The Unrulies ponder the role of machines in our lives, from the simple lever to the wheel and beyond. Through poems, fiction, songs and patter we explore humanity’s reliance on machines to keep us alive, for convenience, for new knowledge and also the risks that they pose. We leapfrog from cars and droids to climate disaster, nuclear accidents and A.I. Who is driving who, the humans or the machines? Hopefully the world will stay in its orbit in any case. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, yesterday’s machines and technologies become today’s art. Look around you to see the wonder of the machines you live with and exclaim “That’s a Rembrandt!”
Song 1: "Old Truck" composed by David R. Merrill, performed by D.R. Merrill & John Modaff
Poem 1: “Data Affirmative” by Scott Wiggerman, Albuquerque poet, artist, and editor https://scottwiggerman.myportfolio.com/
Fiction: excerpt from The Unmasking, a novel by Lynn C. Miller (www.lynncmiller.com)
Published by University of New Mexico Press: https://www.unmpress.com/9780826361714/the-unmasking/
Feed the Cat break: “Plow” composed and performed by David R. Merrill
Poem 2: “Outbreak” by Jack Cooper, author of Silly Lily’s Rhyming Adventures In Nature (2023) and Across My Silence (2007) World Audience, Inc. https://sillylilysadventures.com/
Song 2: “The Message Radiation Sends” composed and performed by John V. Modaff
Episode artwork by Lynda Miller
Show theme and incidental music by John V. Modaff
The Unruly Muse is Recorded in Albuquerque, NM and Morehead, KY
Produced at The Creek Studio
NEXT UP: Episode 38, “Revenge and Regret”