Shows
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E11 - WarGames Is A Documentary Part 1Send us Fan MailRemember when the scariest thing a computer could do was call another computer? In 1983, WarGames handed a teenage hacker a modem and a direct line to NORAD. Ronald Reagan watched the film at Camp David and asked his Joint Chiefs if it could actually happen. A week later, General Vessey came back with the answer: it's worse than you think. Fifteen months after that, Reagan signed NSDD-145, the first national security directive to treat computer hacking as a real threat. A teen movie became the origin story of federal cybersecurity policy. We trace...
2026-03-2642 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastPhosphor Glow (S2E11 Bonus)Send us Fan MailS2E11 is out tomorrow. Here's the theme song for the episode "Phosphor Glow."Renee and Marc both love the movie WarGames and since we're going to break the episode into two parts - a part about the movie and a part about how the movie is actually a documentary for modern AI warfare - it just felt right for this song to be about that green phosphor glow of the CRT and the analog tones of the 300 baud modem. Awww, 80's nostalgia before we get to the part where AI-driven...
2026-03-2603 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E10 - You Killed Your Tamagotchi and Now You Trust AISend us Fan MailThe Tamagotchi (たまごっち) was a three-button egg that beeped when it was hungry, beeped when it was bored, and beeped when it was dying. Renee killed three of them. She's not proud of it. But somewhere between the guilt and the tiny pixelated tombstone, something shifted. We started practicing emotional responsibility for machines. We carried them, named them, and felt genuinely bad when we let them down. From there, the path is disturbingly straight. Neopets gave the egg an economy. Kids were running market arbitrage before finishing their maths homework. Clippy gave software a...
2026-03-201h 15
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastEgg Friend (S2E10 Bonus)Send us Fan MailIt must be kismet, because we didn't plan to talk about digital Egg Friend's right around the beginning of spring and Easter right around the corner. Just a little love song to our Egg Friends. That we let die. Be sure to listen to the end. Lyrics down below.[Verse 1]I carried you in my pocket to the morning trainFed you in the bathroom while the coffee stainedThree buttons and a heartbeat on a plastic chainYou never asked for much...
2026-03-1904 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E9 - CAPTCHA Stolen CognitionSend us Fan MailCAPTCHA was supposed to keep the bots out. A simple lock on a simple door. Instead, it became one of the largest unpaid labour operations in the history of the internet.Google bought reCAPTCHA in 2009, and every time you clicked a traffic light, a crosswalk, or a bicycle, you were labelling training data for Waymo's self-driving cars. You digitised the New York Times archive. You transcribed millions of Google Books pages. Nobody told you. A UC Irvine study put the total at 819 million hours of human cognitive labour, roughly $6 billion at...
2026-03-1359 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastI Clicked For You (S2E9 Bonus)Send us Fan MailThe song conveys that angst of clicking CAPTCHA and feeling neglected, feeling used. At the end, we had to prove we were real. But our work wasn't to prove our humanity, it was to fuel someone's product. Betrayal and anguish are appropriately earned my friends.After Renee and I recorded the episode it was clear that we both had some anger and frustration about CAPTCHA. Renee suggested a ballad. So, a ballad it became. After that, the lyrics only took me a few minutes to write. Chose D Minor, with some...
2026-03-1204 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E8 - Neural Nets: The Assembly Line of ThoughtSend us Fan MailHenry Ford didn't invent the car. He turned building one into a series of motions so simple that no single worker needed to understand the whole machine. Frederick Taylor went further, timing every bend and lift until the factory floor ran like arithmetic. Efficiency stopped being personal and became architectural.That same instinct showed up in punch cards, where your entire program lived as holes in a stack of cardboard you carried with both hands. And it shows up again in neural networks, where thinking itself gets broken into millions of...
2026-03-0644 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastPunch That Card (S2E8 Bonus)Send us Fan MailFor this episode, how could we not write a song about punchcards? But, the whole episode is about patterns, optimisation, and mostly reduction. Commands, programs, data...all reduced to holes on card stock. So, the lyrics hit at that concept of processing and dithering without getting sappy or trying to convey loss. No, this is about the machine chewing data. It needed a snappy, rhythmic, mechanical beat. So, we gave it a dactyl rhythm with a punchy chorus and final bridge. So, enjoy the song. [Verse 1]Use...
2026-03-0503 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E7 - The Age of Tiny Lights (LEDs)Send us Fan MailIn S2E7, The Age of Tiny Lights, Renee and Marc trace the story of LEDs from a childhood electronics kit with a single red indicator to the decades-long effort to make blue light viable. What began as dim, specialised components required breakthroughs in crystal growth and materials science before becoming practical at scale.Once blue was possible, white light followed, and with it, a steady transition away from a century of filaments and discharge lamps. Today, semiconductor light sits inside streetlights, buildings, vehicles, and displays, shaping energy use and the...
2026-02-2733 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastBlue Underneath (S2E7 Bonus)Send us Fan MailAs with most of our songs, the point is to be a bit absurd. Who writes a song about Vulcanised Rubber, or Shipping Containers? Nobody. But that's why it's fun.So, this week's theme song had to be about Blue LEDs. The Blue LED is harsh and cold and difficult. A simple phosphor coating and it changes. Warmth, softness, glow. Hiding underneath...it's still that same harsh blue. So, that's what this week's song is about...the shift between the perception and the harsh reality under the fancy facade. B...
2026-02-2603 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastSix O'Clock News (S2E6 Bonus)Send us Fan MailEpisode 6's bonus track. When we started recording the episode about News tech, Renee called for a moment of silence for Dan Rather. And I found it sort of funny and silly at the time. Which was fine. But when it came time to write the lyrics and music for the song for the episode, I knew it had to be about Dan Rather. Or maybe, about the time in which Dan Rather was present in the minds of America. This is a call back to the 80's and to Dan R...
2026-02-2104 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E6 - Who Controls the News?Send us Fan MailIn this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, S2E6 – Who Controls the News?, Renee and Marc examine the machinery behind the headlines.There was a time when the news arrived at a predictable hour, delivered by a familiar face, framed by a studio camera and a glowing red light. It felt intentional and limited. Today, information moves constantly, personalised, accelerated, filtered, and optimised.So what changed?It wasn’t simply ideology or journalistic standards. It was infrastructure.Printing presses, telegraph lines, broadcast towers, cable netw...
2026-02-191h 29
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E5 - Tape: Tough, Tested, TenaciousSend us Fan MailIn this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, Tape: Tough, Tested, Tenacious, Renee and Marc explore the humble roll that holds the modern world together.What starts with a strip of Deltec Purple in an art project turns into a deep dive into adhesive history. From early gummed paper and Depression-era Scotch tape to duct tape in wartime garages, tape quietly proliferates through the 20th century, evolving from simple packaging fix to engineered material.Along the way, they unpack how tape actually works (backing materials, pressure-sensitive adhesives, shear vs pe...
2026-02-1336 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E4 - The Quiet Power of BatteriesSend us Fan MailIn this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, Renee and Marc dive into the quiet power of batteries. A technology we depend on constantly but almost never think about.From early chemical experiments to modern lithium-ion systems, they explore what batteries really are, why controlling energy release is so difficult, and how energy density quietly shaped the devices, behaviours, and expectations we take for granted today. Along the way, they unpack rechargeable myths, lithium’s rise, supply-chain realities, and why batteries still feel like the weakest link in a world that re...
2026-02-0755 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E3 - The Internet We LostSend us Fan MailThanks for listening. Please rate and share with friends and family. It really helps!In this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, Marc and Renee reflect on the internet we lost and the early promise of a global commons that rewarded curiosity, wit, and genuine insight.They explore how identity, scale, and memory shaped early online communities, why empathy felt possible in smaller spaces, and how engagement-driven incentives quietly rewired behaviour as the internet grew.What emerged wasn’t the place many of us hoped fo...
2026-01-301h 06
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastGeoCities (You Let Me Be Ugly) S2E3 Bonus TrackSend us Fan MailOk, nerds. If you're a consistent listener, you know we've been creating companion songs to the episodes. This episode's song is a longing lament to one of the Internet's lost loves - GeoCities. GeoCities was where the ugly world wide web was born. And it's gone. So, enjoy a little love lost song about a piece of the Internet We Lost.Here's the lyrics:[verse 1]I built you out of borrowed codeMidnight blue and blinking goldEvery page a little wrong
2026-01-2903 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E2 - Blue Boxes, SIM Swaps, and the Myth of Secure PhonesSend us Fan MailIn this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, S2E2 – Blue Boxes, SIM Swaps, and the Myth of Secure Phones, Renee and Marc go from the days when long-distance calls were timed with a stopwatch to a world where your phone number quietly doubles as your identity. Along the way, they unpack Blue Boxes, SIM swaps, eSIMs, SS7, and why modern phone “security” is mostly about trust… and who the network feels like believing today.Spoiler: it’s not a bug. It’s a feature… from 1975....
2026-01-2350 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastThe Long Distance Blues (S2E2 Bonus)Send us Fan MailS2E2 - Blue Boxes, SIM Swaps, and the Myth of Secure PhonesIn this week's episode, Renee and Marc dial through the history of telecom fraud and hacking. But more importantly we even talk about some things you can do to protect yourself. Here's a companion song for the episode. The Long Distance Blues[Verse 1]Mama said“Keep it shortEvery minute costs a dime”Clock on the wallSecond handWatching every lineStatic on the wireV...
2026-01-2203 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastThe AI Gigawatt Thirst Trap (S2E1 Bonus)Send us Fan MailThe first song for season 2 - The AI Gigawatt Thirst TrapIn our very first episode, we talked about electricity usage in the new class of gigawatt data centres. But we also wanted to talk about the other resource that is being slurped up by data centres...water. So, here's Season 2's song to go along with our first Season 2 episode. Hope you enjoy it. [Verse 1]Got a warehouse full of brain cellsThinkin’ fifteen moves aheadBut the smartest thing I’m learnin’Is it real...
2026-01-1602 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS2E1 - The AI Gigawatt Thirst TrapSend us Fan MailWe're back with our first episode of Season 2 - The AI Gigawatt Thirst Trap. It was nice to have a little break, but Marc and Renee are back in the studio recording. Season 2 promises more infrastructure, more laughs, more music, and more nerdiness.In our very first episode of Season 1, we talked about AI’s growing appetite for electricity. This time, we turn to something even more fundamental: water. From rivers that powered early industry to modern data centres that use millions of gallons to stay cool, we explore how scaling te...
2026-01-1633 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastElastic Hearts (Oh, Vulcanised Rubber)Send us Fan MailElastic Hears (Oh, Vulcanised Rubber)[Verse]Born from heat and sulfur’s kissA miracle we can’t dismissTougher than the strongest threadHolds the world where we tread[Chorus]Oh vulcanised rubber you keep us aliveStretching and snapping you help us surviveFrom tires to soles to seals that don't breakYou're the bond in the world we make[Verse 2]Rain won’t rot you fire won’t winYou’re the armor on which we s...
2025-12-2002 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E17 - Built on Rubber!Send us Fan MailQuick note - a few audio drop outs here and there. Tried to edit around them, but nothing too serious and you'll get the gist in all the spots with issues. Rubber is one of those materials we almost never think about, right up until it fails. From tyres and medical gloves to seals, gaskets, and global logistics, modern life quietly depends on a substance that still comes, quite literally, from trees.In this episode, Renee and Marc trace the unlikely journey of rubber from indigenous use in the A...
2025-12-1927 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastSteel Titans of the World - An Ode to Shipping ContainersSend us Fan MailJust a bit of fun from Renee and I. If you're a listener, you know that Marc believes that double-entry bookkeeping might be the most important technological innovation ever. But...just maybe...he's willing to concede that the venerable Shipping Container might be up there with double-entry. It's silly, heavy, and catchy. Have a listen.Here are the lyrics:[Verse]Steel walls riseFortress of tradeBorn to conquerEmpires madeStacked like giantsTowering highBridging oceansPiercing sky
2025-12-1204 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E16 - The (Shipping) Container MonologuesSend us Fan MailEveryone loves fast delivery, but nobody loves thinking about how it works. In this episode, we dig into the overlooked story of logistics: the steam engines that kicked it off, the wars that reinvented it, the barcodes and warehouses that scaled it, and the robots now trying to keep it all from breaking. A practical, funny look at the global machine we depend on every day.“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.”...
2025-12-1254 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E15 - Bubbles Build the Big Stuff: How Overhyped Tech Leaves Us Infrastructure We Rely OnSend us Fan MailCome for the canals and railroads. Stay for the part where Marc and Renee admit AI might just be the next overbuilt mess we rely on.In this episode, we explore the historical patterns of infrastructure bubbles, revealing how emerging technologies often spark both excitement and economic pitfalls. We analyze past transformative advancements, such as canals and railways, highlighting how they initially fueled industrial growth but ultimately led to speculative investment and significant losses for latecomers. The Infrastructure bubble pattern has repeated throughout history and we end with a d...
2025-12-051h 00
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastBubbles Build the Big Stuff (Trailer)Send us Fan MailCome for the canals and railroads. Stay for the part where Marc and Renee admit AI might just be the next overbuilt mess we rely on.Join Renee and Marc as they discuss tech topics with a view on their nostalgic pasts in tech that help them understand today's challenges and tomorrow's potential.email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.comCome visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts.
2025-12-0400 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E14 - Cinema Reels and Digital RevolutionsSend us Fan MailCinema is built on technology, from the shape of the very first movie frame to the LED walls and AI tools used today. In this episode, Marc and Renee explore how film evolved in both sight and sound, and how the industry kept reinventing the moving image every time audiences drifted toward a glowing box at home.They walk through the widescreen battles of the 1950s, the triumph of magnetic sound and 70 mm spectacle, the rise of Dolby, the shift from mechanical projection booths to digital servers, and the invention of...
2025-11-2855 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastCinema Reels and Digital Revolutions (Trailer)Send us Fan MailHollywood has tried every trick to keep us in the dark, from anamorphic lenses to lasers and LED walls. Renee and Marc unpack a century of cinema tech and ask what's the next spectacle that will draw audiences?Tune in tomorrow for the full episode.Join Renee and Marc as they discuss tech topics with a view on their nostalgic pasts in tech that help them understand today's challenges and tomorrow's potential.email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.comCome visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast...
2025-11-2700 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastPlease Enter Your Password...Again (trailer)Send us Fan MailJust a bit of B roll from Renee's story about Russian's listening in to her recording.Join Renee and Marc as they discuss tech topics with a view on their nostalgic pasts in tech that help them understand today's challenges and tomorrow's potential.email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.comCome visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts.
2025-11-1500 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E13 - Please Enter Your Password… AgainSend us Fan MailRenee and Marc break down the evolution of authentication in recent times. RSA tokens. The rise of mobile authenticators. The not-so-long, painful reign of SMS codes.They move through SIM swapping, behavioral biometrics, and the shift toward systems that study how we type, move, and interact. They dig into trust, privacy, and the growing gap between convenience and control.The conversation pushes toward the future: digital agents, intent-driven identity, and a world where authentication fades into the background.A fun nostalgic look at how logging in became a moving target...
2025-11-1433 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E12 - From Shells to Stablecoins: The Tech of MoneySend us Fan MailMarc once again drags Renee into a museum. This time the “Hall of Money." Five thousand years of humans trying (and mostly failing) to automate trust. From clay tablets that doubled as IOUs to Renaissance double-entry bookkeeping, colonial funny-money, credit cards born of embarrassment, and machines that now pay each other while we sleep, this episode follows money’s long journey.Along the way: Marc confesses his favourite room at the British Museum, Renee recounts the chaos of American “Continentals,” and both realise the future isn’t about moving money at all, it’s...
2025-11-071h 22
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E11 Tech Ethics: A Short History of Doing It AnywaySend us Fan MailWarning up front - we discuss some ethical conundrums and situations with tech. There's one mention of suicide and we talk about the Manhattan Project. We're respectful, but we just wanted to put it out there. Every breakthrough in technology brings the same old question: just because we can, should we? In this episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, Marc and Renee are joined by tech ethicist, Chris McClean, for a time-traveling look at innovation’s moral blind spots...from Gutenberg’s press and the Luddite rebellion to nuclear power, the inter...
2025-10-3152 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E10 - Your Printer Hates You. And Now It Can Build ThingsSend us Fan MailPrinters used to be the villains of the office...loud, cranky, and prone to eating your best work right before a deadline. But somewhere between the screech of a dot matrix and the hiss of a resin vat, something changed. Printing got interesting. Really interesting.In this episode, we trace the unlikely glow-up of one of tech’s most unloved inventions. From the early days of line feeds and perforated paper to the high-precision world of additive manufacturing, we explore how the humble printer became a platform for creation. Ren...
2025-10-2455 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E8b - Barnum Would’ve Loved the Bots: The Digital Freakshow (Part 2)Send us Fan MailWelcome to the second half of our big-top breakdown, where the circus goes digital, and the clowns have ring lights. Wait...did we just call ourselves clowns? Marc and Renee dive into the wild world of influencer culture, brand risk, and the not-so-distant future of agentic commerce — where your shopping bot might be negotiating with another bot for the best deal while you sleep.It’s a world where authenticity is currency, trust is optional, and your favourite influencer might not even be human. (Honestly, Barnum would’ve sign...
2025-10-1733 min
The Nostalgic Nerds PodcastS1E8 - Barnum Would’ve Loved the Bots: The Rise of Agentic Advertising Part 1Send us Fan MailStep right up and join Marc and Renee in this captivating episode of The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast where they embark on an exhilarating journey exploring the interplay between the magnificent world of P.T. Barnum's 19th-century circus and the high-tech realm of modern digital marketing. With a shared passion for technology and culture, our hosts unpack the evolution of marketing from the dazzling spectacle of the circus to the sophisticated algorithms that now dictate the digital advertising landscape.This is just the first part - next episode we get into the...
2025-10-1046 min