01.15.2024 - By The Retrospectors
Rerun : Wikipedia launched with the cheery words “Hello World!” on 15th January, 2001.
The project arrived almost by accident, as the side-project of a more serious effort by tech entrepreneur Jimmy Wales to create an online encyclopedia called Nupedia.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why before Wikipedia came about Wales briefly peddled pornography; discuss why 9/11 was unexpectedly beneficial to Wikipedia’s growth; and reveal how many times Olly watched the Hindenburg disaster on Encarta 95…
Further Reading: • ‘Fail study: Jimmy Wales and Nupedia’ (Wired, 2011): https://www.wired.co.uk/article/fail-study-jimmy-wales • ‘Wikipedia's 20, but how credible is it?’ (DW.com, 2021): https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-as-wikipedia-turns-20-how-credible-is-it/a-56228222 • ‘Wikipedia - Behind the Encyclopedia’ (Company Man, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6TTLZzEQHo
This episode first premiered in 2022, for members of