by Dan Slimmon
Like a self-driving Uber at a busy crosswalk, technological innovation keeps hurtling boldly ahead. Whether you’re choking down a mug of Keurig between back-to-back Zoom calls, granting GPS permission to the iPhone app that flashes your vape pen’s firmware, or just silently praying for the haywire inventory bot at the supermarket to come out of Sentinel Mode so you can scramble to safety, Technology Blows is the audio tour guide for your information-age malaise.
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July 22, 2026
<p>In celebration of Bastille Day, enjoy this 2-part episode on the guillotine. Find out:</p><ul><li>How a death penalty abolitionist became the namesake the world's most famous execution machine</li><li>What makes the guillotine such an effective but unwieldy political tool</li><li>Which treacherous wizard witnessed France's final public guillotining</li></ul><p>References:</p><p>Camus, Albert. (1957). Reflections on the Guillotine. Translated by Richard Howard. Evergreen.</p><p>Logevall, Fredrik. (2012). Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam. Random House.</p><p>Smith, Philip. (2003). "Narrating the Guillotine: Punishment Technology as Myth and Symbol." Theory, Culture & Society 20(5): 27–51.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.30.2.201">https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.30.2.201</a></p><p><a href="https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too">https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/embersofwarfallo0000loge/page/692/mode/1up">https://archive.org/details/embersofwarfallo0000loge/page/692/mode/1up</a></p><p><a href="https://huongduongtxd.com/theguillotine.pdf">https://huongduongtxd.com/theguillotine.pdf</a></p><p><a href="https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/albert-camus-reflections-on-the-guillotine">https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/albert-camus-reflections-on-the-guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://books.google.nl/books?id=I2liDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false">https://books.google.nl/books?id=I2liDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false</a></p><p><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930870/#REF2">https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930870/#REF2</a></p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764030205002">https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764030205002</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/history.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/history.html</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/louis.html#memorandum">https://guillotine.dk/pages/louis.html#memorandum</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/weidmann.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/weidmann.html</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/30sek.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/30sek.html</a></p><p><a href="https://tutoreto.com/the-history-of-the-berger-guillotine">https://tutoreto.com/the-history-of-the-berger-guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://boisdejustice.com/Germany/Germany.html">https://boisdejustice.com/Germany/Germany.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/il-y-a-80-ans-la-derniere-execution-publique-fait-scandale_2083762.html">https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/il-y-a-80-ans-la-derniere-execution-publique-fait-scandale_2083762.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.history.com/articles/the-guillotines-first-cut">https://www.history.com/articles/the-guillotines-first-cut</a></p><p><a href="https://theappendix.net/posts/2014/06/a-short-history-of-the-executioner">https://theappendix.net/posts/2014/06/a-short-history-of-the-executioner</a></p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/executioners-who-inherited-their-jobs-180967947">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/executioners-who-inherited-their-jobs-180967947</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Henri_Sanson">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Henri_Sanson</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine">https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://capitalpunishmentuk.org/execution-by-beheading-decapitation">https://capitalpunishmentuk.org/execution-by-beheading-decapitation</a></p><p><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/guillotine-death-penalty-lethal-injection-is-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-slicing-off-the-head-is-the-better-way-to-go.html">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/guillotine-death-penalty-lethal-injection-is-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-slicing-off-the-head-is-the-better-way-to-go.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/994260/reintroduction-death-penalty-france">https://www.statista.com/statistics/994260/reintroduction-death-penalty-france</a></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130731141543/http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000319513&dateTexte=20090728">https://web.archive.org/web/20130731141543/http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000319513&dateTexte=20090728</a></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110720164546/http://www.histoirepassion.eu/spip.php?article1360">https://web.archive.org/web/20110720164546/http://www.histoirepassion.eu/spip.php?article1360</a></p><p><a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/contemporary-art-day-auction-l18025/lot.126.html">https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/contemporary-art-day-auction-l18025/lot.126.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/CHANEL-GUILLOTINE/5F7FA3427BBBEED1">https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/CHANEL-GUILLOTINE/5F7FA3427BBBEED1</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday_(painting)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday_(painting)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237844599">https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237844599</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HP6UKFHKOiY">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HP6UKFHKOiY</a></p><p><a href="https://snopes.com/fact-check/head-man">https://snopes.com/fact-check/head-man</a></p>
July 14, 2026
<p>In celebration of Bastille Day, enjoy this 2-part episode on the guillotine. Find out:</p><ul><li>How a death penalty abolitionist became the namesake the world's most famous execution machine</li><li>What makes the guillotine such an effective but unwieldy political tool</li><li>Which treacherous wizard witnessed France's final public guillotining</li></ul><p>References:</p><p>Camus, Albert. (1957). Reflections on the Guillotine. Translated by Richard Howard. Evergreen.</p><p>Logevall, Fredrik. (2012). Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam. Random House.</p><p>Smith, Philip. (2003). "Narrating the Guillotine: Punishment Technology as Myth and Symbol." Theory, Culture & Society 20(5): 27–51.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.30.2.201">https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.30.2.201</a></p><p><a href="https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too">https://crimethinc.com/2019/04/08/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine-why-the-paris-commune-burned-the-guillotine-and-we-should-too</a></p><p><a href="https://archive.org/details/embersofwarfallo0000loge/page/692/mode/1up">https://archive.org/details/embersofwarfallo0000loge/page/692/mode/1up</a></p><p><a href="https://huongduongtxd.com/theguillotine.pdf">https://huongduongtxd.com/theguillotine.pdf</a></p><p><a href="https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/albert-camus-reflections-on-the-guillotine">https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/albert-camus-reflections-on-the-guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://books.google.nl/books?id=I2liDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false">https://books.google.nl/books?id=I2liDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259#v=onepage&q&f=false</a></p><p><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930870/#REF2">https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930870/#REF2</a></p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764030205002">https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764030205002</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/history.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/history.html</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/louis.html#memorandum">https://guillotine.dk/pages/louis.html#memorandum</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/weidmann.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/weidmann.html</a></p><p><a href="https://guillotine.dk/pages/30sek.html">https://guillotine.dk/pages/30sek.html</a></p><p><a href="https://tutoreto.com/the-history-of-the-berger-guillotine">https://tutoreto.com/the-history-of-the-berger-guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://boisdejustice.com/Germany/Germany.html">https://boisdejustice.com/Germany/Germany.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/il-y-a-80-ans-la-derniere-execution-publique-fait-scandale_2083762.html">https://www.lexpress.fr/societe/il-y-a-80-ans-la-derniere-execution-publique-fait-scandale_2083762.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.history.com/articles/the-guillotines-first-cut">https://www.history.com/articles/the-guillotines-first-cut</a></p><p><a href="https://theappendix.net/posts/2014/06/a-short-history-of-the-executioner">https://theappendix.net/posts/2014/06/a-short-history-of-the-executioner</a></p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/executioners-who-inherited-their-jobs-180967947">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/executioners-who-inherited-their-jobs-180967947</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Henri_Sanson">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Henri_Sanson</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine">https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine</a></p><p><a href="https://capitalpunishmentuk.org/execution-by-beheading-decapitation">https://capitalpunishmentuk.org/execution-by-beheading-decapitation</a></p><p><a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/guillotine-death-penalty-lethal-injection-is-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-slicing-off-the-head-is-the-better-way-to-go.html">https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/11/guillotine-death-penalty-lethal-injection-is-cruel-and-unusual-punishment-slicing-off-the-head-is-the-better-way-to-go.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/994260/reintroduction-death-penalty-france">https://www.statista.com/statistics/994260/reintroduction-death-penalty-france</a></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130731141543/http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000319513&dateTexte=20090728">https://web.archive.org/web/20130731141543/http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000319513&dateTexte=20090728</a></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110720164546/http://www.histoirepassion.eu/spip.php?article1360">https://web.archive.org/web/20110720164546/http://www.histoirepassion.eu/spip.php?article1360</a></p><p><a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/contemporary-art-day-auction-l18025/lot.126.html">https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/contemporary-art-day-auction-l18025/lot.126.html</a></p><p><a href="https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/CHANEL-GUILLOTINE/5F7FA3427BBBEED1">https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/CHANEL-GUILLOTINE/5F7FA3427BBBEED1</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday_(painting)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Corday_(painting)</a></p><p><a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237844599">https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237844599</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HP6UKFHKOiY">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HP6UKFHKOiY</a></p><p><a href="https://snopes.com/fact-check/head-man">https://snopes.com/fact-check/head-man</a></p>
July 1, 2026
<p>The cash register: a machine invented because your boss doesn't trust you to count. Join me and my guest Daniel Ryan to learn:</p><ul><li>Why we can thank the father of cash registers for B2B sales, office cafeterias, and maybe even the Buzzfeed listicle</li><li>How one man's fall from a horse led to the entire world being poisoned with leaded gasoline</li><li>How many baked potatoes is too many baked potatoes</li></ul><p>References:</p><ul><li>Conover, Charlotte Reeve. (1939). Builders in New Fields. G.P. Putnam's Sons.</li><li>Crowther, Samuel. (1924). John H. Patterson: Pioneer in Industrial Welfare. Doubleday, Page & Company.</li><li>Friedman, Walter A. (2004). Birth of a Salesman: The Transformation of Selling in America. Harvard University Press.</li><li><a href="https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/5d/2e/92/8bbb58c75ecb6a/US271363.pdf">https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/5d/2e/92/8bbb58c75ecb6a/US271363.pdf</a></li><li><a href="https://archive.org/details/johnhpattersonpi00crow/page/20/mode/2up">https://archive.org/details/johnhpattersonpi00crow/page/20/mode/2up</a></li><li><a href="https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htm">https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch15.htm</a></li><li><a href="https://www.anchin.com/uploads/1413/doc/News_Rest-101Steal_FB.pdf">https://www.anchin.com/uploads/1413/doc/News_Rest-101Steal_FB.pdf</a></li><li><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20551940.2024.2307721">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20551940.2024.2307721</a></li><li>St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 21, 1901, p. 11.</li><li>St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 26, 1901, p. 44.</li><li><a href="https://www.brassregisters.com/fwl3/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1898-NCR-catalogue-Introduction-Terms.pdf">https://www.brassregisters.com/fwl3/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1898-NCR-catalogue-Introduction-Terms.pdf</a></li><li><a href="https://www.brassregisters.com/fwl3/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NCR-catalogue-1909-color-400-class.pdf">https://www.brassregisters.com/fwl3/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NCR-catalogue-1909-color-400-class.pdf</a></li><li><a href="https://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/incorruptable_cashier.html">https://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/incorruptable_cashier.html</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/llkUXxpIo20">https://www.youtube.com/shorts/llkUXxpIo20</a></li></ul>
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Like a self-driving Uber at a busy crosswalk, technological innovation keeps hurtling boldly ahead.
Whether you’re choking down a mug of Keurig between back-to-back Zoom calls, granting GPS permission to the iPhone app that flashes your vape pen’s firmware, or just silently praying for the haywire inventory bot at the supermarket to come out of Sentinel Mode so you can scramble to safety, Technology Blows is the audio tour guide for your information-age malaise.
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