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Inside all the world’s electronic devices, there’s a story of innovation but there’s also a tale of espionage and the battle of nations and corporations for technological supremacy. It’s the story of the microchip and it will go a long way in determining who comes out on top in what some call the new Cold War: China or the West?

The broadcaster and writer Misha Glenny takes us from a Soviet bunker on the brink of nuclear war to the inner workings of Europe’s most high-tech facilities. He encounters spies, entrepreneurs and quantum conundrums en route to discovering how something that can now be as small as a single strand of DNA may determine the fate of nations and perhaps, even of humanity itself.

Episode 1: Chips with Everything

We start with the military origins of microprocessors as Misha speaks to Chris Miller, the author of the bestselling book Chip War, about the pivotal role chips have played in geopolitics for over half a century.

The Innovator and industry pioneer Hermann Hauser reflects on the 1980s personal computer boom and the founding of ARM, the British chip designers that dominates 99% of the smartphone market.

Technology journalist John Liu and security expert Hanna Dohmen explore the far reaching consequences of China’s ambitions in microchip technology. And Misha explores what was needed to make the global tech ecosystem that has led to the creation of chips that can be found in everything from missiles to microwaves and from cars to cat flaps.

Presented by Misha Glenny, Rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna
Produced by Mugabi Turya and Olivia Sopel

Archive:

Ronald Reagan Speech at Moscow State University in 1988
(Source: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

The 1953 Documentary ‘The Transistor’ (source: AT&T)

Morris Chang’s November 2023 speech at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Steve Jobs announcing iPhone at Macworld San Francisco 2007 Keynote Address (Source: Apple 2007)

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Speech in January 2023 (Source: US Defense Dept)

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