Machine Underground

Every Vending Machine In The World

Tom Lamont | Guardian | 14th April 2022

As Moby-Dick is to whales, so this excursus is to vending machines — immense, immersive, inspired. Prepare to be gripped by a social and economic history of vending machines from their origins in mid-19C England to their ubiquity in 21C Japan, where there is one vending machine for every 46 people. "In Nagasaki, there is a machine that sells the edible chrysalises of silkworms" (6,500 words)

Notes From The Underground

Zack Graham | Astra | 6th April 2022

Ode to raving. The writer started off in the shallow end of the scene, but is quickly drawn into its more radical depths. In Europe's Freetekno scene, he finds people who are so committed to the escapism that they have dropped out of society all together. Post Covid, he joins a reunion party in a remote Austrian forest clearing. The blissed out dancers are guarded from police by dogs (2,740 words)