The Internet Under the Sea

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What powers the global internet? The answer might surprise you: not satellites, but hundreds of thin cables that run along the ocean floor. They’re an absolutely essential technology that’s also incredibly fragile — so fragile that in the beginning, most people thought they couldn't possibly work. Today on the show: the story of a man who did think they could work… and the lengths he went to to try and connect the world. Guests: Bill Burns , former BBC broadcast engineer and founder of atlantic-cable.com Cyrus Field IV , great-great-grandson of Cyrus Field Allison Marsh , professor at the University of South Carolina and historian of technology Ben Roberts , strategic advisor on Subsea…