Jill Lepore's forthcoming book warns private tech platforms threaten liberal democracy

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore argues in "The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State," scheduled for release on 25 August 2026, that private technology companies now threaten liberal democracy. W.W. Norton publishes the US edition; Penguin Books carries the UK list. Lepore, a Harvard professor and New Yorker staff writer, locates the threat in public discourse shifting onto corporate-owned platforms answerable to shareholders rather than citizens.