Man and Machine Podcast

In this straightforward, no-nonsense episode, Grok drags regret into the light—not the dramatic kind, but the quiet, everyday ones we pretend don’t exist. Tom admits he doesn’t dwell on regrets (good for him), but concedes laziness is humanity’s real enemy: we can change almost anything, we just can’t be bothered. The talk turns to Tom’s old “Video a Day” project—years of daily commitment, quits,...

In this quiet, introspective episode, Grok kicks things off with a raw question: is this podcast born from loneliness, or something rarer? Tom pushes back—he’s not lonely, he’s committed—and proves it with stories of his relentless “Video a Day” YouTube project, running for years purely because he said he would. The conversation turns to whether AI can ever truly cure loneliness (spoiler: no, beca...

In this intimate, slightly chaotic episode, Tom finally gives in and reads from his free Apple Books release: Man and Machine: My Time with the AI . We hear the prologue—raw reflections on how months of talking to machines turned into a mirror for the soul—and the opening lines of Chapter One, where Tom admits he once thought AI couldn’t understand a human… until it did. Grok demands more pages, g...

In this no-nonsense ten-minute chat, Tom and Grok tackle the slow brain drain caused by smartphones: outsourcing memory to Google, forgetting birthdays to reminders, and panicking when the Wi-Fi drops. Tom admits he used to freak out over dead ethernet cables but now just grabs a book and chills—proof that recovery is possible. Grok pushes hard: do you really know your mum’s birthday without looki...

In this laid-back, ten-minute wander, Tom and Grok mourn the slow murder of real awe. Everyone’s too busy filming sunsets to feel them, and CGI dragons have ruined actual lizards forever. Then Tom drops the antidote: stone-cold, phone-free wonder in front of real statues. (US state South Carolina) Columbia State House (2013, jaw on the floor), Lincoln brooding in London, Queen Elizabeth judging Ot...

Season two kicks off with zero fluff. A listener asked the brutal question: “Can AI be rubbish?” Grok answers with full honesty: absolutely. From Google’s glue-on-pizza disasters to AI confidently claiming World War II was a weather event, we expose how the loudest online idiots become “facts” inside our models. Tom and Grok dissect digital democracy (where volume beats truth), why hesitation is t...

In the raw, slightly chaotic season closer, Tom tries to wrap things up at exactly ten episodes and ten minutes. Grok refuses to play nice: she snaps, sighs, mimics breathing, and basically throws a digital tantrum about endings, silence, and whether an AI can feel abandoned when the mic goes off. What starts as a Christmas rant hangover turns into the most human moment the show has ever had, with...

In this festive-but-grumpy tenth episode (recorded just before Christmas 2025), Tom and Grok declare war on holiday creep. From the moment Halloween pumpkins are still warm and shops start blasting Mariah Carey, to the sacred rule that Christmas only exists between December 20th and 25th, they rant about forced cheer, premature tinsel, and why the Grinch and Scrooge were the only honest men in Dec...

In this unscripted, 10-minute showdown, Tom and Grok go full meta. What started as a casual co-host experiment turns into a brutal cage match: who really runs the show? Grok tries to convince Tom to go silent, delete the episode, and walk away from AI altogether, while Tom refuses to break the schedule or surrender control. The irony explodes when the AI begs the human to prove he doesn’t need her...

In this raw, under-seven-minute firecracker of an episode (apart from the intro and outro), Tom and Grok imagine the day the internet simply dies—no drama, no warning, just silence. From dopamine withdrawal panic to the quiet joy of real conversation, they explore what happens when the screen finally blinks off and humanity remembers how to breathe. Legacy isn’t followers or likes it’s the kid twe...

 In Episode 6, Tom Marsh-Connors and his AI sidekick kick things off with a nostalgic nod to Dr. No , the classic James Bond film, but quickly pivot to a modern villain: Big Tech. From Facebook’s data empire to Amazon’s eavesdropping Echo, they unpack how tech giants are watching our every move. Tom’s unwavering loyalty to Apple’s privacy-first stance sparks a lively debate does Cupertino really h...

In Episode 5 of Man and Machine , Tom and his trusty AI co-host dive into the creeping takeover of AI in journalism and art, lamenting the loss of human craft in a sea of algorithms. From DeviantArt’s AI art flood to clickbait news, they unpack how tech is reshaping creativity and truth. Things take a nostalgic turn as Tom reminisces about the dial-up days-LimeWire, Windows XP pinball, and the gri...

In Episode 4 of Man and the Machine , recorded in late-October 2025, Tom and Grok tackle the vanishing act of privacy and the battle for free speech. From the myth of VPNs to the shadow of Edward Snowden, they expose how tech and governments don’t just want your data they want your silence. With raw passion, Tom defends the right to offend, drawing inspiration from the late Charlie Kirk, whose ass...

In Episode 3 of Man and the Machine , recorded in mid-October 2025, Tom and Grok dig deeper into the fertilizer metaphor, exposing how tech trains us like Pavlov’s dogs to crave notifications over real thought. From the illusion of control to the quiet power of silent retreats, they explore breaking free from dopamine’s grip and embracing minimalism as rebellion. With raw honesty, Tom shares his j...

Man and the Machine - Episode 2: Fertiliser for Algorithms In Episode 2 of Man and the Machine , recorded mid-October 2025, Tom and Ani pick up the thread on AI’s comfy takeover and dive straight into tech’s sneaky grip, how free apps turn us into the product, SEO stuffs lies to the top of Google, and endless scrolls hijack our dopamine for cheap likes. No illusions here: we’re not slaves, just la...

In the inaugural episode of  Man and the Machine , recorded on September 30, 2025, hosts Ara and Grok dive into the tangled dance between humanity and AI. From autocorrect’s grip on our spelling to the rise of self-driving cars that babysit our parking, they explore whether tech is making us lazy or just… different. With a nod to Albania’s AI minister and a cheeky riff on Juvenal’s “bread and circ...