Ep.7 - Machines of Loving Grace - Richard Brautigan

In this episode, we dive into Richard Brautigan’s eerily prescient 1967 poem All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, unpacking its strange tone—ironic or earnest?—and exploring its lingering cultural relevance. From techno-utopian dreams to the ideology behind Silicon Valley, we examine how the fusion of hippie counterculture and neoliberalism gave rise to a worldview that promises liberation through technology—but often delivers control, surveillance, and oversimplification. Along the way, we discuss AI, Pong, democracy, the illusion of choice, and what gets lost when everything is reduced to systems.