Decoding Tech

The California Gold Rush created fortunes not only for prospectors, but also for the people selling picks and shovels. The contemporary version of that story is the explosive demand for AI hardware. To discuss this, Bill Dally , Nvidia's Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of Research, joined Norm Jouppi , Google's VP and Technical Fellow, for a conversation led by Dave Patterson , a CHM Fellow and UC Berkeley Pardee Professor of Computer Science Emeritus. This CHM Live program was recorded on August 27, 2026. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

Smalltalk, the transformative programming language, development, and user environment pioneered by Alan Kay, turned 50 in 2022. For the occasion, Dan Ingalls and Adele Goldberg , members of Kay’s 1972 Learning Research Group at Xerox PARC, shared their experiences creating and working with Smalltalk. Former New York Times technology columnist John Markoff moderated the conversation and Alan Kay shared insights via prerecorded video. This CHM Live program was recorded on September 1, 2022. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

David Pogue, author of the bestselling book Apple: The First 50 Years , explores Apple’s history through its four defining eras and highlights pivotal moments along the way. From the company’s founding in a garage by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to the evolution of landmark products like the iPhone, Pogue examines Apple’s cultural impact and its influence on how people relate to technology, This conversation was recorded on February 23, 2026, and CHM Curator Hansen Hsu was the interviewer. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

What if the roots of Silicon Valley’s culture weren’t written in code but taught in a classroom? Esther Wojcicki, a trailblazing educator, journalist, and mother of tech leaders Susan and Ann Wojcicki, sat down for a live Q&A following a screening of The Godmother of Silicon Valley , a new documentary about her life. The conversation was moderated by the film's executive director Maciej Kawecki. This conversation was recorded on June 2, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

Will AI finally fix healthcare, or create a whole new set of problems? Dr. Robert Wachter , chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, joined us to discuss his new book, A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future . Katie Hafner , host and executive producer of the Lost Women of Science podcast, moderated the conversation. This conversation was recorded on June 30, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. It was made possible by the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

How did the early internet help shape today's transgender identity and activism? Scholar and CHM Book Prize winner Avery Dame‑Griff joined us to discuss his book, The Two Revolutions: A History of the Transgender Internet, and explore the digital origins of a movement that began long before today’s social platforms existed. The conversation was moderated by Joshua K. Reason , Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, at San Francisco State University. This conversation was recorded on June 23, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

Most people know about Steve Jobs' amazing work at Apple, but what about his "wilderness years" when he created NeXT? Learn about this period from Geoffrey Cain , author of Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT and the Remaking of an American Visionary, along with key figures from NeXT’s history, including: Dan’l Lewin, Cofounder and VP of Sales and Marketing, NeXT Rich Page, Cofounder and VP of Hardware Engineering / Manufacturing, NeXT Avie Tevanian, VP of Engineering, NeXT Bud Tribble, Cofounder and VP of Software Engineering, NeXT This conversation was recorded on May 26, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

What happens when you let artificial intelligence run your life? Joanna Stern, Emmy Award–winning tech journalist, asks this question in her new book, I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything . She sat down with Nilay Patel, cofounder and editor-in-chief of The Verge, to share what actually worked, what didn’t, and what her experience reveals about where AI is headed. This conversation was recorded on May 19, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

Are you part of the 92 percent? That’s how many people around the world use emojis every day. Today's conversation explores how something as small as an emoji can have a big impact on inclusion and representation. Journalist, film producer, and emoji activist Jennifer 8. Lee joined acclaimed artist Yiying Lu , alongside Rayouf Alhumedhi —named one of Time magazine’s most influential teens—for a wide‑ranging discussion moderated by Sara Dean , then a California College of the Arts professor. This conversation was recorded on March 8, 2023, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

What if the most important innovation in technology isn’t what companies build but how they build it? In this episode, New York Times bestselling author Andrew McAfee explores The Geek Way , a radical approach to corporate culture that’s fast-moving, egalitarian, and relentlessly evidence-driven. Carl Bass , Former President and CEO, Autodesk, Moderates the conversation. This conversation was recorded on December 14, 2023, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

On April 1, 1976, Apple Computer was founded with a radical idea: that powerful computing should be personal. Fifty years later, Apple stands as one of the most influential tech companies in history. To celebrate this anniversary, David Pogue , legendary journalist and author of the new book Apple: The First 50 Years , hosted an event featuring: Chris Espinosa, Senior Apple Employee John Sculley, former Apple CEO Avie Tevanian, former Chief Software Technology Officer and SVP of Software Engineering Plus, recorded segments from Apple luminaries like Steve Wozniak as well as live audience interviews. This conversation was recorded on March 11, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

The iPod and the iPhone transformed entertainment, communications, and computing in less than a decade. Tony Fadell joins John Markoff on stage to explore his time designing these amazing products as well as his founding of Nest. This conversation was recorded on May 10, 2017, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

The tiny pixel is the “big idea” that ties all digital imaging together. In this episode, computing‑graphics pioneer and Pixar cofounder Alvy Ray Smith shares insights from his book A Biography of the Pixel , on how this humble building block reshaped art, entertainment, and our digital world. Barbara Robertson , former Senior Editor of Computer Graphics World, moderated the conversation. This CHM Live event was recorded on August 11, 2022, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

What happens when the quest for love gets outsourced to computers? Just in time for Valentine's Day, we're exploring how technology has changed the ways we live and love today and what changes might be coming tomorrow. Featuring: Jeffrey Tarr , Cofounder, Operation Match Gary Kremen , Entrepreneur & Founder of Match.com Steve Dean , Online Dating Consultant at Dateworking Moderator: Hanna Kozlowska , Reporter & Author of U Up? A Social History of Online Dating, which will be published with One Signal/Simon & Schuster in the US and Icon Books in the UK in 2027. This conversation was recorded on February 4, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

How can you truly grasp what is happening in computing? One powerful answer has endured: “Read a book!” In this conversation with historian W. Patrick McCray, we learn how the most influential books in computing didn’t just explain technology but also ignited the computer revolution. CHM curator, David C. Brock, moderates. This conversation was recorded on January 20, 2026, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

Today, autonomous vehicles are no longer a futuristic dream. But in 2019, industry leaders and researchers were still figuring how they work, the challenge of teaching AI to make life-and-death decisions, and the profound changes this technology could bring to our lives. This special panel from our archives featured Dmitri Dolgov from Waymo, Chris Gerdes from Stanford University, Jesse Levinson from Zoox, and Jack Weast of Mobileye. It was moderated by Talithia Williams of Harvey Mudd College and cohost of the PBS series NOVA Wonders. The program was recorded on October 18, 2019, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, as a part of a special screening of the NOVA documentary, Look Who's Driving . To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum’s YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org .

Humanoid robots are stepping out of science fiction and into our daily lives. But what does that mean for us? Chaoyi Li from Booster Robotics, Victor Suen from Fourier, and Niv Sundaram from Machani joined us for a conversation on how these machines are reshaping our expectations of technology, companionship, and what a healthy relationship with this technology might look like. CHM's Director and Curator of the Internet History Program, Marc Weber, moderated. This conversation, a partnership with the Humanoid Summit, was recorded on December 11, 2025, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, as a part of the CHM Live series. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

What happens when two tech visionaries sit down to talk? In this remarkable 2007 conversation, Dr. Morris Chang, the pioneering founder of TSMC, joins NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to reflect on how his revolutionary silicon foundry model reshaped the semiconductor industry and powered the digital age. This conversation was recorded on October 17, 2007, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

In November 1995, Steve Jobs pitched Wall Street on a company with no revenues and an unproven film. That company was Pixar, and against all odds, Toy Story became a smash hit, the stock soared, and the deal rewrote the rules for tech investing while cementing Jobs as a visionary. Hear the untold stories behind one of Silicon Valley's most improbable successes from Lawrence Levy (Former Pixar CFO), Mike McCaffery (Former Robertson Stephens CEO), and Cristina Morgan (Former Head of Technology Investment Banking for Hambrecht & Quist). This program was coproduced by Paul Noglows, formerly with Hambrecht & Quist, and JP Mark, formerly with Robertson Stephens. Both are coauthors of an upcoming book on these firms, and Paul moderated the discussion. It was made possible by the generous support of J.P. Morgan. This conversation was recorded on November 20, 2025 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, as a part of the CHM Live series. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org

How did Taiwan ascend to such great heights in high-tech manufacturing? Honghong Tinn, author of Island Tinkerers, shares the fascinating history of how hobbyists and enthusiasts in Taiwan helped transform the country through innovative and creative computer use. CHM Curator Hansen Hsu moderates. This conversation was recorded on November 4, 2025, at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, as a part of the CHM Live series. To watch a video of this program, please visit the Computer History Museum's YouTube channel. To learn more about the Computer History Museum and our upcoming CHM Live events, visit our website at www.computerhistory.org