Alexis Madrigal reveals how understanding Oakland explains the modern world.

In The Pacific Circuit, the award-winning journalist Alexis Madrigal sculpts an intricate tableau of the city of Oakland that is at once a groundbreaking big-idea book, a deeply researched work of social and political history, and a vivid rendering of the defining themes of the twenty-first century. Madrigal holds a magnifying glass to the legacies etched by generations of systemic segregation and the ceaseless march of technological advancement. These are not just abstract concepts; they are embedded in the very fabric of Oakland and its people, from dockworkers and community organizers to real estate developers and businesspeople chasing the highest possible profits.

The Pacific Circuit delves into city hall politics, traces the intertwining arcs of venture capital and hedge funds, and offers unprecedented insight into Silicon Valley’s genesis and growth, all against the backdrop of Oakland—a city vibrating with untold stories and unexplored connections that can, when read carefully, reveal exactly how our markets and our world really function.

Author Biography

Alexis Madrigal is a journalist who lives in Oakland, California. He is the cohost of KQED’s current affairs show, Forum, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic, where he cofounded the COVID Tracking Project.
Previously, he was the editor in chief of Fusion and a staff writer at Wired. Madrigal is the author of
Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology. He has been a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley’s School of Information and UC Berkeley’s Center for Science, Technology, Medicine and Society as well as an affiliate with Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. He is the proprietor of the Oakland Garden Club, a newsletter for people who like to think about plants. He was born in Mexico City, grew up in rural Washington State, and went to Harvard University.

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