Episode 153: Sharon Weinberger

Sharon Weinberger is the author of the new book The Imagineers of War: The Untold Story of DARPA.

DARPA stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and it is the branch of the Pentagon that is famous for developing some far-out-there technologies, some of which were total flops but others that have become central to not only modern warfare, but also daily life.

We have an intriguing conversation about the history of technology in modern warfare and the implications of having a military institution conducting research that can have big-society wide consequences.

Sharon has been a journalist on my radar for many years since she founded this great national security focused section of Wired magazine called Danger Room. And we discuss Sharon’s pathway into journalism and another book called A Nuclear Family Vacation, with co-author Nathan Hodge that offers something of a tourist perspective on nuclear sites around the United States and its territories.

If you want to learn about the strategic and social implications of DARPA in particular and applied science in the service of warfare more generally, then have a listen.

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