AwesomeCast: Tech and Gadget Talk

Fortnite’s Hot Bat Summer, Robot Arms & AI | AwesomeCast 787

July 15th, 2026  |  58 mins 19 secs

Fortnite, Harley Quinn, Katie Dudas, Kennywood, Michael Sorg, ai privacy, apple beta, apple health, artificial intelligence, assistive technology, autonomous vehicles, batman, blood pressure monitor, camera guidelines, carnegie science center, catwoman, consumer technology, cyborg technology, dave podnar, digital ownership, digital surveillance, disability pride month, doctor octopus, fast and furious, gadgets, hot bat summer, instagram ai, ios 27, jizai arms, kids smartwatch, lego speed champions, meta ai, omron 7 series, parental controls, petersen automotive museum, phones for kids, pinwheel phones, pittsburgh technology podcast, poison ivy, robotic arms, rory cooper, sorg, speed exhibit, sports broadcasting, tech news, technology podcast, toyota supra mk4, usb-c cables, usb-c diagnostics, waymo, whatcable, wheelchair technology, women athletes

Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar explore the useful, unusual and occasionally alarming side of modern technology in AwesomeCast 787.

Dave reviews the Bluetooth-enabled Omron 7 Series blood pressure monitor, while Katie introduces Pinwheel’s managed phones, smartwatch and Wi-Fi home phone for younger users. Sorg tests WhatCable, a Mac utility that reveals whether USB-C cables, chargers and ports are really delivering the speeds they promise.

The crew also discusses Rory Cooper’s groundbreaking wheelchair innovations, LEGO’s Fast & Furious Toyota Supra, a new speed exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, respectful camera guidelines for women athletes, Instagram’s reversed AI remix feature, wearable Doctor Octopus-style robotic arms, Fortnite’s “Hot Bat Summer” and a shirtless protester’s battle with a Waymo.

Sorg begins downloading the iOS 27 public beta during the episode, while Katie saves her less-than-awesome update thoughts for the Patreon aftertalk.

GeForce Now on Apple TV, LEGO F1 Cars & Sony’s Digital Ownership Problem | AwesomeCast 786

July 7th, 2026  |  59 mins 20 secs

Formula 1, Katie Dudas, Self-Driving Cars, aeroplay, apple tv gaming, autonomous vehicles, british grand prix, business laptops, collector toys, dave podnar, dell refurbished, digital movie library, digital ownership, disability pride month, drm, dungeon crawler carl, epic games, fireworks, fisher-price little people, game preservation, geforce now, hello kitty insta360, herman hollerith, ibm history, insta360, kamin science center, lego f1, medication organizer, nvidia geforce now, physical game discs, pill caddy, pittsburgh podcast, pop culture collectibles, punched cards, refurbished laptops, science of speed, sony playstation, sorg, steam games, tech podcast, villain support, waymo, weekly pill organizer, xbox cloud gaming

F1 Drone Tech, AI Video Chaos & the World’s Largest Camera| AwesomeCast 725

July 1st, 2026  |  58 mins 41 secs

3200 megapixels, Formula 1, Red Bull, aew, ai glasses, ai tools, ai video, apple price increases, astronomy, augmented reality, dark energy, dark matter, dave podnar, digital games, drone camera, f1 drone, filming drone, five nights at freddy’s 3, gadget podcast, gadgets, game ownership, generative ai, gta 6, gta vi, hover soccer ball, ipad prices, it came from ai, lgbtq tech history, mac prices, martine rothblatt, meta glasses, minions, motorsports technology, nes, nintendo switch game key cards, physical games, pittsburgh podcast, podcast seo, pride month, retro gaming, rubin observatory, sirius xm, snap ar glasses, sorg, sorgatron media, space camera, steam games, tech news, tech podcast, united therapeutics, vera rubin observatory, viral tiktok

This week on AwesomeCast 785, Sorg and Dave Podnar get geeky with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s massive 3,200-megapixel digital camera, Red Bull’s world’s fastest filming drone chasing a Formula 1 car, and the tech legacy of Martine Rothblatt for Pride Month.

SteamOS, Shokz Headphones, Retro Phones, Sports Tech & a T-Pain Social Media Fail | AwesomeCast 784

June 23rd, 2026  |  59 mins 35 secs

Michael Sorg, ai coding, amd gpu, automation, baja sae, bazzite, bone conduction headphones, chachi says, claude guillemot, commodore phone, dave podnar, digital twins, doordash, dumbphone, formula sae, gadgets, gaming, gta 6, jon maddog hall, lgbtq tech history, linux gaming, linux history, mlb, nex playground, open ear headphones, open source, pc gaming, pittsburgh podcast, pixel art baseball, podcast, pride month, proton, referee technology, retro phone, retro tech, ribbie, running headphones, sailfish os, shokz openrun pro 2, social media fail, sorg, sports technology, steam deck, steam machine, steamos, t-pain, tech podcast, technology podcast, ubisoft, valve, var, vibe coding, video game news, world cup

Road Trip Tech, World Cup Culture Shock, Strong Museum, and Gemini Pro | AwesomeCast 783

June 16th, 2026  |  1 hr 7 mins

Katie Dudas, Michael Sorg, ai tools, arm processor, chachi says, crazy taxi, dave podnar, electric pickup truck, fifa world cup, ford ev, gemini pro, google gemini, google one, like a dragon, marvel wolverine, missy sorg, nerdvana, niagara falls, ocarina of time, pittsburgh podcast, pride month, qr code camouflage, road podcast, sophie wilson, sorgatron media, stranger than heaven, strong museum of play, super mario bros auction, tech podcast, tmnt the last ronin, travel tech, tupac video game, vibe coding, video game hall of fame, video game news, world cup

Sorg and Katie are back on the road in Michigan, Dave Podnar joins from the Pod Cave, and Missy runs the studio back in Pittsburgh for AwesomeCast 783.

This week’s episode is a road trip mix of tech, travel, gaming, and AI. The crew talks about World Cup fans discovering American stores and food culture, Niagara Falls adventures, a 26th-floor IHOP, Sophie Wilson and the history of ARM processors, Chachi’s video game news, the Strong Museum of Play, Nerdvana, Ford’s hidden QR code in prototype EV camouflage, and Sorg’s surprise discovery of Google Gemini Pro access through his Google storage plan.

Google I/O AI Agents, iOS 27 Accessibility, Fortnite Returns & Retro Camera Apps | AwesomeCast 780

May 20th, 2026  |  1 hr 1 min

1986 transformers movie, USB, aapi heritage month, accessibility technology, agentic ai, ai agents, ajay bhatt, apple intelligence, dave podnar, dave pondar, dazz cam, dungeon crawler carl, epic games, fortnite ios, gadget reviews, google gemini, google i/o 2026, graphic novel, intel, ios 27, iphone accessibility, iphone photography, optimus prime, pittsburgh podcast, retro camera app, sorg, sorgatron media, tech news, tech podcast, transformers the movie, vintage photography, webtoon

Sorg and Dave Podnar host AwesomeCast 780 with tech news, gadget picks, and a big dose of AI conversation. This week’s topics include the Dungeon Crawler Carl graphic novel, Dazz Cam’s retro iPhone photography app, Ajay Bhatt’s role in creating USB, Apple’s upcoming iOS 27 accessibility features, Google I/O’s agentic AI announcements, Fortnite’s return to iOS, and the 40th anniversary Transformers: The Movie “Apology Tour.”

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast

Fortnite Star Wars, Apple Silicon App Tricks, Robot Pets & the Future of GameStop | AwesomeCast 778

May 6th, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

Fortnite, Katie Dudas, Roomba, Star Wars, aapi month, ai companion, apple silicon, chachi says, darth vader, dave podnar, david pogue, droid tycoon, eBay, escape vader, fazlur khan, fortnite star wars, gadgets, galactic siege, gamestop, gaming news, generative ai, ipad apps on mac, iphone apps on mac, iphone screenshots, mac apps, macbook neo, pittsburgh marathon, playstation 5, ps5 slim, robot pet, sorg, tech podcast, video games, wwe ai

Sorg, Katie, and Podnar are back for AwesomeCast 778 with Apple Silicon Mac tips, Katie’s hands-on thoughts on the MacBook Neo, Fortnite’s Star Wars takeover, robot companions from the creator of Roomba, AI in wrestling promos, GameStop’s rumored eBay bid, and a spotlight on skyscraper engineering pioneer Fazlur Khan for AAPI Month.

Artemis 2 Returns, Amazon Luna Shuts Doors, and Someone Put macOS on a Wii?! | AwesomeCast 775

April 15th, 2026  |  1 hr 2 mins

NASA, amazon luna, apple silicon gaming, arab american history month, artemis 2, cloud gaming, dave podnar, digital ownership, geek podcast, ipod, m1 macbook pro, macos on wii, mike sorg, mythic app, nest, nintendo wii, overcast, pittsburgh podcast, podcast transcripts, podnar, pothole data, retro weather channel, rise mascot, smart cities, sorg, tech podcast, technology news, tony fadell, waymo, windows games on mac

Sorg and Podnar are back with a packed AwesomeCast covering the successful Artemis 2 splashdown, the story behind the mission mascot RISE, a wild macOS-on-a-Wii experiment, Mythic for running Windows games on Mac, Amazon Luna’s latest bad news for digital game buyers, Waymo using pothole data to help cities, Overcast adding podcast transcripts, and a Retro Weather Channel experience that taps straight into cable nostalgia. Plus, Dave’s Arab American History Month spotlight features Tony Fadell, the tech mind behind the iPod and Nest.

Artemis II Moon Mission, AI Chatbot Risks, Apple TikTok & LEGO Zelda | AwesomeCast 774

April 1st, 2026  |  1 hr 1 min

3D printing, Katie Dudas, NASA, Xbox, adobe illustrator, ai chatbots, ai sycophancy, animation tools, apple tiktok, artemis ii, article analysis, awesomecast, awesomecast 774, browser extension, chachi, channelsurfer, chatgpt, claude, dave podnar, deepseek, digital vs physical games, epic games layoffs, etsy shop, finder mascot, gaming news, geek culture, gemini, great deku tree, heinz ketchup, heinz verified, hidden figures, kalpana chawla, katherine johnson, lego zelda, moon mission, nancy grace roman, nintendo, ocarina of time, patricia cowings, pittsburgh podcast, plastic fun time, project turntable, sorg, stanford study, tech podcast, vera rubin, whats up with that, women’s history month

This week on AwesomeCast 774, Sorg, Katie, and Dave Podnar talk about the upcoming Artemis II moon mission, the surprisingly useful Heinz Verified restaurant map, and Chachi’s growing 3D printing Etsy shop. They also dig into a Stanford study on AI chatbot sycophancy, check out the What’s Up With That research assistant browser extension, react to Adobe Illustrator’s new 2D-to-3D Project Turntable, explore Apple’s TikTok mascot strategy, and get excited about LEGO Ocarina of Time sets.

DJI Robot Vacuum Hack, Playable Tetris Magazine & Viral Olympic Moments | AwesomeCast 769

February 25th, 2026  |  51 mins 51 secs

DJI, Dreamcast, Genesis, Michael Sorg, Sae, Tetris, accessible mobility, ai coding assistant, autonomous vehicle, black history month, civic progress challenge, cybersecurity, dave podnar, dunkin, dunkin mitten, figure skating, frederick mckinley jones, gadget news, game pop, hideki sato, iced coffee, innovation, mortal kombat, podnar, red bull bulletin, robot vacuum, saturn, sega, smart home security, sorg, tech news, the verge, thermo king, vibe coding, video game news, viral video, winter olympics

Sorg and Podnar cover big and bizarre tech headlines: an alleged DJI robot vacuum security mess, AI-assisted “vibe coding,” and why camera-equipped home gadgets deserve extra caution. They also dig into the SAE Civic Progress Challenge (accessible mobility innovation), geek out over a playable Tetris magazine cover, and hit viral Winter Olympics moments—plus a Dunkin iced coffee mitten that’s as ridiculous as it sounds. Includes Chachi’s Video Game Minute and a Black History Month spotlight on Frederick McKinley Jones.