Computer Freaks

Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan

This is the untold history of how the internet almost didn’t happen. It’s an ode to fathers and daughters. And it’s a tale about the origins of the man-computer symbiosis that’s still profoundly relevant to our society today. Host Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan is a James Beard Award-winning journalist who has worked for NBC News as well as three of the nation’s largest newspapers, and who created the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Rotten. Dare-Bryan’s connection to the story is deeply personal—her father, Joseph Haughney, was one of the internet’s founding fathers.

  1. 04/17/2025

    S2 E6: Briefly Famous

    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.

    46 min

  2. 04/10/2025

    S2 E5: Crazy Bill

    Goto.com rises to the highest levels of success and even tries to buy Google. But this episode looks at what went wrong.

    56 min

  3. 04/03/2025

    S2 E4: Permissionless Innovation

    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.

    37 min

  4. 03/27/2025

    S2 E3: Bad Blood

    This episode explores a new protocol war between EIT and Netscape over security.

    44 min

  5. 03/20/2025

    S2 E2: Marc the Shark

    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.

    48 min

  6. 03/13/2025

    S2 E1: Illegal, Immoral and Fattening

    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.

    45 min

  7. SEASON 2, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    S2: Trailer

    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.

    3 min

  8. 07/20/2023

    S1 E6: Unintended Consequences

    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.

    35 min
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Trailers

About

This is the untold history of how the internet almost didn’t happen. It’s an ode to fathers and daughters. And it’s a tale about the origins of the man-computer symbiosis that’s still profoundly relevant to our society today. Host Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan is a James Beard Award-winning journalist who has worked for NBC News as well as three of the nation’s largest newspapers, and who created the Emmy-nominated Netflix series Rotten. Dare-Bryan’s connection to the story is deeply personal—her father, Joseph Haughney, was one of the internet’s founding fathers.

Information

  • Creator
    Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan
  • Show Website
    Computer Freaks