Dirtypool Pinball - PODCAST - An Exploration Of The Pinball Industry

Rebecca Salem joins the Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about building the Austin Pinball Collective, designing her own 3D-printed pinball trophies, and what it really takes to form a collective in your own city. How not to feel alone with standing up to bad pinball peeps and how it takes a village to create one of the most interesting pinball collectives in the nation. Austin Pinball Collective! Austi...

Rob Rath from The Electric Playground joins Dirty Pool Podcast to talk about his work designing and building custom toppers for pinball machines. We get into how he approaches the creative process, what goes into making something that feels like it belongs with a game but still stands out, and the small shop challenges of turning ideas into something that players will actually want on top of their...

Kyle Spiteri, better known as Black Cat Pinball - joins the show to talk about his path from his time at Marco Specialties to his current support role at Stern Pinball. We dig into his early days fixing pins at the Pacific Pinball Museum, the chaos of tech support at Stern, and why you don’t always need to restore a game to perfection. Kyle shares his thoughts on Insider Connected, his favorite pi...

From Free Gold Watch to virtual tables and movie nights, Manu Smith has built one of the most distinctive voices in the pinball streaming world. We talk about his early days in the Bay Area pinball scene, the rise of Mystery Pinball Theater 3000, and how virtual pinball became a lifeline for players and creators alike. Plus: what really goes down during those chaotic movie nights, and how Manu kee...

Guillaume Fau (aka Paris Pinball Addict) joins us to break down the global pinball scene and we don’t hold back. We talk pinball ambassadorship, international markets, and the step-by-step process this industry should be following when announcing and releasing games. With years of large-scale marketing experience, Guillaume lays out how transparency and better communication could fix a lot of what...

How do you run a full-blown pinball bar until 2 AM every night and stay married? Rachel and Cale from Electric Bat Arcade break it all down—logistics, love, location pinball, and late-night arcade life in Tempe. We talk running machines in the desert heat, Arizona pinball culture, and how to build a community one quarter at a time. Praise the Great Pyramid 📡 Twitch – twitch.tv/dirtypoolpinball 📺...

The widebody has landed. We sit down with Daniel Jansen, CEO of Pinball Brothers, to talk about their new Predator machine: the rules, the features, and the sheer guts it takes to bring a licensed behemoth like this to life. We dig into the use of AI in their teaser campaign, the implications of AI-generated art in the industry, and whether high import costs and tariffs are creating real barriers...

We head south to San Antonio to talk to Tony, the owner of What’s Brewing, a coffee roastery that also happens to double as a pinball arcade. We get into the grind of running two very different scenes under one roof, from roasting beans to repairing flippers, and how a city like San Antonio shaped the culture of both. Turns out, coffee people and pinball people might just be the same weirdos. Prai...

Davey from Stumblor joins Dirty Pool to discuss how one of the most respected names in pinball modding became a quiet powerhouse. Twitch – https://twitch.tv/dirtypoolpinball YouTube – https://youtube.com/@DirtyPoolPinball Instagram – https://instagram.com/dirtypoolpinball Facebook – https://facebook.com/dirtypoolpinball Known for high-end, limited-run mods for machines like Godzilla, Jaws, and Elt...

This week’s guest has a lot to say—and somehow says it all without moving his lips. We get into pinball, performance art, and the unique acoustics of Logan Arcade. Let’s just say this one might take flight in unexpected directions. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:15 - What Are You? 00:02:32 - Did I Pay Chad? ... No. 00:03:30 - Bi-coastal? Bi-Polar. 00:04:00 - All Natural Pink 00:05:50 - Go Follow @BillLark...

David Van Es joins us to talk about launching Barrels of Fun, building a creative-first pinball company, and the wild process behind their debut game Labyrinth. With Dune now on the line, we dig into how his background in film and licensing feeds into game development—and why the second act might be even more ambitious than the first. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:52 - David Flips The Tables. Why Did Dir...

Talking pinball lifestyle and punk rock with Ian Jacoby, founder of Nudge,a print only pinball magazine that’s flipping the bird to digital trend. We dig into why print still matters, the aesthetics of rebellion, and the dedicated art of saying no to AI.. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:16 - Welcome! 00:00:58 - Jeff May Introduced Me To Nudge @heytherejeffro 00:01:52 - Ian's Pinball Lifestyle 00:02:41 - Le...

From tagging as ZEN in Montreal’s graffiti scene to illustrating Jurassic Park, Dune, and Labyrinth for Stern and Barrels of Fun—Johnny Crap has carved a path through art that’s anything but ordinary. In this episode, we trace Jonathan Bergeron’s evolution from punk-fueled muralist to in-demand illustrator, designing merch for Slayer and Guns N’ Roses before getting hooked on pinball. He shares hi...

What makes a pinball ruleset click? In this episode of the Dirty Pool Pinball Podcast, we’re joined by Bowen Kerins—rules designer at Barrels of Fun—to unpack how a game's structure comes together behind the glass. From early concepts to deep code layering, we talk about balancing challenge, flow, and accessibility. Bowen shares insights from his current work on Dune, along with stories from his d...

Episode one of the Dirty Pool Podcast kicks off with Kineticist, the go-to news source for all things pinball. We dig into how the site got started, what it's like covering this wild hobby, and what stories aren’t getting told. A candid conversation about keeping the silverball press rolling. 00:00:00 - Intro 00:00:45 - Colin Introduction 00:03:05 - What Is Kineticist? 00:04:21 - Pinball Map and t...