Wikipedia: Jimmy Wales (2018)

How I Built This with Guy Raz

Guy Raz | Wondery

Business

4.8 • 31.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, Jimmy Wales was running an internet search company. That's when he began to experiment with the idea of an online encyclopedia. In 2001, Wales launched Wikipedia, a website where thousands of community members could contribute, edit, and monitor content on just about anything. Today, the non-profit has stayed true to its open source roots and is one of the ten most visited websites in the world. PLUS in our post-script "How You Built That," we check back with Leigh D'Angelo, who explains how her sister's break up inspired them to create a dating app—for dog owners. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to how I built this early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:07.0	Download the app today.
0:09.0	New years is here, and with it brings the possibility of change.
0:13.0	As one behavioral scientist put it, first starts are really powerful.
0:17.0	So as you head into 2023, LifeKit is a great resource to help you plan your life and tackle changes, both big and small.
0:24.0	Listen to the LifeKit podcast from NPR.
0:27.0	Hey everyone, so think of the last time you got into an argument with someone, right?
0:31.0	The kind of argument that could be resolved with a simple fact, you know, like, is a lobster, a crustacean, or a mollusk?
0:40.0	What was the final score in Game 7 of the World Series?
0:43.0	How long does it take the light from the sun to reach the Earth?
0:46.0	Anyway, chances are if you grab your phone and type in any of those questions, the answers will come up on Wikipedia.
0:53.0	It's become a ubiquitous first stop for finding out just about anything.
0:57.0	My interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, first ran about two years ago, but it is an incredible story and incredibly surprising.
1:05.0	So, we're playing it again, and hope you enjoy it.
1:08.0	What was the end?
1:12.0	What was the first Wikipedia entry?
1:14.0	The earliest article that anyone has found was an article on the letter Q.
1:20.0	And in those early days it was very exciting. You could just be the first person to say Africa is a continent and hit save.
1:27.0	And, well, it's not very good, but it's not wrong, and it's a start.
1:36.0	From NPR, it's how I built this.
1:39.0	A show about innovators, entrepreneurs, idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.
1:51.0	The guy rise and on today's show, the story of how Jimmy Wales started an online encyclopedia as a side project and watched it grow into one of the pillars of the internet.
	...

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