Time Bomb Y2K

An all-archival deep dive into the ‘millennium bug’, the widespread cultural hysteria in the lead-up to the year 2000 that redefined our relationship to technology.

The prospect of the millennium bug – aka the Y2K bug – was no joke in the late 1990s. When it was discovered that computers were not programmed to effectively interpret the two digits 00, many believed that our entering a new millennium would precipitate a catastrophic global technological collapse. As computer programmers worked tirelessly to solve the potential glitch, doomsday preppers began stockpiling arms and supplies, while state politicians and pop culture icons stepped onto TV to address the nation and debate the pandemonium. Through news reels, press briefings and home videos, co-directors Marley McDonald and Brian Becker craft a thrilling time capsule of a society grappling with the rise of computers, at a pivotal moment in contemporary history.