The Soft Machine

Audio narration of Dispatch from the Front 6: The Art o Sleeping on Concrete. Text published on 11/14/25. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Dispatch from the Front 5: The Men Behind the Wire. Text published on 11/07/25. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Dispatch from the Front 4: Long Nights and Strange Days. Text published on 10/31/25. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

A rambling podcast to make up for my inability to meet a deadline This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Dispatch from the Front 2: Tear Gas and Bear Mace. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Correction: Protesters never threw fireworks at the feds or their building on the 4th of July 2025. People set off fireworks in the street and the feds reacted by gassing the entire city block.The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) was not there during the events of this piece. PPB is supposed to not aid DHS in any way because Oregon is a sanctuary state. Though PPB has helped with crowd control and directing traffic outside the ICE detention center on a handful of occasions.Audionarration of Doobie Lost in the Pastries by Mary Jane Elton. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Correction:Protesters never threw fireworks at the feds or their building on the 4th of July 2025. People set off fireworks in the street and the feds reacted by gassing the entire city block.Audio narration of First Timer by Mary Jane Elton. A series of gonzo journalism on the anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Game Shows Touch Our Lives by Mary Jane Elton. Micro-fiction about game shows and the fifty ways to leave your lover. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Up in Smoke Part 2: The Facts of the Matter. The Almeda Fire and its Fallout. Part 2 in a series of Gonzo Journalism covering the Oregon wildfires in 2020. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Internal Affairs by Mary Jane Elton. A short story about brains in jars and the future of internal affairs investigations TW: Police killings This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Up in Smoke Part 1: Tears on the Go-Bag by Mary Jane Elton. The Almeda Fire and its Fallout. Part 1 in a series of Gonzo Journalism covering the Oregon wildfires in 2020. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of Ghosting by Mary Jane Elton. A short story about ghosts, memories, trauma, and seance as therapy TW: Mention of child abuse and CSA This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

The Almeda Fire and its Fallout. Audio narration of the introduction to my series on the wildfires and zeitgeist of Fall 2020.Correction:There was no body found near the origin of the fire. This is a rumor I heard through the grapevine. Three people did die in the initial blaze though, apparently unrelated to the “someone” who started it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe

Audio narration of It Was Fishing by Mary Jane Elton. A short story about youth, queerness, trauma, fishing, and a murder-suicide TW: Child abuse, queerphobia, queer slurs, discussion of CSA This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit maryjaneelton.substack.com/subscribe