18 episodes

MACHINES IN BETWEEN is a variety show of sound, story, and spectacle inviting you to reimagine what you love when you love your machine. Featuring an eclectic and world-renowned cast of over 100 scholars, musicians, filmmakers, and artists, hosts John and Libby Modern guide the listener through a scintillating sonic landscape—an accumulation of bent stories, surprising cultural analysis, historical reflection, lush soundscapes, and beats sampled from obscure religious records. And along the way John and Libby negotiate their own relationship and their own sense of reality as they confront the creeping influence of the world’s leading tech-wellness group, Infinity 88, and its mysterious CEO Kelvin Trinsel. Machines in Between is a wild ride through a fun-house of samples, science-fiction, and searing social critique. The experimental series revolves around the question that has become increasingly difficult to ask—because we are always answering it: what do we love when we love our machines? Funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster, Machines in Between is the first audio series to have been given access to Infinity 88’s patented techniques of headphone spirituality. Every sample is an argument. Every beat is a new theory of the universe. We invite you to listen in to this imaginative, genre-bending serial audio drama that considers our present state of technological saturation. Machines in Between is part mixtape, surreal performance, and philosophical experiment.

Machines in Between John and Libby Modern

    • Technology
    • 5.0 • 5 Ratings

MACHINES IN BETWEEN is a variety show of sound, story, and spectacle inviting you to reimagine what you love when you love your machine. Featuring an eclectic and world-renowned cast of over 100 scholars, musicians, filmmakers, and artists, hosts John and Libby Modern guide the listener through a scintillating sonic landscape—an accumulation of bent stories, surprising cultural analysis, historical reflection, lush soundscapes, and beats sampled from obscure religious records. And along the way John and Libby negotiate their own relationship and their own sense of reality as they confront the creeping influence of the world’s leading tech-wellness group, Infinity 88, and its mysterious CEO Kelvin Trinsel. Machines in Between is a wild ride through a fun-house of samples, science-fiction, and searing social critique. The experimental series revolves around the question that has become increasingly difficult to ask—because we are always answering it: what do we love when we love our machines? Funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster, Machines in Between is the first audio series to have been given access to Infinity 88’s patented techniques of headphone spirituality. Every sample is an argument. Every beat is a new theory of the universe. We invite you to listen in to this imaginative, genre-bending serial audio drama that considers our present state of technological saturation. Machines in Between is part mixtape, surreal performance, and philosophical experiment.

    Episode 8: Topsy-Turvy

    Episode 8: Topsy-Turvy

    In the season finale of Machines in Between, we find John and Libby getting used to life without the Rosary 1653. As they contemplate whether it is ever possible to be at home in this techno-mediated world, they receive word that Kelvin Trinsel will be stopping by the studio to offer his hearty congratulations. John and Libby spin segments on glucose monitoring, spiritual optimization, water pumps, leaf blowers, and the homes at sea and in space imagined by tech billionaires. When channels within the studio are overrun with noise, all seems to be falling apart. But when Kelvin arrives, new vistas emerge and new conversations begin.  
    In the season finale, up is down and you are me and we are thee in this topsy-turvy ride through the loops we make and the loops that are made for us. Featuring an all-star cast, including the Nielsen Family Band, Suus Van Geuns, Alireza Doostdar, Moody Moussavi, Mary-Jane Rubenstein, Jenna Supp-Montgomerie, Charlie McCrary, Fritz Schroeder, Dan Ardia, Courtney Bender, and Cory McAbee.

    Public humanities never sounded so good.

    • 1 hr 26 min
    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 110: Google Babel Whale Vaccines

    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 110: Google Babel Whale Vaccines

    In this episode of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour you will hear about the ends, means, and limits of communication in this noisy, noisy world. Kelvin starts things off by explaining himself and his company to you. Libby and John then spin a few songs about sending and receiving. Folks trying to talk to each other through Google translate, others trying to respond to the call of the whales and dolphins in the sea, others getting caught up in the feedback, and still others who have cut through with the truth of what lies behind the signal. Featuring segments from Ari Kelman and Chip Callahan as well as the last single from Susannah Crockford’s “Conspiracy EP.” 
    What a long strange trip it has been!

    The first season of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour has bridged the gap between academic research, public discourse, and social outreach. In each episode, a newly restored Libby and John have considered the macrocosmic peaks and the uncanny valleys that are everywhere around us. By sharing research findings in an aesthetically appealing manner the Infinity 88 Listening Hour promotes a deeper understanding and appreciation for what is at stake in these perilous but incredibly hopeful times!

    • 31 min
    Episode 7: The Last Update

    Episode 7: The Last Update

    Featuring drops from such luminaries as Craig Calhoun, Philip Butler, Jon Rubin, Joseph Del Pesco, Susannah Crockford, and Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh, the penultimate episode of Machines in Between asks big questions and entertains small conspiracies about our future-driven and memory-laden present.  At the beginning of Episode 7 we find co-hosts and John and Libby considering the prospects of living with and without the Rosary 1653.  After much anticipation and delay, Kelvin has finally sent along the last update.  No longer obligated to beta-test Infinity 88’s latest machine in the studio, John and Libby prepare themselves, and us, for a life without the machine in between Machines in Between.  The dramatic tension is palpable. As John frets about the sonic and emotional implications of it all, he makes one final appeal by explaining the Rosary’s revolutionary role in the Infinity 88 Listening Hour.  And when Libby tries out the last update with uneven results, it only strengthens her resolve to set aside the Rosary for good.  What will happen?  Will they turn off the Rosary 1653?  Will anything change?  Does anything ever, truly, change within this mechanical surround?  Tune in, drop by, and find out.  Public humanities never sounded so good.

    • 47 min
    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 100: Too Much is Never Enough

    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 100: Too Much is Never Enough

    As a spin off of Machines in Between, the Infinity 88 Listening Hour is on the road less traveled. It knows where you need to go and how to get you there. On Infinity 88 Listening Hour 100, you’ll be exposed to an exquisite piece from Johanna Gosse and Kevin Hamilton on spectacle, the atomic bomb, and the limits of human perception. You will also hear another deep cut from Susannah Crockford’s Conspiracy EP. Along the way hosts John and Libby work out the kinks and raise a glass to CEO Kelvin Trinsel for being named one of the Top 50 under 50 Innovators by the National Institute of Technology and Truth.
    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour is the bedrock of Kelvin’s effort to restore nature’s balance through technology. By connecting to the deep and mysterious recesses of you, segments on the Infinity 88 Listening Hour deliver operational excellence in every corner of the Company and every corner of the known world. 

    Welcome to the Infinity 88 Listening Hour. Welcome to the Infinite. Too much is never enough.

    • 28 min
    Episode 6: Third Eye Wisdom Program

    Episode 6: Third Eye Wisdom Program

    On this installment of Machines in Between, John and Libby await the last update for the Rosary 1653. We soon learn, however, that its arrival has been delayed because of corporate complications. In its stead, Kelvin Trinsel sends along “Day 88,” an episode-length and expertly produced docu-drama about Infinity 88’s Third Eye Wisdom Program. Across three acts, you will be introduced to Andrew and hear about his struggle to overcome despair and information overload by opting in to the Third Eye Wisdom Program. You will learn about the seamless interface of the Third Eye headset, a precursor to the Rosary 1653. And you will marvel at Andrew’s new ability  to receive the esoteric data of the world’s religious traditions. 

    But as the broadcast goes slightly awry and John and Libby wrestle with implications of Andrew's story, a surprise guest calls into the studio to clear up any lingering concerns.
    On this very special episode of Machines in Between, listeners are invited to question and feel and be inspired. Beats will be played and arguments will be made. You will laugh. You will cry. And you will become yourself for the first time. Public humanities never sounded so good.

    • 59 min
    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 11: As Above So Below

    The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 11: As Above So Below

    Episode 11 of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour features two pieces, chosen for their persuasion profile and affinity with Infinity 88. First up, anthropologists Charles Hirschkind and Stefania Pandolfo present their lush segment on the Granadan intellectual Angel Ganivet and the “ideofono.” Next, genealogists Alison Renna and Lukey Ellsberg take an in-depth look at the science of the microbiome and all those tiny machines in each of our guts. Along the way co-hosts John and Libby consider the macrocosmic peaks and the uncanny valleys that everywhere surround us. As a spin-off of Machines in Between, the Infinity 88 Listening Hour takes you where you need to be. It gives you an opportunity to slow it down. To sit back and relax. And to listen deeply to things you might not otherwise. The Infinity 88 Listening Hour partners with you to strengthen the common good. You are present in every moment of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour because you are the future. Welcome to The Infinity 88 Listening Hour. Welcome to the Infinite. 

    • 33 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
5 Ratings

5 Ratings

ItsModernArt ,

Interesting, Engaging and Wild

Love this episode, can’t wait for more

_garfunkle ,

Great podcast

DJ Image as expected kills it, plus interesting stories and interviews

ddsaasdd ,

Provocative

Incredibly interesting and well done.

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