Listening In

The authors achieve an effective balance of technical history and philosophical inquiry. Highly recommended as an addition to history of technology collections.

CHOICE

These are among the many episodes in a book spanning nearly a century of transformations in who listens, how they listen, and what listening has become. The cumulative effect is a striking portrait of a world in which the drive to capture every utterance ... has become so deeply embedded in our technological infrastructure as to be practically imperceptible. That, of course, is the point.

Wire

While this book presents a totalising account of how we came to be surveilled subjects, it retains a political imagination for the ways we can use these technologies to open our ears and listen back.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Director of Earshot.ngo

Listening In isn’t just a historical account — it’s a provocation. A kind of sonic archaeology that traces how the act of listening has evolved from a tool of espionage to a quiet force shaping the architectures of artificial intelligence. What begins with Cold War bugs ends in our bedrooms, in baby monitors, smart assistants, and even the micro-movements of our necks and jaws as we think. Along the way, the book asks something deeper: what happens when the most intimate parts of our lives — our voices, our silences, our grief — become training data? Structured like a mixtape, it doesn’t just explain the mechanics of surveillance; it immerses you in them. It’s haunting, and strangely personal. By the end, you may find yourself asking not what AI is becoming but what we’ve already become by letting it listen.

Lance Weiler, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Founding Member & Director, Columbia University School of the Arts' Digital Storytelling Lab