Ellen Ullman, Halt & Catch Fire & a nuclear podcast
Hello SIGCIS, Communications of the ACM has now published the third part of my trilogy on classic depictions of IT work. "Women's Lives in Code" explores two depictions of IT work in the 1980s and 1990s: Ellen Ullman's wonderful memoir _Close to the Machine_ and the more recent historical TV drama "Halt and Catch Fire." Spoiler: if you tried season 1 of the show and gave up, just skip to season 2. https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/9/255032-womens-lives-in-code/fulltext This marks the conclusion of my foray into media criticism. If you missed the first two parts, you can read about Kidder's _Soul of a New Machine_ at https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/1/249451-the-immortal-soul-of-an-old-mac hine/fulltext and Levy's _Hackers_ at https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2021/4/251341-when-hackers-were-heroes/fullte xt. While I am here, I should mention that I was the guest on Shelly Lesher's _My Nuclear Life_ podcast recently. The conversation focused on the connection of the nuclear program to the very early history of electronic computing, retelling the ENIAC/EDVAC story from that viewpoint. Basically material from _ENAIC in Action_, my 2016 book with Mark Priestley and Crispin Rope. But if you'd rather listen than read, find it at https://mynuclearlife.com/episode/history-of-early-computing-with-thomas-hai gh. She's a lively interviewer and has had some important guests on earlier episodes so I recommend the podcast for those with an interest in nuclear history. Best wishes, Tom
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thomas.haigh@gmail.com