Techtonic with Mark Hurst is a weekly radio show from WFMU about technology, how it's affecting us, and what we can do about it.

The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments

Oct 12, 2026

For centuries, people have imagined strange and fantastical musical instruments - sometimes predicting later technologies like phonographs and generative AI. And then there’s the infamous “cat piano.” Deirdre Loughridge and Thomas Patteson discuss their book “The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments.”

Show Notes

• The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments, by Deirdre Loughridge and Thomas Patteson

• Wall Street Journal review of the book (gift link, Aug 7, 2026)

• imaginaryinstruments.org, Dierdre and Thomas’s website that they maintain in parallel with their book. (See the Moog polyphonic theremin.)

• EVENT: Dierdre and Thomas in New York, Wednesday, Oct 14: Book Talk: The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments
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Oct 12, 2026