A three-part series with historian Margaret O’Mara on her book The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America.
Episode 1
Gets into the origins of Silicon Valley from the days when it was most known for apricot orchards. Topics discussed include the transformation of research at Stanford and MIT in the postwar era, figures such as Vannevar Bush and Frederick Terman, the 1960s rejection of the military-intellectual complex, and more.
Episode 2
Picks up in the midst of the Space Race, touching on the sources of tech capital the 1950s and 1960s, how the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) reshapes Stanford, figures like Stewart Brand and Steve Jobs, the transition from 60s counterculture to 70s “founder culture”, and more.
Episode 3
Starts in the late 70s/early 80s and covers the rise of biotech and the personal computer, competition from Japan, government interventions like SEMATECH and the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 (HPCA), the dot-com boom (and bust), and more.