"An energetic if grim discussion of inequality and the coming era of underemployment, viewed through the lens of the forgotten American progressive narrative. [McChesney Nichols] bring clear urgency to this sprawling polemic, which encompasses politics, the cybereconomy, the decline of critical journalism, and historical movements beginning with America's founding... An authoritative account of the challenges facing progressives wishing to fuse better governance with economic justice." --Kirkus Reviews "John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney make a compelling, and terrifying, case [for] a radical reform agenda to take power back from the corporations and give it to the people." --Naomi Klein "John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney ... call us, as Tom Paine did more than two centuries ago, to turn knowledge into power." --Senator Bernie Sanders "The authors show ways out of this dictatorial compression chamber. Assuming that is, you become indignant enough." --Ralph Nader "As this lucid and informed study explains, digital technology is a reality that will lead to grim dystopia in the hands of concentrated economic and political power, but can also move us toward 'utopian dreams' in the hands of an informed and engaged public. The authors provide guidelines for understanding the evolving world, and for shaping it to deter the worst outcomes and to attain promising goals that are within reach, if the opportunities are grasped." --Noam Chomsky "When everyone else seems to be talking about the issues of the past, John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney get us engaged with the issues of the future. This is the essential book about the technological revolution that every candidate for president, every activist, and every American should read. We can no longer afford to be mere consumers and spectators; we need to be citizens and we need to be at the table where the decisions are made." --Thom Hartmann, host of the Thom Hartmann Project and author of Rebooting the American Dream "We already face great debates about the future of our economy, about trade policy, wage policy, and the very nature of work. With this vital book, John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney show us how these debates are already remaking our communities, and our lives. They warn that too many decisions are being made in our name but without our informed consent. And they explain why citizens must be at the center of every debate going forward." --Congressman Mark Pocan, House Committee on Education and the Workforce "John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney are on the cutting edge when it comes to thinking about the future. They know what is coming our way and, more importantly, they know how working people must respond. If you want the future to be defined by citizens, rather than CEOs, you had better read this book." --RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United

John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written The Nation's Online Beat since 1999, is their Washington, DC, correspondent, and is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times. He is also the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, and a cofounder of Free Press. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and dozens of other newspapers, and he frequently appears on MSNBC, NPR, BBC and other broadcast media outlets as a commentator on politics and media issues. Nichols lives in Madison, WI, and Washington, DC. Robert W. McChesney is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author or editor of 23 books. His work has been translated into 30 languages. He is the cofounder of Free Press, a national media reform organization. In 2008, the Utne Reader listed McChesney among their "50 visionaries who are changing the world." He lives in Madison, WI.