In most tellings, the 2000 tech crash is a straightforward story: the music stopped and unprofitable dot-com companies failed, paving the way for the more innovative companies of the Web 2.0 era. This episode explores a very different view of the tech crash: as a key turning point where the idealism of early web entrepreneurs gave way to new business practices that would in time, drive today’s backlash against technology companies—the “techlash.” This fresh look at tech’s evolution suggests new answers for idealism in tech, and for promoting greater equality and innovation in the US economy.