Exploding the Phone

The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell

By: Phil Lapsley

Narrated by: Johann North

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Before smartphones, back even before the Internet and personal computer, a misfit group of technophiles, blind teenagers, hippies, and outlaws figured out how to hack the world’s largest machine: the telephone system. Starting with Alexander Graham Bell’s revolutionary "harmonic telegraph", by the middle of the 20th century the phone system had grown into something extraordinary, a web of cutting-edge switching machines and human operators that linked together millions of people like never before. But the network had a billion-dollar flaw, and once people discovered it, things would never be the same.

Exploding the Phone tells this story in full for the first time. It traces the birth of long-distance communication and the telephone, the rise of AT&T’s monopoly, the creation of the sophisticated machines that made it all work, and the discovery of Ma Bell’s Achilles’ heel. Phil Lapsley expertly weaves together the clandestine underground of "phone phreaks" who turned the network into their electronic playground, the mobsters who exploited its flaws to avoid the feds, the explosion of telephone hacking in the counterculture, and the war between the phreaks, the phone company, and the FBI.

The product of extensive original research, Exploding the Phone is a groundbreaking, captivating book.

©2013 Philip D. Lapsley. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

brilliant reporting

Phil Lapsly brilliantly tells a story about some obscure hackers with humor and a real sense of history. this book was meticulously researched for years and Lapsley has created a magnificent report. outstanding narration makes it all the better. highly recommend to anyone who used a landline phone before 1984.

A pleb learns about hacking.

Do I know coding?
No.
Have I ever hacked anything?
I've only socially hacked, but that doesn't require a computer.

Did I find this book utterly fascinating? Yes. I was never aware of how many of the first hackers were blind persons using the tones of telephones to make free calls, or how influential phone hacking was in the development of Apple, but this book taught me all about it. I HIGHLY recommend this book.

Phone History and Network Discovery in one book

Great book, giving phone history from telegraph to ma bells monopoly. A look into those who started phone freaking and their exploring of the network to finally exploiting of the system. With an emphasis on the how to technical look at phone system and the various colored boxes.

Phreaker 4 Lyfe

I'm a VoIP admin, and I firmly believe that you can't know where you're going without understanding your history.

This book illustrates the phreaker scene and telephone system vividly. I couldn't stop listening, and now I have to catch up on my podcasts.

Title says it all.

Enjoying story ties together the technology of the phone system, the people who just couldn't help explore the it, and the laws that couldn't keep up.

Great book

Excellent book, takes you from the very very beginning of the phone system to the very last switch in the US. It's broken into sections and tells a different story depending on the timeframe, and this format works extremely well. The book moves at a very good pace and was never dull. I really enjoyed this book.

On the narration it was very good, so giving it a 4 and not a 5 doesn't mean anything negative, I just save 5 stars for truly special performances.

absolutely astonished

listening to the history of phreaking gave me a newfound respect for those who were able to identify and explore a wired landscape.

Best narrator.

Delightfully technical, engaging. Worth a listen just to hear the narrator say 'enthusiasts' or 'modem'.

Phonetastic! Great story of how the phone was!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend this book to any of my friends who are technically inclined because it is fascinating history

What did you like best about this story?

The author covered the subject well and even did justice to the people he interviewed.

What about Johann North’s performance did you like?

Johann North is a former phone phreak who is familiar with the concepts discussed in this book, and, his narration reflects this very well.

Any additional comments?

This book discusses the telephone as it was when I, and, many of my contemporaries were growing up. As a blind person, I was fascinated with the phone and the various sounds it made. I would have loved to read this book back when I was a kid. Anyway, it brings back memories of the way I felt about the phone back then. There were so many cool things that could be done with the phone at the time.Great book, and, great narration.

Fun with Phone Phreaks

well there may have been the occasional lag in the narrative, the author's writing style could make almost anything interesting, and the story provides an intriguing backdrop to the state of our current Information Age