The Refugee Who Led a Software Revolution - with Ben Walter

Millionaire-making tech start-ups are most often associated with Silicon Valley. But this software revolution begins on a woman's kitchen table in rural Britain in the 1960s. Steve Shirley faced extraordinary odds. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child, she later encountered workplace discrimination and endured deep personal tragedy. But she persevered to build a business decades ahead of its time, creating opportunities for hundreds of women. Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, to explore the life, legacy and lessons of an overlooked titan of tech.

You can listen to The Refugee Who Led a Software Revolution - with Ben Walter online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Refugee Who Led a Software Revolution - with Ben Walter is an episode from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries.

This episode is 27:45 long.

This episode was published on Apr 7, 2026.

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