for the book research, singer, a senior fellow at brookings institution, interviewed hundreds of robot scientists, science fiction writers, soldiers, insurgents, politicians, lawyers, journalists, and human rights activists from around the world. even before publication, the work had already been featured in the video game , as well as in presentations to audiences as diverse as the u.s. army war college, air force institute of technology and the national student leadership conference. singer's 2009 book tour included stops on npr's fresh air, the daily show with jon stewart, the opening of the ted conference, the royal court of the united arab emirates and presentations at 75 venues around the united states. the book was a non-fiction book of the year by the financial times and named to the official reading lists for the us air force, us navy, and royal australian navy.