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Found in the Machine

Found in the Machine

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 human stories from computing history every other week.

© 2026 Daina Bouquin World
Episodes
  • Half-Light: Mark Klein and Room 641A

    Half-Light: Mark Klein and Room 641A
    Jul 7 2026
    A brutalist fortress in San Francisco serves as a vital artery for the American internet. In 2003, AT&T technician Mark Klein started noticing strange things on the sixth floor of that building. Strange things about Room 641A.This is a story about the infrastructure we look past, government mass surveillance, and why the machine Mark discovered never actually turned off.In this EpisodeMark Klein: An AT&T technician and NSA whistleblower whose sworn declaration exposed the US government's warrantless domestic surveillance programFiber Tapping: The simple physics behind fiber optic splitting and how it's used to duplicate internet traffic without leaving a traceHepting v. AT&T: The class action lawsuit built on Klein's evidence, and how retroactive immunity dismantled itEpisode MusicJames Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0Hopeless LithromanticOur Time is ShortThrone of the SoulGirl in the MoonArchival AudioFRONTLINE. (2008, May 19). Room 641a [Video]. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-room-641a/Bush, G.W. (2005, December 17). President's radio address [Video]. The White House. https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051217.htmlAdditional ReadingCohn, C. (2026, April 30). The whistleblower who uncovered the NSA's "big brother machine." The MIT Press Reader. https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-whistleblower-who-uncovered-the-nsas-big-brother-machine/Electronic Frontier Foundation. (2014, August 9). How the NSA's domestic spying program works. https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/how-it-worksFISA Amendments Act of 2008: Congress grants telecommunications companies retroactive immunity from civil suits for complying with NSA terrorist surveillance program. (2009). Harvard Law Review, 122(4), 1271–1278. https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-122/congress-grants-telecommunications-companies-retroactive-immunity-from-civil-suits-for-complying-with-nsa-terrorist-surveillance-program-ae-fisa-amendments-act-of-2008-pub-l-no-110-261/Harris, B. (2025, June 12). What is inside Room 641A. Covert Access Team. https://covertaccessteam.substack.com/p/what-is-inside-room-641aKlein, M. (2007). Public unredacted Klein declaration [Legal declaration]. Electronic Frontier Foundation. https://www.eff.org/document/public-unredacted-klein-declarationKlein, M. (2009). Wiring up the big brother machine... and fighting it. BookSurge Publishing. (Bookshop.org affiliate link)Marcus, J. S. (2006). Declaration of J. Scott Marcus in support of plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction [Court filing]. Hepting v. AT&T Corp., No. C-06-0672-JCS (N.D. Cal.). Electronic Frontier Foundation. http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/SER_marcus_decl.pdfMcDaniel, E. (2026, June 12). A key U.S. spy tool has lapsed — now what? NPR. https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5856291/fisa-702-surveillance-expiration-bill-pulteNew, W. (2003, September 25). Congress funds Defense, kills Terrorism Information Awareness. Government Executive. https://www.govexec.com/defense/2003/09/congress-funds-defense-kills-terrorism-information-awareness/15051/Support the showFound in the Machine is a narrative podcast about the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.New episodes unearth stories from computing history every other week.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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    17 mins
  • Silent Agreement: MIDI and What We Hear in the Wires

    Silent Agreement: MIDI and What We Hear in the Wires
    Jun 23 2026

    Sheet music has always been an invisible treaty. A shared language that belongs to everyone and no one. But fifty years ago, as musicians began shaping sound out of raw electricity, that treaty fell apart.



    In this episode

    • The Broken Treaty: Why early synthesizers from different manufacturers couldn't talk to each other, and the resulting landscape of incompatible voltages.
    • The Unlikely Alliance: How Dave Smith in the US (Sequential Circuits) and Ikutaro Kakehashi in Japan (Roland) looked past corporate rivalry to build a universal standard.
    • The Birth of MIDI: How microscopic 1981 microprocessors forced engineers to shrink the musical universe into elegant, lightweight digital sentences.
    • Juan Atkins: the Detroit musician whose work sparked the global rise of techno music.



    Episode Music

    • Johann Sebastian Bach
      • Prelude No. 1 in C major
    • James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0
      • Bright Lights of Summer
      • Our Ships Line the Ocean Floor
      • Disconnected
    • Alfonse
      • Korg MS 10
    • Donghyuk Heo
      • Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, on Modular Synthesizer

    Additional Reading

    Billias, A. (2024, December 21). MIDI history chapter 6: MIDI begins 1981-1983. The MIDI Association. https://midi.org/midi-history-chapter-6-midi-begins-1981-1983

    Doyle, T. (2024, November). Classic tracks: Model 500 'No UFOs'. Sound on Sound. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-model-500-no-ufos

    Stewart, D. (2014, December 3). Technical Grammy Award: Ikutaro Kakehashi and Dave Smith. Recording Academy. https://www.grammy.com/news/technical-grammy-award-ikutaro-kakehashi-and-dave-smith/

    MIDI Manufacturers Association. (1996, February). MIDI 1.0 detailed specification (Version 4.2.1). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ewRrvMEFRPlKon6nfSCxqnTMEu70sz0c/view

    Support the show

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

    New episodes unearth stories from computing history every other week.

    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
    16 mins
  • 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 MusicJames Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0LiberosisSaved by a Simple Little ThingAtomic Fire LightCathedralThis is EnoughArchival AudioImperial War Museums, Non-Commercial LicenseFirst World War Battle Sounds, Sound: © IWM (21819)Additional 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 podcast about the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.New episodes unearth stories from computing history every other week.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
    16 mins
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