Short Fuse Podcast #39: “Seeing Silicon Valley”: The Fraying of Life in America

By Elizabeth Howard

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Email: theshortfusepodcast@gmail.com

Episode Summary

Perception vs. Reality. For many, the words “Silicon Valley” signify the egalitarian opportunities offered by America’s cutting-edge tech industry. Stark reality reveals a much more complicated picture. Growing inequality and an ever rising cost of living are putting pressure on all of the area’s workers: at least seven percent of families live in poverty without access to quality education, health care or housing. Fred Turner and Mary Beth Meehan spotlight these realities in their new book, Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America. In a recent conversation with Elizabeth Howard, they talk about the situation they found there, and what it reveals about our country as a whole.

Episode Notes

City Lights Bookstore 

Mary Beth Meehan and Fred Turner launch Seeing Silicon Valley on May 3 at 6 p.m. PT / 9:00 ET, through a virtual Zoom platform event hosted by City Lights Bookstore.

Griffin Museum of Photography, Boston, Massachusetts A event on May 13, 2021 at 7 p.m. ET

Mary Beth Meehan, is a distinguished photographer known for her large-scale community-based portraiture.

Fred Turner is the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication at Stanford University and author of From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism (Chicago, 2006) among other books.

Peter Walsh’s review of Seeing Silicon Valley in the Arts Fuse.

Nathan Moody composed the music for this episode. The song is “Sonnenaufgang” from the album Future Rituals.

Show Contributors: Kyle Lee, Producer

Elizabeth Howard has never had boundaries between her life, work, art, and writing. Experience, sense of place, and exploration define the choices she makes, seeking collaboration, flexibility, and spontaneity. She is an author, journalist, and creative director. Elizabeth has organized programming around the arts and social issues for organizations in the United States and internationally.