America Inc.

Weiss attributes America’s capacity for transformative innovation to the national security state — DARPA, state-funded venture capital, defence procurement — and appraises the myths about the military-commercial relationship at its centre.

Why it’s on the list: Named in the replies to @typesfast asking for the best history book you’ve read — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved.

Ambiguous title. Kyle’s line is the bare “America, Inc.” This card takes Linda Weiss’s 2014 Cornell book, the best-known work under that title and a plausible answer to a history question; confidence: low until Kyle confirms.

Where I saw it: In the replies to @typesfast asking “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 5, 2025). Kyle recovered the reply list by hand and saved it to his “Books To Read” Apple Note; the full transcribed list lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Technological Innovation — the portfolio idea this sits closest to, and the book’s actual subject.