Nerd Farmer Podcast

Bill Fitzgerald is a privacy activist and vociferous critic of the data protection practices of Big Tech. In this week’s episode Bill came on to talk about the data privacy implications of putting AI in...

After seventeen emails, dating back to December, we finally have the conversation I’ve been chasing with Diana Kuprych. Diana is a Ukrainian student doing her graduate studies at the London School of Economics. Her thesis...

Melissa Santos is a reporter for Axios covering Seattle and the State Legislature. We’ve been podding with Melissa since 2017. She is a regular on the show and one of our most requested and re-requested...

Tori is an anti-racist educator and writer. She grew up in a deeply conservative evangelical family and is now an out-spoken critic of racism and misogyny that lurks within in some Christian communities.   She joined...

This is a conversation about tariffs—with an economist who is an expert in making it plain. We’re starting with the basics: Tariffs are taxes on imports, and they’re usually passed on to consumers. So, in...

Marguerite Martin is a co-founder of Channel 253 and creator of Move to Tacoma. This is an update to her and my ongoing conversation about housing policy and real estate. You can find my previous...

Amanda Willams is a former teacher in Seattle Public Schools and is the creator of the Seattle Green Book, an online listing of Black Owned Businesses in the Seattle Area. She joined us to talk...

This week’s episode is a change of pace for the show.  Film critic Chase Hutchinson joined us for a conversation about the upcoming 97th Academy Awards. We talked through who we think will win each...

Following the inauguration of Donald Trump last month, reactions in the U.S. ranged from jubilation to alarm—depending on one’s political leanings and level of engagement. But how is the new admin being received beyond American...

In this episode, we discuss the US’ renewed expansionist ambitions with Zoltan Grossman, a professor of Geography and Indigenous Studies at Evergreen State College. Grossman helped me unpack some throughlines connecting 19th century Manifest Destiny...

One of the least discussed stories in US public education is our decision to walk away from what worked. School integration in the US peaked in 1987, coinciding with the achievement gap between Black and...

The war in Ukraine is a functional stalemate with the Russian death toll nearing 200k. Growth is down in the Russian economy and inflation and prices are up. Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s greatest...

Hundreds of fishermen laboring on U.S.-flagged ships in American waters face a harsh reality: wage theft, exploitative conditions, and little recourse. Cyrus Donato, one of over 140 inspectors for the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF),...

In this episode, we sat down with Anne Lutz Fernandez—former investment banker, retired teacher, and co-author of Schooled—to discuss education’s role in the 2024 election.  We discussed Trump’s first-term policies, Biden and Harris’s records on...

The Civil War in Sudan is arguably the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The fight to control the government in Khartoum has reportedly claimed upwards of 150,000 lives and conditions for people on the...

This is Part One of a Tacoma Audio Voters’ Guide. In this conversation, we talked through the Congressional races, statewide initiatives, statewide offices, Pierce County judges, and a proposed fire and safety levy for the...

In spite of an avalanche of outside money, Tacoma voters recently adopted a sweeping Bill of Rights for tenants that provides relocation assistance to families, in the case of steep increases in rent, and bans...

Mario Amaya is the owner and operator of Balcon X, a taco and pupusa (and putaco) restaurant located on Sixth Ave. Balcon X is named after his balcony where he got his start selling meals...

Quincy Henry is the co-owner and proprietor of Campfire Coffee, located at 1554 Market Street. He joined us for Part 4 of our ongoing series on running a small business in Tacoma. We talked about...

Last week Tacoma lost one of its brightest lights. Matt Driscoll was a columnist for The News Tribune and the editor for the paper’s Opinion Section. But he was so much more than that. Rather...

Chase Hutchinson is a Tacoma-based freelance journalist and movie critic. He came on the show to talk about the year in movies. For our conversation, we tried to focus on films not based on pre-existing...

In today’s irregular edition of the podcast, we discussed Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Trump and the political fallout from it. I was joined in studio by Producer Doug and Evelyn Lopez, host of...

Dave and Carol are longtime Seattle Sounders season ticket holders and former hosts of the Hands-Free Footy podcast. They decided, for a host of reasons, this would be their last year with season tickets. I...

Cameron Harwick is a professor at State University of New York Brockport. He previously joined us in 2022 for a conversation about the causes and impacts of the inflationary crisis in 2022.  My goal in...

Emmett O’Connell is a recovering journalist, who writes the blog Olympia Time and hosts the podcast Olympia Standard. He recently published an article examining the hoovering up of homes by corporate and institutional landlords and...