Code Curiosities

The Astronaut Who Accidentally CC'd the Whole Internet: How Reply-All Broke a Space Agency

Episode Summary

In 1997, a single misaddressed email at NASA spiraled into a 45-minute network blackout that grounded real mission work — and it wasn't the last time 'Reply All' brought a giant organization to its knees. This week we dig into the beautiful chaos of email, why a technology designed to be simple has caused billions of dollars in damage, and the surprisingly human reason your inbox still works exactly the way it did in 1971.