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Computer Freaks

Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan 14 Episodes Apr 17, 2025

This podcast tells the untold history of how the internet almost didn't happen, framed as an ode to fathers and daughters. It explores the origins of man-computer symbiosis and its lasting relevance to society. Host Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan is a James Beard Award-winning journalist with experience at NBC News and major newspapers, and she created the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Rotten. Her personal connection to the story is deep, as her father, Joseph Haughney, was one of the internet's founding fathers.

Episodes

S2 E6: Briefly Famous Apr 17, 2025 00:46:29 This episode looks back at where all of our main characters landed in their lives after the tech boom and bust and what they have learned.

S2 E5: Crazy Bill Apr 10, 2025 00:55:54 Goto.com rises to the highest levels of success and even tries to buy Google. But this episode looks at what went wrong.

S2 E4: Permissionless Innovation Apr 3, 2025 00:36:52 In this episode, we pivot to Pasadena where the world of ecommerce is taking off to broader audiences. Through our ecommerce characters, we meet Bill Gross who is digging into the radically changing world of paid search.

S2 E3: Bad Blood Mar 27, 2025 00:44:17 This episode explores a new protocol war between EIT and Netscape over security.

S2 E2: Marc the Shark Mar 20, 2025 00:48:02 This is the origin story of when Marc Andreessen first arrives in Silicon Valley. This episode paints a picture of the world he arrives in, who he befriends and who he alienates.

S2 E1: Illegal, Immoral and Fattening Mar 13, 2025 00:44:55 Episode One introduces our listeners to the next generation of Computer Freaks who are getting into new technologies like the world wide web and ecommerce - just as these fields are opening up to the masses.

S2: Trailer Feb 28, 2025 00:02:49 Season Two of Computer Freaks shifts the narrative from the academic origins of the Arpanet to the aggressive commercialization of the internet in the 1990s. While Season One focused on the "founding fathers" and their scientific vision, Season Two explores the era of Internet entrepreneurship, where pioneers began turning the network into a source of massive personal wealth.

S1 E6: Unintended Consequences Jul 20, 2023 00:34:31 We return to speaking to Joseph Haughney about his hopes for the Arpanet. We ask other founders how they feel about what the internet has become. We also speak to internet early founder Hans Werner Braun’s daughters about how they reconcile themselves the world their father helped create.

S1 E5: The Protocol Wars Jul 13, 2023 00:40:11 It is the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Arpanet is in decline. NSFnet is on the rise in its place. Why did the Arpanet get eclipsed by other networks, and is that OK?

S1 E4: The French Connection Jul 6, 2023 00:39:20 Louis Pouzin is a French academic who some experts say really invented the Arpanet. But is that true, and should any one person be given all the credit?

S1 E3: Let's Have a Ball Jun 29, 2023 00:34:43 It’s the 1970s and both the government and academia are doing everything they can to spread the word of the Arpanet. But as the Arpanet gains popularity everywhere after its 1972 coming-out ball in Washington, D.C., through its new phone book, it also faces detractors who don’t want it to be available to all.

S1 E2: In the Air Jun 22, 2023 00:42:11 Many historians say the Arpanet (and ultimately the internet) was born on October 29, 1969. But is that really when the Arpanet began, and who should be given credit for this key moment in internet history?

S1 E1: The Dollhouse Jun 15, 2023 00:36:03 After World War II, the U.S. had to change the way it communicated if it was going to keep up with the Soviets in the Cold War, especially once Sputnik was launched. It was the vision of a Missouri boy called Lick that would solve those communication issues and spark the creation of the internet.

S1: Trailer Jun 1, 2023 00:01:57 Season one of Computer Freaks is a "love letter" from host Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan to her father, Major Joseph Haughney, who managed the Arpanet for the Department of Defense from 1979 to 1981. Driven by her father’s diagnosis of dementia, the season uses over 100 hours of audio interviews to chronicle the early, "untold" history of how the internet almost didn't happen.

Computer Freaks

Episodes

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