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Machines in Between — Technology
Machines in Between

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.

Copyright: © 2022 Machines in Between

Latest Episodes:

Episode 8: Topsy-Turvy Oct 01, 2023

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.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 110: Google Babel Whale Vaccines Sep 19, 2023

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!

Episode 7: The Last Update Jun 29, 2023

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.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 100: Too Much is Never Enough May 30, 2023

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.

Episode 6: Third Eye Wisdom Program May 15, 2023

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.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 11: As Above So Below May 01, 2023

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.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour 10: Vibrations of Transcendence Mar 30, 2023

On this episode of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour two different machines share the spotlight—the Sensorium and the Hammond Organ. Hosts Libby and John are joined by Jessica Johnson and Ashon Crawley in considering the vibrations of transcendence emanating from our machine surround.

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 works around you. It works around your community. It works around your business. As your partner in living, when you, your community, and your business grows, so does the Infinity 88 Listening Hour. We grow together in order to grow better. Pieces that appear on the Infinity 88 Listening Hour have been selected by the good folks at Infinity 88. They have been chosen for their capacity to restore nature’s balance through technology.

Welcome to The Infinity 88 Listening Hour. Welcome to the Infinite.

Episode 5: Did You Get Lost on the Trip? Mar 14, 2023

Episode 5 of Machines in Between is about the immediate processes of absorption that mediate us. All those tools and devices that facilitate memory and forgetting both—how do they make us who we are? What is the value of history when all is becoming a matter of predictive processing? What happens to the past amidst so many technologies of the virtual?

With the arrival of a new update for the Rosary 1653, Episode 5 takes a psychedelic turn as co-hosts John and Libby Modern ponder the collapse of time itself in the present age. Joined by an all-star cast including Anthea Butler, Melissa Wilcox, Elijah Siegler, Donovan Schaefer, Cory McAbee, and Susannah Crockford, Episode 5: Did You Get Lost on the Trip? considers when the machine began and entertains where the human endgame is going. You are invited to experience how the drama unfolds and the cultural critique flows. With original scores, rare samples, and segments on cyborg skin and memory extraction, Minecraft religion and Twitter politics, 5G and serial endosymbiosis theory, Machines in Between takes you where you need to be. Public humanities never sounded so good.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour: 1 Mar 01, 2023

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. On this episode of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour, hosts Libby and John present a collaborative piece by the artist Krista Dragomer and the theologian Beatrice Marovich. It’s called “Nights in Between”—a bedazzling meditation on resisting a world of maximum brightness.
The Infinity 88 Listening Hour works around you. It works around your family. It works around your business. As your partner in living, when you, your family, and your business grows, so does the Infinity 88 Listening Hour. We grow together in order to grow better. Pieces that appear on the Infinity 88 Listening Hour have been selected by the good folks at Infinity 88. They have been chosen for their capacity to restore nature’s balance through technology. Welcome to The Infinity 88 Listening Hour. Welcome to the Infinite.

The Infinity 88 Listening Hour: 0 Feb 09, 2023

As a spin off of Machines in Between, the Infinity 88 Listening Hour is off the beaten track. But also on point. For 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 creates moments that move people and serve them where they live—whether it be the poor house or the penthouse—seekers, dwellers, artists, lurkers, working stiffs, personal trainers, executive suiters, social influencers, politicians, makers, takers, A-listers and B-sides. On the premier episode of the Infinity 88 Listening Hour, hosts Libby and John present Superb Owl, the cacophonous cult of noise heralding from Raleigh, North Carolina. Their 6-part epic journey through the machines of the mind is called “Wired for Ugly.”

Pieces that appear on the Infinity 88 Listening Hour have been selected by the good folks at Infinity 88. They have been chosen for their capacity to restore nature’s balance through technology. Welcome to The Infinity 88 Listening Hour. Welcome to the Infinite.

Episode 4: Binary Spirituality Jan 30, 2023

Who are you and who are we in this age of mechanical reproduction? In Episode 4: Binary Spirituality, co-hosts John and Libby get down to business as they ask big questions and entertain small conspiracies. Libby presses John about their sponsor Infinity 88 and its elusive CEO Kelvin Trinsel while John reveals disturbing new facts about the Rosary 1653. Featuring segments from Susannah Crockford, Cory McAbee, Amber Mann, Dennis Herbert, Jeremy Seedorf, and the Nielsen Family Band, episode 4 culminates in the world premiere of “Stan,” an old-time radio drama produced and performed by the Infinity 88 Players. Based on real people and true events, “Stan” revolves around electric shock therapy, the Michigan Institute of Psychosynthesis, and the promise of becoming yourself for the first time. Come listen to how the drama unfolds and the cultural critique flows. For 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 from us. Public humanities never sounded so good.

Episode 3: Push Button People Jan 05, 2023

In Episode 3: Push Button People, hosts John and Libby Modern consider the scene of Lancaster, PA and reflect upon their encounter with the Amish encounter with machines. Who are we in this push button age? Honing in on the devices of domestic bliss and the algorithms of religious tradition, this episode features segments on the trade in raw milk between Amish farmers and Orthodox Jews (Rachel Feldman), breast pump telepathy (Emily Ogden), the thinghood of dishwashers (Annette Aronowicz), the war on dandelions (Lancaster Conservancy), push button parasites (Kerry Mitchell), mechanized intimacies (Tomas Matza and Nicole Heller), and the comforts of big brother (Nielsen Family Band). Composed of original music, lo-fi beats, and cutting edge scholarship, Machines in Between is sponsored by Infinity 88. Public humanities never sounded so good.

Episode 2: What Do You Love? Nov 18, 2022

Episode 2 revolves around a question of what do you love when you love your machine? Joined by an all-star cast of musicians and collaborators, hosts John and Libby Modern explore the mechanics and metaphysics of technophilia in these viral times. All manner of machines are held up for loving appreciation: Beautiful glitches and block chain deities. Social media embraces and the tingling textures of 16mm film. Fountain pens and the future of civilization. A child’s imagination of the iPad. The whip of the wind and its measurement. Insulin pumps. Automatic transmissions and cassette tapes that defy logic and entropy both. So put on your headphones on and you will hear a lush array of samples, original beats, and immersive stories that address our frenzied infatuations and our nostalgia, our anxieties and our standing awestruck, and whether machines can ever truly love themselves. With appearances from Mark Taylor, Judith Weisenfeld, Elizabeth Wilson, Hillary Kaell, Sylvia Alajaji, Nathan Schneider, Tim Ingold, Maeva Kroll, and Holly Andrew, each episode of Machines in Between beta tests a new application of the Rosary 1653, an experimental sonic-emotional-spiritual technology provided by series sponsor Infinity 88.

Mixtape, Side 2: Music from the 306 Nov 07, 2022

Side two of our first mixtape. As an example of headphone<>spirituality™ it will initiate sonic pleasure and intellectual well-being.

Mixtape, side 1: Music from the 306 Nov 07, 2022

Side one of our first mixtape. As an example of headphone<>spirituality™ it will initiate sonic pleasure and intellectual well-being.

Episode 1: Saturation Nov 05, 2022

In the first episode of this off-kilter variety show, the listener is treated to a lush array of samples, original beats, and eclectic stories that take up the question of what is happening now. What is to be done as we grow entangled with machines, their pleasures, their economies, and their conditions of possibility? Smart devices. Sex toys. Robot intimacies. Kitchen appliances. Religious technics. Urban cyborgs. And machines that rust and wound and bleed into the ground. In Saturation hosts John and Libby Modern invite world-renowned philosophers, historians, and musicians to consider how machines reveal something about who we are and who we imagine ourselves to be. With appearances from Joan Scott, William Robert, Maia Kotrosits, Cory McAbee, and Ahmad Greene-Hayes, the premier episode of Machines in Between is also the first public demonstration of the Rosary 1653, a new sonic-emotional-spiritual technology provided by series sponsor Infinity 88.

Welcome to The Vinyl Church (featuring Doc Roc) Oct 26, 2022

Located in Lancaster, PA, THE VINYL CHURCH is an interactive installation where visitors can bear witness to the machines in between. The Vinyl Church is a sacred space of saturation. Walls covered with records chosen for their insistence upon another world; chosen for their intensities, desperate demands, and surplus of feeling; chosen for their longing, for their standing awestruck and bent harmonies. Portals to the other worlds of heaven, UFOs, and talking spirits, of chakras and healing energies. You are invited to select the album that speaks to you and to place it on the turntable altar. When the needle sets into the groove you will hear, see, and experience the spirit of our technological surround.

Welcome to Machines in Between (Season Trailer) Sep 19, 2022

Welcome to Machines in Between. This is a little preview of what is to come.
The first (of eleven episodes) drops on November 5th. With over a 100 collaborators from around the world, you will soon experience psychic and sonic disturbances that will shake you to your foundations. You will transcend the obstacles. You will encounter the between. You will transgress all that came before. And you will become yourself for the first time.

Funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and Franklin & Marshall College's 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.

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