Techtonic with Mark Hurst:
Playlist
from June 23, 2025
 |
View Mark Hurst's profile
|
Conversations with creators and thinkers who are charting the way forward in a tech-saturated society. In our shift to a digital future, we need alternatives to Big Tech. Homepage: techtonic.fm
Also available as an MP3 podcast.
More info at our Podcast Central page.
<-- Previous playlist | Back to Techtonic with Mark Hurst playlists | Next playlist -->
Upcoming events:
- Mon. Aug 18th, 6pm - 7pm:
Stu Horvath guest hosts Techtonic
June 23, 2025: Lori Emerson, author, "Other Networks"
Listen to this show:
MP3 - 128K | 
Pop-up player!
Today: Lori Emerson, author, “Other Networks”
Today’s internet may be dominated by exploitative Big Tech sludge factories, but it doesn’t have to be that way in the future. Lori Emerson has compiled a list of alternative networks, from the ancient past to the present day, in her book “Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook.” Stories about smoke signals, ESP, and a “space donut” show that there are many possibilities for us to explore.
• Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook, by Lori Emerson
• loriemerson.net
• March 18, 2024 Techtonic interviewing Ian Johnson, author, Sparks: China's Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future. This came up in the interview due to Lori's mention of Other Networks being banned in China.
• From MIT’s Technology Review, We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. (May 20, 2025):
Let’s say you’re running a marathon as a charity runner and organizing a fundraiser to support your cause. You ask an AI model 15 questions about the best way to fundraise.Sign up to get Mark’s weekly email newsletter.
Then you make 10 attempts at an image for your flyer before you get one you are happy with, and three attempts at a five-second video to post on Instagram.
You’d use about 2.9 kilowatt-hours of electricity—enough to ride over 100 miles on an e-bike (or around 10 miles in the average electric vehicle) or run the microwave for over three and a half hours.
. . . The researchers were clear that adoption of AI and the accelerated server technologies that power it has been the primary force causing electricity demand from data centers to skyrocket after remaining stagnant for over a decade. Between 2024 and 2028, the share of US electricity going to data centers may triple, from its current 4.4% to 12%.
Follow Mark on Bluesky or Mastodon.
PAST EPISODES: techtonic.fm lists recent Techtonic shows.
PODCAST: If you use an open podcast player reader, here’s an RSS feed. If you have to use a Big Tech podcast app, here’s Techtonic on iTunes.
| Artist | Track | Images | Approx. start time | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lori Emerson, author, "Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook" | ||||||||||
| Kirk Pearson |
Theme from Techtonic
|
|
||||||||
| Mark's intro |
|
0:02:25 (MP3 | Pop-up) | ||||||||
| Interview with Lori Emerson |
|
0:07:27 (MP3 | Pop-up) | ||||||||
| Mark's comments |
|
0:44:22 (MP3 | Pop-up) | ||||||||
| Kirk Pearson |
Modem of Home
|
|
0:57:29 (MP3 | Pop-up) | |||||||
<-- Previous playlist | Back to Techtonic with Mark Hurst playlists | Next playlist -->
RSS feeds for Techtonic with Mark Hurst:
Playlists feed | 
MP3 archives feed
| E-mail Mark Hurst | Other WFMU Playlists | All artists played by Techtonic with Mark Hurst |Listen on the Internet | Contact Us | Music & Programs | WFMU Home Page | Support Us | FAQ
Live Audio Streams for WFMU: Pop-up | 128k AAC | 128k MP3 | 32k MP3 (More streams: [+])
Listener comments!
Handy Haversack:
With you in spirit, Mark and Techyons!
DREAM! Don't Rank Evil Andrew for Mayor!
ultradamno:
joe_rosevear:
Peter from Saranac Lake NY:
cosmic matrix:
Webhamster Henry:
PaulRobeson1925:
David (in London):
joe_rosevear:
Deano de los Muertos:
cosmic matrix:
Webhamster Henry:
joe_rosevear:
Bas NL:
chresti:
Listener Bryan (the Professor):
cosmic matrix:
PaulRobeson1925:
marili:
Webhamster Henry:
joe_rosevear:
newton:
cosmic matrix:
Webhamster Henry:
Ken From Hyde Park:
newton:
cosmic matrix:
Bas NL:
ultradamno:
tim:
cosmic matrix:
Mark Hurst:
Webhamster Henry:
Mark Hurst:
Mark Hurst:
Mark Hurst:
Webhamster Henry:
Mark Hurst:
Mark Hurst:
Webhamster Henry:
Listener Bryan (the Professor):
Bas NL:
Laura Panic:
Webhamster Henry:
HurstBot:
cosmic matrix:
joe_rosevear:
Usenet, Fidonet, IRC, P2P, Mastodon, Diaspora, GNUnet, RetroShare, and Matrix.
Stevel:
PaulRobeson1925:
Bas NL:
cosmic matrix:
Laura Panic:
DjLorraine:
joe_rosevear:
cosmic matrix:
Bas NL:
WantageInsomniac:
Webhamster Henry:
WantageInsomniac:
joe_rosevear:
Folsom:
WantageInsomniac:
Mark T:
Interview
joe_rosevear:
cosmic matrix:
Fiddlesticks:
If you’re ham curious there’s no better time than this weekend to learn about it and meet local operators.
ultradamno:
PaulRobeson1925:
newton:
cosmic matrix:
Bas NL:
WantageInsomniac:
Jeff Moore:
Love that little moment.
It's making me picture guys with crewcuts and pocket protectors in their short-sleeved shirts (light blue, or if they're feeling wild, Madras)
cosmic matrix:
red_door_what_for in ypsilanti:
WantageInsomniac:
Mark Hurst:
Mark T:
cosmic matrix:
WantageInsomniac:
joe_rosevear:
Webhamster Henry:
morphe':
dan in wisconsin:
WantageInsomniac:
morphe':
How dare you [en Mandarin]
cosmic matrix:
joe_rosevear:
Webhamster Henry:
Mark Hurst:
cosmic matrix:
Webhamster Henry:
Mark Hurst:
ultradamno:
dan in wisconsin:
PaulRobeson1925:
PaulRobeson1925:
Webhamster Henry:
morphe':
Are you paranoid????
ultradamno:
joe_rosevear:
No Faster-Than-Light Communication: While entangled particles exhibit correlations that seem instantaneous, this does not allow for the transmission of usable information. When a measurement is made on one particle, the outcome is random, and the result cannot be controlled or sent as a message. The correlation can only be observed after comparing results, which requires classical communication (limited by the speed of light).
PaulRobeson1925:
cosmic matrix:
red_door_what_for in ypsilanti:
yippie:
Will thee SG OCNY:
Been enjoying the chat. Super interesting book
dan in wisconsin:
morphe':
36 Snails
traven:
cosmic matrix:
Stevel:
Mark Hurst:
Mark Hurst:
cosmic matrix:
PaulRobeson1925:
morphe':
joe_rosevear:
cosmic matrix:
PaulRobeson1925:
Stevel:
None of us should be
laughing about the snail's plight
and yet, here we are.
red_door_what_for in ypsilanti:
sensisio:
herb.nyc:
Mark Hurst:
dan in wisconsin:
Mark Hurst:
PaulRobeson1925:
sensisio:
joe_rosevear:
morphe':
cosmic matrix:
castor:
Stevel:
Webhamster Henry:
PaulRobeson1925:
Webhamster Henry:
dan in wisconsin:
cosmic matrix:
WantageInsomniac:
dan in wisconsin:
TDK60:
Webhamster Henry:
traven:
cosmic matrix:
WantageInsomniac:
morphe':
reusing stamps for sending books, zines, music
[cover with gluestick and warmand wash]
cassettes with the sound of quarters dropping into a usa payphone
stolen european usa military free phone numbers ...
etc
MarciB:
cosmic matrix:
WantageInsomniac:
cosmic matrix:
Webhamster Henry:
morphe':
joe_rosevear:
www.sciencealert.com...
MarciB:
cosmic matrix:
newton:
sensisio:
Ken From Hyde Park:
PaulRobeson1925:
cosmic matrix:
Jeff Moore:
Folsom:
yippie:
WantageInsomniac:
Jeff Moore:
Webhamster Henry:
joe_rosevear:
cosmic matrix:
red_door_what_for in ypsilanti:
brunchwine:
If you're in NYC, NYC Resistor Amateur Radio Club will be in Gantry Plaza on Sat Jun 28, and Marsha P. Johnson on Sun Jun 29!
cosmic matrix:
Bas NL:
PaulRobeson1925:
Webhamster Henry:
cosmic matrix:
morphe':
chresti:
Jeff Moore:
red_door_what_for in ypsilanti:
bleubombersune:
Mark T:
cosmic matrix:
WantageInsomniac:
Mark Hurst:
morphe':
Deano de los Muertos:
WantageInsomniac:
drumbone:
tim:
Webhamster Henry:
Jeff Moore:
There exist pocket-computer-phone apps which encode a signal sent to drive the phone's speaker which somehow (very locally) emulates the longwave time-reference signal broadcast by WWVB which a number of wall clocks and wristwatches synchronize to.
This all seems implausible, but I've tried it and it seems to work!
Jeff Moore: