Archives

Before His First Flight

Mark Vande Hei, U.S. astronaut, shares stories of his training and tips he learned from fellow astronauts before launching to the International Space Station for the first time on September 12, 2017. HWHAP Episode 13.

Leading Human Space Exploration

Ellen Ochoa, Director of the NASA Johnson Space Center, talks about human space exploration: what we’re doing here in Texas to make it a possibility, how we’re working with commercial and international partners, and what the future has in store for a human presence in space. HWHAP Episode 12.

Mission Control

Mary Lawrence, Flight Director in Mission Control Houston, talks about what it’s like inside Mission Control, what it takes to be a flight controller and flight director, how mission control has evolved, and what it may look like in the future. HWHAP Episode 11.

Episode 45: HTC, Google and the Future of Mobile

Acquired is back and live on the scene! After months of speculation, Google announces today their acquisition (err, “Cooperation Agreement”) of a large portion of HTC’s hardware division. What does this mean for the future of mobile? Can Google transform itself into a vertically integrated device company and compete directly with Apple? Most importantly, when will we see more  Beats Android handsets??? (We hope never) 

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More Acquired!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Topics Covered Include: 

  • The origins of HTC as a Taiwanese OEM, dating back to the Compaq iPAQ and Palm Treo 650!
  • HTC’s long history with Google, starting as the manufacturer of the first Android phone, the HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1
  • HTC’s ownership of Beats, for a hot minute
  • Google’s own winding history in hardware, with its Motorola acquisition in 2011 and divestiture in 2014
  • Google & HTC’s joint work on the Pixel smartphones in 2016
  • And much analysis and speculation on what this means for Google, Apple, Samsung, vertical vs horizontal business models and more!

  The Carve Out: 

Episode 44: AOL – Time Warner (with the Internet History Podcast)

On this extra-long episode of Acquired, Brian McCullough from the Internet History Podcast returns to discuss perhaps the most (in)famous merger of all time: AOL – Time Warner. Who doesn’t remember the soothing sounds of 56k modems and the timeless phrase, “You’ve Got Mail”? Join us all as we unpack how one of the biggest ISP’s of the 90’s tried to take over the world… and fell far short. 

Sponsors:

More Acquired!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Topics Covered Include: 

  • AOL’s status in the 90’s / early 00’s
  • Explaining just what it is that AOL did at the height of their popularity
  • How AOL pioneered a number of internet paradigms
  • AOL’s persistent money troubles and bailouts from other companies
  • Steve Case foreseeing the coming era of broadband, inspiring AOL to pursue working with a cable company
  • Ebay vs. Time Warner in a down-to-the-wire war for a merger with AOL
  • Why the money dried up for AOL after their merger with Time Warner
  • AOL and its value in the post-Time-Warner era
  • Speculating about what would have happened had AOL and others stayed independent businesses
  • And much discussion on how to grade this one…

  The Carve Out: 

Average Joe, Educator, Astronaut

Joe Acaba, U.S. astronaut, talks about his time in the Marine Corps and Peace Corps, his previous missions to space, and his background as a high school and middle school educator. HWHAP Episode 10.

International Space Station #2: Research

Dr. Tara Ruttley, Associate Program Scientist for the Space Station, talks about the kinds of scientific research we’re doing and learning aboard the orbiting complex. Ruttley discusses why the research is important for us here on the Earth and for sending humans into deep space. HWHAP Episode 9.

Hurricane Harvey Update

Well as you probably know, southeast Texas was just slammed with the furious winds and torrential downpour of Hurricane Harvey. A lot of Houstonians were affected by the storm and the 40+ inches of rain that came with it. Here is a quick update of what has happened here in Houston. We’ll be back with a full episode next week.

Exploring the Cosmos with Styx

Glenn Lutz and John Connolly, exploration experts at NASA, chat with Tommy Shaw and Lawrence Gowan from the band Styx about human exploration of the solar system. They discuss the challenges of sending humans into deep space and draw parallels to live music performances. HWHAP Episode 8.

Total Eclipse Over America

Dr. Mark Matney, Space Debris Scientist and Astronomer, talks about the science and history of eclipses. He also describes the total solar eclipse that will sweep over the U.S. on August 21, 2017, and how to safely view it. HWHAP Episode 7.