Version History Season 5 Explores The Oregon Trail
The Verge's Version History podcast returns for season 5, featuring game designer Philip Bouchard to discuss The Oregon Trail, educational tech classics like the TI-84, and Chromebooks.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Version History kicks off its fifth season with a deep dive into the iconic game The Oregon Trail.
- Host David Pierce is joined by gaming journalist Chris Grant and game designer Philip Bouchard.
- The upcoming season will explore classic educational tools like the TI-84 calculator and Chromebooks.
- The Verge will livestream a playthrough of The Oregon Trail on its YouTube channel this Friday.
Whether you spent your childhood playing it on a school classroom computer or at home, anyone growing up in the past three decades almost certainly encountered The Oregon Trail. The brutal edutainment adventure has left a lasting mark on generations of players.
On the season 5 premiere of the Version History podcast, wagon leader David Pierce is joined by gaming journalist Chris Grant and Philip Bouchard, the designer and team leader behind the game's most iconic version. Together, they discuss the academic origins of The Oregon Trail, its complex legacy, and whether anyone actually ever succumbed to dysentery in the game.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
This episode marks the beginning of the fifth season, shifting the podcast's focus back to the classroom. In the upcoming weeks, the show will examine several other defining educational technologies, including:
- The TI-84 graphing calculator
- One Laptop Per Child initiative
- Chromebook laptops
- LeapPad educational devices
- Overhead projectors
Revisiting The Oregon Trail and vintage classroom technology highlights how early educational computing shaped generations of digital-native problem solvers. Understanding these roots provides a clearer perspective on how modern edtech has evolved toward cloud-based collaborative learning tools today.
Additionally, this Friday, the team will livestream a playthrough of The Oregon Trail directly from The Verge YouTube channel, tracking which staff members successfully reach the end of the trail and who falls behind along the way.
Listeners interested in catching every episode as soon as it drops can access Version History ad-free by checking their account settings if they are active Verge subscribers.
Source: The Verge
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