essays and addresses.”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (6) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“someone that we are huge fans of, James Glick, who is the author of a new book called The Telephone, A New History.”
“James has also written books on Feynman, Genius, Isaac Newton, time travel, and much more.”
“James has also written books on Feynman, Genius, Isaac Newton, time travel, and much more.”
“James has also written books on Feynman, Genius, Isaac Newton, time travel, and much more.”
“And we are so excited about your new book, Now Out, The Telephone, A New History.”
“I've been reading James's books my entire life. First one I read was his Isaac Newton biography. Oh, interesting. Not Chaos, weirdly enough.”