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Available Episodes

5 of 11

S1E11 Tech Ethics: A Short History of Doing It Anyway
Send us a textWarning 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 internet, and the AI boom. Together they unpack why humans seem incapable of debating ethics before the damage is done and why Big Tech isn’t likely to break the cycle. Along the way, they ask what responsibility inventors, executives, and even end-users really carry as we keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Ethical challenges will always echo throughout the ages and tech just makes those echoes louder.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 [email protected]
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52:36
S1E10 - Your Printer Hates You. And Now It Can Build Things
Send us a textPrinters 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. Renee and Marc dive into the science, the utility, and the sheer weirdness of turning digital files into physical objects. Along the way, they ask: when a printer can make a jet engine, a human ear, or a house, is it even a printer anymore? Or has “printing” quietly become the most transformative technology of them all?Because somewhere between ink and imagination, the printer stopped copying—and started inventing. One layer, one atom, one organ at a time.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 [email protected]
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55:39
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55:39
S1E8b - Barnum Would’ve Loved the Bots: The Digital Freakshow (Part 2)
Send us a textWelcome 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 signed them immediately).So grab your popcorn and prepare for the algorithmic sideshow. The spectacle hasn’t gone away, it just learned to optimise.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 [email protected]
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33:43
S1E8 - Barnum Would’ve Loved the Bots: The Rise of Agentic Advertising Part 1
Send us a textStep 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 modern era and look to the future with AI and agentic marketing. You though Google knew too much about you??? Just wait until the bots start crafting hyper-targeted advertising JUST FOR YOU.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 [email protected]
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46:59
S1E6b - Throughput, Thrills, and Theme Parks
Send us a textThis is Part 2 of our 2 part Theme Park episode!Roller coasters and databases have the same issues: concurrency, throughput, and panic when things go wrong. Theme parks are basically enterprise technology, just with more churros and slightly fewer COBOL programmers.Join Renee and Marc on another thrilling episode of the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast where we discuss the adventurous and thrilling theme park technology space. As always, we start in the past with the origins of modern parks and rides and soar all the way to modern day before we discuss the future of theme park tech. This episode had such a nostalgia vibe for us that we had to break it into two! Join us for both episodes!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 [email protected]
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