Found in the Machine: Human Stories About the Digital World cover art

Found in the Machine: Human Stories About the Digital World

Found in the Machine: Human Stories About the Digital World

Written by: Daina Bouquin
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Every line of code has a story. Most of us just never hear it.


Found in the Machine is a narrative podcast about the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.


If you've ever wondered who actually made the technology you use every day, and why you've never heard their name before, you'll feel at home here. This show is for the curious, not the credentialed. You don't need a technical background to follow along. You just need to be the kind of person who pulls on threads.


New episodes unearth stories from computing history every other week.

© 2026 Daina Bouquin World
Episodes
  • Working in the Dark: Secrets, Silicon, and Light

    Working in the Dark: Secrets, Silicon, and Light
    Jun 9 2026
    In 1916, a tired chemist in a Berlin laboratory accidentally dipped his fountain pen into a pool of molten tin and pulled out the foundation of the digital world. He had no idea what he had done. In this episodeJan Czochralski: The Polish chemist whose mistake became the method used to grow nearly every silicon crystal wafer on Earth. The occupation of Poland: The violent suppression of the Polish people by the Nazis and the Soviet Union (and what Jan Czochralski did during that time).Industrial alchemy: The complex, global journey required to turn stones into the microchips inside our devices.Extreme Ultraviolet Light lithography: The staggeringly precise process we use to paint microscopic circuits onto silicon canvases.Episode MusicImperial War Museums, Non-Commercial LicenseFirst World War Battle Sounds, Sound: © IWM (21819)James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0LiberosisSaved by a Simple Little ThingAtomic Fire LightCathedralThis is EnoughAdditional ReadingASML. (2026). EUV lithography systems. https://www.asml.com/en/products/euv-lithography-systemsBranch Education. (2025, August 30). The $200M machine that prints microchips: The EUV photolithography system [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2482h_TNwgCopley, M. (2024, September 30). A tiny town just got slammed by Helene. It could massively disrupt the tech industry. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/nx-s1-5133462/hurricane-helene-quartz-microchips-solar-panels-spruce-pineInstitute of National Remembrance. (2026). Jan Czochralski. Giants of Science. https://gigancinauki.pl/ge/biographies/8248,Jan-Czochralski.htmlKępa, M. (2017, August). Nazi collaborator or resistance fighter? The extraordinary story behind the man at the core of the digital revolution. Culture.pl. https://culture.pl/en/article/nazi-collaborator-or-resistance-fighter-the-extraordinary-story-behind-the-man-at-the-core-of-thePV Education. (2024). Refining silicon. https://www.pveducation.org/pvcdrom/manufacturing-si-cells/refining-siliconSokolowski, G. (2023, July 17). Polish chemist creates the foundation for the semiconductor industry. PASI EDU. https://pasi-edu.org/polish-chemist-creates-the-foundation-for-the-semiconductor-industry/Support the showFound in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also sign up to receive Notes from the Machine with each episode.You can support the show and independent booksellers by purchasing from the show's bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/foundinthemachine.
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    16 mins
  • America on Hold: How the Internet Arrived

    America on Hold: How the Internet Arrived
    May 26 2026

    She was a copywriter turned marketer who watched focus groups attempt to use computers. She knew the internet wasn't a product you could sell. You needed to give people a way in. Her name was Jan Brandt, and she decided to mail it to them.

    In this episode

    • Jan Brandt: The architect of America Online's carpet bombing strategy that put a billion discs in American hands
    • Omaha Steaks, airlines, and grocery stores: how the discs became inescapable
    • A 150-pound throne and a museum case: What happened to the AOL discs that didn't go in the trash
    • The digital divide: The people who got left behind

    Episode Music

    • James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0
      • There's Garbage in the Mariana Trench
      • Morality Centre
      • Hemiteleia
      • Where There is No Darkness

    Additional Reading

    McCullough, B. (2014, August). She gave the world a billion AOL CDs: An interview with marketing legend Jan Brandt [Podcast episode]. Internet History Podcast. https://www.internethistorypodcast.com/2014/08/she-gave-the-world-a-billion-aol-cds-an-interview-with-marketing-legend-jan-brandt/

    National Telecommunications and Information Administration. (n.d.). Data Central. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.ntia.gov/topics/data-central

    Ramo, J. C. (1997, September 22). How AOL lost the battles but won the war. Time. https://time.com/archive/6731455/how-aol-lost-the-battles-but-won-the-war/

    Smithsonian Institution. (n.d.). America Online (AOL) disc [Object record, NMAH catalog no. 2010.3015.05]. National Museum of American History. https://www.si.edu/object/nmah_1395721

    Support the show

    Found in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.

    If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also sign up to receive Notes from the Machine with each episode.

    You can support the show and independent booksellers by purchasing from the show's bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/foundinthemachine.
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • The Weavers: Memory and the Moon

    The Weavers: Memory and the Moon
    May 12 2026

    In 1965, engineers were building a computer to fly men to the moon. It had to survive a rocket launch and the vacuum of space. It could not be erased by a power failure, a hard landing, or anything short of physical destruction. They needed to make the code permanent. They needed to weave it.

    In this episode

    • Hilda Carpenter - MIT technician who assembled the first magnetic-core memory plane
    • The Raytheon weavers - Textile workers and watchmakers recruited to encode Apollo's computer
    • The Fairchild Semiconductor plant - Where Navajo women built integrated circuits so men could walk on the moon


    Episode Music


    • James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0
      • "Those 2 Saints"
      • "Evening Drum"
      • "No History Should Be Silenced"
      • "Behind the Mask"


    Additional Reading

    CuriousMarc. (2019). Core memory explained and demonstrated [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/AwsInQLmjXc

    Nakamura, L. (2014). Indigenous circuits. Computer History Museum. https://computerhistory.org/blog/indigenous-circuits/

    Rankin, J. L. (2022, February 18). Core memory weavers and Navajo women made the Apollo missions possible. Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/core-memory-weavers-navajo-apollo-raytheon-computer-nasa

    Shirriff, K. (2019). Software woven into wire. Ken Shirriff's Blog. https://www.righto.com/2019/07/software-woven-into-wire-core-rope-and.html

    Stark, L. (2018). Hilda wove all those wires [Zine]. https://www.liza-stark.com/projects/zines/hilda.html

    Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. (2017). "Hear my voice" artist profile: D.Y. Begay [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9wmz5rf1NU

    Support the show

    Found in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.

    If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can also sign up to receive Notes from the Machine with each episode.

    You can support the show and independent booksellers by purchasing from the show's bookshop at bookshop.org/shop/foundinthemachine.
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
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