https://simplecast.com Techs on Texts Techs on Texts is a podcast featuring conversations with technologists about the literature that has influenced them. Hosted and produced by Jed Sundwall. Learn more at https://techsontexts.net 2024-2025 Techs on Texts en Wed, 1 Apr 2026 01:35:33 +0000 Wed, 1 Apr 2026 02:51:07 +0000 https://techsontexts.net Techs on Texts https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/14b03938-d77a-4afc-853d-79f854da07bd/c1a6e115-3ce6-4816-a97e-bef9dccea1a6/3000x3000/tot-show-cover.jpg?aid=rss_feed https://techsontexts.net episodic Techs on Texts is a podcast featuring conversations with technologists about the literature that has influenced them. Hosted and produced by Jed Sundwall. Learn more at https://techsontexts.net Jed Sundwall false https://feeds.simplecast.com/zUqhnXa3 entrepreneurship, ethics, humanities, literature, product design, tech Jed Sundwall jed@techsontexts.net 4c69904d-1cf8-4fae-9bed-c923887abe59 Episode #26: JB Flinders on Sneakers JB Flinders – omnitechnologist, fellow Ute, and co-host of the Andy and Ammon's Excellent Odyssey podcast: joins us to discuss the 1993 film Sneakers. We discuss data as the primary seat of power, the ethics of privacy protection work, panopticons, Heidegger's "standing reserve," fear as the driver behind nearly every decision in the film (and in life), and what Martin Bishop means when he says "There's nobody there."

This was a continuation of conversations JB and I have had for 30 years. What a joy.

Show notes:

  • Sneakers on Wikipedia
  • Phil Alden Robinson: director and co-writer of Sneakers, also directed Field of Dreams
  • Enemy of the State: part of what JB calls the "Sneakers bundle" of surveillance films from the 70s–90s worth watching together
  • Martin Heidegger on Technology: JB draws on Heidegger's concept of "standing reserve": the danger that technology causes everything, including people, to appear as something to be optimized and used
  • Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault: Foucault's analysis of the Panopticon as a model for how surveillance modifies behavior without requiring active observation
  • Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "Because attention determines what will or will not appear in consciousness, and because it is also required to make other mental events - such as remembering, thinking, feeling, and making decisions - happen there, it is useful to think of it as psychic energy. Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work it is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we invest this energy. Memories, thoughts, and feelings are all shaped by how we use it. And it is an energy under our control, to do with as we please; hence, attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience."
  • "Love and Serve Where You Stand" a beautiful sermon by Ankur Shah Delight in which he explains how despair is used as a tool of control, and how to fight it.
  • The eBay security team harassment campaign: NYT article on the eBay employees who sent live roaches, a bloody pig mask, and more to a couple who ran a niche e-commerce newsletter. Reads like a Coen Brothers movie.

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Wed, 1 Apr 2026 01:35:33 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Jed Sundwall, JB Flinders) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2026/03/sneakers-jb-flinders/ JB Flinders – omnitechnologist, fellow Ute, and co-host of the Andy and Ammon's Excellent Odyssey podcast: joins us to discuss the 1993 film Sneakers. We discuss data as the primary seat of power, the ethics of privacy protection work, panopticons, Heidegger's "standing reserve," fear as the driver behind nearly every decision in the film (and in life), and what Martin Bishop means when he says "There's nobody there."

This was a continuation of conversations JB and I have had for 30 years. What a joy.

Show notes:

  • Sneakers on Wikipedia
  • Phil Alden Robinson: director and co-writer of Sneakers, also directed Field of Dreams
  • Enemy of the State: part of what JB calls the "Sneakers bundle" of surveillance films from the 70s–90s worth watching together
  • Martin Heidegger on Technology: JB draws on Heidegger's concept of "standing reserve": the danger that technology causes everything, including people, to appear as something to be optimized and used
  • Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault: Foucault's analysis of the Panopticon as a model for how surveillance modifies behavior without requiring active observation
  • Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "Because attention determines what will or will not appear in consciousness, and because it is also required to make other mental events - such as remembering, thinking, feeling, and making decisions - happen there, it is useful to think of it as psychic energy. Attention is like energy in that without it no work can be done, and in doing work it is dissipated. We create ourselves by how we invest this energy. Memories, thoughts, and feelings are all shaped by how we use it. And it is an energy under our control, to do with as we please; hence, attention is our most important tool in the task of improving the quality of experience."
  • "Love and Serve Where You Stand" a beautiful sermon by Ankur Shah Delight in which he explains how despair is used as a tool of control, and how to fight it.
  • The eBay security team harassment campaign: NYT article on the eBay employees who sent live roaches, a bloody pig mask, and more to a couple who ran a niche e-commerce newsletter. Reads like a Coen Brothers movie.

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Episode #26: JB Flinders on Sneakers Jed Sundwall, JB Flinders 01:24:53 JB Flinders joins us to discuss the 1993 film *Sneakers*. We explore data, privacy, and power; the ethics of security work; how fear drives decision-making; and not reality, but the perception of reality. JB Flinders joins us to discuss the 1993 film *Sneakers*. We explore data, privacy, and power; the ethics of security work; how fear drives decision-making; and not reality, but the perception of reality. false full 26 b6609afa-0aa2-4e9d-8637-3f7518f0f8d4 Episode #25: Kate Chapman on Wool by Hugh Howey Kate Chapman, geographer and technologist, joins us to discuss Hugh Howey's Wool. We discuss failures of governance, the perils of IT supremacy, the difficult ethics of constrained environments, and competitive goating.

Kate shares her background building digital public infrastructure (Common Space, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Open Supply Hub) and currently providing fractional CTO work and AI enablement. We discuss how Wool serves as a cautionary tale about bad governance, the intersection of information control and governance, and what happens when humans can't push boundaries or explore frontiers.

Show notes:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2026 20:31:32 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Jed Sundwall, Kate Chapman) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2026/02/howey-kate-chapman/ Kate Chapman, geographer and technologist, joins us to discuss Hugh Howey's Wool. We discuss failures of governance, the perils of IT supremacy, the difficult ethics of constrained environments, and competitive goating.

Kate shares her background building digital public infrastructure (Common Space, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Open Supply Hub) and currently providing fractional CTO work and AI enablement. We discuss how Wool serves as a cautionary tale about bad governance, the intersection of information control and governance, and what happens when humans can't push boundaries or explore frontiers.

Show notes:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Episode #25: Kate Chapman on Wool by Hugh Howey Jed Sundwall, Kate Chapman 01:28:28 Kate Chapman joins us to discuss Hugh Howey's *Wool*. We discuss failures of governance, the perils of IT supremacy, the difficult ethics of constrained environments, and competitive goating. Kate Chapman joins us to discuss Hugh Howey's *Wool*. We discuss failures of governance, the perils of IT supremacy, the difficult ethics of constrained environments, and competitive goating. false full 25 1ae5d853-9f48-4e88-b934-634c9246e4e1 Episode #24: Kevin Bullock on Pluribus by Vince Gilligan Kevin Bullock joins us to discuss the sublime first season of Vince Gilligan's Pluribus. Yes, TV is a "text," especially when Vince Gilligan is making it. We talk about individual morality, the ethics of science, AI, human nature, selfhood and memory, and ghosts. Inexplicably, we do not talk about HDP.

Show notes:

Also:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Sat, 31 Jan 2026 22:36:35 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Jed Sundwall, Kevin Bullock) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2026/01/gilligan-bullock/ Kevin Bullock joins us to discuss the sublime first season of Vince Gilligan's Pluribus. Yes, TV is a "text," especially when Vince Gilligan is making it. We talk about individual morality, the ethics of science, AI, human nature, selfhood and memory, and ghosts. Inexplicably, we do not talk about HDP.

Show notes:

Also:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Episode #24: Kevin Bullock on Pluribus by Vince Gilligan Jed Sundwall, Kevin Bullock 01:26:24 Kevin Bullock joins us to discuss Vince Gilligan's Pluribus. We explore individual morality, the ethics of science, AI, human nature, selfhood and memory, and ghosts. Kevin Bullock joins us to discuss Vince Gilligan's Pluribus. We explore individual morality, the ethics of science, AI, human nature, selfhood and memory, and ghosts. vince gilligan, pluribus false full 24 64f4b6a6-fb17-4155-be7c-2bf596492141 Episode #23: Cyd Harrell on “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges Cyd Harrell, devout civic technologist, joins us to discuss Jorge Luis Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." We talk about tungsten cubes, techno cults, and our guesses about the "horrifying or banal" truth revealed by the story.

Show notes:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2025 20:49:46 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Cyd Harrell, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/12/borges-cyd-harrell/ Cyd Harrell, devout civic technologist, joins us to discuss Jorge Luis Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." We talk about tungsten cubes, techno cults, and our guesses about the "horrifying or banal" truth revealed by the story.

Show notes:

If you enjoyed this, please share it.

Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

Intro music by Secret School.

Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

Please donate to Radiant Earth.

]]> Episode #23: Cyd Harrell on “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges Cyd Harrell, Jed Sundwall 01:27:03 Cyd Harrell, devout civic technologist, joins us to discuss Jorge Luis Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." We talk about tungsten cubes, techno cults, and our guesses about the "horrifying or banal" truth revealed by the story. Cyd Harrell, devout civic technologist, joins us to discuss Jorge Luis Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius." We talk about tungsten cubes, techno cults, and our guesses about the "horrifying or banal" truth revealed by the story. false full 23 aa79472d-5579-4423-8c70-b3e58496844c Episode #22: Marta Regn on “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” by Ted Chiang
  • "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" on Wikipedia - note the fan art book cover
  • Read "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" on Medium
  • Or buy Exhalation: Stories, the collection containing this story
  • The Weathering Podcast – More discussions of Earth systems, chaos, and the meaning of life from Marta, Marshall, and Alden
  • Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety on The Marginalian
  • Stoner by John Williams
  • No Way Recordings on YouTube

    • More show notes at https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/11/chiang-marta-regn/

    Next month, we'll talk about "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" by Jorge Luis Borges.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 29 Nov 2025 18:15:44 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Marta Regn, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/11/chiang-marta-regn/
  • "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" on Wikipedia - note the fan art book cover
  • Read "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" on Medium
  • Or buy Exhalation: Stories, the collection containing this story
  • The Weathering Podcast – More discussions of Earth systems, chaos, and the meaning of life from Marta, Marshall, and Alden
  • Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety on The Marginalian
  • Stoner by John Williams
  • No Way Recordings on YouTube

    • More show notes at https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/11/chiang-marta-regn/

    Next month, we'll talk about "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" by Jorge Luis Borges.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #22: Marta Regn on “Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom” by Ted Chiang Marta Regn, Jed Sundwall 01:23:33 Marta Regn joins us to discuss Ted Chiang's "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom." We agree that Chiang's imaginary PRISM gives us a practical way to think through concepts of free will and individual morality. Marta Regn joins us to discuss Ted Chiang's "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom." We agree that Chiang's imaginary PRISM gives us a practical way to think through concepts of free will and individual morality. false full 22     90922586-4cde-4b50-8481-9edbab61f876 Episode #21: George Dyson on The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle George Dyson – historian, boat maker, and volunteer Staff Historian at Radiant Earth – returns to discuss Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud. We discuss the cultural conflicts that arise between scientists and politicians, the limits of human language, human-incomprehensible modes of communication, the inevitable benefits of creating new observing instruments, alien consciousness, and the perils of simplified science.

    Show notes:

    Next month will be a discussion of Ted Chiang's "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" with Marta Regn.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Fri, 31 Oct 2025 21:00:07 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (George Dyson, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/10/hoyle-george-dyson/ George Dyson – historian, boat maker, and volunteer Staff Historian at Radiant Earth – returns to discuss Fred Hoyle's The Black Cloud. We discuss the cultural conflicts that arise between scientists and politicians, the limits of human language, human-incomprehensible modes of communication, the inevitable benefits of creating new observing instruments, alien consciousness, and the perils of simplified science.

    Show notes:

    Next month will be a discussion of Ted Chiang's "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" with Marta Regn.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #21: George Dyson on The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle George Dyson, Jed Sundwall 00:53:59 George Dyson – historian, boat maker, and volunteer Staff Historian at Radiant Earth – returns to discuss Fred Hoyle's *The Black Cloud*. We discuss the cultural conflicts that arise between scientists and politicians, the limits of human language, human-incomprehensible modes of communication, the inevitable benefits of creating new observing instruments, alien consciousness, and the perils of simplified science. George Dyson – historian, boat maker, and volunteer Staff Historian at Radiant Earth – returns to discuss Fred Hoyle's *The Black Cloud*. We discuss the cultural conflicts that arise between scientists and politicians, the limits of human language, human-incomprehensible modes of communication, the inevitable benefits of creating new observing instruments, alien consciousness, and the perils of simplified science. false full 21     4edf08b0-9da8-4c36-b6c6-3a6d52f4f24d Episode #20: Mark Chambers on Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Mark Chambers – my friend from high school (and former Chief Sustainability Officer of DC and NYC among other things) – joins us to discuss Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. We talk about the collision between money and science, the illusion of control, dignity, public service, how many humans there should be, why it may or may not be ok to grill, and positive visions for the future.

    Show notes:

    Next month (hopefully): The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle with George Dyson.

    Bonus announcements:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Sep 2025 23:49:45 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Mark Chambers, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/09/crichton-mark-chambers/ Mark Chambers – my friend from high school (and former Chief Sustainability Officer of DC and NYC among other things) – joins us to discuss Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. We talk about the collision between money and science, the illusion of control, dignity, public service, how many humans there should be, why it may or may not be ok to grill, and positive visions for the future.

    Show notes:

    Next month (hopefully): The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle with George Dyson.

    Bonus announcements:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #20: Mark Chambers on Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Mark Chambers, Jed Sundwall 01:36:52 Mark Chambers – my friend from high school (and former Chief Sustainability Officer of DC and NYC among other things) – joins us to discuss Michael Crichton's *Jurassic Park*. We talk about the collision between money and science, the illusion of control, dignity, public service, how many humans there should be, why it may or may not be ok to grill, and positive visions for the future. Mark Chambers – my friend from high school (and former Chief Sustainability Officer of DC and NYC among other things) – joins us to discuss Michael Crichton's *Jurassic Park*. We talk about the collision between money and science, the illusion of control, dignity, public service, how many humans there should be, why it may or may not be ok to grill, and positive visions for the future. false full 20     54c2eccc-0616-4f47-8fd6-60eb8bafd3d8 Episode #19: Matt Price on Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Matt Price – technology historian and dedicated educator – joins us to discuss Susanna Clarke's Piranesi. We talk about egos, ego death, cults, academia, Christianity, Buddhism, and psychedelics. No insights, only more questions.

    Show notes:

    Next month, will be Jurassic Park (the movie and the book!) with Mark Chambers.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 30 Aug 2025 20:56:18 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Matt Price, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/08/clarke-matt-price/ Matt Price – technology historian and dedicated educator – joins us to discuss Susanna Clarke's Piranesi. We talk about egos, ego death, cults, academia, Christianity, Buddhism, and psychedelics. No insights, only more questions.

    Show notes:

    Next month, will be Jurassic Park (the movie and the book!) with Mark Chambers.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #19: Matt Price on Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Matt Price, Jed Sundwall 01:32:37 Matt Price – technology historian and professor – joins us to discuss Susanna Clarke's *Piranesi*. We talk about egos, ego death, cults, academia, Christianity, Buddhism, and psychedelics. Matt Price – technology historian and professor – joins us to discuss Susanna Clarke's *Piranesi*. We talk about egos, ego death, cults, academia, Christianity, Buddhism, and psychedelics. false full 19     38b00d68-3f2f-4a0d-b3cb-4bcd42b1fc6d Episode #18: Noah Iliinsky on China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh Noah Iliinsky – most-esteemed information visualization expert, speaker and author – joins us to discuss Maureen F. McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. We talk about what matters, heavy furniture, sensible defaults, the burdens created by unnecessarily "innovative" design, pace layering, humans as instruments, and the double diamond bike.

    Show notes:

    Next month, Matt Price will be on to talk about Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

    New Secret School album! Enough? Remixes on Apple Music and Spotify.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 26 Jul 2025 19:11:07 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Noah Iliinsky, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/07/mchugh-noah-iliinsky/ Noah Iliinsky – most-esteemed information visualization expert, speaker and author – joins us to discuss Maureen F. McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. We talk about what matters, heavy furniture, sensible defaults, the burdens created by unnecessarily "innovative" design, pace layering, humans as instruments, and the double diamond bike.

    Show notes:

    Next month, Matt Price will be on to talk about Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

    New Secret School album! Enough? Remixes on Apple Music and Spotify.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #18: Noah Iliinsky on China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh Noah Iliinsky, Jed Sundwall 01:13:06 Noah Iliinsky – most-esteemed information visualization expert, speaker and author – joins us to discuss Maureen F. McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. Noah Iliinsky – most-esteemed information visualization expert, speaker and author – joins us to discuss Maureen F. McHugh's China Mountain Zhang. false full 18     225a4c67-77cc-4ea3-aa1b-0b203bba8e7b Episode #17: Daniel X. O'Neil on The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Daniel X. O'Neil, the worldwide entertainment juggernaut of the 21st century, joins us to discuss T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. You will learn almost nothing about The Waste Land from this discussion, but you will learn about poetry, modernism, truth, hypermedia, (the "end" of) America, and enjambment.

    Show notes:

    Always remember:

    There's no such thing as life without bloodshed. I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.

    — Cormac McCarthy 💖

    Next month we'll be talking with Noah Ilinsky about China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Mon, 23 Jun 2025 23:36:00 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Daniel X. O'Neil, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net Daniel X. O'Neil, the worldwide entertainment juggernaut of the 21st century, joins us to discuss T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. You will learn almost nothing about The Waste Land from this discussion, but you will learn about poetry, modernism, truth, hypermedia, (the "end" of) America, and enjambment.

    Show notes:

    Always remember:

    There's no such thing as life without bloodshed. I think the notion that the species can be improved in some way, that everyone could live in harmony, is a really dangerous idea. Those who are afflicted with this notion are the first ones to give up their souls, their freedom. Your desire that it be that way will enslave you and make your life vacuous.

    — Cormac McCarthy 💖

    Next month we'll be talking with Noah Ilinsky about China Mountain Zhang by Maureen F. McHugh.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #17: Daniel X. O'Neil on The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Daniel X. O'Neil, Jed Sundwall 01:14:15 Daniel X. O’Neil, the worldwide entertainment juggernaut of the 21st century, joins us to discuss T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Daniel X. O’Neil, the worldwide entertainment juggernaut of the 21st century, joins us to discuss T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. false full 17     f3a6f776-a31b-41cd-b805-c0b6ad128111 Episode #16: Alex Merose on Convenience Store Woman Alex Merose extols the virtues of lazy action and calls on us to embrace Duchamp into our hearts through discussion of Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman and Maurizio Lazzarato's essay "Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work." We explore themes of conformity, work, resistance, lazy action, and whether or not Duchamp was right that "language was a mistake."

    Shout out to Maxime Lenormand for production assistance.

    Many show notes!

    Many thanks to Alex for sending these references:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Fri, 30 May 2025 21:04:46 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Alex Merose, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/05/murata-alex-merose/ Alex Merose extols the virtues of lazy action and calls on us to embrace Duchamp into our hearts through discussion of Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman and Maurizio Lazzarato's essay "Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work." We explore themes of conformity, work, resistance, lazy action, and whether or not Duchamp was right that "language was a mistake."

    Shout out to Maxime Lenormand for production assistance.

    Many show notes!

    Many thanks to Alex for sending these references:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #16: Alex Merose on Convenience Store Woman Alex Merose, Jed Sundwall 01:07:45 Alex Merose extols the virtues of lazy action and calls on us to embrace Duchamp into our hearts through discussion of Sayaka Murata's *Convenience Store Woman* and Maurizio Lazzarato's essay "Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work". Alex Merose extols the virtues of lazy action and calls on us to embrace Duchamp into our hearts through discussion of Sayaka Murata's *Convenience Store Woman* and Maurizio Lazzarato's essay "Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work". false full 16     c32c12ee-de91-4a6c-b9da-90bb7f5a0cc2 Episode #15: Johnny Rodgers on A Pattern Language Johnny Rodgers, my friend from Tumblr (among other things), joins us to discuss Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language. We explore how Alexander's design philosophy has endured and influenced not just physical infrastructure, but also the software and algorithms that increasingly encroach on our built environment.

    Show notes:

    In May, we will be reading Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work by Maurizio Lazzarato.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Wed, 30 Apr 2025 05:29:34 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Johnny Rodgers, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/04/alexander-johnny-rodgers/ Johnny Rodgers, my friend from Tumblr (among other things), joins us to discuss Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language. We explore how Alexander's design philosophy has endured and influenced not just physical infrastructure, but also the software and algorithms that increasingly encroach on our built environment.

    Show notes:

    In May, we will be reading Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and Marcel Duchamp and the Refusal of Work by Maurizio Lazzarato.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #15: Johnny Rodgers on A Pattern Language Johnny Rodgers, Jed Sundwall 01:25:09 Johnny Rodgers joins us to discuss Christopher Alexander's *A Pattern Language* and its timeless for humans trying to make things for other humans. Johnny Rodgers joins us to discuss Christopher Alexander's *A Pattern Language* and its timeless for humans trying to make things for other humans. a pattern language, christopher alexander false full 15     b41bed15-2679-442f-a3aa-43eb4b2ba7ee Episode #14: George Dyson on Childhood's End I had the pleasure of recording this on-site with George in his Bellingham workshop (a former tavern). I experimented with having Claude write shownotes for this episode, and it proposed this as a "key theme" of our discussion: "The parallels between Clarke's Overlords and modern artificial intelligence as agents of human transformation." This is a pretty remarkable guess given that I only told Claude that the episode was a conversation with George Dyson about Childhood's End. In any event, that is precisely what George and I talk about.

    We also talk about many other things, including AI and social media as "overlord technologies," analog computing, ESP, and why he believes every company should employ an historian and a biologist.

    Show notes:

    More show notes at techsontexts.net

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Tue, 1 Apr 2025 05:22:29 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (George Dyson, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/03/clarke-george-dyson/ I had the pleasure of recording this on-site with George in his Bellingham workshop (a former tavern). I experimented with having Claude write shownotes for this episode, and it proposed this as a "key theme" of our discussion: "The parallels between Clarke's Overlords and modern artificial intelligence as agents of human transformation." This is a pretty remarkable guess given that I only told Claude that the episode was a conversation with George Dyson about Childhood's End. In any event, that is precisely what George and I talk about.

    We also talk about many other things, including AI and social media as "overlord technologies," analog computing, ESP, and why he believes every company should employ an historian and a biologist.

    Show notes:

    More show notes at techsontexts.net

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #14: George Dyson on Childhood's End George Dyson, Jed Sundwall 01:25:30 George Dyson is on again, this time to talk about *Childhood's End* and what it has to teach us about overlord technologies. George Dyson is on again, this time to talk about *Childhood's End* and what it has to teach us about overlord technologies. false full 14     7235081a-2e03-42e5-affb-09030b3a23f2 Episode #13: Keith Garrett on The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling Keith Garrett, coy technologist, father, and former marine, comes on to discuss Ted Chiang's masterful "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling." We talk about the benefits of forgetfulness, the limits of attention, the difficulty of assessing the benfits of cognitively affecting technologies, biases, colonialism, religion, and traffic.

    Show notes:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 1 Mar 2025 01:43:49 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Keith Garrett, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/02/chiang-keith-garrett/ Keith Garrett, coy technologist, father, and former marine, comes on to discuss Ted Chiang's masterful "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling." We talk about the benefits of forgetfulness, the limits of attention, the difficulty of assessing the benfits of cognitively affecting technologies, biases, colonialism, religion, and traffic.

    Show notes:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #13: Keith Garrett on The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling Keith Garrett, Jed Sundwall 01:25:29 Keith Garrett, coy technologist, father, and former marine, comes on to discuss Ted Chiang's masterful "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling." Keith Garrett, coy technologist, father, and former marine, comes on to discuss Ted Chiang's masterful "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling." books, technology, ted chiang, philosophy, literature false full 13     2f9a7022-7b70-4373-bfa3-8792e2dad8d5 Episode #12: Gina Trapani on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gina Trapani, exemplary human and champion of good things on the web, comes on to talk about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. We talk about creating universes, friendship, parenthood, all kidns of relationships, play, vulnerability, loving the web, the beauty of being bad at doing things, blank white boards, and learning a lot. If you listen, you will know what so many others already do: Gina is the best.

    Notes!

    Also, Enough! is a great new album by Secret School (who did Techs on Texts's intro music): Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Fri, 24 Jan 2025 17:18:36 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Gina Trapani, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2025/01/zevin-gina-trapani/ Gina Trapani, exemplary human and champion of good things on the web, comes on to talk about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. We talk about creating universes, friendship, parenthood, all kidns of relationships, play, vulnerability, loving the web, the beauty of being bad at doing things, blank white boards, and learning a lot. If you listen, you will know what so many others already do: Gina is the best.

    Notes!

    Also, Enough! is a great new album by Secret School (who did Techs on Texts's intro music): Bandcamp, Apple Music, Spotify.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #12: Gina Trapani on Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Gina Trapani, Jed Sundwall 01:21:10 Gina Trapani, exemplary human and champion of good things on the web, comes on to talk about *Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow* by Gabrielle Zevin. We talk about creating universes, friendship, parenthood, all kidns of relationships, play, vulnerability, loving the web, the beauty of being bad at doing things, blank white boards, and learning a lot. If you listen, you will know what so many others already do: Gina is the best. Gina Trapani, exemplary human and champion of good things on the web, comes on to talk about *Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow* by Gabrielle Zevin. We talk about creating universes, friendship, parenthood, all kidns of relationships, play, vulnerability, loving the web, the beauty of being bad at doing things, blank white boards, and learning a lot. If you listen, you will know what so many others already do: Gina is the best. tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, gabrielle zevin false full 12     1ca801c8-14e7-426b-98f7-eb53a5d5604d Episode #11: Nathaniel Raymond on Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, joins me to talk about Francis Ford Coppola's masterful 1974 film, The Conversation. Nathaniel makes a compelling argument that the movie was a history of the future – with Coppola accurately documenting the profound shift that surveillance technology would have on individuals and society. As Nathaniel says in our discussion: the movie is somehow more relevant to society today, 50 years after it was made.

    Many thanks to Natty for coming and doing this with me. He was the absolute best person I could have on to discuss The Conversation.

    Notes!

    Listen next month for a discussion with Gina Trapani about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 21 Dec 2024 04:34:26 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Nathaniel Raymond, Jed Sundwall) http://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/12/coppola-nathaniel-raymond/ Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, joins me to talk about Francis Ford Coppola's masterful 1974 film, The Conversation. Nathaniel makes a compelling argument that the movie was a history of the future – with Coppola accurately documenting the profound shift that surveillance technology would have on individuals and society. As Nathaniel says in our discussion: the movie is somehow more relevant to society today, 50 years after it was made.

    Many thanks to Natty for coming and doing this with me. He was the absolute best person I could have on to discuss The Conversation.

    Notes!

    Listen next month for a discussion with Gina Trapani about Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #11: Nathaniel Raymond on Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation Nathaniel Raymond, Jed Sundwall 01:11:20 Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, joins me to talk about Francis Ford Coppola's masterful 1974 film, *The Conversation*. Nathaniel makes a compelling argument that the movie was a history of the future – with Coppola accurately documenting the profound shift that surveillance technology would have on individuals and society. As Nathaniel says in our discussion: the movie is somehow more relevant to society today, 50 years after it was made. Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health, joins me to talk about Francis Ford Coppola's masterful 1974 film, *The Conversation*. Nathaniel makes a compelling argument that the movie was a history of the future – with Coppola accurately documenting the profound shift that surveillance technology would have on individuals and society. As Nathaniel says in our discussion: the movie is somehow more relevant to society today, 50 years after it was made. false full 11     c2368126-7b00-431c-96cf-afcade6a6c77 Episode #10: Mark Coatney on A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin Mark Coatney, long-suffering digital media pioneer (Time! Newsweek! Tumblr! Al Jazeera!), gets me to finally read a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin and I loved it. Topics include our changing world, what the world is for, preindustrial longing, why we should maybe recognize that media companies are ephemeral things, the pitfalls of power, lame AI, floating orbs of light, humans imitating machines, why humans like things, leaky boats as a metaphor for a lot of software, and the fact that any human power can be changed by human beings – including, possibly, the power contained within ourselves.

    Many thanks to Mark for coming out to record with me at Yale. Huge treat to get some time with him in real life.

    Tons of shownotes!

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Tue, 26 Nov 2024 03:05:42 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Mark Coatney, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/11/le-guin-mark-coatney/ Mark Coatney, long-suffering digital media pioneer (Time! Newsweek! Tumblr! Al Jazeera!), gets me to finally read a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin and I loved it. Topics include our changing world, what the world is for, preindustrial longing, why we should maybe recognize that media companies are ephemeral things, the pitfalls of power, lame AI, floating orbs of light, humans imitating machines, why humans like things, leaky boats as a metaphor for a lot of software, and the fact that any human power can be changed by human beings – including, possibly, the power contained within ourselves.

    Many thanks to Mark for coming out to record with me at Yale. Huge treat to get some time with him in real life.

    Tons of shownotes!

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #10: Mark Coatney on A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin Mark Coatney, Jed Sundwall 01:31:27 Mark Coatney, long-suffering digital media pioneer, gets me to finally read a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin and I loved it. Topics include our changing world, what the world is for, preindustrial longing, why we should maybe recognize that media companies are ephemeral things, the pitfalls of power, lame AI, floating orbs of light, humans imitating machines, why humans like things, leaky boats as a metaphor for a lot of software, and the fact that any human power can be changed by human beings – including, possibly, the power contained within ourselves. Mark Coatney, long-suffering digital media pioneer, gets me to finally read a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin and I loved it. Topics include our changing world, what the world is for, preindustrial longing, why we should maybe recognize that media companies are ephemeral things, the pitfalls of power, lame AI, floating orbs of light, humans imitating machines, why humans like things, leaky boats as a metaphor for a lot of software, and the fact that any human power can be changed by human beings – including, possibly, the power contained within ourselves. a wizard of earthsea, le guin false full 10     e505ac26-d7de-4029-a6c5-1d3e6a4f155d Episode #9: Esther Dyson on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze’s Her Esther Dyson, whose bio defies summarization (and who happens to be sister of previous guest George Dyson), discusses Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's Her. We discuss the substance of life, bioethics, why our senses aren't always reliable, institutions and culture, predatory business models, child labor, mortality, building communities, and gardening versus carpentry.

    A few notes and links related to conversation:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Wed, 30 Oct 2024 03:20:19 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Esther Dyson, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/10/ishiguro-esther-dyson/ Esther Dyson, whose bio defies summarization (and who happens to be sister of previous guest George Dyson), discusses Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's Her. We discuss the substance of life, bioethics, why our senses aren't always reliable, institutions and culture, predatory business models, child labor, mortality, building communities, and gardening versus carpentry.

    A few notes and links related to conversation:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #9: Esther Dyson on Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze’s Her Esther Dyson, Jed Sundwall 01:20:49 Esther Dyson, whose bio defies summarization (and who happens to be sister of previous guest George Dyson), discusses *Never Let Me Go* by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's *Her*. We discuss the substance of life, bioethics, why our senses aren't always reliable, institutions and culture, predatory business models, child labor, mortality, building communities, and gardening versus carpentry. Esther Dyson, whose bio defies summarization (and who happens to be sister of previous guest George Dyson), discusses *Never Let Me Go* by Kazuo Ishiguro and Spike Jonze's *Her*. We discuss the substance of life, bioethics, why our senses aren't always reliable, institutions and culture, predatory business models, child labor, mortality, building communities, and gardening versus carpentry. spike jonze, her, never let me go, kazuo ishiguro false full 9     7ab08011-b8fb-481a-9b31-2796ed20683a Episode #8: Jordan Tigani on The Analytical Language of John Wilkins by Jorge Luis Borges Jordan Tigani, duck herder and renowned "database person," gives us the gift of "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about about the potential of language, the limits of language, compression, sloppy ontologies, LLMs, what thing the universe is, simulated annealing, our vague comprehension of what embeddings are, and why it's unfortunate that there's no way to not sound pretentious when talking about Borges.

    A few notes and links related to the conversation:

    I asked ChatGPT to write a limerick about Borges and I wish I didn't have to admit that it's pretty good:

    🍀🇦🇷🍀

    There once was a poet named Borges,
    Whose stories were full of deep forges,
    In labyrinths vast,
    Where time could not last,
    And mirrors reflected strange Georges.

    🍀🇦🇷🍀

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sun, 22 Sep 2024 02:20:03 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Jordan Tigani, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/09/borges-jordan-tigani/ Jordan Tigani, duck herder and renowned "database person," gives us the gift of "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about about the potential of language, the limits of language, compression, sloppy ontologies, LLMs, what thing the universe is, simulated annealing, our vague comprehension of what embeddings are, and why it's unfortunate that there's no way to not sound pretentious when talking about Borges.

    A few notes and links related to the conversation:

    I asked ChatGPT to write a limerick about Borges and I wish I didn't have to admit that it's pretty good:

    🍀🇦🇷🍀

    There once was a poet named Borges,
    Whose stories were full of deep forges,
    In labyrinths vast,
    Where time could not last,
    And mirrors reflected strange Georges.

    🍀🇦🇷🍀

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #8: Jordan Tigani on The Analytical Language of John Wilkins by Jorge Luis Borges Jordan Tigani, Jed Sundwall 01:25:59 Jordan Tigani, duck herder and renowned "database person," gives us the gift of "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about about the potential of language, the limits of language, compression, sloppy ontologies, LLMs, what thing the universe is, simulated annealing, our vague comprehension of what embeddings are, and why it's unfortunate that there's no way to not sound pretentious when talking about Borges. Jordan Tigani, duck herder and renowned "database person," gives us the gift of "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about about the potential of language, the limits of language, compression, sloppy ontologies, LLMs, what thing the universe is, simulated annealing, our vague comprehension of what embeddings are, and why it's unfortunate that there's no way to not sound pretentious when talking about Borges. motherduck, borges, jorge luis borges false full 8     ae2038c5-60fb-4490-abd6-68072cf01b37 Episode #7: Max Lenormand on The Little Prince and Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
  • Buy Night Flight
  • Buy The Little Prince
  • Listen to Minds Behind Maps
  • Look at the glorious website for GDAL (the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library). It's perfect!
  • "The Little Prince becomes world's most translated book, excluding religious works"
  • The post on LinkedIn where I asked for people to recommend fiction books.

    • Next month's reading is "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. Read it! It's short!

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Fri, 30 Aug 2024 13:55:39 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Max Lenormand, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/08/saint-exupery-max-lenormand/
  • Buy Night Flight
  • Buy The Little Prince
  • Listen to Minds Behind Maps
  • Look at the glorious website for GDAL (the Geospatial Data Abstraction Library). It's perfect!
  • "The Little Prince becomes world's most translated book, excluding religious works"
  • The post on LinkedIn where I asked for people to recommend fiction books.

    • Next month's reading is "The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" by Jorge Luis Borges. Read it! It's short!

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #7: Max Lenormand on The Little Prince and Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Max Lenormand, Jed Sundwall 02:06:57 Max Lenormand, geospatial data scientist, podcaster, and continually curious frenchman teaches us about the fascinating Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the background behind his books *Night Flight* and *The Little Prince*. We talk about humans' strange ambition, personal sacrifice, mortality, immortality, aviation, communication networks, and why love is a choice. Max Lenormand, geospatial data scientist, podcaster, and continually curious frenchman teaches us about the fascinating Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the background behind his books *Night Flight* and *The Little Prince*. We talk about humans' strange ambition, personal sacrifice, mortality, immortality, aviation, communication networks, and why love is a choice. the little prince, saint-exupéry, antoine de saint-exupéry, aviation, night flight, history false full 7     0ad06ff4-82bc-41f4-b820-528a050ce91c Episode #6: Io Blair-Freese on Borges A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Tue, 30 Jul 2024 16:03:21 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Io Blair-Freese, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/07/borges-io-blair-freese/ A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #6: Io Blair-Freese on Borges Io Blair-Freese, Jed Sundwall 01:06:53 Io Blair-Freese – philosopher, international development pioneer, and lover of maps and computers – guides us through "The Zahir" and "An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about idealist philosophy, inevitable religions, identity, the power of attention, the limitations of attention, and the limitlessness of language. Io Blair-Freese – philosopher, international development pioneer, and lover of maps and computers – guides us through "The Zahir" and "An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain" by Jorge Luis Borges. We talk about idealist philosophy, inevitable religions, identity, the power of attention, the limitations of attention, and the limitlessness of language. mapping, maps, idealism, borges, philosophy, literature false full 6     d0a73fb4-3852-49d4-9127-6bbb7cae366c Episode #5: George Dyson on The Voice of the Dolphins George Dyson, historian, boat maker, master human technologist, and friend of friends discusses the totally wild The Voice of the Dolphins by Leo Szilard, which Dyson read when it was given to him by Szilard's wife when Dyson was 11 years old. We talk about AI, geopolitics, alignment (lol), and humanity.

    A few notes and links:

    • George Dyson on Wikipedia

    • Leo Szilard on Wikipedia

    • The Voice of the Dolphins on archive.org.

    • George's book Analogia

    • Kontiki – the book that got George into lashing.

    • The Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, where George and Trude Szilard would hang out.

    • Walter Munk, legendary Austrian oceanographic data pioneer.

    • Carrying Google Street View cameras into the Grand Canyon in 2012. Who's in charge?

    • Bin Laden stans on TikTok

    • Extreme ultraviolet lithography – the thing I refer to when trying to explain nanometer scale transistor production.

    • Dana Gould on Pete Holmes's podcast talking about how a dog can't conceive of a computer, which may be a way to understand our capacity to conceive of other intelligences (i.e. gods)

    • Neils Barichelli and George's TED talk about Barichelli from 2003

    • Quote from Samuel Butler marveling at the installation of the first telegraph line connecting Christchurch to Lyttelton in New Zealand sometime in the 19th century, as recounted in Analogia: "We will say then that a considerable advance has been made in mechanical development, when all men, in all places, without any loss of time, are cognizant through their senses, of all that they desire to be cognizant of in all other places, at a low rate of charge, so that the back country squatter may hear his wool sold in London and deal with the buyer himself – may sit in his own chair in a back country hut and hear the performance of Israel in gypt at Exeter Hall – may taste an ice on the Rakaia, which he is paying for and receiving in the Italian opera house Covent garden. Multiply instance ad libitum – this is the grand annihilation of time and place which we are all striving for, and which in one small part we have been permitted to see actually realised."

    • All the books George suggested we read when I asked him to be on the podcast:

      • The Black Cloud (by astronomer Fred Hoyle)
      • The Tale of the Big Computer (by magnetohydrodynamicist Hannes Alfveen, under pseudonym Olof Johannsen)
      • The Voice of the Dolphins (by physicist Leo Szilard)
      • On the Beach (by Nevil Shute, aeronautical engineer, but that’s science in my book)
      • Childhood’s End (by Arthur Clarke, pioneer of satellite telecommunication)
      • The Scientist Speculates: An Anthology of Partly-Baked Ideas (by I.J. Good, Turing’s cryptological assistant and pioneer of Bayesian network theory, who assembled this extraordinary collection by asking scientists to submit their wildest, craziest ideas--so it’s not strictly fiction, but close)

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Sat, 29 Jun 2024 07:00:31 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (George Dyson, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/06/szilard-george-dyson/ George Dyson, historian, boat maker, master human technologist, and friend of friends discusses the totally wild The Voice of the Dolphins by Leo Szilard, which Dyson read when it was given to him by Szilard's wife when Dyson was 11 years old. We talk about AI, geopolitics, alignment (lol), and humanity.

    A few notes and links:

    • George Dyson on Wikipedia

    • Leo Szilard on Wikipedia

    • The Voice of the Dolphins on archive.org.

    • George's book Analogia

    • Kontiki – the book that got George into lashing.

    • The Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, where George and Trude Szilard would hang out.

    • Walter Munk, legendary Austrian oceanographic data pioneer.

    • Carrying Google Street View cameras into the Grand Canyon in 2012. Who's in charge?

    • Bin Laden stans on TikTok

    • Extreme ultraviolet lithography – the thing I refer to when trying to explain nanometer scale transistor production.

    • Dana Gould on Pete Holmes's podcast talking about how a dog can't conceive of a computer, which may be a way to understand our capacity to conceive of other intelligences (i.e. gods)

    • Neils Barichelli and George's TED talk about Barichelli from 2003

    • Quote from Samuel Butler marveling at the installation of the first telegraph line connecting Christchurch to Lyttelton in New Zealand sometime in the 19th century, as recounted in Analogia: "We will say then that a considerable advance has been made in mechanical development, when all men, in all places, without any loss of time, are cognizant through their senses, of all that they desire to be cognizant of in all other places, at a low rate of charge, so that the back country squatter may hear his wool sold in London and deal with the buyer himself – may sit in his own chair in a back country hut and hear the performance of Israel in gypt at Exeter Hall – may taste an ice on the Rakaia, which he is paying for and receiving in the Italian opera house Covent garden. Multiply instance ad libitum – this is the grand annihilation of time and place which we are all striving for, and which in one small part we have been permitted to see actually realised."

    • All the books George suggested we read when I asked him to be on the podcast:

      • The Black Cloud (by astronomer Fred Hoyle)
      • The Tale of the Big Computer (by magnetohydrodynamicist Hannes Alfveen, under pseudonym Olof Johannsen)
      • The Voice of the Dolphins (by physicist Leo Szilard)
      • On the Beach (by Nevil Shute, aeronautical engineer, but that’s science in my book)
      • Childhood’s End (by Arthur Clarke, pioneer of satellite telecommunication)
      • The Scientist Speculates: An Anthology of Partly-Baked Ideas (by I.J. Good, Turing’s cryptological assistant and pioneer of Bayesian network theory, who assembled this extraordinary collection by asking scientists to submit their wildest, craziest ideas--so it’s not strictly fiction, but close)

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #5: George Dyson on The Voice of the Dolphins George Dyson, Jed Sundwall 01:23:51 George Dyson, historian, boat maker, master human technologist, and friend of friends discusses the totally wild *The Voice of the Dolphins* by Leo Szilard who discovered the nuclear chain reaction. We talk about AI, geopolitics, alignment (lol), and humanity. George Dyson, historian, boat maker, master human technologist, and friend of friends discusses the totally wild *The Voice of the Dolphins* by Leo Szilard who discovered the nuclear chain reaction. We talk about AI, geopolitics, alignment (lol), and humanity. leo szilard, alignment, geopolitics, nuclear disarmament false full 5     cdbd02d1-ac7f-4176-9524-5544797d8a64 Episode #4: Chris Beddow on Jorge Louis Borges and Umberto Eco Chris Beddow, mapmaker, voyager, philosopher, and very good skier uses Borges's "On Exactitude in Science" and Umberto Eco's "On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire on a Scale of 1 to 1" to go very very deep on the map–territory relationship. Listen and learn how to recognize how your experience on this planet is mediated by the maps you use.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Thu, 30 May 2024 15:32:55 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Chris Beddow, Jed Sundwall) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/05/borges-chris-beddow/ Chris Beddow, mapmaker, voyager, philosopher, and very good skier uses Borges's "On Exactitude in Science" and Umberto Eco's "On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire on a Scale of 1 to 1" to go very very deep on the map–territory relationship. Listen and learn how to recognize how your experience on this planet is mediated by the maps you use.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #4: Chris Beddow on Jorge Louis Borges and Umberto Eco Chris Beddow, Jed Sundwall 01:14:06 Chris Beddow, mapmaker, voyager, philosopher, and very good skier uses Borges's "On Exactitude in Science" and Umberto Eco's "On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire on a Scale of 1 to 1" to go very very deep on the map–territory relationship. Listen and learn how to recognize how your experience on this planet is mediated by the maps you use. Chris Beddow, mapmaker, voyager, philosopher, and very good skier uses Borges's "On Exactitude in Science" and Umberto Eco's "On the Impossibility of Drawing a Map of the Empire on a Scale of 1 to 1" to go very very deep on the map–territory relationship. Listen and learn how to recognize how your experience on this planet is mediated by the maps you use. on exactitude in science, mapping, umberto eco, maps, borges false full 4     04553976-9a2a-4092-8a85-c24f3683a45e Episode #3: Sean Gorman on Dune by Frank Herbert Sean Gorman, geospatial entrepreneur extraordinaire, uses Dune to explain security policy, geopolitics, capitalism, sustainability, common knowledge, the erosion of common knowledge, the importance of friction in political institutions, reasons to think harder about opening up data, and why the OpenStreetMap community are basically Fremen.

    Note that we recorded this in August 2023, long before Dune: Part Two came out. There are no spoilers from the movie, but we discuss the book at length and Sean spoils a number of random YouTube videos about Dune that he watched to prepare for this discussion.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Wed, 24 Apr 2024 06:18:55 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Sean Gorman) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/04/dune-sean-gorman/ Sean Gorman, geospatial entrepreneur extraordinaire, uses Dune to explain security policy, geopolitics, capitalism, sustainability, common knowledge, the erosion of common knowledge, the importance of friction in political institutions, reasons to think harder about opening up data, and why the OpenStreetMap community are basically Fremen.

    Note that we recorded this in August 2023, long before Dune: Part Two came out. There are no spoilers from the movie, but we discuss the book at length and Sean spoils a number of random YouTube videos about Dune that he watched to prepare for this discussion.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #3: Sean Gorman on Dune by Frank Herbert Sean Gorman 01:16:02 Sean Gorman, geospatial entrepreneur extraordinaire, uses Dune to explain security policy, geopolitics, capitalism, sustainability, common knowledge, the erosion of common knowledge, the importance of friction in political institutions, reasons to think harder about opening up data, and why the OpenStreetMap community are basically Fremen. Sean Gorman, geospatial entrepreneur extraordinaire, uses Dune to explain security policy, geopolitics, capitalism, sustainability, common knowledge, the erosion of common knowledge, the importance of friction in political institutions, reasons to think harder about opening up data, and why the OpenStreetMap community are basically Fremen. frank herbert, openstreetmap, gps, gnss, sean gorman, dune false full 3     5fed999e-4404-4e3d-a587-12469abfb948 Episode #2: Jason Goldman on Dune by Frank Herbert Jason Goldman, one of the world's foremost Dune podcast pioneers (listen to Escape Hatch!), talks about all of the Dune books, all of the Dune movies, the Dune TV shows, democracy, institutions, the dangers of charismatic leaders, the (a)moral arc of technological progress, the potential of governing with data, and how so many technologists miss the point of the literature they love. Our conversation left me wondering: could Obama be a mentat?

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Thu, 14 Mar 2024 23:59:22 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Jason Goldman) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/03/dune-jason-goldman/ Jason Goldman, one of the world's foremost Dune podcast pioneers (listen to Escape Hatch!), talks about all of the Dune books, all of the Dune movies, the Dune TV shows, democracy, institutions, the dangers of charismatic leaders, the (a)moral arc of technological progress, the potential of governing with data, and how so many technologists miss the point of the literature they love. Our conversation left me wondering: could Obama be a mentat?

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #2: Jason Goldman on Dune by Frank Herbert Jason Goldman 01:19:31 Jason Goldman, one of the world's foremost Dune podcast pioneers, talks about all of the Dune books, all of the Dune movies, the Dune TV shows, democracy, institutions, the dangers of charismatic leaders, the (a)moral arc of technological progress, the potential of governing with data, and how so many technologists miss the point of the literature they love. Jason Goldman, one of the world's foremost Dune podcast pioneers, talks about all of the Dune books, all of the Dune movies, the Dune TV shows, democracy, institutions, the dangers of charismatic leaders, the (a)moral arc of technological progress, the potential of governing with data, and how so many technologists miss the point of the literature they love. frank herbert, jason goldman, dune, dune pod false full 2     03e0e46a-635a-4e33-ba39-6ecec459e155 Episode #1: Tim O'Reilly on Dune by Frank Herbert I've listened to this episode countless times as I've edited it and it is such a gift. I'm really grateful to Tim for doing it with me.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Tue, 13 Feb 2024 07:04:05 +0000 jed@techsontexts.net (Tim O'Reilly) https://techsontexts.net/episodes/2024/02/dune-tim-oreilly I've listened to this episode countless times as I've edited it and it is such a gift. I'm really grateful to Tim for doing it with me.

    A few notes and links:

    If you enjoyed this, please share it.

    Produced by Jed Sundwall. Write to jed at techsontexts.net with feedback and suggestions for books or guests.

    Intro music by Secret School.

    Outro music is "3/10th of the Population" by WE™.

    Please donate to Radiant Earth.

    ]]>     Episode #1: Tim O'Reilly on Dune by Frank Herbert Tim O'Reilly 01:13:24 Tim O’Reilly is our first guest, ostensibly to talk about Dune, but we end up talking about much more, including mysticism, poetry, philosophy, leadership, and our responsibility as humans to transcend our limits. Tim O’Reilly is our first guest, ostensibly to talk about Dune, but we end up talking about much more, including mysticism, poetry, philosophy, leadership, and our responsibility as humans to transcend our limits. frank herbert, dune, tim o'reilly false full 1