Robot or Not?

Listener Erik sent us this video of self-navigating wheelchairs in the Miami Airport. Does the Roomba Rule apply? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Friend of the show Frank is seeking to delineate when something is a “vending machine” and when it’s just a machine that vends. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Thanks to Friend of the Show Casey, we’re talking about weird cars and car classes again. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Ivan sent in a link to an autonomous excavator that assembled a six-foot wall out of rocks. Is it the Roomba of construction materials?! John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

A tale of dishwashers and large sinks. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

We follow up on some feedback about our theme songs, and theme songs in general, while taking on whether we use the Skip Intro button when we should be listening to TV theme songs. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

It’s baseball’s Opening Day, so here’s our discussion of automated balls and strikes, also known as “Robot Umps,” how they relate to automated Hawk-Eye tennis calls, and why we won’t ever know how good human umpires could actually be. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Fresh out of the oven for Pi Day, here’s a discussion of who exactly thinks pizza is a pie. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Do you have to leave the airport or get out of the car to claim you’ve been somewhere? (And are you under oath?) John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Kent is building actual killer robots. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

What makes a hat a hat? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside. Sometimes the streets have no name, but other times they are named roads, or avenues, or boulevards, or drives. What does it all mean? Does Jason live on a road or a drive? When we go there, we go there with you. It’s all we can do. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Spatulas, scrapers, flippers, and home economics. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

A question about cold brew coffee makes us question everything about coffee. Is everything coffee? Probably not. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

A perfectly normal discussion of Italian Ice takes a left turn and goes into outer space, where other ices are available. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

When is someone a musician? Are DJs musicians? And more importantly, are John and Jason musicians? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Some timely news regarding a university warning its community members to “avoid all robots.” John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

On John’s other podcast, Casey Liss often says he lied when he means he made a mistake. So what is a lie? (Trust us, we totally answer this one.) John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Nick wonders what John’s policy on spoilers is. (Spoilers for “Romeo and Juliet” and “Citizen Kane.”) John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Hold on, John, Jason’s got this one. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Live from the Relay FM Podcastathon, Jason and special guest Stephen Hackett ask John a bunch of questions from the Robot Or Not question list. Topics include: Toast, Roadkill, Sandwich Order of Operations, Garage, and Cereal Soup. Please donate to St. Jude and help move us one step closer to the day where no child dies from cancer. John Siracusa and Jason Snell with Stephen Hackett.

Listener Jamie wonders whether his dog is really sighing. We discuss noises dogs make. Also, after posting our previous episode we realized we got the numbering of the podcast out of order. Sigh. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Andrew is worried that things we say are “the worst” are really just bad. John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Listener Magnus is concerned that his favorite podcast is on hiatus. When is something on hiatus and when is it cancelled? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Finally we talk about robots again. If a robot controls a camera, is it a camera robot? John Siracusa and Jason Snell.