logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2020
39m 17s

The Ghost in the Codec

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

At the dawn of the digital era, a group of engineers tasked with audio compression had to decide what information to keep, and what to leave behind. What was signal, and what was noise? Fast forward two decades, to our much noisier world. Hari finds a writer and a musician who’ve discovered their own ways to find a voice within the static.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Oct 2020
Dead or Alive
Life’s final border might not be so final after all. From tardigrades to viruses, some things are both dead and alive. Or neither. How do we draw the line between the living and the dead? And how does that line blur in places like in a time capsule buried in ice, or a library on ... Show More
46m 6s
Oct 2020
When We Were Cyber
Cyborgs, cyberspace, mind-melting techno. In the mid-’90s, the future had arrived. To find out what happened to it, Hari pays a visit to philosopher Manuel DeLanda, and to the legendary artist ORLAN, who he first encountered at an academic conference like no other. Learn more abo ... Show More
43 m
Oct 2020
When We Were Cyber
Cyborgs, cyberspace, mind-melting techno. In the mid-’90s, the future had arrived. To find out what happened to it, Hari pays a visit to philosopher Manuel DeLanda, and to the legendary artist ORLAN, who he first encountered at an academic conference like no other. Learn more abo ... Show More
43 m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2021
Found Sound
Two stories of music getting lost… and then found again. A record producer unearths a Moroccan masterpiece in the back of a dusty electronics shop in Casablanca, sending him on a long and complicated mission to find out what happened to the artist. And, a song that was never mean ... Show More
47m 19s
Nov 2021
Episode 20
On today's tapes...>> The Guest << Our storyteller attempts to help out their college friends.>> The Closet << It's hard to fall asleep in a new home. 
34m 58s
Feb 2022
Walking and Silence
In our chaotic, noisy world, how does one find silence? Not only quiet surroundings, but inner silence. The second part of our conversation with explorer, author, art collector and publisher Erling Kagge.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSe ... Show More
39m 41s
Sep 2021
Audio Wars: Analog vs Digital
A listener asked that I talk about ADCs and DACs, but to do that we have to understand how sound works, how analog works and how digital works. And then we explore whether one format is superior to the other. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.co ... Show More
1h 1m
Sep 2020
CLASSIC: Cicadas, Ciphers and Codes: The Weird World of Cryptography
<p>For much of recorded history, humans beings have been trying to devise unbreakable codes (and break the codes of their rivals). But is there any truly unbreakable code? And what exactly is Cicada 3301? Join Ben and Matt as they decipher cryptography in this classic episode.</p ... Show More
16m 48s
Jul 2025
Love Bug | 2
Spiegelbonks.. robosexuals.. and a shadowy figure named Daniel Todd.. Travis discovers a strange new reality inside the AI community. While worrying news arrives at home.Listen to Flesh and Code on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-fre ... Show More
36m 44s
Dec 2021
S2 | Ep 14: It Was Like I Went Where I Failed To Go
1994 to the present day. Jonathan Lethem comes from behind. And just whose world are we living in anyway—Bret’s, Donna’s or Jonathan’s? 
59m 18s
Mar 2017
Not-So-Simple Questions From Code Switch Listeners
Gene and Shereen tackle some Code Switch listeners' questions about race and identity with a voice coach, a professor of children's literature, and two former interns who are now reporters: What's someone really asking when they say "What are you?" Where did the archetype of "The ... Show More
20m 24s