Internet Origins explores the untold stories behind the technologies that shaped our digital world. Each episode dives into a classic book about the history of computing and the Internet—from the telegraph to ARPANET, from Bell Labs to Silicon Valley. Through these deep dives, we uncover the inventions, ideas, and people who built the foundations of the connected age. Perfect for curious minds, tech enthusiasts, and anyone who wants to understand how the Internet came to be.
Jacquard's Web: Punched Cards and the Origins of Computing
From the workshops of Napoleonic France to the birth of IBM, this is the story of how a weaving machine became the mechanical ancestor of the digital age.
3 Dec 2025
Hard Drive: Microsoft's Origins
From hacking school computers to outmaneuvering IBM, this is the story of how Microsoft turned code into an empire.
21 Nov 2025
The Everything Store: The Birth of Amazon
Long before same-day delivery, cloud computing, and voice assistants, a garage startup called Amazon transformed the world by turning the internet into a universal marketplace.
5 Nov 2025
Makers of the Microchip: The Birth of Silicon Valley
From a rented warehouse in Palo Alto, the “Traitorous Eight” built Fairchild Semiconductor, invented the integrated circuit, and turned California’s orchards into Silicon Valley.
26 Oct 2025
PayPal Wars: How Peter Thiel and Elon Musk Built Digital Money
From online auctions to boardroom coups, this is the origin story of the PayPal Mafia and the digital revolution they sparked.
20 Oct 2025
Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture
The story of how two Harvard researchers transformed Google’s digitized books into a cultural telescope.
11 Oct 2025
The Search: The Origins of Google
From Stanford dorm rooms to Silicon Valley boardrooms, Larry Page and Sergey Brin reimagined how information could be found and ranked.
9 Oct 2025
Weaving the Web: The Birth of the World Wide Web
Tim Berners-Lee imagined a way for computers to share information as effortlessly as the human mind connects ideas. His invention—the World Wide Web—transformed the Internet from a tool for scientists into a living network of people, knowledge, and culture.
5 Oct 2025
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: ARPANET and the Birth of the Internet
From Cold War labs to university basements, a small group of researchers built the ARPANET—the network that became the Internet.
30 Sept 2025
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs, the Transistor, and the Origins of the Information Age
Decades before Silicon Valley, Bell Labs and AT&T’s legendary team of scientists invented the transistor, Information Theory, and satellites, pioneering the technologies that launched the Information Age.
29 Sept 2025
iWoz: Steve Wozniak, Apple, and the Birth of the Personal Computer
Long before the iPhone and iPad, Wozniak’s love of electronics and partnership with Steve Jobs led to the Apple I and Apple II, pioneering the era of personal computing.
27 Sept 2025
The Victorian Internet: How the Telegraph Invented Instant Communication
Long before email, instant messaging, and social networks, the telegraph transformed the world by shrinking distance and speeding up communication.
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