CodEX Machina

The monstrous and the beautiful of every day (feat. Eyesha Elahi)

What if the most ordinary moments of life hold the deepest beauty? In this episode, Eyesha Elahi invites us into her research on the mundane — the quiet rituals, routines, and unnoticed details that shape our days. Through philosophy and literature, we explore how writers and thinkers have described and transformed the everyday into something profound. The novels in questions are: * Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë * Severance by Ling Ma * Moby Dick by Herman Melville * Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Wolf This recording has travelled a long road to reach you, and traces of that journey remain in its sound. But beyond the imperfections lies a conversation we are truly excited to share: a thoughtful exploration of books, stories, and ideas that may inspire you to see the ordinary with new eyes. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/codexmachina/?hl=en], ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/@codexmachina-u1t?si=VuU9q5l-QwGKxGfr]and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@codexmachinapodcast]for more pictures and videos of all things books that we discuss in the podcast! Intro music by Leonardo Granados

The Memory Police - Strange Land Book Club 7

On this episode Laura, Bethany and Natalia are discussing the Memory Police (1994) by Yoko Ogawa. This is a marvellous novel that deserves its own separate podcast but for now these are our first impressions. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/codexmachina/?hl=en], ⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/@codexmachina-u1t?si=VuU9q5l-QwGKxGfr]and ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok  ⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@codexmachinapodcast]for more pictures and videos of all things books that we discuss in the podcast! Intro music by Leonardo Granados

Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 - A Day in Life

On this episode of CodEx Machina, Bethany and Laura lead you through a day in the life of the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025. Listen to our highlights (which include a booth dedicated to the history of a 14th century Korean book printed with moveable type – almost a century before our good friend Gutenberg did his ol’ printing thang) as we walk you through the sights and activities of the fair. Millicent Weber https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/millicent-weber/ [https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/persons/millicent-weber/] Ylva Verlag https://ylva-verlag.de/ [https://ylva-verlag.de/] More about Jikji: https://www.bnf.fr/en/jikji-treasure-world-printing [https://www.bnf.fr/en/jikji-treasure-world-printing] The Hof https://www.buchmesse.de/timetable/session/hof-live-ai-and-battle-reality [https://www.buchmesse.de/timetable/session/hof-live-ai-and-battle-reality] Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/codexmachina/?hl=en], and ⁠YouTube ⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/@CodEXMachina-u1t]⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠for more pictures and videos of all things books that we discuss in the podcast! Intro music by Leonardo Granados

Reading in New Spain, Inquisition, and Literacy (feat. Andrea Reyes Elizondo)

In this episode, we talk to Andrea Reyes Elizondo, a PhD candidate at the University of Leiden, about her research in the history of reading, which focuses on influences on reading in various social groups in New Spain in the eighteenth century. We discuss the answer to “what is reading” then vs. now, and how it relates heavily on access to resources, connections to power and positions in society, and how сritical understanding complex texts is to literacy. We continue to talk about readers during the Inquisition in New Spain, and Andrea provides us with a few cases of readers who push back against power. And of course, we ask Andrea what she is currently reading! Also: Are Bethany, Natalia, and Laura trying to proselytize people into the cult of Book Studies? You have to listen to find this out and so much more! Some of the books mentioned are: Proust and the Squid by Maryann Wolf The AI Con by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna Pixel by Krisztina Tóth Andrea Reyes Elizondo is a self-funded PhD candidate at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS [https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/andrea-reyes-elizondo/publications]). Reyes Elizondo researches the history of reading under the supervision of Prof. Paul Hoftijzer and Prof. Adriaan van der Weel. Her dissertation focuses on reconstructing the possibilities of reading for various groups in a society by looking into the context of this cultural technique and the elements that influence it: education, occupation, sociality ofconsumption, culture, and the legal and political system thatregulated the access to texts. Her geographical area of research is New Spain during the eighteenth century. She has written several blog posts about the different aspects of reading: sonority [https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-many-meanings-of-reading-1-sonority], imagery [https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-many-meanings-of-reading-2-imagery], speed [https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-many-meanings-of-reading-3-speed], approved texts [https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-many-meanings-of-reading-4-approved-texts], and distance [https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-many-meanings-of-reading-5-distance].She has also written about the ethical considerations fordifferentiating textual from media interpretation [https://hdl.handle.net/1887/84705] when studying past periods, and on the challenges andopportunities for book historical research in Mexico's notarialarchive [http://doi.org/10.1163/9789004542969_011]. Reyes Elizondo is also a researcher at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University where she works on projects related to scientific integrity [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-024-00467-3] and openscience [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-024-00467-3], and where she coordinates the focal area ResearchEvaluation & Culture. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/codexmachina/?hl=en], ⁠⁠⁠YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@CodEXMachina-u1t]⁠⁠⁠and ⁠⁠⁠TikTok  ⁠⁠⁠for more pictures and videos of all things books that we discuss in the podcast! Intro music by Leonardo Granados

The Dream Hotel - Strange Land Book Club 7

In this episode, we dive into Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel — a sharp, thought-provoking novel that blends imagination with unsettling realism. Join us as we unpack our impressions of the book and explore how its vision of AI, capitalism, and power imbalance mirrors our own world. From questions of who controls technology to what it means to be human in a data-driven age, this conversation looks at the future through the lens of literature — and asks whether it’s really as distant as it seems. Tune in to reflect, question, and maybe even dream a little differently. Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/codexmachina/?hl=en], ⁠⁠⁠YouTube ⁠⁠⁠ [https://youtube.com/@codexmachina-u1t?si=VuU9q5l-QwGKxGfr]and ⁠⁠⁠TikTok  ⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.tiktok.com/@codexmachinapodcast]for more pictures and videos of all things books that we discuss in the podcast! Intro music by Leonardo Granados