How to Rule the World
 2026 Penguin Press book jacket | |
| Author | Theo Baker |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Theo Baker |
| Cover artist | In house Penguin Books |
| Language | English |
| ISBN | 9780593832837 |
| OCLC | 1579797578 |
| Website | Official website |
How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University is a nonfiction book written by Theo Baker that provides a critical look at the culture of Stanford University from his perspective as a brand new computer-coder student, age 17. As a student reporter, Baker was instrumental in the investigation and subsequent disgraced resignation of Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the Stanford University President. The book was published by Penguin Press in May 2026. [1][2][3][4] According to the Washington Monthly, this work succeeds as an investigative report, an ethnographic study, and as a memoir.[5] Baker took two terms off in his junior year to write this book. [6]
Parallels
[edit]Reviewers reference various parallels between this book and other works, such as the expose' nature of this book and Liar's Poker, [1] and the metaphorical journey to Silicon Valley as the "molten core" of our troubled times, alluding to Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth.[1] Then there is the current trend of seeing technology moguls as comparable to the robber barons of the Gilded Age,[3]as well as this book, How to Rule the World, as memoir noticeably similar in structure to Scott Turow’s "iconic" freshman law school journal One L.[3] Also, All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, [2] as well as Sarah Wynn-Williams' Facebook expose' Careless People.[2]
Film adaptation
[edit]In November 2023, Warner Bros and producer Amy Pascal secured the rights to the film adaptation of this book.[7][8][9]
Reception
[edit]Writing for The New York Times, Anand Giridharadas says, "Baker’s first book, How to Rule the World, is a rigorous, self-assured, propulsive, at times terrifying portrait of a dweebocracy that “sets the agenda for the planet.” In every age, there is some place that epitomizes how power works. Baker’s Stanford is a strong candidate, and his book follows in the tradition of Michael Lewis’s Wall Street chronicle “Liar’s Poker,” but with more pimples and less eye contact.[1]
The reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lily Janiak, says, "As excellent a journalist as Baker turns out to be, he’s less successful as a memoirist, whose task isn’t to build a case but to tug the strings of the self’s knot... For now, though, what a journalist. If Baker’s portrait of Stanford could be its own movie...is gripping account of how a tip turned into a history-making investigation has the makings of All the President’s Men."[2]
Laura Miller of Slate magazine says, that this is "A crackerjack newspaper story ... Terrific ... Baker’s account of assembling the Tessier-Lavigne reporting illustrates how meticulous investigative journalists work ... How to Rule the World is a coming-of-age story, a campus story, and a newspaper story, but above all, it’s a horror story." [3] The Times (UK) says, "It’s enough to make your average embittered hack (me) feel queasy ... Baker’s book is a thrilling story of journalistic investigation: effectively, it’s All the President’s Men as a campus novel."[10]
Alex Bronzini-Vender, reviewing this book for Washington Monthly, says "Baker’s disdain for his subjects is, too often, an obstacle to understanding them... On Baker’s account, [rampant} misconduct in students’ economic and academic lives... flows from a culture of impunity that has long pervaded the university’s upper ranks ... It’s a persuasive argument... But Baker is not above a little overclaiming of his own ... [He] has a good sense of humor. But his impulse to play those around him for comedic effect weakens his analysis of Silicon Valley’s politics, too: his subjects become strawmen."[5]
According to the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "How to Rule the World offers us the racy joys of television shows like Mad Men or Suits, with a good dose of The Social Network thrown in. There is something oddly retro about its style and about the Stanford it depicts. But this retro aesthetic slowly unfolds into something altogether darker. The voice at times reminds me of an earlier cult classic in American literature, J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951), with Baker as Holden Caulfield teleported to Stanford in 2022."[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Giridharadas, Anand (May 18, 2026). "The Secret Elite One Freshman Discovered at Stanford". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Janiak, Lily (May 18, 2026). "Theo Baker took down Stanford University's president". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Miller, Laura (May 27, 2026). "A Terrific New Book Exposes the Rot at the Heart of Stanford University". Slate magazine. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- 1 2 Appadurai, Arjun (June 20, 2026). "The University as Giant App". Los Angeles Times Book Review. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- 1 2 Bronzini-Vender, Alex (May 19, 2026). "Fear and Loathing in Palo Alto". Washington Monthly. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- ↑ Asimov, Nanette (December 12, 2025). "He toppled Stanford's president as a freshman. Now he's written a tell-all about the university". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
- ↑ Film adaptation. Deadline. November 3, 2023.
- ↑ Zimmerman, Heather (May 21, 2026). "Stanford journalist's new book explores dark side of university's relationship with Silicon Valley". The Almanac. Retrieved July 5, 2026.
- ↑ Goldstein, Evan (May 21, 2026). "'Theo Baker is a F**king Menace!'". The Chronicle of Higher Education 60. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
- ↑ Ditum, Sarah (May 19, 2026). "Inside the rotten heart of Stanford, Silicon Valley's favourite recruiting ground". The Times (UK). Retrieved July 2, 2026. See also: Gale A889117846
Media interviews
[edit]- Book of the Day (June 15, 2026). "Theo Baker, Stanford, How to Rule the World". National Public Radio. Retrieved July 5, 2026. 7 minutes.
- Couric, Katie (May 20, 2026). "Live with Theo Baker: How to Rule the World". Substack. Retrieved July 6, 2025. Video interview. 55 minutes.
- Here and Now (June 9, 2026). "Stanford freshman discovered How to Rule the World". WBUR radio and podcast. Retrieved July 5, 2026. 11 minutes.
- Nawaz, Amna (May 21, 2026). "'How to Rule the World' Theo Baker interview". PBS News Hour. Retrieved July 7, 2026. 9 minutes.
External links
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Baker, Theo (May 17, 2026). "What A.I. Did to My College Class". The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2026. Also see: Gale A888069751
- Theo, Baker (April 14, 2026). "The Stanford Freshmen Who Want to Rule the World". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
- Baker, Theo (March 26, 2024). "The War at Stanford". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 7, 2026.
- Asimov, Nanette (February 17, 2023). "Student paper: Scientists say study by Stanford president contained false data". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 5, 2026.