UFOs, Model Trains, and Code's 'Sacred Syllable': The Origins of Foo

Listeners, please note that this episode was recorded before the show’s name changed to Found in the Machine, so you’ll hear the old name in this episode. 

Every programmer knows 'foo' as the "insert name here" of software development. But where did it come from? And what does it have to do with 'bar'?

In this episode, we trace the history of foo in programming back through three unlikely chapters: a Depression-era comic strip, a WWII air squadron, and a group of MIT students who built a computer underneath a model train set. The story runs through hacker culture, computing folklore, and a very strange corner of World War II history.

In this episode

• Bill Holman and Smokey Stover - a 1930s comic strip and a catchphrase that accidentally entered the computing lexicon
• The Foo Fighters - not the band; the original phenomenon, and the airmen who named it
• The Tech Model Railroad Club - MIT's legendary hacker origin story, and why their emergency switch matters more than you'd think

Episode music 

• George L. Cobb,  Public Domain
  • "Procrastination Rag (1927)"
• James Opie / Nihilore, CC BY 4.0
  • "The Illusion of Cold"
  • "Man Alone Chimes the Hour"

Additional Reading

Eastlake, D., Manros, C., & Raymond, E. (2001, April 1). Etymology of "Foo" (RFC 3092). Internet Engineering Task Force. https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3092.txt

Smokey Stover LLC. (n.d.). Smokey Stover online. https://www.smokey-stover.com/

What were the mysterious "foo fighters" sighted by WWII night flyers? (2016, July 20). Air & Space Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/what-were-mysterious-foo-fighters-sighted-ww2-night-flyers-180959847/

Samson, P. R. (2005). The TMRC dictionary (Annotated 1st ed., originally compiled 1959). https://www.gricer.com/tmrc/dictionary1959.html 

Support the show

Found in the Machine is a narrative technology podcast about the forgotten history of computing, software, and the internet. Hosted by Daina Bouquin, each episode uncovers the true story behind a piece of computer history. These are the forgotten people, decisions, and accidents that quietly shaped the digital world. 

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