PLAY PODCASTS
Valley of Genius (Audio)

Valley of Genius (Audio)

Valley of Genius features the hackers, founders, and freaks who made Silicon Valley boom, in their own words.

TWiT · Leo Laporte

25 episodesEN-US

Show overview

Valley of Genius (Audio) launched in 2018 and has put out 25 episodes, alongside 1 trailer or bonus episode in the time since. That works out to roughly 7 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.

Episodes typically run ten to twenty minutes — most land between 11 min and 21 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-US-language Arts show.

The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 7.2 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. Published by Leo Laporte.

Episodes
25
Running
2018–2019 · 1y
Median length
15 min
Cadence
Weekly

From the publisher

Ripped from the pages of Adam Fisher's uncensored history of Silicon Valley, Valley of Genius features the hackers, founders, and freaks who made Silicon Valley boom, in their own words. Drawn from over 200 interviews with the brightest stars and hidden heroes of technology, Valley of Genius is required listening for history buffs, tech lovers, and anyone interested in the innovation, betrayal, and magic of Silicon Valley. Although the show is no longer in production, you can enjoy episodes from the TWiT Archives.

Latest Episodes

View all 25 episodes

S1 Ep 24VoG 24: Larry Brilliant

Larry Brilliant met Steve Jobs in India, helped eradicate smallpox, and co-founded The Well. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Larry Brilliant Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Mar 4, 201923 min

S1 Ep 23VoG 23: Howard Warshaw

Howard Warshaw is infamous for creating the "worst video game ever," ET the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. He tells tales of the final days of Atari. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Howard Warshaw Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Feb 25, 201922 min

S1 Ep 22VoG 22: Fabrice Florin

Fabrice Florin produced a documentary of the first ever Hackers Conference, and was influential in the development of Hypercard. He tells his story here. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Fabrice Florin Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Feb 18, 201923 min

S1 Ep 21VoG 21: Charlie Ayers

Google's first Chef dishes on Google's early days, the Grateful Dead, and Burning Man. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Charlie Ayers Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Feb 11, 201922 min

S1 Ep 20VoG 20: Tiffany Shlain

Tiffany Shlain is the founder of the Webby Awards. She talks about the early days of the Web and the crazy times she had. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Tiffany Shlain Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Feb 4, 201911 min

S1 Ep 19VoG 19: Jaron Lanier

Jaron Lanier is a virtual reality pioneer and the inventor of the EYE Phone, the first commercially available head-mounted display. He talks about the early days of VR. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Jaron Lanier Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Jan 28, 20198 min

S1 Ep 18VoG 18: Aaron Sittig

Aaron Sittig was the first designer at Facebook, and the man who created the "Like" button. He talks about writing the first Mac client for Napster and the earliest days of Facebook. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Aaron Sittig Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Jan 21, 201912 min

S1 Ep 17VoG 17: Mark Pincus

Before Mark Pincus made it big with Zynga, he made it even bigger by investing in a couple of little companies called Napster and Facebook. He talks about those early days, and what Mark Zuckerberg was really like back then. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Mark Pincus Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Jan 14, 201911 min

S1 Ep 16VoG 16: Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe

Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe are the founders of Wired Magazine and Wired.com. They talk about starting Wired, the early days of the Web, and inventing the banner ad. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guests: Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Jan 7, 201918 min

S1 Ep 15VoG 15: Biz Stone

Biz Stone is the co-founder of Twitter. He talks about his days at Google and Odeo, the predecessor of Twitter. He also tells his version of how Twitter was born. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Biz Stone Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Dec 17, 201816 min

S1 Ep 14VoG 14: Mark Pauline

Mark Pauline is the founder of Survival Research Labs, an art collective famous for its pyrotechnic shows featuring giant robots. He talks about his most infamous show, which resulted in a freeway in San Francisco being shut down due to the giant flames surrounding it. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Mark Pauline Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Dec 10, 201815 min

S1 Ep 13VoG 13: Steven Levy

Steven Levy is a legendary tech journalist and author of the seminal book Hackers. He talks about the reaction to his book and the famous Hackers Conference that followed. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Steven Levy Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Dec 3, 20189 min

S1 Ep 12VoG 12: Andy Hertzfeld

Andy Hertzfeld is one of the minds behind the Apple Macintosh. He talks about the early days at Apple. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Andy Hertzfeld Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Nov 26, 20188 min

S1 Ep 11VoG 11: Brenda Laurel at Atari

Brenda Laurel tells what it was like working at Atari, the office antics and wild parties that occurred, and the eventual downfall of Atari with the infamous ill-fated ET game. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Brenda Laurel Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Nov 19, 201818 min

S1 Ep 10VoG 10: Joey Anuff

Joey Anuff created Suck.com, one of the earliest humor sites on the web. In his own words, he talks about working at Wired magazine's first website, HotWired, and creating Suck.com in secret. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Joey Anuff Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Nov 12, 20189 min

S1 Ep 9VoG 9: Tony Fadell

Tony Fadell is one of the creators of the iPod and a co-founder of Nest. In his own words, he talks about his start at General Magic and building the iPod. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Tony Fadell Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Nov 5, 20189 min

S1 Ep 8VoG 8: Ev Williams

Ev Williams is the co-founder of Twitter. In his own words, he talks about starting Blogger and selling it to Google, starting Odeo as a podcast platform, and pivoting to create Twitter. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Ev Williams Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Oct 29, 201814 min

S1 Ep 7VoG 7: Alvy Ray Smith

Alvy Ray Smith is the co-founder of Pixar. In his own words, he talks about his early experiments with computer graphics at Xerox PARC, work at Lucasfilm, and his opinions on Steve Jobs' contribution - or lack thereof - to Pixar. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Alvy Ray Smith Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Oct 22, 201821 min

S1 Ep 6VoG 6: Sean Parker

Sean Parker is the co-founder of Napster and the first President of Facebook. In his own words he talks about the beginning and end of Napster, meeting Mark Zuckerberg, and the early days of Facebook. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Sean Parker Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Oct 15, 201818 min

S1 Ep 5VoG 5: Alan Kay

Alan Kay is one of the founders of Xerox PARC. In his own words, he talks about developing early personal computers, the famous demo at Xerox PARC that gave Steve Jobs the idea for the Macintosh, and his feeling that computing has failed. Hosts: Leo Laporte and Adam Fisher Guest: Alan Kay Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/valley-of-genius. Get a copy of Adam Fisher's Valley of Genius book at a bookstore near you.

Oct 8, 201818 min
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/