Untold Silicon Valley
This is Untold Silicon Valley, the podcast dedicated to exploring the forgotten and almost-forgotten histories from Silicon Valley’s first decades with one part history, one part storytelling, and a pinch of snark.
In this podcast, we will be sitting ringside and examining the times, the events, and most importantly, the people who shaped the industry now known as “Silicon Valley.” We’ll meet the founders, funders, scientists and innovators who played pivotal roles in the transformation of a little known agricultural valley in Northern California known mainly for its oranges and plums to the home of the global technology industry.
Episodes
June 7, 2022
001: Glory Enough for Everyone
In the wake of World War II, Bell Labs was committed to solving one of the most pressing technological problems of the day: how to control an electrical current without the clumsy, expensive, and fragile vacuum tubes then in…
June 15, 2022
002: A Start on My Own
Having left Bell Labs to strike out on his own, William Shockley had some important decisions to make: Who would be the backer for his fledgling company? Who would be on his staff? And where would it launch? In this episo…
June 15, 2022
003: 126
With a backer, a location, and the support of the ambitious Stanford Engineering Department, William Shockley recruiting efforts started in earnest. But having burned his bridges at Bell Labs (and them some!), Shockley reso…
June 22, 2022
004: The Affair of the Luau Pig
After the meeting with Arnold Beckman, the state of Shockley Semiconductor just continues to deteriorate, and the Shockley research staff finally makes their own appeal to Arnold Beckman that something has to change. In this…
June 28, 2022
005: "A Shameful Act"
Despite the boom in the semiconductor industry, the renegade Shockley research scientists and the bankers of Hayden Stone get nothing but the cold shoulder in their search for a backer… until they catch the ear of an eccentr…
July 6, 2022
006: "We Can Do That"
Sputnik sparks the Space Race, and hysteria ensues in the United States. In the meantime, the Fairchild Semiconductor founders get to work. In this episode, the Traitorous Eight have barely moved into their new space, when …
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