GeekNights

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we discuss Ray Nayler's The Mountain in the Sea . Recommended by the staff at LIC Book Culture it's a cyberpunk novel about minds and consciousness (among other things). It's worth a read. Related Links Forum Thread The Mountain in the Sea Discord Chat The Mountain in the Sea Bluesky Post The Mountain in the Sea Things of the Day Rym -  ヨルシカ - あ...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the problem of spam in the current era. We last talked about spam in 2007 . (Note that spam is distinct from slop . In the news, Rym is back from Hong Kong , supply chain attacks remain a major threat, the kids are booing AI people at graduations , Musk lost his lawsuit against OpenAI, deepfake software is getting better, and Meta is laying off 10% of its entire...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review The Running Man (2025) directed by Edgar Wright . This completes our full tour of the Runnings Man, as we previously reviewed the original Running Man novel from 1982 and the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger Running Man . There are no more men to run. Also look at the difference in mood between the 1987 ending credits and the 2025 ending credits . The latter seem like th...

Tonight on GeekNights, it's a Tech News Roundup! Madison Square Garden's insane surveillance machine , Github's ongoing collapse , Mac minis being hit by the ongoing RAM crisis , Ask.com is dead , a trivial-to-exploit Linux vulnerability , OpenAI won't stop talking about goblins , Apple fixes a notification vulnerability with Signal , iOS finally adds end-to-end encryption to RCS , AI slop podcast...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider a bunch of anime that struck us in some way. In the news, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" is coming, new Ghost in the Shell is coming , and Coyote vs. Acme is coming . Also we're back! Related Links Forum Thread Notable Anime in Various Categories Discord Chat Notable Anime in Various Categories Bluesky Post Notable Anime in Various Categories Things of the...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about the games we played at PAX East 2026, including Spokes, Magical Athlete, The Third Man, Take Time, Tezuma Trick, Big Wave, QE, Catch the Moon, Robokraft, False Kingdom, Juggernaut, Peanuts Talent Show, and John Company 2.0. In the news, there's a Halloween game (not that one , and there's another Mario movie . Related Links Forum Thread Games we played at PAX E...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider how you must tax the rich if you wish to have a society. In the news, Mayor Mamdani ends those ridiculous criminal summonses for cyclists , BTS returns , and America's war against Iran endangers the world. Related Links Forum Thread Tax the Rich Discord Chat Tax the Rich Bluesky Post Tax the Rich Things of the Day Rym -  What's my What's My ΔE...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the assessment of risk. Apropos of nothing Rym talks about his broken arm. In the news, Washington state moves forward on taxing rich people , and New York City moves forward on banning foie gras . Related Links Forum Thread Assessing Risk Discord Chat Assessing Risk Bluesky Post Assessing Risk Things of the Day Rym -  Max don't have sex with your...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider puzzles in games. In the news, New York is suing Valve over illegal gambling , Valve's new hardware release timeline is heavily impacted by the RAM crisis but might still come in 2026 , Blades 68 is launching (Rym was in the playtest), and Nintendo is suing the United States over our president's illegal tariffs. Related Links Forum Thread Puzzles in Games Discord...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about the dangers of trying to mandate age verification on the Internet . In the news, Discord embarks on a disastrous age verification scheme , Anthropic is mad that other "AI" companies are using their product , and Goldman Sachs launches an AI-free index . Related Links Forum Thread Age Verification on the Internet Discord Chat Age Verification on the Internet Blu...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about The Muppets . They were formative in the youth of our generation, and they are timeless. In the news, Ryan Dancey found out how little gamers like generative AI , the US president is about to attack Iran to distract from the Epstein files, and the Democrats have rightly denied the DHS funding until it reigns in ICE. Write your senators every day with a simple m...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Paris Connection , also known as SNCF: France & Germany. It's no 1817 , but it's a distilled real train game that's worth playing. In the news, Overwatch 1 is back and Diablo 2 is back . Related Links Forum Thread Paris Connection Discord Chat Paris Connection Bluesky Post Paris Connection Things of the Day Rym -  Canada Curling Controversey Scott&nbs...

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss our respective morning routines. How do you spend your mornings? In the news, skyrocketing RAM prices delay the Valve Steam Machine (along with the controller, and Steam Frame), NVIDIA isn't releasing new videocards for the same reason, bitcoin is (finally) collapsing , and someone left Horatio at the Goodwill . Related Links Forum Thread Our Morning Routines Disc...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review the early access version of 9 Kings . It's got some good things going on. In the news, the Switch is now the highest selling Nintendo console and the Switch 2 is the fastest selling Nintendo console. Swords Without Master is launching more broadly , and Scott is considering running a game . Also Congress has a chance to dismantle ICE : Call your senators . Related...

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss webcams . In the news, ICE murdered another person in broad daylight with video and witnesses, and Senate Democrats are willing to shut the government down over continued funding of ICE. Call your senators today . No funds for ICE: abolish, dismantle, and prosecute. In other news, Europe may ban Elon Musk's nonconsensual porn machine and France is planning to buil...

Tonight on GeekNights we review The Running Man (1987 film) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Dawson. In the news, the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO along with regional bodies throughout the state have called for statewide labor action in Minnesota over the brutality of ICE. The crazy house we rented once in Wildwood NJ is for sale, and the New York Sirens are on the verg...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review Big Shot (2001) . If you want some vicious auctions this is the game for you. In the news, the United States is in extreme crisis threatening to invade Greenland , invade Minnesota , terrorize the city of Minneapolis , and end the global world order as we know it. Also Mothership has good videogame journalism . Call your reps to tell them to defund ICE. Related Lin...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review a card game called Magic: The Gathering . It's 32 years old, so you may not have heard of it. In the news, gamers don't like generative AI and The Game Awards happened. Rym posted his [video editing process](https://community.frontrowcrew.com/t/the-geeknights-lecture-video-process/3683 for producing GeekNights panel and lecture videos. We will be live at Super MAGF...

Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club , we discuss Jacqueline Harpman 's phenomenal I Who Have Never Known Men . I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman is a dystopian sci-fi novel. It was originally written in French and published in 1995. It was not very well known until recently it surged in popularity. This renewed interest in the book is not unfounded. Although it is only thirty years...

Tonight on GeekNights, we share our early thoughts on Dispatch and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond . In the news, Frankfurt's Christmas market is lit, and the Netflix x Warner Brothers Discovery situation is even more dangerous than the baseline danger of capitalist consolidation of media. Related Links Forum Thread Initial Thoughts on Dispatch and Metroid Prime 4 Discord Chat Initial Thoughts on Dispatch...

Tonight on GeekNights we review the historical and topical 23 Knives (2025) . It's worth playing, and Rym is probably going to buy it. In the news, PAX Unplugged 2025 was smooth as butter, Doodle Puzzle is a good idea that's hard to make work, Gingham is more vicious than it appears, and Scott surprisingly is enjoying Octopath Traveler . Related Links Forum Thread 23 Knives Discord Chat 23 Knives...

Tonight on GeekNights we review Ugo Bienvenu's Arco (2025) . Set in the future and the far future, it's a very French Science Fiction animated feature that's definitely worth seeing. In the news, we'll be at PAX Unplugged this weekend, as will the Night Market, and the Internet relies too much on one service . Related Links Forum Thread Arco (2025) Discord Chat Arco (2025) Bluesky Post Arco (2025)...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider anti-intellectualism . In the news, Valve has new hardware including a new VR headset Rym is going to get, and you should learn about the 1981 Air Traffic Controller strike . We will be live at PAX Unplugged 2025 ! Related Links Forum Thread Anti-Intellectualism Discord Chat Anti-Intellectualism Bluesky Post Anti-Intellectualism Things of the Day Rym - ...

Tonight on GeekNights, we review (without spoilers) the third installment in the Knives Out Mysteries: Wake Up Dead Man . Benoit Blanc is a character for the ages, and it's worth seeing. In the news, Zohran Mamdani is the next mayor of New York and his victory speech is worth a watch . Democrats overwhelmingly vote to fight for democracy . Kodak quietly begins selling film again . Related Links Fo...

Tonight is a very special GeekNights. This is our 20th anniversary stream. GeekNights began on October 31 2005 and has continued for 20 years with no real breaks. We did a series of "beta" episodes even earlier to work out the show format and learn how to podcast. We've done 317 talks at conventions . We had a massive forum which we replaced with a smaller forum . And somehow we're still going! Re...