Just about everything you interact with digitally is enabled by the cloud. Whether you’re doom-scrolling on Instagram, binge-watching on Netflix, ride-hailing on Uber, or downloading super-cool cloud podcasts (hint, hint) on Spotify, you’re using the cloud.

But most people don’t have any idea what the cloud is, where it came from, or what we, as a species, spend on it. Episode One of “Cloud Atlas” goes back to the birthplace of the cloud: a little digital bookstore called Amazon.com.

Including contributions from:

• Allan Vermeulen, who led the team that built the world's first web-based storage product, Amazon S3
• Matt Round, who led Amazon's personalization team — and made it such that the online store rearranges itself for every unique user