Steven Levy

Editor in chief of the tech hub for Medium, key writer for Wired magazine since its founding at the beginning of the internet boom, chief technology writer for Newsweek during the Internet boom and author of books that define the digital age, Steven Levy has been at the forefront of technology since the early 1980s.

Levy joined Newsweek in 1996 as senior editor, chief technology correspondent and writer of a column called “The Technologist.” In 2008, he joined Wired magazine as a full time writer after having been a contributor to the publication since its inception. This year, Levy became the most heralded journalist yet to join a new, Internet-only company, beginning a new site for Medium that will be part of a movement to redefine journalism in the digital age.

Levy’s own journey in tech began over on assignment for Rolling Stone when he wrote about hackers, a subculture that few had heard of at the time. He realized that the digital revolution would be the most significant story of our time, and his subsequent chronicles of the transformation would take him so deep into the tech world that is he now considered one of its sages. His first of seven books, Hackers, is considered the classic computer history and was named the best sci-tech in 20 years by readers of PC Magazine.

Over the years, he has developed trusted relationships with the tech giants who have shaped our world, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs. His extraordinary access to the late Apple CEO illuminated his two critically acclaimed books: Insanely Great, the history of the Macintosh; and The Perfect Thing, about the iPod, ecommerce, and digital music.

Levy’s work often presages transformations that happen years after publication, as with his 2001 book, Crypto, winner of the grand eBook prize at the Frankfurt Book Festival. Reporters covering the recent Snowden revelations found Levy’s account of a revolutionary invention in cryptography to be essential reading. His most recent book, In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives, was quickly hailed as the definitive word on the powerful company.

Levy’s observations on innovation, and his view that an unprecedented technology surge has put previously impossible ambitions within reach, have won him acclaim as a writer and public speaker. His articles, opinion pieces and reviews have appeared in a wide range of publications, including Harper’s, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Premiere and the New Yorker. In addition, he has been a regular columnist for Rolling Stone and Macworld. Before focusing on technology, Levy wrote about a variety of subjects, including politics, sports and film. One early scoop was discovering the long-lost brain of Albert Einstein in a mason jar in Wichita, Kansas. His book-length venture into true crime, The Unicorn’s Secret, was made into an NBC mini-series.