Retronauts Episode 744: Dartmouth Time Sharing System and the Birth of BASIC

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In my youth I can recall looking at computers in utter astonishment, not just because of the things they could do but because I had the power to make them do things. With a few keystrokes, I could command these incredible machines to ask questions, draw pictures, or even solve my math homework—all thanks to a rudimentary programming language called BASIC.

This week on the podcast, host Kevin Bunch welcomes Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin (author of A People’s History of Computing in the United States) and Annette Vee (author of Coding Literacy: How Computer Programming is Changing Writing) to the show to discuss the origins of BASIC and mass market computer programming in general thanks to the Dartmouth Time Sharing System. GOTO the link below and click PLAY!

Description: This computer network speaks BASIC! Kevin Bunch, Dr. Joy Lisi Rankin, and Annette Vee talk about the Dartmouth Time Sharing System, the birth of BASIC, and how it brought computer games to the public.

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MP3, 73 MB | 1:18:45 Direct download Retronauts on iTunes Retronauts at Audioboom

Artwork for this episode by Amanda Neipris and editing thanks go to Greg Leahy.