Back to School

SPOILER ALERT: Skip between 8:08 and 13:50 if you haven't watched the semi-final of Celebrity Traitors from 29th October!At midnight tonight, we'll be grabbing our ghosties and grabbing our ghoulies! Yes it's a special midnight release of the Halloween episode of Nerdist Camp. We also talk about the Celebrity Traitors semi-final and about local artist Andrew Bill's sculpture, that features in the showWe ask what our must-watch, and must play, Halloween films and games are. There's the usual Tech News, and we discuss the sad loss of Patrick Stewart this week. Catch us below from midnight, or wherever you usually get your podcast. Tech newsSkydance Media took over Paramount Global in an $8 billion deal that closed in August 2025. David Ellison, son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, became CEO.Sony Japan marks last standalone 4K Blu-ray player as ‘Discontinued’ — PlayStation 5 now the only Blu-ray player left in Sony’s lineup | Tom's HardwarePeople are vibe coding their way to better TVs | The VergeStratospheric airship flew from US to Japan to test sky cell tower concept - Ars TechnicaChina taps high-altitude winds for power generation by flying craft to 4,000m | South China Morning PostNASA updates lander plans for Moon landings, finally solves long-festering Orion issue - Ars TechnicaMichael Tsai - Blog - Chrome Supports JPEG XLThis fortnight we are recommendingKris:Mars mission reaches 1 yearHauntings (BBC Four)Asteroids: Spark of Life (BBC Four)Ghostwatch Documentary, Saturday 31st, Channel 5, 9.15pm.Andi:Video - Episode 157 - Ep 157 | ILM’s John Knoll on The Mandalorian and Grogu - YouTubeJamie Benning’s podcast- FilmumentariesThe Expanse (Prime Video)The Diplomat (Netflix)Mention camera work (ala The Studio)MobLand (Paramount+)War (Sky)https://www.youtube.com/@prestongoesLinksAndrew Bill Traitors SculptureIf you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the beginning there was the word, and the word wasn't something you had to Google or ask AI, or that came up on your feed or in an app, but the written word. And the word sometimes fell on your doormat with a thud, and other times it was on paper thinner than the Argos catalogue. And the word was weekly…or sometimes monthly…or occasionally fortnightly. But it was always anticipated and welcome, and your sole source of news about your hobby.Today we're talking about the magazines that put us on the page.NewsMargaret Hamilton, whose software helped land Apollo 11 on the moon, dies at 90 - BBC NewsMargaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90 | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAI/ML is becoming a performance factor in motorsport - Ars TechnicaSomething huge vanished from a NASA display pole months ago, and the agency's boss keeps dodging every question about it | TechRadarF.02 DecommissionThis fortnight we are recommendingAndi:Ted Lasso - Apple TVBrothers - Apple TV (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson)Celebrity TraitorsEastpack “The One" EDC pouch.Pics & Ink - an online newsstand to buy independent magazinesKris:James Popsys (YouTube)Roman Fox (You Tube)Space Race in Colour (Channel 4)President CurtisAn Inspector Calls (BBC, 2015).Kris' photos of the ECAD Panto Rehearsal for Dick Whittington (Instagram)If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to SchoolToday Andi and Kris get their new bags, pencil cases, folders, and mechanical pencils ready for the new term. As Alice said, school has been out for summer, but now it's time to stock up on stationary and buy your loved one a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils, yes today we look at all things “back to school" Main topicSeptember is the time of new startsNew bagNew pencil caseNew surroundings?Chance for reinventionUsed to buy an album to mark the occasion each year Still feels like school even though it isn'tPleasure of a new pad/folderSeasonal Affected DisorderSetting the clocks backThe modern gallop to Christmas with quick stops at Halloween and then Bonfire Night.We’re never stationary when talking about stationery (Still love a pad but now it’s also e-ink, tablets etc.)NewsTippett Studio Closes After 35 Years Of Animation Innovation; Original 'Star Wars' Models To Be Auctioned Off - Star Wars News NetCadbury drama turns Stafford into Victorian street scene - BBC NewsNASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched Sunday on a Falcon Heavy — $4.3 billion, 300-megapixel camera, heading to L2.Artemis II heatshield updateAlien Breed 35th Anniversary Collection on SteamMIT engineers design a better controller for operating construction diggers | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyClaude AI Wrote A Driver For macOS From Scratch To Enable Compatibility With An HP Printer That Was Only Meant To Work With WindowsAnthropic's new hardware standard lets AI agents control the physical world - Ars TechnicaThis fortnight we are recommendingAndi:Colin from Accounts (series 3).Transformers The Movie (limited cinema release)VigilThe GentlemenLudwigKris:Japan’s Master of Restoration - BBC iPlayerBBC Four - The Joy of AI Mention “Breakout" BBC Four - The Secret Rules of Modern Living: AlgorithmsStill watching The Sinner and Stuart Fails to Save The Universe. Pressure (Anthony Maras, 2026)“Right about now - ish” (anniversaries we might have missed)24th August - 25 years since 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' was released.24th August - 60 years since the premiere of Fantastic Voyage25th August - 35 years since Linux was first released2nd September - 10 years since Arrival premiered. 4th September - Flight Of The Navigator was released in the UK 40 years ago today6th September - 40 years since the first episode of Casualty aired. 6th September - 40 years since Bananarama reach number 1 in the USA with Venus8th September - Star Trek turned 60. 17th September - 35 years since Guns N’ Roses released Use Your Illusion I and IIDolly Parton died, aged 80Tim Curry died, aged 80Peter Cullen died, aged 85 (the voice of Eeyore, Optimus Prime, Predator)4th September - 20 years since Steve Irwin died.Links mentioned in this episodeWickerInkSee you next time guys!If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How long does it take you to leave the house? Okay, so you’ve got your phone, glasses, keys and wallet, no wait, hang on, don’t need the wallet, I can pay with my phone, so I’ve got my phone and my keys, but have I picked up all the other essentials that I might need? What if I need a torch, tissues? What if I need a mint, a toothpick, a pen knife? Today we’re looking at our Every Day Carry items, or EDC. Those things that we positively, absolutely, definitely can’t leave the house without…just in case.Our E.D.Cs.AndiRidge Wallet (with Titanium Multi-Tool | The Ridge – Ridge UK)Insta360 Ace Pro 2Tripod Ball Head, UTEBIT 360° Swivel Mini Ball Head with 1/4 Hot Shoe Mount for DSLR CamerasRaspberry Pi Ballpoint Pen - The Pi Hut with Parker gel ink insertUni Kuru Toga Roulette Pencil 0.5mm M5-1017The Search for Adam's Favorite Mechanical Pencil - YouTubeField Notes or equivalentZip Clutch - AlpakaDigital EDC - the apps that make the dayDrafts | Where Text Starts - best quick writing app I’ve found so farObsidianProxyman for iOS, Capture HTTP(s) traffic from your iPhone/iPadReeder Classic (https://bionic-reading.com/)Kris. Traveller’s Notebook, Passport Size or might say Field Notes, Expedition (orange)Olight, Ark Pro UltraKaweko Sport (navy blue with brass clip)Victorinox Classic SD Classic ColoursOlight Bolt Action Pen/PencilA Zoom Screen-Sharing Bug Let Anyone Take Over Other Devices on a Call | WIREDThis Coin-Sized Device Can Hack a Boeing 737 | WIREDMcDonald’s Built a 515-Page Dossier on Me. It Says I’ll Never Stop Eating There | WIREDThis fortnight we are recommendingAndi:STUART FAILS TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE Official Trailer (2026) The Big Bang Theory - YouTubeRide or Die - Official Trailer | Prime Video - YouTubeMasters of the Universe - watch streaming onlineThe Agency - watch tv series streaming onlineLioness - watch tv series streaming onlineThe Transformers The Movie The Soundtrack The Reformatted Edition - The Details - Transformers News - TFW2005Kris:The Sheep DetectivesThe SinnerAlley Cats“Right about now - ish” (anniversaries we might have missed)23rd July - 65 years since Sinclair Radionics started, forerunner of Sinclair Research23rd July - Maximum Overdrive was released 40 years ago28th July, Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime, the Predator and Eeyore, turned 85.29th July - 30 years since “Trash” by Suede was released.30th July - 40 years since “Flight of the Navigator” was released30th July - 35 years since the premiere of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” video. 30th July -30 years since  Alice In Chains “Unplugged”30 July 2006 - The final weekly episode of Top of the Pops is broadcast.6th August - 35 years since the first website went live.40 years since Transformers The Movie8th August - 40 years since Stand By Me premiered 45 years since the first Hi-Di-Hi9th August - 35 years since the first email is sent from space - Space shuttle Atlantis, using a Macintosh Portable12th August - 35 years since Metallica “Metallica” was released. The fortnight ahead : (world events, anniversaries etc.)Bill Oddie: The Goodies and Springwatch star dies at 85 - BBC NewsGlen Hansard: Oscar-winning songwriter killed in crash - BBC News23rd July - William Orbit dies aged 69Join us next time for more nerdist shenanigans, under the canvas,If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember childhood, remember the innocence of doing something just because it’s fun and not feeling the need to be productive and to produce content? Today we examine the hobbies we forgot could just be fun and we discuss the ones we have decided to revisit or are considering going back to. NewsArtemis IIIGoogle AI terminates Spam YouTube accountsCMG's Ghostwatch documentary picked up by 5 - TelevisualListen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years | Birds | The GuardianThis fortnight we are recommendingAndi:The Agency - Paramount+This Is for Everyone a book by Tim Berners-Lee - Bookshop.org UKDon't Call It Art a book by Austin Kleon - Bookshop.org UKKris:Prismacolor pencilsBerlin and The Lady with an Ermine.Ann DroidLinks mentioned in this episodeIan Ruhter Photography - YouTube3 Pack Silver Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins Box Containers - AmazonHey Weirdo! — VictoreCanon Selphy CP1500If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unless you’ve been sleeping for the last 97 years, you will have hear something recorded there, be it classical, pop, rock or hip-hop music, or many of the film scores and voiceovers that we see on both our big and little screens.Nowadays if you want the perfect recording studio, you build it from scratch, to be the perfect recording studio. But with space at a premium in the heart of London in the 1930s and also a lack of understanding of what would be the perfect recording space, Abbey Road Studios came to be born, and it would be a place, not only of incredible recordings, but of discovery, experimentation and innovation, leading us to now know exactly what we mean by the perfect recording space. Thanks Thanks to David Hepworth for his amazing book on Abbey Rd. which some of today's episode was taken from.NewsWhy tech firms are raising PC and console prices - and blaming AI for chip costs - BBC NewsTowers once planned for California shuttle launches leveled for SpaceX rockets - Ars TechnicaFirst look: November launch set for space shuttle Endeavour's towering display | collectSPACEKatalyst's satellite rescue mission is now in pursuit of NASA's Swift - Ars TechnicaCERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3 – Home | CERNXbox Cuts Deepen: 3,200+ Jobs Gone, id Software GuttedBonnie Tyler passed away 9th July at 75 years old.This fortnight we are recommendingAndi:YouTube Watch Later Tidy - Chrome Web StoreRooster on HBO MaxStar CityKris:Kakimori Brass NibWorst Neighbor EverUnacceptable: Ed GambleMars Horizon (Switch)“Right about now - ish” (anniversaries we might have missed)Logan’s Run turned 50 on June 23, 1976Steven Spielberg’s A.I. premiered 25 years ago on 30th June 2001. National Space Centre in Leicester also turned 25 on 30th JuneIndependence Day, 30 yearsBig Trouble In Little China, 40 years8th July - 30 years since Wannabe - Spice Girls - Wannabe (Official Music Video) - YouTube8th July, - 40 years since Roxette’s debut single “Neverending Love” was releasedLinks mentioned in this episodeGoogle AI Edge Gallery  |  Google for DevelopersIf you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S2E9 - Ghost ShipsHave you ever stood on a quiet harbour wall at dusk and wondered what might come drifting in on the tide — sails set, lights burning, and not a living soul aboard? Today we're casting off into the eerie world of ghost ships: the derelicts found adrift with their crews vanished, the phantom vessels doomed to sail forever, and the stubborn real-world mysteries that still refuse to be solved.There's something uniquely unsettling about a ship with no one aboard. A haunted house at least stays put — you can choose to walk away from it. A ghost ship comes to you, sliding silently out of the fog with everything in its place but the people who should be there. The idea has haunted sailors for centuries and crossed over into folklore, literature, film and games. But ghost ships aren't only the stuff of legend. Some are very real: genuine vessels found abandoned in circumstances that have never been satisfactorily explained, their stories passed down, embellished, argued over, and occasionally debunked. So tonight we're going to separate the documented from the legendary, work out why these stories grip us so tightly, and ask why, in an age of GPS and satellite tracking, the empty ship still gives us the shivers.Related Media You Might LikeGhost Ship (2002) — the gory studio horror; infamous for its opening sequenceTriangle (2009) — a clever, underrated British time-loop film set partly aboard a derelict linerThe Fog (1980) — John Carpenter's spectral mariners coming ashoreShip is called the Elizabeth DaneDead Calm (1989) — not a phantom ship but the same dread of the wrong vessel on an empty seaEvent Horizon (1997) — the ghost-ship template relocated to deep space (an easy pivot to the sci-fi end of the show)The Terror (AMC, 2018) — the Franklin expedition as slow-burn horror; ice-locked rather than adrift, but the same DNANews'World-first' vaccine designed by artificial intelligence - BBC NewsWorld first: Cambridge researchers have created a vaccine whose key component was designed entirely by AI — and it's already been tested in humans.Big ambition: The vaccine targets all coronaviruses — including future variants and animal viruses — to get ahead of the next pandemic before it starts.How it works: AI analysed genetic codes from dozens of coronaviruses and designed a "super-antigen" that trains the immune system against the whole family at once.Early trials: Safe in 39 people, with a larger 200-person study now underway. Immune response so far is modest, but scientists are calling it genuinely exciting.What's next: The same AI approach is now being used to develop vaccines for flu, bird flu, and Ebola — with experts calling AI a potential "game changer" for global health.Anthropic shuts down Fable, Mythos models following Trump admin directive - Ars TechnicaInside the fight over Claude Mythos 5 | The VergeTrump policies have accelerated the take up of renewable energy, and development of Nation based AI.Brian Johnson, special effects giant has passed away.The designer of the Eagle from Space:19992001,Stingray, Empire Strikes Back, Alien.Grainger ThingsPhiladelphia Experiment.This fortnight we are recommending:Andi:Boards Of Canada - InfernoClarkson’s Farm season 5Widow’s Bay - Apple TVEven the Good Girls Will Cry - Melissa Auf der MaurKris:The Mother of All ConsOne Person Found This Helpful (Season 4)Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (ITVX) Hypermarination.Thanks for listening, see you next time, under the canvas!If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we’re taking a steep-dive into the world’s deadliest air disaster. We’ll look at what happened, who was affected, the causes, the things we’ve learned from it, and how a stream of events, not one single action, can eventually lead to disaster. We’ll examine the environment, the airlines themselves, what happened in the cockpit and who were the crews involved. We’ll look at Air Traffic Control and ask the all important question, “who was to blame?”We'll take a look at the events of that fateful day, as well as our usual features as Andi brings us the latest Tech News and Kris brings us more tales from the strange goings-on from the worlds of conspiracy, mystery and Cold War with Grainger Things. This fortnight we are recommending:Kris:The Crash (Netflix, 2026).Signs of Murder: A small town in Scotland, a miscarriage of justice and the search for the truthStanley 40oz Water bottle with StrawAndi:In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers - Discovery UKBlue Moon Safari - Air. Remix album by Vegyn, heard a track on You Friends & Neighbors (Apple TV)The Boroughs - NetflixLinks to things we discussed:Tenerife Air Disaster WIKIAir Crash Investigation: Tenerife Air Disaster (Season 16, Episode 03, 2018). YouTube (4k, 60fps.).Episode IMDBGimli Glider - WikipediaThe Electric Ferrari Luce Is Finally Here | WIREDIf you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome back to season 2 episode 7 of Nerdist Camp.Today we have all our usual features, a deep dive into our main topic, updates on the world of tech and geekdom, and of course Grainger Things, where we look at the unusual, unexplained or declassified from history.The barracks of the nerdist camp has a sealed perimeter, because we’re deploying into one of the most influential broadcasts in British science-fiction history. Before Doctor Who, and well before the modern era of televised space horror, there was a transmission that rattled living rooms, redefining what science fiction could do on screen: The Quatermass Experiment.First broadcast in 1953, Nigel Kneale’s story follows Professor Bernard Quatermass and his rocket research team as they recover a spacecraft that returns from orbit… and it is not empty. What comes back instead is a cosmic contamination that slowly turns the single survivor into something no longer human.Today we are raiding the archives and inspecting this early Cold War-era nightmare. We’re asking what made this serial so unsettling for its time, how it shaped decades of British genre storytelling, and why its influence still echoes through modern sci-fi and horror. So fall in and keep your comms open—and welcome to Nerdist Camp.We’ll look at how it moved from TV to film, from B&W to colour, and why it’s still one of the best British Science Fiction franchises. Related Media You Might LikeThe Stone Tape (BBC, 1972) — Kneale's other masterpiece, ghosts as recordings in stoneBeasts (ATV, 1976) — Kneale anthology, includes the brilliant "Baby"Threads (1984) — not Kneale, but the natural endpoint of British apocalyptic TVGhostwatch (1992) — owes its DNA to Kneale's mockumentary instinctsAtomfall (2025) — Rebellion's post-apocalyptic videogame, openly Kneale-influencedMark Gatiss's various documentaries on British horror and ghost storiesLinks to things we talked about:The Cold War Nuclear TowerQuatermass — WikipediaNigel Kneale — WikipediaThe Quatermass Experiment (1953) — WikipediaQuatermass and the Pit — WikipediaBFI Nigel Kneale collectionEDC Belt Pouch (various colours)Spitfire notebookSwan Nordic air coolerThis fortnight we are recommendingKris:This is a Bomb: The Nevada Casino Heist (BBC iPlayer)Nuclear War: A Scenario, by Annie Jacobson (Penguin)Once Upon a Time in the West…Country, by Tony Hawks (Audible)Andi:The Pitt - HBO MaxFor All Mankind season 5 - Apple TVProject Hail Mary - home releaseThe Expanse (Prime Video)Quatermass and the Pit - JustWatchWar of the worldsThanks for listening, see you next time, under the canvas!If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all know a good film when we see one. And we sure as hell know a bad one when we see one. But some films go deeper than that. Some films challenge the boundaries of good or bad. For some films, quality doesn’t matter, especially if they don’t age well. Some films are not about the content, the acting, the dated SFX. Some films transcend that to become part of our very being, the films that define and route us in a moment from our past. Yes, today we’re not talking about the greatest films of all time (although we may think they are), today we’re talking about the films that mean something to us. The films that transport us to a time in our lives when they meant something to us. Today Andi and I look at our very personal Top 5 Films, what they mean to us, and why quality is irrelevant when a film is part of your soul. You'll have to listen to the episode, of course, to find out what we chose!This fortnight we are recommendingAndi:For All Mankind season 5. Incredible.S4: The Bob Lazar StoryKate Nash on Davina Macoll’s podcast “Beginning Again”Kris:Untold: Chess Mates (Netflix)Links mentioned in this episodeSci-Fi Graveyard (10 Classic Sci-Fi films that define the genre, but you probably missed). S4: The Bob Lazar StoryVoyager 1Coyote vs. ACME | Official Trailer - YouTubeUK powers on supercomputer that runs 21 quintillion operations/secBluetooth tracker hidden in a postcard and mailed to a warship exposed its location — $5 gadget put a $585 million Dutch ship at risk for 24 hours | Tom's HardwareOlight 19th Anniversary Sale: Baton Pro Ultra and an ArkLite Pro Ultra. DAP (Mp3 player): Hiby R4 If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:[email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.