In May 1997, the world watched as Garry Kasparov, the greatest chess player of all time, faced off against IBM’s supercomputer, Deep Blue. It was man vs. machine—a defining moment in the evolution of artificial intelligence and a turning point for chess.

To revisit this historic showdown, we’ve given producer and director Julia Thompson a 48-hour challenge: track down and interview someone who was there when technology changed the game forever.

This episode features interviews with:

'You Had To Be There' is a Hi Barr production.

Created by Hi Barr.

'Garry Kasparov vs. Deep Blue' was written and hosted by Julia Thompson.

Produced by Julia Thompson and Web Barr.

Edited by Julia Thompson.

Edit, Sound Mix, and engineering by Vishal Nayak.

Original score by Teeny Lieberson.  

Artwork created by Dylan Lathrop.

Special thanks to our parents, friends and chosen family. And most importantly, thank you to the artists who’ve inspired us because they had to do it.

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