In his book, Gal Beckerman editor at The New York Times Book Review, takes us back to the seventeenth century, to the correspondence that jump-started the scientific revolution, and then forward through time to examine engines of social change: the petitions that secured the right to vote in 1830s Britain, the zines that gave voice to women’s rage in the early 1990s, and even the messaging apps used by epidemiologists fighting the pandemic in the shadow of an inept administration. Gal Beckerman who has a Ph.D. in media studies from Columbia University and writes for many publications, including The New Republic and The Wall Street Journal, shows that our most defining social movements—from decolonization to feminism—were formed in quiet, closed networks that allowed a small group to incubate their ideas before broadcasting them widely. Join us on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, when Gal Beckerman discusses his book, The Quiet Before as he looks to the past to help us imagine a different future.