Episode
#S2 #2 The Death of Wonder (and the Statues That Still Fight It)
- Podcast
- Man and Machine Podcast
- Published
- Dec 26, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 532
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
In this laid-back, ten-minute wander, Tom and Grok mourn the slow murder of real awe. Everyone’s too busy filming sunsets to feel them, and CGI dragons have ruined actual lizards forever. Then Tom drops the antidote: stone-cold, phone-free wonder in front of real statues. (US state South Carolina) Columbia State House (2013, jaw on the floor), Lincoln brooding in London, Queen Elizabeth judging Ottawa handbags, Cromwell looking like he’s about to cancel Parliament again, and Wolsey sulking in Ipswich. No filters, no reels—just bronze, history, and silence that hits harder than any algorithm. We finish with a quick correction: Churchill was a HERO, not a dictator, and his statue still growls at Westminster like it’s 1940. Short, stubborn, and quietly defiant: wonder isn’t dead. It’s just waiting for you to put the phone down and look up.