TL:DR In the old days not everything was cynical
I don't want to sound like an old sod but two things close to my heart from the 60s and 70s are unimaginable in the modern age. Both examples were publicly funded, and the freedom and free thinking back then are almost impossible to comprehend in the modern day.
1) The NASA Voyager One probe Gold record. As a vinyl enthusiast this is like catnip to me. A record, made of gold, shot out into space (now flying beyond our solar system) etched with hieroglyphics of how to play the content of the disc for alien civilizations to interpret. Images of humans, directions to locate us and a selection of sounds representing the music of earth and brief, welcoming messages in dialects from across our planet.
A wholesome message in a bottle from Earth. No politics, no religion, no commercial interest, just reaching out to the cosmos. Hopeful. Strangely naive in a kind of cute way. Uncynical.
2) The BBC Radiophonic Workshop. A program where sound boffins, men and, unusually for the times, women, were basically paid and given resources to fiddle about making electronic sounds/music for the BBC. An experimental audio laboratory, publicly funded, with little to no agenda other than to produce audio for TV and radio. Delia Derbyshire (one of my heroes) created the original Dr Who theme which, to this day, is one of the most starkly original pieces of music produced in the last century. Nothing like it had ever been heard before. She made music and sounds that today are commonplace but in 1963, were revolutionary. Publicly funded, no commercial or political influence.
Nothing remotely like this had been heard by the general public, now we take it for granted.
https://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/136/973/446/144/439/original/f7fc9cec242a6eb9.mp3
Mat B
npub1sn…t2gsh
2025-09-02 22:07:26 UTC
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wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2025-09-02 22:07:26 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "TL:DR In the old days not everything was cynical \n\nI don't want to sound like an old sod but two things close to my heart from the 60s and 70s are unimaginable in the modern age. Both examples were publicly funded, and the freedom and free thinking back then are almost impossible to comprehend in the modern day.\n\n1) The NASA Voyager One probe Gold record. As a vinyl enthusiast this is like catnip to me. A record, made of gold, shot out into space (now flying beyond our solar system) etched with hieroglyphics of how to play the content of the disc for alien civilizations to interpret. Images of humans, directions to locate us and a selection of sounds representing the music of earth and brief, welcoming messages in dialects from across our planet.\n\nA wholesome message in a bottle from Earth. No politics, no religion, no commercial interest, just reaching out to the cosmos. Hopeful. Strangely naive in a kind of cute way. Uncynical. \n\n2) The BBC Radiophonic Workshop. A program where sound boffins, men and, unusually for the times, women, were basically paid and given resources to fiddle about making electronic sounds/music for the BBC. An experimental audio laboratory, publicly funded, with little to no agenda other than to produce audio for TV and radio. Delia Derbyshire (one of my heroes) created the original Dr Who theme which, to this day, is one of the most starkly original pieces of music produced in the last century. Nothing like it had ever been heard before. She made music and sounds that today are commonplace but in 1963, were revolutionary. Publicly funded, no commercial or political influence.\n\nNothing remotely like this had been heard by the general public, now we take it for granted.\nhttps://media.beige.party/media_attachments/files/115/136/973/446/144/439/original/f7fc9cec242a6eb9.mp3\n",
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