Lore in the Machine: Forgotten Tech History Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:29:37 -0400 https://loreinthemachine.com/ en-us © 2026 Lore in the Machine yes Support this Podcast e94be46d-af58-56a0-ae5d-db0631ed9434 Daina Bouquin episodic false Lore in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Every line of code has a story. Most of us just never hear it.


So much of the technology you rely on every day arrived here by accident, argument, or obsession. Each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer science history or internet lore, from obscure mathematical duels to cryptographic ceremonies held in secret vaults. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world.


If you love history of technology, unexpected origin stories, and tech storytelling that goes deeper than the headlines, this show is for you.


New episodes every other week.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) History of Computing, History of Technology, Tech History, Internet History, Computer History, Hidden History, Narrative Nonfiction, Science History, Internet Lore, Software History, Computer History, Mathematics History, Unexpected Origins Daina Bouquin https://storage.buzzsprout.com/nql2gr6depmtsiqgmtser7ifciqo?.jpg Lore in the Machine: Forgotten Tech History https://loreinthemachine.com/ Strangers with Keys Strangers with Keys Four times a year, a small group of people pack their bags and fly to a secure facility in Virginia or California. They submit to retina scanners and palm readers. They enter a metal cage inside a signal-proof room. They turn physical keys in unison.

They are not spies. They are volunteers. And they are there to perform a ritual that prevents the internet's core directory from being poisoned. 

If you build a master key for the internet, who do you trust to hold it?


In this episode

  • The Ceremony of the Keys - the 700-year-old nightly ritual at the Tower of London, and what it has to do with cyber security
  • The Crypto Officers - who they are, and what they carry
  • The Ritual - over 100 scripted steps, a self-destructing lockbox, and a laptop with no memory
  • The things that went wrong - because they do


Episode Music


Additional Notes

This episode is the follow-up to Episode 5: "Poison in the Cache." You don't need to have heard it first, but it rewards the listen.

If you want to see this ritual for yourself, you actually can. Because the root signing relies on radical transparency, every step is scripted, filmed, and published for the world to see. The next ceremony is scheduled for April 30, 2026. The full list of ceremonies is available via the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. 


Chapters

00:00 Intro music
00:19 The Tower of London
01:12 The Kaminsky Bug
01:49 The Master Key
02:18 Crypto Officers
02:52 The Ritual
07:25 Errors
7:53 Backup Key Holders and cleaners
09:02 The Internet is Secured

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Four times a year, a small group of people pack their bags and fly to a secure facility in Virginia or California. They submit to retina scanners and palm readers. They enter a metal cage inside a signal-proof room. They turn physical keys in unison.

They are not spies. They are volunteers. And they are there to perform a ritual that prevents the internet's core directory from being poisoned. 

If you build a master key for the internet, who do you trust to hold it?


In this episode

  • The Ceremony of the Keys - the 700-year-old nightly ritual at the Tower of London, and what it has to do with cyber security
  • The Crypto Officers - who they are, and what they carry
  • The Ritual - over 100 scripted steps, a self-destructing lockbox, and a laptop with no memory
  • The things that went wrong - because they do


Episode Music


Additional Notes

This episode is the follow-up to Episode 5: "Poison in the Cache." You don't need to have heard it first, but it rewards the listen.

If you want to see this ritual for yourself, you actually can. Because the root signing relies on radical transparency, every step is scripted, filmed, and published for the world to see. The next ceremony is scheduled for April 30, 2026. The full list of ceremonies is available via the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. 


Chapters

00:00 Intro music
00:19 The Tower of London
01:12 The Kaminsky Bug
01:49 The Master Key
02:18 Crypto Officers
02:52 The Ritual
07:25 Errors
7:53 Backup Key Holders and cleaners
09:02 The Internet is Secured

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/6-strangers-with-keys/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18845486 Tue, 31 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0400 694 cybersecurity, internet history, tech history, cryptography, infosec, DNSSEC, root zone key signing ceremony, internet infrastructure, crypto officer, Dan Kaminsky, Anne-Marie Eklund Löwinder, Tower of London, Ceremony of the Keys, how the internet works 1 6 full false Poison in the Cache Poison in the Cache Every time you type a web address, you're trusting a directory. A vast, invisible system that translates the names you know into the numbers that actually move data across the internet. You trust it the way a town trusts its well.

In 2008, a security researcher named Dan Kaminsky discovered that the well had no lid.


In this episode

  • DNS - what the Domain Name System is, and why it matters
  • Dan Kaminsky - security researcher and internet advocate 
  • Cache poisoning - the class of attack Dan Kaminsky found hiding in the internet's foundation
  • The patch - a secret meeting, fierce competitors, a deadline, and a synchronized global fix
  • Trudy Kaminsky - Dan's mother, and a legend in her own right


Episode Music


Additional Notes

You can watch Dan Kaminsky explain the DNS flaw he found here. An audio only version is available here. He gave this talk at Black Ops 2008 after his original Black Hat presentation.

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Every time you type a web address, you're trusting a directory. A vast, invisible system that translates the names you know into the numbers that actually move data across the internet. You trust it the way a town trusts its well.

In 2008, a security researcher named Dan Kaminsky discovered that the well had no lid.


In this episode

  • DNS - what the Domain Name System is, and why it matters
  • Dan Kaminsky - security researcher and internet advocate 
  • Cache poisoning - the class of attack Dan Kaminsky found hiding in the internet's foundation
  • The patch - a secret meeting, fierce competitors, a deadline, and a synchronized global fix
  • Trudy Kaminsky - Dan's mother, and a legend in her own right


Episode Music


Additional Notes

You can watch Dan Kaminsky explain the DNS flaw he found here. An audio only version is available here. He gave this talk at Black Ops 2008 after his original Black Hat presentation.

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/5-poison-in-the-cache/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18806074 Tue, 17 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0400 498 cybersecurity, internet history, tech history, history of technology, hacker culture, infosec, cache poisoning, Dan Kaminsky, DNS vulnerability, Black Hat, internet security history, hacking history, internet infrastructure, how the internet works 1 5 full false Lipstick and Runes Lipstick and Runes Look at your phone settings. There's a small angular icon there that you've probably never thought about much. It's a bind rune showing two characters from the ancient Younger Futhark alphabet, fused together. It's on billions of devices worldwide.

How that symbol ended up there is two stories, separated by half a century, that have no business belonging together. One starts with a Hollywood actress listening at a dinner table full of fascists. The other starts with two engineers bombing a pitch meeting and ending up in a Canadian pub.


In this episode

  • Hedy Lamarr - after the cameras and the dinner parties
  • The patent - a collaboration and what the Navy said about it
  • Two engineers in a pub - a failed pitch meeting and a conversation about Vikings and a Danish king


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Look at your phone settings. There's a small angular icon there that you've probably never thought about much. It's a bind rune showing two characters from the ancient Younger Futhark alphabet, fused together. It's on billions of devices worldwide.

How that symbol ended up there is two stories, separated by half a century, that have no business belonging together. One starts with a Hollywood actress listening at a dinner table full of fascists. The other starts with two engineers bombing a pitch meeting and ending up in a Canadian pub.


In this episode

  • Hedy Lamarr - after the cameras and the dinner parties
  • The patent - a collaboration and what the Navy said about it
  • Two engineers in a pub - a failed pitch meeting and a conversation about Vikings and a Danish king


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/4-lipstick-and-runes/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18769804 Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0500 682 tech history, women in tech, invention history, wireless technology, WWII history, Hedy Lamarr inventor, Bluetooth history, frequency hopping, spread spectrum, Harald Bluetooth, Bluetooth logo meaning, Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood golden age, Vikings history 1 4 full false Drink Me, Eat Me, README Drink Me, Eat Me, README Every software project has one. It's easy to scroll past. Most of the time it's just a manual telling you system requirements, installation steps, and known bugs.

But the README file owes a debt to Lewis Carroll, and a quiet trick built into its name that has been manipulating computers for decades.

In this episode, we follow the README from its earliest appearances through the conventions that made it a standard, and to the programmers who decided it could be much more than documentation.


In this episode

  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the literary origin programmers point to as inspiration
  • The ASCII trick - the quiet reason README is written in all capitals
  • The printer in the woods - a README that went somewhere unexpected


Further reading


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Every software project has one. It's easy to scroll past. Most of the time it's just a manual telling you system requirements, installation steps, and known bugs.

But the README file owes a debt to Lewis Carroll, and a quiet trick built into its name that has been manipulating computers for decades.

In this episode, we follow the README from its earliest appearances through the conventions that made it a standard, and to the programmers who decided it could be much more than documentation.


In this episode

  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the literary origin programmers point to as inspiration
  • The ASCII trick - the quiet reason README is written in all capitals
  • The printer in the woods - a README that went somewhere unexpected


Further reading


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/3-drink-me-eat-me-readme/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18747314 Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0500 459 software development, open source, programming history, tech history, developer culture, GitHub, README file history, ASCII encoding, Jargon File, hacker culture, open source documentation, Linux history, Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll 1 3 full false The Bug, The Cat, and The Wooden Mouse The Bug, The Cat, and The Wooden Mouse On December 9th, 1968, a Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart took the stage in San Francisco and showed a thousand computer professionals something they had never seen: text editing, clickable links, and video conferencing, all controlled by a small wooden block with a wire trailing out the back.

The audience gave him a standing ovation. One witness said he was "dealing lightning with both hands."

But the mouse didn't begin with Engelbart. In this episode, we follow the surprisingly tangled history of the world's most common computer peripheral and its origins as a Cold War secret. We'll also find out why your cursor is tilted at a 45 degree angle.


In this episode

  • The Mother of All Demos - the 1968 presentation that changed computing, and the device at the center of it
  • DATAR - a classified Cold War radar project, and an unlikely contribution to computing history
  • The Rollkugel - a German parallel invention and a patent rejection
  • Xerox PARC and Apple - how the mouse finally reached the world


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> On December 9th, 1968, a Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart took the stage in San Francisco and showed a thousand computer professionals something they had never seen: text editing, clickable links, and video conferencing, all controlled by a small wooden block with a wire trailing out the back.

The audience gave him a standing ovation. One witness said he was "dealing lightning with both hands."

But the mouse didn't begin with Engelbart. In this episode, we follow the surprisingly tangled history of the world's most common computer peripheral and its origins as a Cold War secret. We'll also find out why your cursor is tilted at a 45 degree angle.


In this episode

  • The Mother of All Demos - the 1968 presentation that changed computing, and the device at the center of it
  • DATAR - a classified Cold War radar project, and an unlikely contribution to computing history
  • The Rollkugel - a German parallel invention and a patent rejection
  • Xerox PARC and Apple - how the mouse finally reached the world


Episode Music

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/2-the-bug-the-cat-and-the-wooden-mouse/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18729418 Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0500 579 computer history, tech history, human computer interaction, HCI, Silicon Valley history, invention history, computer mouse history, Douglas Engelbart, Mother of All Demos, Xerox PARC, trackball history, Cold War technology, Stewart Brand 1 2 full false UFOs, Model Trains, and Code's 'Sacred Syllable' UFOs, Model Trains, and Code's 'Sacred Syllable' Every programmer knows foo. It's the placeholder name, the stand-in variable, the "insert name here" of software development. But where did it actually come from?

In this episode, we trace the history of foo and bar in programming back through three unlikely chapters: a Depression-era comic strip, a WWII air squadron, and a group of MIT students who built a computer underneath a model train set. It's a story that runs through hacker culture, computing folklore, and one very strange corner of World War II history. Along the way, we find out what any of it has to do with "bar."


In this episode

  • Bill Holman and Smokey Stover - a 1930s comic strip and the catchphrase that accidentally entered the computing lexicon
  • The Foo Fighters - not the band; the original phenomenon, and the airmen who named it
  • The Tech Model Railroad Club - MIT's legendary hacker origin story, and why their emergency switch matters more than you'd think


Episode music 

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Every programmer knows foo. It's the placeholder name, the stand-in variable, the "insert name here" of software development. But where did it actually come from?

In this episode, we trace the history of foo and bar in programming back through three unlikely chapters: a Depression-era comic strip, a WWII air squadron, and a group of MIT students who built a computer underneath a model train set. It's a story that runs through hacker culture, computing folklore, and one very strange corner of World War II history. Along the way, we find out what any of it has to do with "bar."


In this episode

  • Bill Holman and Smokey Stover - a 1930s comic strip and the catchphrase that accidentally entered the computing lexicon
  • The Foo Fighters - not the band; the original phenomenon, and the airmen who named it
  • The Tech Model Railroad Club - MIT's legendary hacker origin story, and why their emergency switch matters more than you'd think


Episode music 

--

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/1-ufos-model-trains-and-code-s-sacred-syllable/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18729388 Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0500 550 programming history, coding, software development, computer science history, tech history, hacker culture, foo bar, metasyntactic variable, MIT hacker culture, TMRC, WWII history, computing folklore, Foo Fighters, Smokey Stover, UFO history 1 1 full false Trailer: Unexpected Stories from Computing History Trailer: Unexpected Stories from Computing History Every function, framework, and flicker of code has a story.    

Introducing Lore in the Machine, a new podcast hosted by Daina Bouquin that uncovers the hidden histories and surprising origins woven into the fabric of computing. Join us as we look beyond the glass screens to find the jokes, late-night desperation, and impossible dreams that built our digital world.   

The first episodes are loading. Find Lore in the Machine on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app.

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> Every function, framework, and flicker of code has a story.    

Introducing Lore in the Machine, a new podcast hosted by Daina Bouquin that uncovers the hidden histories and surprising origins woven into the fabric of computing. Join us as we look beyond the glass screens to find the jokes, late-night desperation, and impossible dreams that built our digital world.   

The first episodes are loading. Find Lore in the Machine on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast app.

Support the show

Lore 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 science 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. It really helps others find the show.

You can follow the show on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. You can support it with a coffee.

]]> https://loreinthemachine.com/episodes/1-trailer-unexpected-stories-from-computing-history/ Daina Bouquin Buzzsprout-18736710 Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:00:00 -0500 140 Tech History, History, Programming, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Coding, Technology, Storytelling, History of Science, Programming History, Coding, Software Development, Computer Science History, Hacker Culture 1 1 trailer false