David coke koch in the midst of radical it is sinkers to have your scifi keek santer and our guest and they say see you later. They tried the third way attempt to break the control of the democratic and republican parties over national politics. They come to the realization that the only pragmatic approach is to work within the twoparty structure and this is within the phase of their political structure in and around this time charros relies on a man who has become his longtime political advisor and righthand man. A young economist at that point it had met charles the few years earlier when he pitched him on the creation of a free economics broker wreckers program at rutgers university. But todays fabricated center had a reputation to get things done not unlike the libertarian activist that charles had encountered that had grained notions but not much followthrough. In the early 80s charles asks to review the ideological and investment with the idea to recalibrate his strategy which basically the whole essence is to change the political culture period the United States with mainstream ideology. So it is the development of what they call us structure for social change coming out of friedrich hayek. Though way they see it which is the blueprint for their political strategy, at the top level you have your Higher Education institutions where abstract ideas are created. So charros spends billions of dollars underwriting free market economic institutions with dozens of universities professorships professorships, scholarships , lecture series, the next level down is the think tank they take those abstract ideas that are created to turn them into policy proposals that average people can understand so you have the Cato Institute that has been funded over the years but at the bottom level you have the activist and Advocacy Groups which more or less take policy proposals developed at the think tank level and ideally pressure lawmakers to make them though lot of the land. They didnt have the activist group in their portfolio so there is a Group Called Citizens for a sound economy that you may remember. Therefore not many citizens involved with this group at that time but it was really the model of the corporate astroturf campaign and in essence they were a partner with a number of corporations to promote the antirate to the tory freemarket agenda. In the clinton era, they rose to prominence to score the first Major Political win. The first was when bill clinton introduced his Energy Policy at the firstaid of the union address. Part of that included said the btu tax taxing on energy content. The plan horrified the fossil fuel industry because they read disproportionately impacted and of course, Koch Industries had skin in the game. This though they were instrumental to derail that energy plan. Years later they are involved in the effort to derail hillary care and a lot of the tactics they pioneered during that era white surgical strikes on vulnerable politicians that could be swayed began back then. In the bush era citizens of a sound economy splits in tutu organizations within disagreements. One becomes Freedom Works that is the group associated with House Majority leader dick armey. The koch were not affiliated with the of the other was americans for prosperity which i am sure you have heard of it has run thousands of ads this election cycle. Both groups are at the vanguard of the teapartier movement and take the of rage and channel it into a bonafide movement these are not the only organizations with day arkie are key to get the teapartier off the ground. Also during deal bob era koch were quietly influential for many years but this is where they come out of the shadows. Parts of this is because of the aggressive strategy that americans for prosperity adopts in the early years of president thomas presidency there of their present in the opposition to the policies and it attracts a lot of notice. This is also when the Donor Network transforms into something new. These donors seminars did not start what they are today but created during the Bush Administration out of concern to the policies promoted by the republicans said they were largely economic seminars. They would bring in their friends to bore the speakers were bring it organizations they thought worthy of funding to showcase them. In 2009 they are much more of a well oil the engine and they decide to coordinate their spending. And they start to hold a pledges on whether foster will you give 100,000 . Yes. And then people would wind up each other then they pulled down 70 million over a couple of hours. At this point the koch operate what i view as a shadow Political Party within the broader g. O. P. Universe they have become a party and to themselves through their dotard never taken raise 400 million which they raised during the 2012 election that is exactly how much Republican National committee raised zero americans for prosperity they have permanent ground operations of all major states. And they have a sophisticated data micro targeting operation to a bridge out that reach out to various elements of the demographic such as hispanic voters for a Generation Opportunity one of though latest forays is into actual candidate recruitment and you may start to see more of that. This is a reaction to due 2012. With a vague though headed comments on the campaign trail the also had a Ripple Effect on the republican races at that time. See you will see the Broader Network play of much larger role to recruit candidates instead of just finding of ones out there. What is so fascinating is there really play a dominant role in the political conversation and Senate Candidates running against the Koch Brothers and to to think if fred did not step foot in stolid russia we may not talk about them at all right now. The key for having me and i am happy to take any questions. [applause] how evolved are they . The American Legislative Exchange council. This is an organization a number of corporations play a role. We talk about general electric, cocacola and Koch Industries is a part does the executives had served various panels and of course, they have helped to fund the group but they are not the driving force behind it. Where the Koch Brothers involved with contracts of america . That is a really good question. Im sure they were a citizen for a sound economy which is the activist group they were involved in politics during that era so i assume that they were. Were the Koch Brothers involved in the citizen and united case . It is possible they donated to some of the of legal foundations that did some of the work but theyre very much not in favor of any Campaign Finance laws. This is a cause that they would support. I personally brevard read every word of your book and was a maystadt said detail. How did you get such access to the brothers other than the family and acquaintances . This was a difficult project to the sense that three out of the Four Brothers i did not get access to and this was a process to make it 10 calls and sometimes you talk to one person who leads to another and that is how this seibald. This also benefit did from the fact the Koch Brothers spent many years suing a the heck out of each other. [laughter] so there was the huge vapor trail that few people had taken a chance to look at. So you have the depositions that are incredible. This was the difficult time period getting into the most intimate family secrets you would not want to tell anyone what along the judge and jury. So that allow me to get it into their mind at points where there were no Human Resources to tell me what happened in the boardroom when you fired your brother. You talk about how they have tried to retaliate when they saw something as negative. Have they come after you . Honestly they havent and from what i have heard from friends of the Koch Brothers day fake it is fair they did not like some of it but they did not think there were in the cheap shots. But you are right for the company has i would say brushed reporters off the plate is the way i describe it they do that through a web site called the koch fax. Com with a print rebuttals and email correspondence with reporters and in some cases to make them look dishonest. But this was the point in executive told me that they want to be aggressive. So people would think twice before they would write its a negative light but it is a brilliant strategy and its way. From a liberal perspective everything they have touched with their magic one has turned to gold. Have they made any major mistakes . Yes. Charles made a number of mistakes in his Business Career and his genius is he knows when to cut his losses. In the 70s Koch Industries went huge into supertankers at the wrong time and lost a huge amount of money on that deal. I think david said his brother nearly hatta nervous breakdown during that time period. At another point i think they bought period and ended up being a huge money loser for them. But in many cases they have an Investment Strategy and a management philosophy that has benefited their company. To followup, i can you describe the death of the two teenagers in texas and their response . In the mid90s and there was an enormous pipeline explosion that occurred outside dallas texas. To teenagers ended up driving into a cloud of butane that had leaked from the koch industry is the car stalled they turned the ignition. Kaboom. This comsat a dramatic period in Koch Industries history that favor are under investigation of a number of Government Agencies including doj and epa over environmental practices there was the huge amount of pipeline ruptures. And this play into this because he said chile bay to a pipeline that was offline that was in disrepair and they realize they could make money to run the view taken through the pipeline. When they first did the test it ruptured. So they patched it to put into service but a few months later there is the night eagerness pipeline explosion but the interesting thing is when the case plays out, the plaintiffs lawyer looks like dash asks for 100 million and the jury is so outraged by koch Business Practices they said make it 296 million. It is usually a traumatic for Koch Industries is they are dealing with other issues with the government at this point. The results is that Koch Industries changes the way it does business. You dont hear about the environmental disaster or what happened in the texas town happening. Back to politics why did it take so long to make the connection between the koch funding and the rise of the twoparty . A fee people started to make a connection early on but they do have Koch Industries and the brothers themselves distancing themselves from the teapartier movement. To the point there was a statement on the web site that said the americans for prosperity is one of dozens of organizations that the Koch Brothers fund yes but not exactly. This was their flagship Advocacy Group the predecessor was citizens for a sound economy. They were very interested in this organization and it is indisputable that they played a vital role in the early Financial Development of the tea party. But with the media response whenever they would say the it teapartier they would hear from those disputing that. What position have they taken on Public Education . The ideology is libertarian even though they are so closely associated with the republican party. One of the first realizations that charles funded i forget the name at this point but it was all about private education as an alternative to the Public Education system. So in all aspects of life they are for the solution that is not a government led by a private solution. So they are in favor of voucher programs and things of that nature anything that takes the control of the hands of the everett is where they come from. How did the Founding Fathers justify helping the soviets to develop their oil industry if he was so against communism . That role in the soviet union haunted him for the rest of his life and i think that is why he became such an ardent anticommunist John Birch Society member. And you have to realize that this time his soviet minder was telling him you will see real in the United States sooner than you think and we are committed to creating an arresting and conditions for a revolution in your country. These are the things going through freds mind when he returns and certainly this stuff that played out at that time with the red scare set into a certain paranoia about the soviets taking over. Which of the Four Brothers did you personally interview could you share your personal impressions . When i was starting out i wrote to each of the four to explain my intentions i wanted to do a straightforward biography. But an important dynasty of American Business and american politics. One day i got a call back from the eldest who never played a role in the Family Company and has spent much of his life as a patron of arts and rehabilitating historic rooms and sutton place which is outside of london. He invited me to his home on the Upper East Side of manhattan and owns a seven story townhouse that used to belong to one of though will horse daughters it was unheard gift for her marriage theres actually Three Sisters there are three homes there. But actually he does not live there but that is his just like a private museum. He has another place on fifth avenue where he actually lives. But he gave me an incredible two were. He has incredible tasted art and to give you a sense of the things and the home, he had the bed given to Marie Antoinette given to her on her wedding day and the table and chairs set the morning to jpmorgan and history in every single corner of this place. But he is of very friendly type of guy but was wary about wading into the back story. There was controversy taking place. We spoke a few times and that a few times in person but at one point he presented me with the contract that said if the thing you write about me including secondary source interviews, etc. Have to go through me i will sign off and at that point we went back and forth that i could not decide that obviously you over the acceptable terms and we could not reach them so that is where things ended. But he has a phenomenal story. If he doesnt tell it to me i hope he tells somebody else but i got as much as i could but there is a lot more to it. What attitudes did use side for the of residents of wichita . There is a range certainly they have done quite a bit you will see the koch center and the stadium is charles koch and irina. They spent a lot of money philanthropic klay. And Koch Industries the employees are known for taking a special interest in the community with the local organizations even among people who do did not like their politics who thought they were the koch they have spent here forever why do they suddenly get so much attention . But everybody has a position no question. People who like them and others are not fans. You have done excellent job to describe the actions and Strategic Decisions of the Koch Brothers but have not focused on what motivates them currently to do what they do. With power and justice. To understand what plays out today you have to look at the history. Charles for decades this has spent his project even more than david even though david been studying the face of their political activity is he set out decades ago touche change peoples minds than the political culture of the United States says your politics sort academia that is the mission he has been on but i do think that they are true believers. I read the stuff that charles wrote in the 70s and at that time he was raving against the Business Committee for hypocrisy. That you are speaking al both sides of your mouth and you say you believe in the free market policies believe lobby for regulations that will keep businesses out of the marketplace. So for us to be effective 1 2 to advocate a consistent policy. Youll not see them lobbying for subsidies because they frankly do not believe in that sort of thing. I think they are motivated. [applause] please stick around for signing copies of the book. [applause] [inaudible conversations] with this the most fascinating people of our time now the most distinguished biographer has taken upon to produce an Exceptional Results the biographer is Walter Isaacson not content with his Award Winning bestselling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein and steve jobs but he has returned to to paid on a large canvas and the book is the innovators. And we have all learned in the process he has the Energy Demand has tapped into red. But he weaves of story for those lesser known icon. The hacker said rebels behind the first Online Community the of skier belgian into darr that gives rise to though World Wide Web gives sorts out the real story between al gore and the internet. [laughter] he will take this of the abbreviated dirty tonight starting with the distant figures please join me to welcome of Walter Isaacson. [applause] it is great to be back this is an amazing place. And you can even be feel might tendered keek. You are about to do that yourself. We were soldering but did you developed a fascination with that technology . One of the things that youve learned there is about pleasing daddy was the electrical into the air and he shows me how much transistor resistor woodworking and i wanted to convey that excitement. And most people remember opening things up test j said tubes to make a circuit but now i feel the devices are so closed up we dont get that he hands on feel that i had growing up and i was in charge and at one point said it and who owns the internet. But that is a foolish question. How did it come to be . And then i said i do not know the answer to that. It would be interesting to figure out one of though lucky things is you get to meet all these people to the intersection with the personal computer like the steam engine during the industrial revolution. But that scientific for french revolution but we dont know who is the paul revere even though with live it every day. What was your inspiration . You go back to their roots of computing. But you go back. As long as i embarrass every member of my family, my daughter was supposed to greater interest tsa in the thought parents were supposed to be involved and she thought to the contrary. And finally she said i have written it and i said who was it on . She said adl lovelace. I did know who she was i could not remember what was it that she did that helped to define the computer revolution . All my a daughter got made turned onto a bill lovelace that was already writing this book over 50 years but i needed of flame and the more that i steadied her partnership with Charles Babbage the more i realize that is a great framing device with the connections from the committees to processors and engineering remember when i was here talking about steve jobs jobs, that we even showed it that every Product Launch he had the intersection of the liberal arts and technology. And dash she helped to create that intersection and that is her true creativity belongs. But there is the thesis so everyone understands this is the passage i picked out creative geniuses with innovative idea is to turn concepts into do contraptions. And you believe then that ecosystem and then the practical engineer with the process of collaboration. But did we should not overstate her and not of great mathematician as you would believe that she could generate the sequence and that becomes the First Published program and when someone disparages that we should celebrate. [applause] i say okayed tell made us see grants of the numbers and how you do a chart on a mechanical processors to generate them and people understand the partnership to create what he thought was a numerical catkin later that is not just in florida england to the death those mechanical weaving rooms. They were urged downstairs unseat windows of the industrial revolution. Her father is to defend the followers to put. So instead thinking the machines will of the a lot of work, look at the punch cards. And she says it makes the machine to read patterns just like still loom. And she says it can do a thing that will be notated symbolically. She said it will make music and to pictures and it will be a computer over appreciated in a tender for shooting. But i thank you grabbed onto said in an seven times and there is britain books about him and denigrate analysis book she is favorable to the role of data. A couple of other books has data great job for Charles Babbage with the most scientific book is dorothy steins which does the imbalance but there is said jay controversy i kind id like that as of zero journalists. So there is the guy that has as a ph. D. At harvard to say she was a manic depressive with amazing illusions about her talent she was as mad as a hatter and contributed more than trouble. So you do have people. Say you dont have to overstate the accomplishments to totally marvel at how wonderful it was she saw the magic for a the humanities but the interesting thing about the delay age it is collaborative then after word saved by over who deserves the most credit. And as the engineer for the regime that i did more. I did more so i tried but here are the disputes but by the way this revolution is so amazing there is enough credit to go around we should not fight over it. We have four stories starting with cabbage and lovelace but now the enigma. We will talk about that in a minute. In the middle we will also talk about though women. But lets turn to codebreaking because you explored the magical year of the 1937 a point in history when things are converging. One of the things about history or technology it is not totally revolutionary. But every now and then win 37 is one of the years with the combination of analytic silence to figure out the information in theory and to it allows me to logical sequences. But that can next to the fact that you are making ceramic fay makes these advances and then he has many things. Does start with ada lovelace but she says one thing a machine will never be able to do. It is human said tuesday she to evade. She said that this is injection and 100 years later she is reading his notes and call those objections