Episode
Dr. Jill Lepore on why the AI backlash is vital for the future
Decoder with Nilay Patel · Jul 20, 2026 · 1 h 00 min
Dr. Jill Lepore is one of the best writers there is at identifying institutional patterns in history, and Decoder is a show about systems and organization — so her new book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, is a perfect fit for the show. You build systems by measuring things — gathering information, quantifying it as data, and taking action on it. The book's big thesis is that this…