It's November 9th. This day in 1970, a Soviet computer scientist named Victor Glushkov pitched to his bosses for a series of decentralized computer networks that would share information with one another. In other words: an early internet.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Kevin Roose of the New York Times to discuss Glushkov's ambitious idea, why it ultimately clashed with Soviet-style innovation, and how it may have spurred the US to advance its efforts to develop the first computer networks.

Kevin is the co-host of the excellent "Hard Fork" podcast, you should also check out his writing and books here.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

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The USSR Almost Builds The Internet (1970) w/ Kevin Roose

This Day (An America 250 History Show)

The USSR Almost Builds The Internet (1970) w/ Kevin Roose