is true you would get to the design and with free performance and lower cost everybody but until says that is broken or has stopped. so those exponential is around the corner i am super skeptical. >> that is the year's 2045? >> data now where they are now but it was 2027. >> so i have this wonderful moment at the stanford resilience this summer in the former pentium designer was talking about these problems and at the end of

of reading every added to a computer architect and was absolutely giddy to slow down to rely on the creativity is the architects turn. cool things may happen but not the way until has done 25 years. it just may become more episodic. >> that you tell about robotics where is the most wars important work being done?

to spend a lot of mobile applications software was happening again d iphone happen to and i still expect at some point the will scale to though whole world. >> what is driving us? >> the dean of the information in school i cannot remember her name right now but with us in networking fax it a culture you cannot duplicate anywhere else. it is still very much alive.

in red we talk about the search for a truly personal assistant to draw a distinction and then to talk about that here but the other is from microsoft. we all remember the of my -- the paper clip. end of every are and then coming from some work from stanford to believe in this concept isn't as much as people edsel levy filed the paper clip there are some things that microsoft could have done there was a cultural disconnect that

undermine did it ak bader research developments hated it. they call a dead a -- clown. they hated it but it turns out the code that would make it less obnoxious there was not enough room of the distribution desk. also there was some design issues with social interaction which was fundamentally wrong. nice try but it put setback to agency a decade. [laughter] and too early that google blast from the reality. [laughter] but seriously it had a similar impact but i think

to design their systems there is the tremendous amount of potential. >> apple recently said 5% speech recognition that is suppose to be but cubans do. but the system does get better over the decade as we use them. but just talky into syria is standing. i remember so with that speech recognition called the admirals' advisor. you could say left or right it may get their right to.

that is in the space of 30 years to have these conversational systems that says is close to being human beings. and those of you with the give maybe better than it is. are we just being patient? >> it is coming very quickly. with those steep learning technologies that will get better quickly. >> what is holding us back? i don't think i have done enough reporting. but i can see that progress. but the point double life to make about syria and then decide that i was proud of in the book but the two

architects are affected by the navigator. if you are familiar with that the shooting video that was put together that the chief visionary left the company to compete with apple so he went to alan to come up with the book and he did not think that it existed yet. in the notion which spawned it and the number but i said where is the idea? he said i was just titillate nicholas negroponte.

and to i went to dick ... to save rare did you get this idea? it came from gore did. and it was this cyber-- a cyberscientists have any doubt at m.i.t. in the '80s it had a notion that human intelligence that i found a very compelling idea. that was the idea. >> the first question will be the next question i would ask that is robots as tools. you write cubans can be completely designed in that seems to be the central

debate. >> i have stayed away from that and about. in the u.s. in the soviet era and then to find targets without human intervention. and that weapons system of that missile back into the arsenal. is about chided a strategic power and then to stay farther away so they designed a weapons system with that capability to fly 300 miles that is entirely out of context.

the set maya autonomous weapons system. is involved in the targeting operation. to split the hairs. in that weapons systems makes that decision and intervention there are dozens of countries it is anti-radiation. if it matches the template. and i see that technology.

with those devices that are a boy during overhead. but now there are too blebs hanging above washington d.c.. to do 24 hour surveillance with the cruise missile attack. but with that system in the future i don't want to do think about their. so i went to the conference and a well-known roboticist can make the case for autonomous weapons of the world's best robot

designers. with that component technology they were deciding to do like the rescue profit -- robot but that is an important point. so here we designed this technology with warfare by drums. and dad is great when we have the technology. sold 80 into arms races. with small groups of dictators get the weapons.

and i see those scenarios that are dark earth mbb particularly inevitable. >> now lets light said that up. sova touche driver changes in the area with the artistic and cultural forms like hollywood? >> with the two best examples of that budget to pioneer the roboticist but that may i come pretty both of them went into a i envisage the reaction that we had so as a space odyssey

so with the rainbow's end about of materiality to be highly recommended then i said while. so in the books i write magically called industrial perception. and he did not go to google

with the expressed intent of personal computing. if you walk down the street 50% will look down at the palm of there he and. that cannot be the end point of human evolution of. [laughter] and basically with computing kit was the first time that i thought it was possible. >> putting objects in the world of the fidelity of reality. >> i saw this ad read help

people in a virtual reality but it's a former armed creature wandered around in space and they claim they but get better in to scale that back-and-forth. but my host ran his the of the project as what is wrong with the low level of my brain. with that display you will do this. it is completely science fiction and had completely

unnatural. had what is the robot? >> i have kids i am desperate. [laughter] with the elder care? >>. >> how will that work? i can see many levels. but most elders who are add a sister living facilities to see robotic technology.

in the elder community and to let them travel to create communities that is something to get excited about. i have had two parents with end of life situations i have helped. but the university of carolina's sociologists. that is not the lack of labor. but society has changed to zaph but it will happen.

to approve the quality of life. is this the answer to warn buffett and others to be careful but looking at how what others have said and the soulful where machines but it will not happen and. let's be real but autonomy is a real problem. with us delegation i think

it is great they have raised the discussions. >> to look for the existential threat for society it would be generic -- genetic engineering. with daddy's a modification. what could possibly go wrong ? [laughter] >> is this the next book? >>. >> in the world the smart machines is to understand the value but how do we do that? is a tall order. >> it is my belief that these kerry the value with them.

but that is so we cannot forget these are extensions of the cuban designers. so a stanford economist is that technical knowledge in the hands of the engineers did not work out that way but to have tremendous power over society. that shapes the way that we live. and then in the future. >> why do you write this book?

i grew up but with fab personal computer industry to transform the world. into a of the impact john though world. >> so we would like to have our author read their own working in a rehab a copy of the book for your. so people in this paragraph

that have crossed over. what began as the paradox that lies in the disputed decision of the engineers said the scientist that had intentionally chosen that the computer age to have the clear sense of the relationship to recognize the benefit but also worried it would is educate humidity. the only to assure that the dichotomy that he identified. it is not about the rashid. >> we feel so lucky the you have been righty for us for

so long. thank you. cockup spate mckyer will exit stage left in the book citing will happen down stairs. please go say hi we will see you in september. [inaudible conversations]

>. food get a chance to have the up close view of the

presidency. >> what is the of black-and-white? >> added cyclical something that needs to happen to africans in this country there is of problem with race. we saw this a lot rights movement of the fifties the of the '60s san major legislation but there is still a pulled in this country without seeing the tensions that virginia dose support law enforcement. redo. >> there is still a problem in the nation settle the handover to. talking to obama recently to

close the gap because there are still gaps working in the white house? >> yes. weld that person picks up the presidency. so those furs tuned stories. from barack and bob and bill clinton and meadows that happen with race when a the

stories of my life just a few feet away from the white house with us descendants of slaves and ultimately to give a synopsis. with these black women and with the bid of recognition and then to start crying. and then on the other side. there are a lot of human stories that so they can relate to.

it is about all of us coming in to gather. >>. >> we have professor butler and then to have michael dyson who is the author himself per car than i was a moderator. with this serious civil discussion with issues on rice. and people from all walks of life. is of a discussion and that

happened to the nation. and i hope booktv will be there. c-span2. television for serious readers. >> coming up on c-span twos book tv, a look at science and technology, we'll start with michelle's book, who book, who built that? about american invention. two others discussed their recent works and kevin ashton's book on how to fly force. after that a discussion by evolutionary beth shapiro. >> next,'s conservative blogger

michelle, talks about u.s. innovation. her book is, who built that? young america's foundation hosted the event at the reagan ranch at the reagan ranch center in santa barbara, california. >> it is my privilege to introduce to you today our future speaker and share a few reflections on my experience with young america foundation. welcome to those watching on c-span. young america foundation is committed to educating and inspiring increasing young americans across our nation. with individual freedom, strong national defense, free enterprise, traditional values. for students, conferences like the one we are attending today is one of young america foundation's primary means of it inspiring the next generation of leaders. as mr. larson mentioned, it is my first time here at the reagan ranch.

about four years ago when i attended my first high school conference. that is when my passion for freedom was ignited. i heard about the miracle of america. a proud and exceptional country. founded on the protection on human kinds and liberties. a country who offers her people the opportunity to pursue and achieve heroic dreams. i realize as per accident reagan told us, it is time for us to realize we are too great a nation to limit our self to small dreams. we are not doomed to inevitable decline. i do not believe that they will fall on no matter what we do. i do believe in a fatal fall on us if we do nothing. his call to action inspired me to take action in my own community for the future of my country. i am working closely with the foundation to found another chapter in the next school year

[applause]. i wanted to share the briefly some of the things i have learned at young america that inspire me the most. america stands proudly upon the foundation of a rich western heritage. stretching as far back from the roman republic from the second and third century bc. in the roman athens and those who came after were magnificent. they lack the fundamental aspect , this critical puzzle pieces of freedom of opportunity afforded by the free market system of capitalism. no other economic arrangement in human history has been so capable of creating so much wealth and opportunity for so many people. president ronald reagan understood this. the free market principles were critical components of america's

greatest. he reminded us, only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policy and benefiting from their success, only then can society remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. our speaker this afternoon certainly understands this. she is living evidence that the american dream is alive and well. the daughter filipino immigrants, michelle is one of the foremost thinkers. she is an author, an author, a syndicated columnist, blogger, and entrepreneur. she has 20 years experience in political journalism. she began her career with the l.a. daily news. in 1995, she was named warren brooks fellows at the competitive enterprise institute at washington d.c. as an entrepreneur she has built three successful website, her own personal website, hot air,

and twitchy. you'll know her for her numerous media appearances the from fox news and msnbc and c-span. she is a frequent speaker on college campuses haven't spoken to audiences at their coos, marquette, university of texas, and south dakota state university. she has authored five books, one of which the culture of corruption was ranked number one new york times bestseller. her most recent book, who built that, inspiring stories of america's entrepreneurs. those whose ideas and inventions conceive here in basements, garages, backyards became corporations, and play millions

of americans and people around the world. and improve the standard of living for the entire world. one of my favorite was the miracle of americans. it's a story of tony. he was a croatian immigrant from a poor island in the dramatic c. he was born close to the end of world war ii. he came to america thank invented the maglite torch. her conviction in her belief in freedom resound in all that she does. she is a shining example of patriotism to americans everywhere. please remain welcoming her to the stage. [applause]. >> thank you so much. thank you.

let's get started. this is amazing. i cannot tell you how at home i feel here. how perfect a set innocence. i cannot think of a better place i also much too young america's foundation and the reagan ranch. these are two of the finest, liberty promoting organizations we have in america. i want to thank everyone who works for that organization. ron and michelle who have been friends for so long. andrew, and each and every one of you who has done your part to support the work that they do. thank you. give yourself a hand. [applause]. i also want to give a shout out to c-span a book tv who are here, over the course of my quarter-century career as an out

of the closet, conservative journalist, c-span has covered many of the events that i have done over the years. they welcomed me from "washington journal" last week and it is always an incredible ride to get phone calls from c-span listeners and to get that no holds bar, fully transparent discussion that so many say that they support. this book, who built that, was, with a very special journey for me. as i write in the introduction of the book, most most people know me as that angry brown lady on the tv said who is always yelling. so i vowed, when i launch this book that i was going to put on the happy, smiling face. but inevitably then of course,

on cable tv they were going to put me get some meathead from the left and there i go again. i'm sure some of you saw me last week on some of the shows. i think, when you are in this business and especially when you cancer in your college campuses representing the voice of freedom, free-market capitalism, the best found in constitutional principles that we all it here too, you have to pick and choose your battles. it also pens him a time, manner, and, and place on how you present yourself. the full picture of who we are and that is what reagan did. he was a happy or year. when he needed to reprimand the berkeley children, many of whom were 16, and 70 years old he knew how to turn it on. yet, he remained such a beacon for people across class lines,

across color lines. he gave people a reason to aspire. that overused words these days, hope. hope rests in the principle of the promise of social nobility that we are not all delegated to one rung of the ladder. so when i heard this, you did not built this, it still feel so raw. doesn't it? i thought, this is it. we've one, we have clinched it, can you believe this guy getting up and openly denigrating america's makers, builders, and achievers. how did he get away with that? and then he did.

and did that not feel like it would just add me in the heart. what is going on, what is going on here? what do we fail to do? to connect the dots to people so they can see that he was not merely saying that we have help along the way, that's an innocuous treatment. of course we all do, we all we all stand on the shoulders of our founding fathers. let's thank them. but no, that's that's not what he was saying. so in the book i excerpt the full context of the passage of those remarks, which the contacts was very important. why was he saying what he was saying in this crusading force, on business owners, on self-made, independent entrepreneurs. before he coined that phrase you

didn't build that, he had the stripping hostility for people who, rightly believed that it was their own initiative that yes, they worked harder, yes they were smarter. i was horrified when he said they think they are so smart, they think they work harder, but what was more or find was the arousing applause. so, i completely go to the fact that when i started the book, i was angry. but as i embarked on research for the book, and i took this incredible journey through american history, i ended up with the biggest, confuse grin on my face. you should have seen my entire family. every time i discovered some new facts, new on song entrepreneur,

they had to hear every last detail. so, my kids kids got to see a very different side of me. not just angry, cable tv lady. but nerd mom. there she goes she goes again talking about a bottlecap. stop her. but the fact is, i have always been somewhat of a breast entrée -- frustrated tinkerer. the soda bottles submarine that sank, the marshmallow shooter that has marshmallows stuck in the pvc piping, a weber grill i tried to modify and i almost since my eyebrows off. i thought really, who better to write about the successes than

someone who is such a want to be. such a little failure. of course that is somewhat of a cliché now that when people talk about successful entrepreneurs they always mention failure which is such a huge and radiant motivator for them to continue. there were so many statements even just in the last couple of weeks that have emphasized and underscored some of the things i talk about in the introduction to the book. it is really my personal manifesto against this mouth shaming agenda. the open open denigration that we here not only in statements like you didn't build that but other statements.

for obama. at one point when he was lobbying he said, you have earned enough money. because he is a decider. how about biden who has said that every great idea of the 19th, 20th, 21st century is the result of government division. how about mr. bernie sanders, he handed it to me on a silver platter this week, kicking off his campaign, speaking to financial journalist john harwood and he says, one of the core problems with america is that there are 23 types of deodorants on our store shelves in 18 types of sneakers. because consumers have so many

choices it is these selfish people who are either consuming all of these innumerable products, and all of the people who are employed manufacturing that there are the cause of childhood hunger in america. so next time you're doing this, hunger is your fault. [laughter] by the way, i need someone to go to the bathroom really quickly before a forget and get me a role roll of toilet paper. can someone do that? just go grab a roll of toilet paper. i will get back to that in a second. so this is perfect, and everything will be safe at work. so here we have bernie sanders

who, by the way who are some of his biggest donors in france? ben and jerry from ben & jerry's ice cream. and how many flavors of ice today sell? [laughter] i propose that bernie sanders first asks as theoretical presidency that ben & jerry's only be allowed to sell one flavor of ice cream, venezuela vanilla. [laughter] could this be more perfect? the idea that somehow we should be punished because we have a myriad of choices. guess what bernie sanders? you can buy my book at walmart, cosco, barnes & noble, and other places in god bless america for it. [applause]. there is my toilet paper. how many types of toilet paper are on the shelf at safeway?

we can quilted, to plaque, three ply, foreplay, scented or unscented. it's not thanks to the federal department of innovation that we have toilet paper in venezuela and the soviet union don't. because there could be no government executive order that created a single roll of toilet paper. many of you, because you have parents and committed teachers, and homeschoolers who understand that education is a failure if you do not have an appreciation of basic free market, economic values. many of you are familiar with the iconic essay by leonard reed, called i pencil. yes? raise your hand. i think this should be mandatory. if i had a common core

curriculum, i pencil would be taught in second grade or first grade. this was the way of illustrating the miracle of millions of voluntary exchanges that go on in our country every day. also around the world where they can. of all the cooperation that goes on without any centralized top-down hand coordinating it. the engines, the fuel for producing something as simple as a pencil comes from allowing people to pursue their self interest. it is the same thing with toilet paper which is why one of the chapters i wrote is i toilet paper. and boy was was it fun to write in the voice of a roll of

toilet paper. what i found was, it was such a joy to take a break from the dearly daily wear and taher of the tv world where there so much negative to just be able to breathe in this incredible legacy. the history of toilet paper can be traced back to our founding fathers. many of them who were private, venture capitalists in the paper mills across pennsylvania. benjamin franklin was one of them. toilet paper owners never thought that we have them to thank for the comfort of this. they were just trying to put food on the table and make a living and yes make a profit. they said it with a happy smile on their face. these days, do you hear people

as is with the profanity, or pixelation like a cartoon? we can't make a profit. then of course there's a wreaking hypocrisy of obama going after private venture capitalists. just a few weeks ago at georgetown university at a poverty summit, i'm sure you all saw this, wrote a piece about this in usa today, he denigrated, he picked at random of course the top 25 hedge fund managers in america to denigrate. he called them quote, societies lottery winners. as if their success, their achievement, the creative capital that they had, the decision decision that they made

to invest another private businesses were somehow distributed like a powerball drawing. some people get lucky and everybody else does not. they're stuck in relegated to those positions for life. nonsense. not only is this nonsense, that only is it seething class warfare, it is anti- american. because it is looking at everything this country represented in the past ny we have have been such a success for so long. this man is ignorant of history. people like him, these capitalists need to be called out. that is why i dedicated who built that to president barack obama [applause]. so this is going to be showing tell. but before i get to some of

these really cool things, by the way, i i have a whole bag of these bottle caps so kids if you want to have before you leave come up to me and i will give you some of them. but i do want to talk about ronald reagan and how he affected my life and what he meant to my family and me. so i have told a lot of students i speak to across the country, i do not always have this big mouth, i i know you are so shocked. [laughter] it was always incredibly difficult for me as a child to get up in front of an audience, believe it or not. i feel my seventh grade speech class. i'll never forget it because it had reagan tied to it. we are told to write about anything we wanted to write about and speak for three minutes. i had always been a very in-depth writer. if it was something i could

commit to paper, i would get an a. but having to deliver its -- i wrote my speech in 1982 about a government official, a civil servant named lenny who dived into the potomac, there is a plane crash, i don't remember that airline. air florida -- thank you. like the geriatric memory bank, thank you. [laughter] this was an ordinary guy who did an extra and everything. he saved several passenger lives in the icy potomac. i wrote a great speech about this because what president reagan did was launch the ongoing tradition of honoring an ordinary american who did

externa things during the state of the union. that tradition continues today. so i got my paper written, got up to the podium, i failed. i went home to my mom, i cried and thank god i had not just a tiger mom, but a mountain lion mom who is completely unsympathetic. she said words that ring true today and so many contexts, i'm sure many of these students had missed numbers like this. she said if if you don't speak for yourself, no one will. that's how i felt on my college campus. i went to overland college it's

like the miserably of the midwest. i went to a school where the lack of intellectual diversity on campus was not ashamed, it was something you're proud of. at some point you realize that the self-anointed progressives who claim your mind because of your chromosomal makeup, right gals? they just assume that you belong to them and a lot of the racial grievance mongers, somehow they should claim every last minority

on campus and on the inner city by virtue your skin color or ethnicity. that source of entitlement that they have needs to be pushed back against by people with an alternative view. of what constitutes hope and change. [applause]. when i wrote this book i didn't just want to write it for folks who hear me on tv, truth what i have to say and that's why i'm so glad book tv is here to reach out to a wider audience. in particular i wanted to make sure young people heard this message, because we have a huge problem, if only we had fulfilled reagan's vision

eliminated the federal department of education, we would not have as many problems as we have at the elementary and secondary level. we have the common core invitation, not just of english, math, and don't get me started on common core math, or maybe you do. it's also history. is the progressive architects of things like common core, no child left behind, outcome-based education, whatever else there has been that came before. these monstrosities are always morphing like transformers. there are now revamping the u.s. history standards, they have even more of an overt, marxist, socialist, anti- capitalist thing to them. all the more reason to make sure there are

alternative curriculums. alternative voices that we have yes representatives not only at college campuses but reaching out to me of high school programs here which are so vitally important. it's important to tell compelling stories and narratives. that's what the last two insufferable terms of this administration has taught us. the man in chief and the white house is an expert storyteller or false, tall tales. one of the tall tales he is always talking about is the idea, as he mentioned that we, the makers, builders, creators, wealth generators of america, oh him.

we all because we would not be able to do what we do without their roads, their bridges, without government investments. this is why i chose to highlight who are the ones who built the brooklyn bridge? showing tell item number one. this this is a letter opener that i acquired that was forged from -- it's really cool and i got it from tsa believe it or not. [laughter] the story of public infrastructure in america is not a story of how government built these things for us, it's about

how countless numbers of private capitalists are able to pursue profits from the selves and their families. build businesses that lasted for generations, not not because they cared more about the people. there's one thing that young conservatives can do to help educate your peers, it's to peers this bubble, this idea that we selfish, profit-seeking do not care. the people who claim to care the most in washington are the people who have cosmo suffering in america. stop caring for me. get. get out of my life, but out of my business. because when people are free to pursue profits and businesses,

it was trenton makes the world's pics. it turns on its head this idea that the re- distributors of wealth, the people who take other people's money are responsible for what wealth generators and capitalists make. government takes, capitalists make. this story of john rolling is one of the american dream. if you dig deep, if you look at what was responsible for bridge being erected, it's not bureaucrats, who is the secretary of the department? i don't know, some hack getting paid off.

that's just how government is. when you dig deep into the story you find a man who is dissatisfied with layers of government bureaucracy in his home country. john robin was a civil engineer in the province of west delia witches formally prussia. he had this grand vision of building extension bridges but the bureaucrats who oversaw his work cannot envision what he was designing. we always hear about vision, obama who is the blind us man in washington d.c., he always talks about vision.

what's vision? you can't envision yourself out of a paper bag. but i quoted from roebling's diary, he told his son, washington roebling who had to finish building the brooklyn bridge because john roebling literally worked himself to death. he had been standing on a piling overlooking part of the construction and there is a fairy that ran over his foot. he died as a result of that accident. washington roebling and his wife oversaw the completion of that bridge which mark there 132 anniversary this week. i love the serendipity of the so many connections i made in the book. one of the things that naturally

happen, didn't plan it which i think is a good metaphor for how the free market work. when you embark on some journey musically to end up? catalyst catalyst takes risk. they accept the responsibility for the failures and they deserve every last bit of credit for their success. [applause]. a lot of people ask me, how did you pick, how did you decide who to highlight? it was sort of tugging on a string, realizing the connection between what seemed to be very random and disconnected that i found most miraculous. i talk about this idea of the miracle of the mundane. in the internet age of course, my 14-year-old in 11 -year-olds

are not impressed, they really think i'm so weird. look at this, isn't it so amazing, to understand what it took to come up with a design as simple as this. to realize the impact that william painter, who founded and patented the crown cork, a bottlecap today. to realize the impact it had not only in soda bottles but on the entire beverage packing industry? it's amazing. and i know, i sound like a fool, geek, but whatever this is a joy, this is the optimism we're trying to spread. you get up there on the podium

and you're about to launch another campaign or your tv, and someone fed them in their teleprompter, do they really feel it in the bones? can they really they really tell you how incredible it is? one of the stories i write about in, who built that, is how william painter who spent his entire life, this dude did not rest. they'd never take vacations, they don't want to. they don't want to waste a second that they have on american soil because they have visited. they want to continue perfecting their ideas. one of the incredible things about the tinker per new words that i talk about is they do not just patent one or two things,

but hundreds of things and then they inspired other people to do the same thing. so william painter hired a guy named king gillette, he traveled up and down the east coast convincing people about the miracle of the bottlecap. and other products too. he was a representative in england as well. he came from a family of inventors and was a frustrated inventor himself. william painter took him under his wing and said just keep tinkering, you will come up with something. william painter died before he was able to see king camp gillette patent the gillette razor. and these two companies continue to exist today.

it is part of an $9 billion, when i said i say it with a smile on like that guy. that's amazing, that is nothing to be ashamed of. so the incredible circle of creativity and entrepreneurship, overlapping, this is exactly what leonard reed was talking about or the roll of toilet paper like i was talking about. people do not need to claim themselves the doors of good to do good. the progressives have it upside down about the american dream. it's not the people who dedicate their lives to working in government to do good for other

people that benefit us the most. as the people who are allowed to pursue their own self-interest in their own way, and make them much money as they decide to mike and higher who they want to hire, and pay them what they want to pay. those are the engines of progress and innovation and america. one of the things i got to do which was so amazing was visit anthony. i really have to tell you, this man was such an inspiration to me. he is in ontario, california where they employ 800 american workers. he is 84 years old, he gets up every day at five or 6:00 a.m., the last one to clock out at the end of the day. he continues to innovate,

continues to file patents. he came here penniless, he taught himself english from a dictionary. he failed many times that other endeavors before he finally arrived in california. the slogan there it's city of achievements. he he literally started out in the garage people. a lot of it talkshow host are mad that i have them say tinker printers like entrepreneurs. made a beautiful utilitarian, i can use this as a little weapon, source it has to be shorter than

me. [laughter] he actually is grab it to me which is really cool was a really cool thing for me. he started out in the garage and was just one of those people who should there's many of you and i don't mean to be gender discriminatory, their dad, uncle, brother, grandfather, always tinkering around in the garage fixing something. talking with someone earlier at one of the receptions about how it bugs me and it bugged me with my own kids because sorry jesse, can you talk, has been first second. i had to make him go on an rv trip to know how to do the hookup because he never got his hands dirty.

there's a mentality among my generation, well i don't know how to change a windshield wiper, i will have someone else do it. we are not the fix-it generation. the idea of storing this and among young people is very important, there's a lot of promise and that now. we have a resurgence movement of makers. does any of you read make magazine? they're using little bits to do electronic circuits and robots, the last chapter of the book talks about many young people who are developing the next generation of prosthetics in this country. they are powering them with legos and prototyping them. that reminds me, obama was at

one of the science fairs a few months ago. there was a group of girl scouts from the heartland, gross out trooper who had come up with a lego power device. obama gets there asking them about how they made it and really smart little girl said well we prototyped it first. what have you ever thought of? so, there is no teleprompter, so we get that trademark -- i know some of you in the room know what he said but prepare yourself. he said, healthcare.

[laughter] he said that! the only thing that would have made this a better killer viral video is if the girls got laughed in his face. now, if my daughter had been a girl scout asking that question, yes. he said now i hope all the parents of those girl scouts went home and told their girls the rest of the story. he came up with healthcare, they don't make things they destroy things. the upshot of that though is that you have these kids there doing amazing things. that's where i derive some sense of optimism about the future of

this country. there still still are parents and grandparents out there teaching their kids to make things with their hands. i have been blessed and fortunate to be an internet entrereneur. to be able to make a profit, profit, make a living and put food on the table with words, with bits and bytes, with my big mouth. it is not some sort of imperialism or whatever word they want to use to assert because we know from this journey through history that i have taken and that hopefully you are embarking are in your college career somehow. whether you have to supplement it out or not, this is uniquely american.

only in america has this been allowed to flourish in a way that it has nowhere else on the planet. that leads me to something i want to talk about which the founding fathers bequeathed to us which is under great threat. that is our unique patent system. do we have any patent holders in the crowd? what did you patent? none on medical devices. [laughter] [inaudible] >> awesome [applause]. , how awesome is that perfect [applause]. >> i love it.

article one, section eight of the constitution says something incredible. the guarantees the right of inventors and authors to be able to profit from the fruits of their mind and the fruits of their labor. nowhere else on the planet had this idea been in a founding document. our finding fathers understood that it benefited the public good. this is a formulation that if you ordered it on msnbc, every head would explode. private profit is a public good. it is in it of itself the ability to profit is a public good.

that's because of these founding principles of protecting intellectual private property. what happened was the development of the patent system over the years has enshrined this idea that the inventors were the first to invent and be able to benefit. under obama's radical transformation of america, that very founding principle has once again, been turned on its head. i need drama mean when i talk about these people. everything is upside down. in 2011, i have pain when i think about this, i was not paying attention, because patent laws is not one of those things you see on cable tv debated about. this is -- we are so busy putting out so many fires and fighting so many big battles, meanwhile they're slipping under

the table radical changes like this. what they did, what they adopted , unfortunately with some bipartisan support, bipartisan ship is such a pain. they turn to our patent system principle on their head, so rather than the first to invent, those who are rewarded now are the first to file. now where did they get this idea? it was harmonization with the rest of the world. we note the rest of the world is upbeat in our butts on innovation for so long, right? why is it that we have to now conform to international standards that have proven to be less successful than our unique system? it's because anything that is unique to america is to

progressive. it gets worse. that was not enough to file the so-called america invent act. it's opposite world. it is america want to invent act. just last week in the next couple of weeks there will be a debate in the senate over more pieces of legislation to further codify these ideas. i have already heard from so many independent, small business people who are filing patents who are affirming what we are talking about, what i've written about and we have heard from many patent law scholars who have the head straight about this and understand the constitutional foundation for

progress are. i have to redo read you this quote. this is the famous observation from not only the american work ethic but in particular about an ovation he said, quote what most strikes me in the united states is not the extraordinary size of a few projects, it is countless numbers of small ones on quote anthony trollope said the great glory of americans is in their wondrous patent remedies of life. it's the small things, this is

what i meant about the miracle the mundane, out there there right now are so many millions of these independent inventors and innovators. they're making things that are small, that can't taken for granted. think that we mock. andrew mentioned to me that he was a couple doors down from the guy who originated the selfie stick. which i had my first encounter within the overflow room. so, and bernie sanders world, who needs the selfie stick? mr. decider up me, doesn't that actually describe so many of these do-gooders thing control freaks in washington? why do you get to decide what i need. what i want. what i deserve. what i am entitled to.

why is it that i am the selfish one and you, the coarser, you the liberty inhibitor, are the doer of public good? it is opposite world. to be able to suppose this and do it with a happy smile on your face because we are the ones that are trying to lift people up, to achieve the american dream that they are all paying lip service to. when i end up on cable tv, a lot of times if i'm doing a debate at the end of it people come up and they are very depressed. you look at the havoc that has been wrought across the american landscape. not just over the last several years but decades.

people are ready to give up and i understand that, it is hard to fight on a daily basis when you know where we have been, when you know what it has taken to get where we are, and when we see the road ahead. like i said, i i drive so much inspiration from the people that i highlighted in the next generation of inventors, businesses and makers. there is another gross out troop that invented a lego powered prosthetic hand for a girl who is born with a congenital defect. these girls somehow understood the magic a patent." one" one in the book. they were so proud, this means we have made it. making it in america means being able to profit off of that. 84-year-old anthony tells me,

you are the sun filled cafeteria, this guy looks like a cross between mark twain and albert einstein with wild hair. he has this mechanics jacket, like fonzie. it says pony on there. this idea that ceos for these beans are just ripping the crap out of their employees, his employees are calling him by his first name, hugging hugging him on the factory floor. despite the setbacks that he has had, the outsourcing that has been going on that he fought

tooth and nail. the competition from china, $100 million that he had to defend at home and around the world. 8484 years old, he is still going. i'm thinking, this guy guy does not want to stop, he understands what the value of the american dream is. he is not going to quit, so neither mi and neither neither should you. thank you so much. [applause]. >> of their nonfiction author book that you would like to see featured on book tv? send us an an e-mail, book tv at c-span.org. tweet us at book tv, or poster, on our wall, facebook.com/book tv. >> this new year's weekend, book tv tv brings you three days of

nonfiction books and authors. on new year's day presentations on in-depth starting at 7:00 p.m. eastern, nationally syndicated talkshow host of tom hartman. his many books include the crash of 2016, rebooting the american dream. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern, economist walter williams, his most recent book is american contempt for liberty. his other books include race and economics. saturday evening at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwards, call rove deputy chief of staff looks at mckinley's 1896 campaign. >> ..

>> joined book tv as we attend the book parties thrown for karl rove sunday on in-depth doctor david marinus will be live with calls, e-mails, and texts from noon to three pm eastern. a detroit story as well as 1st in his class biography of bill clinton, telnet to shut up and barack obama the story. book tv this new year's weekend three days of nonfiction books and authors on c-span2, so a vision for serious readers. >> coming up to writers talk

about science and innovation. author of a book on businessmen from adventure, an engineer in one mosque, kevin ashton's book is how to fly a horse, the secret history of creation, and mentioned command discovery, part of the texas book festival held in austin earlier this year. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon. thank you all for joining us for the silicon valley atx panel. i will be your moderator this afternoon. i was want to take a moment to thank the folks that make this festival free, fun command fantastic. please help me in thanking the volunteers.

[applause] in a moment i will introduce our two authors. ii just want to make a couple of housekeeping announcements. we will spend a few minutes with each author. we will certainly save plenty of time for q&a afterwards. i ask that you ask your questions only have that time and as soon as we are done i will take kevin ashley over. i encourage you to pick up a hard copy of their books and i'm sure they will be good enough to sign them and maybe take a photograph or volunteer for a baptismal bar mitzvah. i encourage you to purchase the book through our barnes & noble partner, very generous in giving a portion of the proceeds back each year which we appreciate. i guess to funds not only this festival of a year-round texas library grants maintaining a robust

system and also for a limited time your local library is running a great promotion of free books. i encourage you to take advantage of that plan to help us with reading rock stars,program were young inner-city schools and out authors read there books to the students and in many cases give the students a hard copy of their book. important stuff, so we hope to see you there. thank you again for coming. let me introduce 1st ashlee vance and the author now the new york times bestseller elon musk tesla space x in the quest for a fantastic future. many technology startups, cofounder of the auto id center and the internet of things, fantastic book how

to fly aa horse, the secret history of creation, and mentioned command discovery. [applause] >> all right. let me start with kevin for the simple reason that his book, as all great stories do the story of a man named wolfgang. [applause] in this case it was mozart not myself. it starts with wolfgang mozart and in the book wonderfully wizened brilliant narrative of the historical and contemporary tales of innovation and i got the sense of how important setbacks and difficulties were. could we at least start with the impetus for inspiration for the book originally? >> well, so i found myself at mit through a very kind

of random. i studied scandinavian studies, i know how to read and 19th century norwegian. i was hired by company name procter & gamble to launch a a range of color cosmetics. and i found myself at mit. and so i felt like a complete fraud because i was there reading this group of amazing creative people. and i assumed i guess as many people do that they were having ideas and things are coming to the spontaneously. all of my ideas were the result of trying and failing. ifailing. i felt like a fraud. it was about the same time everyone was getting into hearing. i felt like i was ati was at hogwarts. then i realized they were

not doing any magic. they were trying and failing started asking me to talk. i started talking story which resonated. >> the muppets are prominently featured in this book which i did not see coming. but you leave so many -- they all have a similar arc in narrative. what were some of the other ways. in the universe of innovation how to decide what to grab what to leave? >> the big.here is that the

way human beings create is basically the same no matter what there creating. i talk about mozart in the book. the way you create is not that different from bert and ernie, jim henson. so by looking at lots of different, apparently different creative works i think i was able to show the fundamental process for inspiration is the same no matter what. the stories were in some cases ones i had already heard from owens i was curious about and a lot of the book is about one thing leading to another. >> your own personal background or experience? >> absolutely. my experience is very much i read some books about what people call creativity and brought into this myth of

genius in solving problems and all moments. >> not only history but this goes back 50,000 years. the beginning of homo sapiens and i immediately they began to evolve. allergy drawn that history? >> that is something that intrigues me. human evolution. it is incredibly relevant to the process of creating. this is not something we hear often enough improve within our lifetime. i give you an example.

the birds us today in a business 20,000 years ago it will be exactly the same. there is no meeting going on right now where there is a burden a black turtleneck on the stage and failing person a 6.0. quite a few animals. in fact we're discovering more and more. the difference between us and them the product of instinct. they change as a result of evolution. i'm doing it right now. language is symbolic. interesting thing about languages it is actually not primarily for speaking but for thinking.

consider what might happen if we put these things together. that is creating. the ability to ability to be creative is uniquely and innately human. we all have it which is why the game this incredible successful species within the space of 50,000 years. when it also is why i could tell stories and see that they are basically the same. we all have this innate ability to be creative. it is not equal but it is present in the way we do it is basically the same no matter who we are. >> the biologist, not so much disturbed by all the harmon violence all of these

things, how many had in their blood in their dna the process of overcoming adversity. believing in themselves from innovation, and so that seems to be a prevalent thing. >> this is fundamentally important. everybody can create. i don't care if you're male, female,male, female, black, white, straight gate, you have this innate ability to be created. as a species we depend on our creative ability, all of our creative abilities to survive and thrive. the myth of genius which by the way is generally go for a white man. all these other people who are being oppressed.

by oppressing them we are diminishing our own potential. it is important to recognize the facility and nurture that because we benefit from and ultimately. >> in your opinion what are ways we can do that? >> we have to get rid of this myth of the creative genius. and you can see it. you see it there. ostensibly a book about one guy who is achieving incredible things tens of thousands of people working with them and he may be the most important among them, but he is nothing without them. and so my crusade is really to have us all recognize our own humanity and potential and help one another develop the myth of the one white guy is genius.

it's just not true. >> i smell sitcom. kevin now is actually in a loss tonight but now lives in austin. you are here now. >> am writing my next book. i have a great time. if you're not from here i'm supposed to tell you to go home but i welcome you and want you to stay. >> it will confess spin

hours here in the capitol lobbying for the removal. i do want to thank ashley for joining us today. his book is a fantastic, the only in-depth look. fantastic dream into his background and the biography. what they see for the future and believe it or not a lot of it will be dictated by the sky. yet another rich white guy. but in my opinion is a little bit special. if you would also start with a cliché question: was the inspiration and impetus? >> sure. a technology reporter and silicon valley for about 15 years now.

in a lot of ways this would have been an unlikely book for me to do. he was never a guy i was not interested in. these companies and i would cover regularly command he seemed like a guy who was a blowhard and silicon valley, promising fantastic things and they seem to take much longer to deliver. and then around 2012 it changed for me. not a space tourism company, while commercial satellite launching company. the dr. the international space station and replace this patient or an give us give us a chance to get to space. tesla, electric car company, came out with a model accident. as compared to the 1st car which was seen as more of a

12 for rich people, the model s still caters caters to rich people but it was view is maybe the best car ever built. people in detroit who were skeptical gave the company credit. solar city is the 3rd company. a solar power company filing throughout public offering and became the united states largest installer. this all happened in the span of about three months. as far as industrial scale even though he has a lot to prove there is no one in history that has been in this diverse in the field. and so i did a cover story on him and ended up to father went to the factory in silicon valley and then went to the rocket factory in los angeles. that blew methat blew me away as well, and this time we are told we can't make anything. this guythis guy was

building these complicated things in the most expensive cities. it is not for show. the space x rocket factory is about 4 miles from lax. i thought they would be hand making one rocket for their mass-producing rocket. it kind of blew me away. i had a chance to interview elon and he was just much more interesting. i pegged him as aa techno- utopian kind of guy but he was authentic, a good interview, surprisingly down to earth in a lot did not have a lot of answers. it was just me and him. i've been looking for a book to do and thought this was the guy. he was running counter to so much of the stuff and silicon valley which is quick hits, entertainment, consumer services. >> backtrack a moment, how

did you originally pitch it to him? >> those were difficult. we had a pretty good rapport coming out of that. he has a controversial relationship with journalists. we had gotten along okay. i like to do a book on you. he said colloquy that he was going to write his own book. so i took that is unlikely and he definitely brushed me off and then i took a risk i went and sold the book in new york a couple months later. i thought that would force his hand. if i sold the book and came back to him and told him that he would end up cooperating. we have this big meeting in tesla one saturday. tesla's. tesla's office, the factories in fremont california on the edge of

silicon valley and the office is in palo alto in these days most people do not work on the weekends like they did back 20 or 30 years ago. the parking lot was full of cars and i walked in and he has everyone working on saturday. he made me wait about an hour for our meeting. he comes in, and he sits down and made small talk. so impressive, you have all these people here on a saturday. the 1st thing out of his mouth, it's funny that you say that come i was just about to send an email to everybody tell you how softly gotten andsoftware gotten and i expect more people to be here on the weekend. >> we got off to a rough start and then i told him i sold the book and again he told me he was not going to cooperate. there was this moment where i decided, can i do this and

not know decided to go ahead and spent the next 18 months interviewing about 200 people, ex-employees. new line also cofounded paypal. his ex- girlfriends, his worst enemies call the stuff and after 18 months that seem to where him down. one day i was at home and got a call. he decided that we would chat it out. he ended up cooperating with the book after that. i interviewed him for about eight months ago access. >> i want to give too much away, but this is the only access irc like this. the book has been out. it is a new york times bestseller. has there been any feedback indirectly? >> it has been a bit of a roller coaster. he was -- he wanted to see

the book before was published. >> did he pick out the cover photo? >> thank me for that photo. >> whatphoto. >> what is standing in front of? >> that is a space x engine. he wanted to read the book. he wanted to put footnotes in the book and i would not let him. i did let them see the book before. hehe did not have to buy it on amazon. and so his initial reaction at about 50 e-mails waiting for me. he works 24 hours a day. keep it going paragraph by paragraph through the book. nothing too controversial.

a couple days passed and he said the book is accurate. he gave me a 90 percent accuracy rating. and he said it was well done and the press got a hold of the book and mostly focused on what a glossy is. then he had a bigger reaction after that. i had to make comparisons, but were talking about the tech giants. what similarities or differences that have?

>> definitely different. there are comparisons you could make. preserving the company because off to the cover letter. looking at the sun visors of the car. it is very elon way. and so that is absolutely something that elon wanted and his engineers fought him on. the new it will be difficult to do. did have problems. it has become one of the signature things. it is exactly the same way

he actually makes sometimes good, sometimes bad decisions. he goes down to that level. i probably draw more parallels to like edison getting huge quantities of people. bright ambitious and capable people to dedicate there lives. i think that's probably the

biggest accomplishment. space x in particular, he was to create a colony on mars which is a tough thing to sell on wall street. has been determined not to take space x public. everybody else. you have a little bit of everyone. having interviewed most of these people more capable across a broader set of things. makes plenty of mistakes but is quite good.

>> we want to thank him for putting the facility in brownsville. you mentioned this earlier. you are on aa flight from san francisco with a guy reading the book. >> i don't want to oversell. this guy, it was interesting. reading the book and told me my tapped him on the shoulder near the end of the flight. he said, i've gotten a few e-mails like this. i guy who was kind of midcareer and he was going to quit his current job and go do something that was more risky. he wanted to go -- you identified to startups.

it has been funny since the book came out. people, this is sort of what i wanted to do. going to law school. maybe they were cursed me in a few years. they wanted to get a job or go back get an engineering degree. some of that is rewarding. >> his book does such a wonderful gob of weaving together the narratives. the process in the life experience. the penultimate example of that. i was particularly thinking of elon, alito case of malaria. foster child is a young man. but those types of things command you talk about

similar problems, butbut i want to give you both in conversation about the process. the importance of passion. difficult passionate about something superficial. you're probably not passionate about the drapes, passionate about your children or your family are some higher purpose. what you see with creative people, they are passionate about something very meaningful. one of the most important innovators alive today.

it is a very good job of explaining this. he kind of gets it. we depend on technology for survival as a species. it made us a successful species. they will come a point when this planet is not big enough for the human race anymore. probably not that far from now we have to live on another planet. if wewe're going to continue to thrive and grow. so you have to become an interplanetary species.

that's why he wants to go colonize mars. that sounds incredibly unbelievable but it is also incredibly predictable. the ability to overcome terrible because they are passionate about something greater. musk epitomizes that. he may die very young because he is working incredibly hard. but the reason he is doing at his because he has higher purpose. that is motivating them to work longer hours, work harder, is one of the reasons he gets mad and matted employees who want to take one sunday your offer something. that is what i see able to suffer the terrible experience. rebound from a bad illness.

there's something more important. >> there are things that are both refreshing and sort of probably would be disturbing the most people. i don't think most people would want to live their life completely like he does. as a kid he by the time he was 14 he may have read every science-fiction book ever penned. where some kids would sort of revel in the fantasies committee took this as his life's calling and internalized it and decided, i'm the guy who will do this .-ellipsis life really a low-levela low-level like know when i have ever seen, very utilitarian. have aa finite amount of time on this earth and going to maximize my time going after my goals. if