PRIME MEMBER EXCLUSIVE | 3 Months Free Trial

Auto-renews at INR 199/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends 15 July, 2026.
Found in the Machine cover art

Found in the Machine

Found in the Machine

Written by: Daina Bouquin
Listen for free

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
  • 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 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
    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 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.
    Show More Show Less
    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
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet