Send us a text Warning 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...f...

Send us a text Printers 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 t...

Send us a text Welcome 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...

Send us a text Step 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...

Send us a text This 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...

Send us a text 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 d...

Send us a text From Clippy’s awkward pop-ups to agentic AI plotting your next conquest, Marc and Renee laugh through the evolution of digital assistants. Annoying, nostalgic, and now maybe just a little too smart. Hop on the nostalgia train! This week on the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, hosts Renee and Marc whisk listeners away on a whimsical exploration of digital assistants, from the often-beloved but clunky Clippy to the advanced AI tools redefining corporate enterprises today. Dusting off mem...

Send us a text Hold onto your tabloids! This week on the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast, Renee Murphy and Marc Massar explore the wild frontier where technology meets misinformation, tracing the outrageous claims that have captivated audiences across decades. From Bat Boy's tabloid fame to the chaotic spread of urban legends, the duo examines why we’re drawn to sensational headlines like a moth to a flame. They dissect the evolution of misinformation—from humble magazine racks to the sprawling digit...

Send us a text To answer the burning questions from the episode - Could you buy dogs from the Sears catalog? Yes. Could you buy narcotics from the Sears catalog? Yes. How does Renee pronounce "downtown?" Well, listen in. By the 1970's Sears represented 1% of US GDP and two-thirds of American households shopped at Sears. Like for like, if you look at Amazon's US revenue (because Sears was mostly US in the 1970's), then Amazon is about 1.7% of US GDP today. Significant, but not orders of magnit...

Send us a text Tune in for hot takes, cold fronts, and a 70% chance of questionable metaphors. In this episode, Renee and Marc of the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast take you on a trip through the evolution of weather forecasting. From the nostalgic days of dialing up forecasts to today’s AI-driven, hyper-local predictions, they reminisce about how technology has revolutionized our weather-checking experiences. Join them on this techy trip as they reveal the incredible shifts in weather forecasting ...

Send us a text Great Scott! 150 NFL Football Stadiums running at night - all at the same time. That's how much energy a new Wyoming AI data center is chugging. 1.81 Gigawatts. Just think what Doc Brown would say about that. Join Renee and Marc on the Nostalgic Nerds podcast as they dive into data centers consuming 1.5% of global electricity with a growth trajectory to double electricity demand by 2030. Are we heading for an AI winter? Can we keep up with the demand of AI constantly chugging m...