Notes from the Uncanny Valley

Notes from the Uncanny Valley

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Notes from the Uncanny Valley episodes

  • 5. The “Real” Question
    Next time you encounter a CAPTCHA take a moment to appreciate this irony: no machine can fool a human into believing that it’s human, yet humans must constantly prove they are human to the machine world they’ve built around them.  11:30 minutes “Poa Alpina” by Biosphere
    12 min
  • 4. The Invisible Script

    “It occurs to me that these poor ghost hunters have been captured on video and in that sense have already been forced into ghostly repetition.”

    00:00 —Intro (“Hot enough for you?”)

    01:21 —An intimate moment in the elevator…

    03:01 —A page from an uncolored coloring book…

    05:09 —Ghosts in the waiting room…

    10:56 —The Doctor…

    15:44 minutes

    “Unseen Forces” and “Red Cabin” by Justin Walter

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    16 min
  • 4. The Invisible Script
    Looking at the TV it occurs to me that these poor ghost hunters have been captured on video and in that sense have already been forced into ghostly repetition . . . 16 minutes “Unseen Forces” and “Red Cabin” by Justin Walter
    16 min
  • 3. TMI

    “A street person on a street corner is screaming street words—words that aren’t words, though they come into sharper focus whenever someone walks by.”

    00:00 —TMI

    01:46 —A sci-fi writer and a scientist disagree about dystopias…

    03:55 —TMI

    05:42 —A broken TV (signs of reality at the electronics store)…

    07:59: —TMI

    09:36 —A noise coming from the news anchor’s ear piece…

    10:45 —Street Words

    15:03 —TMI

    16:27 —Stranger’s MacGuffin and the coming of the Roboroach…

    21:20 —TMI

    24:30 minutes

    “Disintegration Loops” by William Basinki

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    25 min
  • 3. TMI
    Most people ignore him but occasionally someone looks in his direction as they pass, triggering an angry crescendo in the glossolalia streaming from him. The effect is rather like a radio signal full of static that becomes clearer when one stands near—or makes contact with—the antenna. 24:30 minutes “Disintegration Loops” by William Basinki
    25 min
  • 2. Plato’s Cave-In

    “I watch the novice robot mimicking his mentor’s demonstration of this glitchy dance from the near future of our distant past . . .“

    00:00 —Intro

    00:59 —An early morning tongue bath…

    03:13 —On the balcony with the Mummy and Shadow…

    09:40 —Plato’s Cave-In…

    18:17 —A dream of fire wood and ancient skulls…

    19:30 minutes

    “Gymnopédie No. 1” by Erik Satie and “Pathologically Bored” by Deru

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    20 min
  • 2. Plato’s Cave-In
    I watch the novice robot mimicking his mentor’s demonstration of this glitchy dance from the future of our distant past . . . 19:30 minutes “Pathologically Bored” by Deru
    21 min
  • 1. Somewhere in the Distant Present

    “My personal space has been invaded by a man looking for an invasion by an insect that practices an invasive form of procreation…”

    0:00 —The bug-man…

    04:15 —Do you ever suspect that the world actually did end in 2012 and we’ve simply failed to notice? …

    04:56 —An elevator glitch leads to a staring contest with a stranger in the 4th floor mirror…

    12:31 —Another glitch leads to a case of mistaken birthday…

    16:41 minutes

    “Poa Alpina” by Biosphere, “Unseen Forces” by Justin Walter

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    17 min
  • 1. Somewhere in the Distant Present
    At first, not being recognized by others bothered me. But then I saw the inherent freedom in playing the part of a complete stranger.  18 minutes “Poa Alpina” by Biosphere, “Unseen Forces” by Justin Walter
    17 min

About Notes from the Uncanny Valley

From the publisher's feed

“Being dead is something you learn to live with,” reflects the narrator of NOTES FROM THE UNCANNY VALLEY, an inventive, 400-page autofiction novel read as an audiobook posing as a podcast adapted as a…