AwesomeCast: Tech and Gadget Talk

AwesomeCast 788: Pew Pew - Retro Gaming on Apple TV, Minimalist Flip Phones & the AI Backlash

July 21st, 2026  |  1 hr 6 mins

adaptive cruise control, ai ethics, ai image editing, ai video production, apple tv gaming, arduino, artificial intelligence, ask photos, browser games, consumer technology, creative ai, cruise control, data centers, data-center electricity, dave podnar, digital detox, digital ownership, digital privacy, diy electronics, dumb phones, dungeon crawler carl, flip phones, gadget podcast, gamestop, garmin connect, garmin fitness tracker, generative ai, google gemini, google photos, google photos search, gta iii, gta san andreas mod, gta vice city, katie dudas, light flip phone, machine learning, maeve chocolate, maker technology, mama’s night off, mars flyby, mike sorg, minimalist phone, minimalist technology, nasa psyche, nintendo wii remote, openmote, pastfinders, physical media, physical video games, pittsburgh bridges, pittsburgh film office, pittsburgh movie locations, pittsburgh podcast, playstation 5 emulation, ps5 emulator, ralph teetor, retro gaming, retro technology, retroarch, retroarch apple tv, sae, screenless fitness tracker, smart-home controls, society of automotive engineers, sony physical discs, sorg, sorgatron media, space exploration, tech news, technology news, technology podcast, technology regulation, video game emulation, wearable technology, wiimote

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore the return of retro technology and the growing demand for digital tools that give users more control.

Katie shares the Dungeon Crawler Carl-inspired Mama’s Night Off browser game. Dave introduces Garmin’s new screenless fitness tracker, while Sorg explains how he set up RetroArch on Apple TV to play games from classic consoles and computers.

The crew also discusses PlayStation 5 emulation, GameStop’s response to the decline of physical discs, and why consumers are returning to vinyl, CDs, cassettes, flip phones, and other forms of physical technology.

An extended conversation examines how AI is being incorporated into creative tools, business software, search, image editing, and video production. The hosts consider responsible AI use, the difference between generative AI and other machine-learning features, and the environmental and infrastructure concerns surrounding rapid data-center growth.

Other stories include NASA’s Psyche spacecraft capturing a Mars flyby, Pittsburgh movie locations in the Pastfinders app, the minimalist Light Flip phone, the OpenMote Wii Remote development board, Google Photos restoring classic search, and Ralph Teetor’s invention of cruise control.

Support AwesomeCast at https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast and find more shows at https://sorgatronmedia.com.

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

July 15th, 2026  |  58 mins 19 secs

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, fortnite, gadgets, harley quinn, hot bat summer, instagram ai, ios 27, jizai arms, katie dudas, kennywood, kids smartwatch, lego speed champions, meta ai, michael sorg, 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

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, formula 1, game preservation, geforce now, hello kitty insta360, herman hollerith, ibm history, insta360, kamin science center, katie dudas, lego f1, medication organizer, nvidia geforce now, physical game discs, pill caddy, pittsburgh podcast, pop culture collectibles, punched cards, refurbished laptops, science of speed, self-driving cars, sony playstation, sorg, steam games, tech podcast, villain support, waymo, weekly pill organizer, xbox cloud gaming

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

June 16th, 2026  |  1 hr 7 mins

ai tools, arm processor, chachi says, crazy taxi, dave podnar, electric pickup truck, fifa world cup, ford ev, gemini pro, google gemini, google one, katie dudas, like a dragon, marvel wolverine, michael sorg, 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.

Keeping Podcasting Weird: On the Road | AwesomeCast 779

May 12th, 2026  |  54 mins 23 secs

aapi heritage month, axiom custom products, baja sae, baja sae oregon, cannon beach, cetys mini baja, chachi says, ebay, engineering students, eric yuan, formula sae, gamestop, gopro, grogu, gta 6, haystack rock, katie dudas, mandalorian, mount hood, on-demand manufacturing, oshcut, pacific northwest, pedro pascal, pittsburgh podcast, portland, sheet metal fabrication, sorg, sorgatron media, strauss zelnick, student engineering, take-two, tech podcast, times square, tube bending, video game hall of fame, washougal mx, zoom

Sorg is on the road in Michigan for Wrestling Mayhem Show 1004, joined by Rizz, Mad Mike, and Producer Missy for a chaotic week in pro wrestling.

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

May 6th, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

aapi month, ai companion, apple silicon, chachi says, darth vader, dave podnar, david pogue, droid tycoon, ebay, escape vader, fazlur khan, fortnite, fortnite star wars, gadgets, galactic siege, gamestop, gaming news, generative ai, ipad apps on mac, iphone apps on mac, iphone screenshots, katie dudas, mac apps, macbook neo, pittsburgh marathon, playstation 5, ps5 slim, robot pet, roomba, sorg, star wars, 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 II Moon Mission, AI Chatbot Risks, Apple TikTok & LEGO Zelda | AwesomeCast 774

April 1st, 2026  |  1 hr 1 min

3d printing, 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, katie dudas, lego zelda, moon mission, nancy grace roman, nasa, 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, xbox

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.

Apple Podcasts Adds Video + iPhones to the Moon?! | Olympics Drone Cam, 2XKO & Hatchin’ Yoshi | AwesomeCast 768

February 16th, 2026  |  1 hr 50 mins

2xko, apple podcasts video, apple tv rumors, bad bunny lyrics translation, black history month in tech, browser fingerprinting, cover your tracks, dave podnar, drone cinematography, eff, fighting games, five below block tech, hatchin yoshi, katie dudas, live event production, marian croak, mario wonder, michael sorg, mini arcade builds, national inventors hall of fame, nintendo, olympics drone camera, online tracking, podcasting workflow, privacy, riot games, sorgatron media, spotify translate lyrics, stagecue app, tag fighter, talking flower, tech podcast, ublock origin, video podcasts, voip, vr drone goggles, yoshi toy, youtube music translate lyrics

This week on AwesomeCast 768, Sorg, Dudders, and Podnar dig into the tech and culture behind the headlines: Apple Podcasts bringing video, Olympics drone chase-cam production, and the real-world challenges of taking a smartphone on a lunar mission. Plus: Sorg’s time with Riot’s 2XKO, Dudders’ 6-in-1 air safety monitor, and a wave of Nintendo cuteness with Hatchin’ Yoshi and the Mario Wonder Talking Flower. We also share an EFF privacy self-check with Cover Your Tracks, and a surprisingly useful event tool: StageCue for managing video playback on venue screens. 

Catcade Cats, Suno AI Music & Moment iPhone Lenses — Plus Tecmo Bowl Movie?! | AwesomeCast 767

February 11th, 2026  |  1 hr 1 min

ai in advertising, ai music, anime convention pittsburgh, arcade, awesomecast, awesomecast 767, black history month, cat cafe, cat rescue, catcade chicago, cctv, cinebloom filter, content creation tools, dave podnar, downie app, dudders, dunkin merch, generative music, halftime show logistics, home security system, iphone lenses, iphone videography, iphoneography, katie dudas, live production, marie van brittan brown, michael sorg, mobile filmmaking, moment lenses, moment t-series, nintendo switch 2, puerto rico halftime discourse, ring doorbell, sangawa project, sorgatron, srt subtitles, steadicam, suno, suno ai, super bowl commercials, switch 2 sales, tecmo bowl movie, transcription workflow, youtube downloader

Sorg, Katie “Dudders” Dudas, and Dave Podnar recap Sangawa Project weekend adventures, then dive into the Awesome Things of the Week: Chicago’s Catcade cat-rescue arcade, Sorg’s first experiment making a custom track with Suno AI, and Podnar’s hands-on upgrade with Moment iPhone lenses and filters. Plus: the Tecmo Bowl movie news, Switch 2 sales milestones, Super Bowl ad/halftime logistics talk, a Black History spotlight on home security pioneer Marie Van Brittan Brown, and a creator workflow tip for downloading YouTube video + subtitles with Downie.

AwesomeCast 764: Animal Crossing 3.0 Changed Everything?! + Final Cut Updates, Premiere AI, and ChatGPT Health

January 21st, 2026  |  57 mins 58 secs

a little to the left, adobe ai video, adobe premiere pro, ai editing tools, ai safety, animal crossing 3.0, animal crossing switch, animal crossing update, apple creator studio, are you dead app, artificial intelligence news, chatgpt, chill games, chore games, compressor, content creation, cozy games, creator tools, daily check-in app, dave podnar, digital culture, digital safety apps, final cut pro, gaming discussion, gaming podcast, geek culture, indie games, iphone apps, katie dudas, logic pro, mattel sora, media workflows, michael sorg, mobile apps, motion, nintendo switch, openai, openai age prediction, personal safety technology, podcast production, powerwash simulator, skeletor ai, sora ai, tech for creators, tech podcast, technology news, video editing, video game news

This week on AwesomeCast 764, cohosts Michael Sorg, Dave Podnar, and Katie Dudas dive into the week’s biggest tech and creator stories—plus a special Animal Crossing 3.0 update field report from Charlotte. Katie checks in with her Animal Crossing–obsessed niece Charlotte to break down what’s new, what’s addictive, and how “slumber islands” change the way you build and share your island adventures.