Yasha Levine (February 22, 1981) is a Russian-American investigative

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, author and reporter. Levine, who was born in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the early 1980s, was raised in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Levine's family immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from the

in 1989 when Levine was 8-years-old, first living in a

Gresten Gresten is a municipality in the district of Scheibbs in Lower Austria, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a fe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

refugee camp before living in

Castelfusano Castelfusano is an urban park in the comune of Rome. It divides the sea quarter of Ostia and the neighborhood of Casalpalocco. The castle and the park were founded in the 17th century by the Sacchetti family. Its vegetation consists mainly in a ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

(near

Ostia Ostia may refer to: Places *Ostia (Rome), a municipio (also called ''Ostia Lido'' or ''Lido di Ostia'') of Rome *Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome *Ostia Antica (district), a district of the commune of Rome Arts and entertainment ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) for five months. On March 27, 1990, Levine and his family left Italy for

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Levine has a brother Eli. He is a former editor of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

-based satirical newspaper ''

The eXile ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. He has written the book ''Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet'' which was published in 2018. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' reviewed ''Surveillance Valley'' positively describing it as "forceful" and "salutary". Levine's other books include ''A Journey Through California's Oligarch Valley'', ''The Koch Brothers: A Short History'', and ''The Corruption of Malcolm Gladwell''. Levine was previously a correspondent at ''

PandoDaily PandoDaily, or simply Pando, was a web publication offering technology news, analysis, and commentary, with a focus on Silicon Valley and startup companies. History PandoDaily was started by former TechCrunch writer Sarah Lacy on January 16, 2012 ...

''. He has also written for ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...

'', and more. He is a co-founder of the S.H.A.M.E. Project.

Bibliography

* * * * * *

Filmography

References

External links

Official websiteImmigrants as a Weapon
Russian journalists Russian emigrants to the United States American male journalists American investigative journalists American male non-fiction writers Living people American people of Russian-Jewish descent American writers of Russian descent 1981 births {{US-journalist-1980s-stub