While we are all familiar with retaining information in a computer or our minds, memory is an essential quality of many more systems around us. I will present two materials that “learn” how they are deformed in experiments: a dilute suspension of particles in liquid, and a solid made of jammed particles. These exemplify two different but generic ways that non-equilibrium systems can form memories of cyclic driving. Exploring memory teaches us something new about each material, and how its disordered internal states can be prepared, probed, and put to use. I will touch briefly on the equally fascinating comparisons with memories in other systems—natural and artificial, living and nonliving—that inspire new directions for research and design.