The first episode of the Michael and Myles (M&M) podcast where we introduce ourselves and set the scene for some of the topics we will be exploring in the coming episodes.The topics themselves will vary but the immediate targets are an ongoing discussion around automation and teaching (lots of demystifying necessary there), learning analytics, and adaptive learning, all of which we are engaging with speculatively at the University.Michael Gallagher is  a Lecturer in Digital Education at the Centre for Research in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh.Myles Blaney is a service manager in Digital Learning Applications and Media.We are both involved on the Distance Learning at Scale project which is tasked with the investigation and delivery of MicroMasters and Masters online programmes.