Steven Levy

Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox writer Steven Levy (born 1951) is an American journalist and editor at large for Wired who has written extensively for publications on computers, technology, cryptography, the internet, cybersecurity, and privacy. He is the author of the 1984 book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, which chronicles the early days of the computer underground. Levy published eight books covering computer hacker culture, artificial intelligence, cryptography, and multi-year exposés of Apple, Google, and Facebook. His most recent book, Facebook: The Inside Story, recounts the history and rise of Facebook from three years of interviews with employees, including Chamath Palihapitiya, Sheryl Sandberg, and Mark Zuckerberg.<ref>

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Early life and education

Levy was born in Philadelphia in 1951. He graduated from Central High School and received a bachelor's degree in English<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> from Temple University. He earned a master's degree in literature from Pennsylvania State University.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

In the mid-1970s, Levy worked as a freelance journalist and frequently contributed to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Today magazine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1976, he was a founding co-editor of the Free Times, a weekly guide to happenings in Philadelphia. He became as senior editor of New Jersey Monthly, and rediscovered Albert Einstein's brain floating in a mason jar in the Wichita office of pathologist Thomas Stoltz Harvey while reporting a story in 1978.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the 1980s, Levy's work became more focused on technology. In 1981, Rolling Stone assigned him an article on computer hackers,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> which he expanded into a book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, published in 1984. He described the "hacker ethic", the belief that all information should be free and that it ought to change life for the better.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Levy was a contributor to Stewart Brand's Whole Earth Software Catalog, first published in 1984. He was a contributing editor to Popular Computing and wrote a monthly column in the magazine, initially called "Telecomputing"<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and later named "Micro Journal"<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and "Computer Journal",<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> from April 1983 to the magazine's closure in December 1985.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In December 1986, Levy founded the Macworld Game Hall of Fame,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> which Macworld published annually until 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Levy stepped away from the technology beat in his second book, on the murderous past of hippie and Earth Day co-founder Ira Einhorn, published in 1988 and adapted into an NBC TV miniseries with Naomi Watts in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1" /> Levy's 1992 book about AI called Artificial Life was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1994, he published the book Insanely Great about the Mac computer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Levy joined Newsweek in 1995 as a technology writer and senior editor.<ref name=":0" /> In July 2004, Levy published a cover story for Newsweek (which also featured an interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs) which unveiled the 4th generation of the iPod to the world before Apple had officially done so.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He continued his coverage of the iPod into a book called The Perfect Thing published in 2006.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2014, he co-created the tech blog Backchannel, which was integrated into Wired in 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since 2008, Levy has worked as a writer and editor at large for Wired.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At various points throughout his career, Levy has written freelance pieces for publications including Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and Premiere.

Personal life

He lives in New York City with his wife Teresa Carpenter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime and history writer.<ref name=":1" /> They have a son.<ref name=":0" />

Bibliography

Steven Levy and Adam D'Angelo (left)

Books

• Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1984)
• The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius (1988)
• Artificial Life: The Quest for a New Creation (1992)
• Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything (1994)
• Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age (2001)
• The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness (2006)
• In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives (2011)
• Facebook: The Inside Story (2020)

Essays and reporting

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• Template:Cite magazine<ref>Wired often changes the title of a print article when it is published online. This article is titled "Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton on the NSA, Safe Sex, and American Exceptionalism" online.</ref>

External links

• Steven Levy's website
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• Lebowski Podcast Episode 27 – Steven Levy's Wish List Interview with Steven Levy about The Big Lebowski and his interview with the Coen Brothers.
• Lebowski Podcast Episode 27a – Steven Levy on Technology Template:Webarchive Chalupa and Steven Levy talk about blogging, Twitter, internet security, etc.
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  • C-SPAN Q&A interview with Levy on The Perfect Thing, December 24, 2006