with @vpostrel @smc90 The story of textiles is the history of technology and science -- across all kinds of fields, from biology to chemistry -- of commerce (and management, measurement, machines) -- but most of all, of civilization itself. That's what the new book, The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World is all about: It is a story of innovation across time and place, of human ingenuity... which is also the theme of the a16z Podcast, and of this inaugural book episode with author Virginia Postrel in conversation with Sonal Chokshi.