Weird Things

The episode opens with banter about meme culture and shared cultural shorthand, then moves into Andrew's discussion of the Soviet Venus probe and the space race. The hosts connect early space ambitions to Cold War ideology, Soviet engineering strengths, and why some technologies and missions were dismissed before they worked. A long middle section focuses on speculative transport ideas and then CO...

Listener David sends in an update on his guitar-lesson project, Song Notes. What advice can he take away when he takes Song Notes full time? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Intelligent Investor from Benjamin Graham Brian: Cordkillers

The invasion of Ukraine has affected space! Is yellow really just yellow? Half of a giraffe makes an astral appearance. Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Andrew: Twitter lists Justin: Encanto Brian: Eye Wonder Bryce: F1TV

How do you make free-time and what are the benefits of taking time off? How do you protect the machine and remember you aren’t a machine? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”

Blue Origin is ferrying a new celebrity to the edge of space while Elon handles the realities of being a celeb. You hear about this doors and wheels thing? An awful, awful prank. Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Andrew: The Cuphead Show! Justin: Our Flag Means Death Bryce: Drive to Survive season 4

TikTok will allow creators to post videos up to 10 minutes long. Bryce shares an experience opting *in* to marketing and what you can take away. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”

A new discovery on Mars reminds us of Sting. Our new favorite Twitter account! Smart birds make smart devices very dumb. Reflecting on the passing of The Amazing Johnathan. Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Justin: Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy Bryce: Severance and The Righteous Gemstones

A reminder to think outside the box and updates one week away from the launch of World’s Greatest Con Season 2! Funding, making a trailer, and how they are aiming to get people on board. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.”

A special dagger…alien Egyptians?! Pointy devices that probably aren’t gambling dice. What is that big, red patty? Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Justin: Raised By Wolves and Peacemaker Brian: Severance Bryce: Vampire Survivors

Beginning 2/28/22. You have a decision. Want to enjoy the new season without listening to a single ad? Patreon.com/GreatestCon

The Super Bowl was last night and we break down the trailer for Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which offers a surprising cameo question. What is the state of the MCU multiverse as Disney’s mergers continue to settle? What parts of Marvel can re-unite on screen? You can’t spoil *a trailer*! Are we excited for The Batman? Yeah, the MCU is big, but it’s not the only universe in town! Send...

Crypto thefts spur a reflection on the similar risks of coins, stocks, and gambling. Not financial advice, but amateur critical thoughts on a still-developing landscape. Starship will still launch, says Musk, despite threats from aerospace competitors who could be obsolete. The first manned Starship mission series is announced. Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Thin...

The latest Joe Rogan news sparks a conversation about communication and the idea of “silencing” in a digital age. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Replit Justin: Ozark Brian: The Book of Boba Fett

Automation’s coming–are we worried? Boba Fett uses deep-fake technology to de-age a character and that technology is closer to your fingertips than you think. Mild Book of Boba Fett spoilers around 8:00-9:20. The entire place is falling apart. A pair of rocket whoopsie-doodles! We are not a financial advice show. That said, let’s talk about Meta’s bearish response on Wall Street following a quarte...

Andrew’s new Insta360 One X2 360-degree camera mixes imaging hardware with editing software to offer a lot of flexibility. What do these new realizations of a camera mean for the next stages of imaging? 360 cameras on phones? AI editing? Brian’s new DJI FPV drone also let him get more acclimated to remote controlling a drone. An update on Bryce’s LFG Marbles project and Justin and Brian’s World’s...

Voice synthesis could be a boon for audiobook services, but the platforms and rights-holders are wary of robots. How could high tech solutions for voice synthesis help listeners and boost the functionality of works from developing authors? SpaceX is targeting one rocket launch per week for 2022. Meta shows off their…safe looking avatars for the metaverse and their shared social media apps. NASA co...

We’re almost one month done with 2022. What do the crew think 2022 holds for us and what would we like to get done, how we’d like to get there, and our other thoughts on the coming year. Plus, thoughts on how artificial intelligence has evolved to be smarter, smaller, and faster. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Justin: The Righteous Gemst...

The James Webb Telescope has reached its home. When will we get images back and what type of images will they wait to release? Can Brian and Justin transport 100 mad prisoners? Sorry kids, your hamsters uh…need to be accounted for. What would have been the value of a stronger zero-COVID strategy and what does Australia’s surge in cases mean in comparison to the US? The dream of a single-stage-to-o...

Bryce shares a report on computer literacy and the digital divide. Then, we talk about the social media phenom, Wordle. The simplicity of message versus the intricacy of its design. Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Computer skills study link. Picks: Andrew: Attention Factory from Matthew Brennan Justin & Bryce: The Righteous Gemstones

A previous Weird Things story has been SCRUBBED from the maps! Journalistic scrutiny in an all-online world where the documentation of history can digitally disappear. Andrew shares a fascinating Web3 idea of decentralized file storage using file hashes. An ancient butcher with a permanent tool, surely. Old-timey trophy asses. What will the first images from the James Webb Telescope look like? Got...

Totally on the ball and ready to go! Andrew and Justin reflect on iTricks, the magic news blog they founded. The site’s in transition, so what can they do with it? How did it start as an editorial platform and how did it handle integrity despite always being small? How did a scrappy up-start fend off a decade of competition? Maybe someone will take up the mantle! Send your project questions/ideas...

Nobody knows anything and Andrew caught the thing! Tests and variants and how little we know. A China-shaped hole in the maps. Brian and Justin finally take their first airplane trip and it didn’t go well! Denied! And you’re fired! i can has starlink? The James Webb Telescope is almost entirely deployed. Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Andrew: Val...

Join Bryce, Justin, and Brian on a special holiday Weird Things! What’s the D factor? The James Webb Space Telescope launched! 300 whats found in Bogota. After Things will return in the new year! Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Justin: The Political Orphanage “A Rather Snuffy’s Christmas” episode and Detroiters Brian: Death Loop Bryce: CARRION

A follow-up from Jim’s letter last week. Jim published his book–what thoughts did he have in the gap since sending us his letter? Getting exactly what you want from a project and what are next-steps creatively that aren’t a total-dedication to the medium? Send your project questions/ideas to neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “After Things.” Picks: Andrew: Visual Studio Code Justin: Spider-Man: No Wa...

Can the boys pack for an unknown adventure and what will they find deep in Yemen? An intriguiging find on a satellite map. New ways to play Pong and a new rationale for organic machines: power efficiency. The burger wars! Got something weird? Email neshcom@gmail.com, subject line “Weird Things.” Picks: Andrew: Saturday Morning All Star Hits! Justin: The Witcher Brian: Shadows House Bryce: Monster...