My journey inside Silicon Valley's chipmaking industry in the 70s and the fifty-year mirror it holds up to today's AI-driven workforce shift.
Why the Canary Sings: A Warm Welcome to Seeing Through Silicon
Silicon Valley wasn’t built by visionaries alone. It was built by the thousands of unsung workers—often overlooked—who manufactured the chips powering our world today. Seeing Through Silicon uncovers their stories and the lessons I learned alongside them, exploring how the 1970s semiconductor era mirrors today’s AI revolution in a 13-episode narrative soundscape.
What to Expect
This isn’t just a podcast—it’s a conversation. Over the next 13 months, you’ll receive a new episode that dives into the untold stories of Silicon Valley’s past and the lessons they hold for our future. But the story doesn’t end there. Between episodes, I’ll be sharing more in this space:
Field Notes: Personal reflections inspired by the episodes—starting with why the canary sings, and why this metaphor matters.
The Cutting Room Floor: The stories, documents, and moments that didn’t make the final cut but are too important to ignore.
Canary Conversations: Voices echoing the themes of the past, bringing today's struggles and triumphs into focus. In months without a live conversation, a Source File takes its place—a document, artifact, or record from the archive, and why it still matters.
Canary Sighting: My observations on how the past connects to the present—because history doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.
And every post will close with a Canary Question—an invitation for you to join the conversation.
Why Now?
We’re at a pivotal moment. AI and automation are reshaping work, society, and even our humanity. The questions we’re facing today—about labor, ethics, and the future of innovation—aren’t new. They’re echoes of the challenges that defined Silicon Valley’s early days. Seeing Through Silicon is here to help us listen to those echoes, so we can navigate the present clear eyed.
Meet Your Host
I’m Dee McCrorey. Before Silicon Valley became shorthand for innovation, I was on its factory floor—one of thousands of workers who built the chips that built everything after. This podcast is my way of sharing that story.
Navigation
📌 The current episode is always available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts — or browse every episode on the Archive page.
🗃️ Explore the Archive Browse every episode and every Silicon Canary Files dispatch.
🐦 Canary Roll Call See who's adopted an episode and put their name on the story.
🔗 Stay Connected Subscribe now to get the episodes and SCF dispatches delivered straight to your inbox.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Whether you’re a tech historian, a worker in the trenches of today’s AI revolution, or simply someone who believes in the power of storytelling, I’m glad you’re here. Let’s see through silicon—together.