Texas Steampunk Connection

recorded June 24, 2026 The heat of summer is on and we have to take our hobbies indoors. Dr. BS explores a few Victorian hobbies, while Thax claims the west was full of wild west fanboys.  Jack tracks how the ceiling fan became a fixture in the new electrified century!

recorded June 10, 2026 We've returned from the steampunk event of the season, and are catching our breath. Trinkets were traded, and teapots were raced. Now that it's over, Con-drop must not stop our inspiration for new plans! Jack has been exploring the concept of time and how industrialization, and the pocketwatch, redefined how we understand time on a new planetary scale. Your mind may get twis...

recorded May 27, 2026 We always get a little anxious this close to a big event, so we're playing by ear tonight. Thax just learned about 'trinket trading' that occurs at renfaires, and even at steampunk events, but undercover. Have you interacted this way? Good or no? Also from refaire, Rat Pucking! Seems like an easy adaption to our sensabilities with a bit of bad cockney and olde slang phrases t...

recorded May 13, 2026 This year we've lost Wild Wild West Con, and Steampunk November is cancelled at least for 2026. Galveston Steampunk Festival is left as the only big SP event in Texas this year! Johnny Steverson finally talks about how just this spring smoking and vapes almost ended him and took half a lung.  But he pushes forward like a lunatic to give us Galveston Steampunk Festival IV this...

recorded April 29, 2026 Tonight we are venturing into the Victorian Kitchen... or so we thought. Thax discovers in Victorian London there are no kitchens, only starvation or bad bread. Bluestocking reports the pre-electricity "ice box" for the well off, and Jack discusses the value of the cast iron pan. Note, Galveston Steampunk Festival is a month away! Make plans now!

recorded April 15, 2026 Tax day and only a weeks until Goggles, Gears, and Springs, Steampunk Festival; a FREE Steampunk event!! Tonight we welcome Danny Watson and Kelly Bombino who started this event in beautiful Eureka Springs, AR. This is the second year of the Steampunk festival with a full list of events to attend. find out more at https://www.steampunkinnprojects.com/ Goggles Gears and Spri...

recorded April 1, 2026 Tonight we sit down with M.L. Eaden, a new writer and indie-publisher of queer urban-fantasy and monster romance. She only began building her series of books as Covid locked us down. Now she's on her sixth book as well as a novella and short stories. mleaden.com ML Eaden on bookshop.org

recorded March 18, 2026 Between St. Patrick's Day yesterday, Spring Break this week, and SXSW in Austin, it's been a fine weekend. we barely have a topic, but things are happening! Wild Wild West Steampunk Festival ends it's 14th year and it's last. Big River Festival is given the side-eye by the city of Hannibal. Our own Johnny Steverson survives a rushed to ER with a life threatening condition! ...

recorded March 4, 2026 This week we explore steampunk inventing and some favorite inventions. Could be real, but probably imagined.  Dr. Bluestocking discovers Professor BJ Sears, a prominent film editor who was compelled to create a collection of steampunk-inspired sculptures. Jack shares inspirational prose on the steampunk outlook on inventing.   Professor BJ Sears' Technological Rarities  

recorded February 18, 2026 Last show we planned to talk about some fun patents, but we had such a good time we didn't get to it. So we're going to try again! Dr. BS is back with us, and we've found patents for things we use every day, and others that I doubt anyone ever used! Let's go! Google Patents A random source on the internet!

recorded February 4, 2026 This week we bring you Johnny Steverson, the one-man event maker who produces the Galveston Steampunk, Pirate, and Ghost Coast Festivals. He's got big news to bring us that will really set off the summer! Also we planned to discuss Victorian patents, but never really get there. We'll return to it next show with double the patents! https://galvestonsteampunk.com/ https://w...

recorded January 21, 2026 This week we delve back into history to look at the Pinkertons. Were they detectives, or paid thugs for supervillains? I was surprised by the answers. Pinkerton's own presentation of history another (better) podcast on the Pinkertons

recorded January 7, 2026 It's a new year! Time to make new plans, and build excitement for the next build, next adventure! We're going to make some resolutions, and have the best darn 2026 whether we like it or not!

recorded December 24, 2025   It's the night before Christmas, and we're streaming our end of year wrap-up! We want to hug all our supporters and start plans for next year. Jack and the fam are back to celebrate and we look forward to a new year.

recorded December 10, 2025 Did you ever wonder about that line about “scary ghost stories” in the Christmas carol “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”? Well, we’re gonna tell y’all all about that glorious Victorian Christmas tradition! Besides Dickens' Christmas Carol, what other stories have you heard of? Lets see if we can find any.  Christmas Ghosts: A Victorian Tradition Christopher Lee...

recorded November 26, 2025 Before Steampunk November, organizers were approached by Big Media asking about the "Steampunk Lifestyle." What does that mean, to Big Media or to us? How does steampunk play a part in your life on a regular or daily basis? 

recorded November 12, 2025 Steampunk November is the longest running steampunk event in Texas. And it's in three days!! Sheriff Natalie McTavish joins us for a pre-fest hang out. What changes will there be this year? What are you looking forward to? How will we tea duel? Frankenstein  The Thief and the Cobbler   Powers of Darkness (Dracula)  

recorded October 29, 2025 It's the last show before Halloween! Let's finish off a season of cults and strange societies with Madame Blavatsky and her occult/religious movement, Theosophy. We discuss the questionable origin story, and how Theosophy has influenced modern culture. Theosophical Society on Wikipedia Madame Blavatsky: a seeker of truth — and a fraud Henry Steel Olcott: Timeline of an Oc...

recorded October 15, 2025 This Mid-October we welcome researcher Bekah June back to talk about about esoteric secret societies and strange luminaries of the time. Thax reveals the secrets of the Freemason (not real super secrets, tho.) Jack picks it up as three Masons create the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for more occultism than the Masons offered. Political intrigues and infighting commenc...

recorded October 1, 2025 Tonight we celebrate the coming of October, our favorite month! Also the rapture that didn't happen on Tuesday a week past. Yeah, for real. I guess. What is the rapture, anyway? Also, since we're sliding that way, horrific religious cults of the 1800's! A warning. Some may find this episode disturbing. Listen at your own risk.   Edmund Creffield and the Brides of Christ Fr...

recorded September 17, 2025 No topic this week. Instead lets hang out and have a good old school show and tell! We haven't done one of these in months, so we're all over the place.  Nautilus is still the greatest SP show we've seen in a long time. Wednesday  the new season has its problems, but we still think it's a good watch.  O. Henry a turn-of-the-century author from Austin, Texas Perfect Crea...

recorded September 3, 2025 This week we celebrate the American laborer that keeps the wheels of industry turning. But what was it like at a time when labor drove the actual industrial revolution? TLDR, it was a horror show of course! We go from the Poor Law of 1834 to workhouses, to manufacturing fire in a locked building, to labor safety laws and the value of unions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...

recorded August 20, 2025 Tonight we begin an exploration of the tawdry underbelly of repressed Victorian society, venturing into what is not discussed in polite society. We approach Victorian drug use, medical and recreational, of opium, cocaine, and cannabis. The Steampunk Doctor: Practicing Medicine in a Victorian Mechanical Age Drugs in Victorian Britain Opium in Victorian Britain Opium Use in...

recorded August 6, 2025 This week we are joined by Bekah June, host of cosmic horror series "Voicemails of the Unexplained." She is also a veteran steampunk, and into weird paranormal conspiracies so this should be a fun chat. Bekah's web page, Default Theory Productions Voicemails of the Unexplained Bekah's TikTok Bekah's previous project, Tales of a Broken Reality Turning the Table: A Look at Th...

recorded July 23, 2025 Musician and steampunk presenter, Addisyn Madd joins us this week as we discuss the passing of an idol and the steampunk track at Delta H Con this last weekend. Delta H Con is a diverse fandom convention catering to Anime fans and cosplayers, tabletop and online gamers, and general geek love. This year Delta H committed a full panel room to steampunk for the whole weekend! A...