# Y2K vs Y2K38 - The Rematch and How the World Avoided a Global IT Disaster (Again)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-horror-stories-with-jack-smith-7324626/y2k-vs-y2k38-the-rematch-and-how-the-world-avoided-a-global-it-disaster-again
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-horror-stories-with-jack-smith-7324626/y2k-vs-y2k38-the-rematch-and-how-the-world-avoided-a-global-it-disaster-again.md
Podcast: [IT Horror Stories with Jack Smith](https://stenobird.com/podcast/it-horror-stories-with-jack-smith-7324626)
Published: 2025-11-03T10:48:00+00:00
Episode link: https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-7-y2k-vs-y2k38-the-rematch/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/c3f32df0-f9b4-48d7-9782-c3252d84e69a/Y2K_vs_Y2K38_The_Rematch_No_One_Asked_For.mp3?dest-id=4735702
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/it-horror-stories-with-jack-smith-7324626/episodes/y2k-vs-y2k38-the-rematch-and-how-the-world-avoided-a-global-it-disaster-again
Duration seconds: 1766

## Resource

We revisit the original digital apocalypse — the year 2000 - looking back at what Y2K really was, how an army of COBOL coders saved the world before midnight, and why most people never even noticed. But the clock is ticking again: Y2K38 is coming, and this time it's 32-bit. Different date, same panic waiting to happen as UNIX time doesn't heal — it overflows into a negative. Want even more info ? Read our show notes and related blog post related to this episode : https://blog.ithorrorstories.eu/episode-7-y2k-vs-y2k38-the-rematch/ All other links and socials : https://links.ithorrorstories.eu/ 00:00 Banter & Introductions 01:40 Y2K Breakdown 10:16 Fallout & Fixes 13:31 Enter Y2K38 18:18 Future Risks 28:09 Wrap Up

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## Transcript

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