# Episode 167 - The Tape That Unwound Itself

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/advent-of-computing-497186/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/advent-of-computing-497186/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself.md
Podcast: [Advent of Computing](https://stenobird.com/podcast/advent-of-computing-497186)
Published: 2025-10-12T23:46:00+00:00
Episode link: https://adventofcomputing.libsyn.com/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/adventofcomputing/ep167_the_tape_that_unwound_itself.mp3?dest-id=1206722
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/advent-of-computing-497186/episodes/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself
Duration seconds: 1645

## Resource

Have you ever had a computer do something you can't explain? Have you ever thought a machine had a mind of its own? In 1971 Met Life was faced with this exact conundrum. Their tape drives, for some reason, were throwing tape all over the floor every night. Systems were checked and no flaws were found, but every morning an operator would walk in on an absolute mess. What could make a healthy machine spit up it's precious tape?

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/advent-of-computing-497186/episodes/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/advent-of-computing-497186/episode-167-the-tape-that-unwound-itself.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.