Marconi & Me by Zoë Comyns
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to Drama on 1.
And as our radio centenary continues, we'll hear a play all about code, sound and our wireless history. Marconi and Me by Zoe Cummins.
What are the Marconi International Code books and their significance?
A podcast producer finds a set of code books. They're the Marconi International Code books, usually used for Morse code. But the podcaster twists these codes into her own life story. The drama follows a relationship through a history of sound and a flight into family madness. Performed by Zoe Cummins and José Miguel Jiménez, this is Marconi and Me. Hi, I'm doing this podcast about sound and Marconi. Could you give me a call back so I can get some background? Hi, I'd love to have a chat with you about these books that I've found. I'd love to know more about them. They're called the Marconi International Code Books and I'm doing some research. The project's about communication. My boyfriend and I just found these code books in a shop.
They're all kind of...
Morse code phrases. I'm just getting a little bit intrigued by them because they're quite poetic. So if you could give me a shout back, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks a million.
They're kind of like a conversation between two people. So I'd just love to know. I'm just wondering about hearing sounds and in the ether. It's just a funny story actually. I believe that sound never dies, that the sounds are all out there. No, it's a slightly mad idea, but I'd love it if you could just give me a call back.
Imagine silence. Because that's all you can do. It doesn't exist. There's always sound. Energy making tiny journeys from a maker to a mind.
1-9-0-3-8.
How does the podcaster incorporate codes into her life story?
U-V-A-P-Y.
Silence.
Silence.
Sound is not a dimension. It's just a mechanical wave. It needs something to move through. A physical thing. Sound displaces the air. It cannot be the space itself. When I told you that, I could see you thought me suitably scientific. And I thought you the finely shaped form of a new beginning. 0-6-5-4-3-E-Z-A-K-O. Frequency. Frequence. Frequencia. 0-6-5-4-7-E-Z-A-C-U. Frequently. Frequemente. Souvent. Frequentemente. A menudo. Even when, just after we met, I was down with a cold and you came often with soup and paracetamol and then with plans. You stayed for reasons and none of them sound. Episode Idea, podcast series of personal stories told through anecdotes and reflections. Anecdote. My sister killed my mother because her teeth were playing Greensleeves.
It was probably to be expected, as she hates that song. But even when she was lying there dead on the bed, my sister said that the music kept playing until my mother's mouth ran dry. Moment of reflection. They say madness runs in a family. So, I act as normal as possible, and probably come across a little dull in company. I don't want to be considered out there, just steady, controlled, to stay in here. I keep the messages to a minimum, or at least I should have. In fact, there's no word in my book for mad, lunatic, strange or crazy. Just plain, straight-thinking words. Note for episode one of communication, I've just opened the Marconi books and this is on the first page. In the event of you receiving a message containing a mutilated code word taken from the supplement, then a reference to this index will assist you to rectify and decode the mutilated word.
All truth needs a code to unravel it. Our own code starts without verbal communication. No mutilated words. No real words at all. You're Spanish and I'm Irish. You don't know my backstory. I keep that coded for a long time. Unpicking the obvious, I can reach as far back as the walks we took together just after we met, when we bought the words that would deliver us to the end. We walked right across town. One of the many trips to explore the city's limits. The apartment complexes, stoplights, churches, crossings, traffic lurching its way across town. We passed thousands of people those days. But what any of them looked like, any single one, I forget. We find the books browsing in rugs to rhinos on the Haralds Cross Road.
We pay 60 euros for each copy and we're delighted with each other. They span both our worlds of data and audio and connect us.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:24
2
What are the Marconi International Code books and their significance?
0:24–2:34
3
How does the podcaster incorporate codes into her life story?
2:34–7:50
4
What themes of sound and silence are explored in the podcast?
7:50–24:18
5
How does the podcaster reflect on family relationships and madness?
24:18–27:43
6
What insights are shared about communication and codes?
27:43–35:02
7
How does the podcast discuss the role of sound in human experience?
35:02–45:55