The best antidote to fear of the new is looking back at fear of the old. That's what we do each episode: We travel back in time, exploring why people freaked out over a new technology. Then we try to understand why that unfounded fear continues to repeat itself today, only in slightly different forms.

Pessimists Archive is hosted by Jason Feifer (@heyfeifer), and was created by Louis Anslow. Follow us on Twitter at @pessimistsarc. Our email is pessimistsarchive@gmail.com.