Margaret O’Mara

Behind Microsoft’s layoffs: A new attitude shaped by AI More tech workers feel the pain as Microsoft pivots. Suddenly, the world's most valuable company is going on without them.

“What we have seen in the past 15 years is the supersizing of the tech sector, and certain companies like Microsoft have been at the forefront. The bottom line is, how many people do these companies really need?" @margaretomara.bsky.social told @alexhalverson.bsky.social.

So excited for this! Margaret is one of my favorite historians — and there’s just so much trade and tech stuff to talk about.

unfortunately not--live only!

Book cover for Alexis Madrigal, THE PACIFIC CIRCUIT (2025)

Looking forward to welcoming @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social to @uofwa.bsky.social this coming Tuesday 4/8 for a chat about his new book THE PACIFIC CIRCUIT. 4PM in HUB 340 - free and open to the public. Join us! artsci.washington.edu/news/events?...

Opinion | Who Will Survive the Trade War? (Published 2019) History shows that big businesses profit most when tariffs reign.

In case anyone still is wondering why high tariffs usually don't end well, here's a quick history I wrote back in the olden days of Trump trade war 1.0. What's happening now is far bigger, and hitting big & small firms alike.

Who Will Survive the Trade War? www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/o...

Commentary: Elon Musk brought a Silicon Valley mindset to Trump's Washington. It's been a disaster The fancifully named Department of Government Efficiency is grounded in a fundamental misapprehension of how the federal government works. The recklessness and destruction is not a bug but a feature.

Thanks @markzbarabak.bsky.social for this thoughtful conversation about my book and the high-tech hubris of DOGE

www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

One columnist, a professional pundit, is living in a paranoid delusion. The other, a sociologist, is living in America.

What Kind of World Do Silicon Valley Billionaires Want to Create? The world's richest entrepreneur and its most powerful political leader have joined forces. What comes next is unknown.

I talk billionaires (yes, one in particular) and politics in the latest issue of INC. Thanks @mikehofman.bsky.social for this conversation www.inc.com/mike-hofman/...

2 points. @margaretomara.bsky.social fantastic history of Silicon Valley, The Code, has the goods on how crucial hype is. Second, screenshot is a nice example of Balaji "Network State" Srinivasan and Marc "Current Thing" Andreessen in action pumping the hype-cycle. stanforddaily.com/2016/05/19/i...

Just been relistening to this brilliant @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast with @margaretomara.bsky.social: a timely reminder that the financial foundation of the "tech bros" was in massive US government funding during the Cold War

newbooksnetwork.com/margaret-oma...

Thanks so much for listening and for broadcasting this reminder!

Will DeepSeek disrupt American AI's first-mover advantage? - Marketplace Even famed tech companies like Netscape and Friendster that pioneer product categories can lose their dominance to new rivals. Historian Margaret O'Mara examines whether the Chinese upstart can dislod...

Great to join @hughesstephanie.bsky.social and @marketplace.org for this conversation on tech first movers past and present (RIP Friendster)
www.marketplace.org/shows/market...

Musk's superteam of former iPad babies Read to the end for Plimbo

I've long enjoyed @ryanhatesthis.bsky.social's "Garbage Day" newsletter for keeping abreast of overall internet scuttlebutt ..

... but in the last week he's also been really good about tracking Musk's coup and the 20something Musk kids doing it

subscribe

www.garbageday.email/p/musk-s-sup...

Thanks!

Tech's History With the White House As prominent US tech leaders show up for President Trump's inauguration, Margaret O'Mara, professor of American History at the University of Washington, breaks down the relationship between Silicon Va...

And so it begins: my thoughts on @bloombergtv.bsky.social this AM on tech in the era of Trump 2.0

Tech's History With the White House www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...

Actually, now I’m listening to it, I think he does a good job of the political history (and suspect he read my book). But wow the conversation takes a turn when he starts talking about the company culture of the last ten years. Wild times!

If only Marc had talked to me for my book (tried and tried and failed to get an interview). But he also could have had that impression because he was pretty involved with the C-G White House himself, coming to "Gore-Tech" meetings et al. Times change!

AntiSocial - "Masculine energy": Does the workplace need more of it? - BBC Sounds Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg sparks a row about gender in the workplace.

Lots to say these days about the intersection of politics and tech, and these folks are making news faster than I can write it. In the meantime, there’s podcasts! Listen for me starting at minute 15. Thanks @bbcradio4 for the thoughtful conversation. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Can History Prepare Us for the Trump Presidency? Twenty-one historians explain which moments in history are closest to this one—and what we can learn.

PM (PoliticoMagzine) article of 2017: www.politico.com/magazine/sto...

Working on it!

Thanks for being there (and for capturing the moment)!

So great to be part of the inaugural ROADMAP summit today in DC! www.roadmapsummit.com

“Complicated politics rarely break down into easy stories of who to blame.” Great stuff from @himself.bsky.social on the long uneasy relationship between Silicon Valley and the Dems. Plus shout outs to @markblyth.bsky.social & @margaretomara.bsky.social!

There's this popular DC view that the original sin of the Biden administration was too much spending causing inflation because they listened too much to left-wing views on fiscal policy. Yet here is Goldman's top economist on Odd Lots yesterday saying inflation really was a a supply-side story.

It’s Time to Leave the House There’s still time to save ourselves from the loneliness remote life ushered in five years ago.

This by Diana Lind (+ comment by @ericklinenberg.bsky.social ) just nails it 🎯

The Code by Margaret O'Mara: 9780399562204 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books One of New York Magazine's best books on Silicon Valley! The true, behind-the-scenes history of the people who built Silicon Valley and shaped Big Tech in America Long before Margaret O'Mara became...

2️⃣Sur la Silicon Valley, il faut lire l'ouvrage incontournable de l'historienne @margaretomara.bsky.social : www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534709... (et pour l'aspect visuel, cette récente série sur @artefr.bsky.social : www.arte.tv/fr/videos/RC... ) 4/

Life moves pretty fast The latest from me

My newsletter is back, friends. Will be occasional, short, newsy, e.g. this : open.substack.com/pub/margaret...

I wrote this in 2016. One of the only things I've written that holds up well. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Trump’s techno-libertarian dream team goes to Washington Silicon Valley didn’t shift right. It just wants to be left alone.

Think I have a busy four years ahead of me! Story today by @adamclarkestes in @voxdotcom, with my comment
www.vox.com/technology/3...