The untold history of how the internet almost didn’t happen.
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By Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan
My name is Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan, and my dad is a founding father of the internet. From 1979 through 1981, my father, Major Joseph Haughney, ran one of the earliest versions of the internet, called the Arpanet. Back then, the Arpanet was a military-run project that allowed academics to do research if they had a defense angle. But of course, it wasn’t long before word got out about how much fun could be had on the Arpanet. The Arpanet started filling up with people meeting, debating their favorite Chinese restaurants, and even falling in love — all online.
That’s what drove my dad crazy and frankly scared him. He drafted letters, articles, and reports warning of the “computer freaks” he feared could turn his beloved Arpanet into something incredibly destructive. Like any well-meaning dad, my father tried to protect me from many things. He applied that same protective instinct to the broader world, being the internet’s original content moderator — the Cassandra warning about online harm, the “not on my watch” guy trying to rein in a raucous crowd.
For years, my dad encouraged me to tell the story of his work during that time. He hinted at the egos and the infighting that took place with every step of innovation that led to the modern economy and the world we live in now. But I always told him I was too busy for his story. His worries were overblown. The internet economy was an invention I saw drive my career, where businesses were built and fortunes were minted.
Then I became a tech editor who has shepherded dozens of stories about the terrible things that have happened on the internet. I also became a mom trying to keep up with what the internet has done to my own children. Now that my father has dementia, time is running out to find out what happened in those early days.
So I spent the past 10 months traveling the country interviewing my father and other people he worked with who built the first internet, sent some of the first messages, and conceived of the precursors to wireless to collect their stories before it’s too late. I learned about the battles for credit that some founders have even waged on their deathbeds, explored whether the French actually deserve more credit for the internet, and studied how much some founding fathers foresaw the consequences of their early inventions.
This podcast is a tribute to my dad in his final days to let him know how much this history matters and to honor his role in creating the world we live in now.
F∑ΔTURED INT∑RNET F?UND∑RS
Vint Cerf
Taught networks to talk.
Leonard Kleinrock
Smoothed the way for data.
Robert Kahn
Fathered the internet.
Steve Crocker
Took the Arpanet to the masses.
Charley Kline
Pioneered internet security.
Robert Metcalfe
Built Ethernet—and a fortune.
Jake Feinler
Created the Arpanet’s first phone directory.
Dennis Jennings
First program director for networking at the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing. Set up NSFNet.
John Day
Grad student researcher familiar with what the French Cyclades was doing in the development of the internet.
Louis Pouzin
French computer scientist credited for his work on datagrams.
Paul Baran
American computer scientist famous for his early work on packet switching.
J.C.R. Licklider
One of the earliest visionaries of the internet.
Hans-Werner Braun
German-born internet founding father who worked on the backbone of NSFNet.
Stephen Wolff
A division director at the National Science Foundation responsible for developing NSFNet.
Donald Davies
Welsh physicist who came up with the word "packet" in "packet switching."
Gérard Le Lann
French computer scientist who did pioneering work on the sliding windows mechanism.
TH∑ D?LL H?US∑
After World War II, the U.S. had to change the way it communicated if it was going to keep up with the Soviets in the Cold War, especially once Sputnik was launched. It was the vision of a Missouri boy called Lick that would solve those communication issues and spark the creation of the internet.
Listen to Episode 1
In th∑ Δir
Many historians say the Arpanet (and ultimately the internet) was born on October 29, 1969. But is that really when the Arpanet began, and who should be given credit for this key moment in internet history?
Listen to Episode 2
L∑t’s Hav∑ a BΔll
It’s the 1970s and both the government and academia are doing everything they can to spread the word of the Arpanet. But as the Arpanet gains popularity everywhere after its 1972 coming-out ball in Washington, D.C., through its new phone book, it also faces detractors who don’t want it to be available to all.
Listen to Episode 3
THE FR∑NCH C?NN∑CTI?N
Louis Pouzin is a French academic who some experts say deserves more credit for his contributions to the internet. But is that true, and should any one person be give all the credit?
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TH∑ PR?T?C?L WΔRS
It is the late 1970s and early 1980s and the Arpanet is in decline. NSFnet is on the rise in its place. Why did the Arpanet get eclipsed by other networks, and is that OK?
Listen to Episode 5
UNINT∑ND∑D C?NS∑QU∑NC∑S
We return to speaking to Joseph Haughney about his recollections of the Arpanet and its long-term impact. 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 to the world their father helped create.
Listen to Episode 6
| Trailer | 01:57 | |
| Episode 1 - The Doll House | 36:03 | |
| Episode 2 - In the Air | 42:11 | |
| Episode 3 - Let's Have a Ball | 34:43 | |
| Episode 4 - The French Connection | 39:20 | |
| Episode 5 - The Protocol Wars | 40:11 | |
| Episode 6 - Unintended Consequences | 34:32 |
Listen to the Trailer