2020 marks the 40th anniversary of the technical standard for the compact disc. Eamonn Bell explains how this format is an important hinge in the establishment of digital music for the general consumer. As a portable medium, it belongs to the era of vinyl and magnetic tape, yet as the first widespread digital music format, […]
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26. Cooperative Movements and Political Change in Ireland, with Patrick Doyle
The history of rural life is a history of technology. In this interview, we explore the machinery, systems of distribution and technological innovations that transformed many Irish rural communities when they adopted the cooperative model in the late 19th century. Historian Patrick Doyle of the University of Manchester opens his account of the Irish cooperatives […]
Continue readingEpisode #16 Mark O’Connell on Posthumanists and Preppers
What is society going to look like if you have a certain number of people living forever? Mark O’Connell is best known for his bestselling, prizewinnng To Be A Machine. In that book, he describes various fringe projects around the world dedicated to extending human life as much as possible. In this interview, he connects […]
Continue readingEpisode #12: Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan on the History of Radar
Radar was a pivotal military development of the Second World War. Until now, the normal place to read about radar would be in the pages of a history of the war or of the history of engineering. But media theorist Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan suggests here that a different kind of history of radar can be […]
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