Historian and bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari explains what information is and how different information networks shaped and continue to shape our world.

If we know anything in the 21st century, it's that information is power.

Large tech companies collect huge amounts of data about us, connecting it to information networks they can sell to advertisers or use to shape our experiences and opinions.

Large information networks, however, are not a 21st-century invention – for centuries, myths, religious texts, and documents were used to create and maintain political power.

Yuval Noah Harari is a medievalist, military historian, and author of the international bestsellers Sapiens and Homo Deus.

In his 2024 book, Nexus, Harari tells the story of how information networks shaped human history, and where new information technology might take us in the future.