AwesomeCast: Tech and Gadget Talk

Apple Shortcuts + Fast & Furious Coaster Chaos | AwesomeCast 797

September 23rd, 2026  |  1 hr 8 mins

Carplay, Michael Sorg, NASA, Siri, TMNT, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, ai automation, ai generated art, ai graphics, apple automation, apple carplay, apple intelligence, apple maps, apple shortcuts, artificial intelligence, astronaut, baja sae, barbie, cody rhodes, dave podnar, ellen ochoa, engineering students, fast and furious, fast and furious hollywood drift, formula sae, guile, haas foundation, hispanic heritage month, instagram automation, ios shortcuts, iphone automation, nissan rogue, pittsburgh podcast, popcorn bucket, roller coaster, sae international, santa monica, social media automation, sorg, street fighter, technology podcast, tmnt pizzeria, universal studios hollywood, waze, women in stem

Sorg and Dave Podnar dive into Apple Shortcuts’ increasingly powerful automation tools, including a shortcut that can generate Instagram captions and hashtags from a photo and prepare the post for sharing.

Then Sorg brings stories back from California: a visit to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pizzeria in Santa Monica, a wild experience aboard Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster, and a useful Nissan Rogue CarPlay setup that let him run Waze and Apple Maps at the same time.

Xbox Cloud Limits, Retro Gaming, and MapQuest’s Comeback | AwesomeCast 795

September 8th, 2026  |  51 mins 51 secs

Carplay, Katie Dudas, Michael Sorg, Snoopy, Super Nintendo, Tetris, The Legend of Zelda, alarm clock app, cartridge save backups, chachisays, cholera mapping, clucky, console affordability, dave podnar, dungeon crawler carl, epilogue gb operator, game boy, game boy camera, gaming news, geek culture, great pumpkin, john snow, lego ideas, mapquest, nintendo switch 2, ocarina of time, panic, pittsburgh podcast, playdate, princess donut, project helix, questies, retro gaming, roman reigns, sn operator, star trek 60th anniversary, starbucks peanuts, strange new worlds, street fighter 6, tariff refunds, technology podcast, wastewater surveillance, xbox cloud gaming, xbox disc to digital, xbox game pass, xbox series s, zelda 40th anniversary

Xbox cloud limits send Sorg back to his console, MapQuest gets an 8-bit makeover, and Clucky makes you earn your snooze. Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar talk Star Trek at 60, Zelda, retro gaming gadgets, Snoopy collectibles, and Dungeon Crawler Carl LEGO fan projects.

Apple M6 Macs, Grogu & RC Racing | AwesomeCast 793

August 25th, 2026  |  1 hr 28 mins

3D printing, Katie Dudas, Michael Sorg, Star Wars, airport gaming, apple, apple m6, artificial intelligence, bathroom finder app, cloudrc, dave podnar, disney nfl, dolly parton, dungeon crawler carl, field museum chicago, gameway, grogu, gta 6, gta vi, hasbro pulse, hot wheels, kingdom hearts 4, kingdom hearts disney plus, linus torvalds, linux, linux 35th anniversary, local ai, m6 chip, mac mini, mac studio, mattel game studios, minecraft, nature calls app, pittsburgh international airport, pittsburgh podcast, pittsburgh steelers, pittsburgh technology, plastic fun time, pokemon, pokemon fossil museum, racing simulator, rc cars, rc racing, rockstar games, sorg, technology podcast, thunderbolt 5, transformers, transformers minecraft, ultimate grogu, unix, uno

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar are back with a packed AwesomeCast covering the latest intersections of technology, gaming, gadgets, and geek culture.
The show opens with a remembrance of Dolly Parton and her extraordinary charitable legacy before diving into RC cars controlled through full-size racing simulators and Apple’s updated Mac mini and Mac Studio hardware. Dave explains the M6 chip, Thunderbolt 5 clustering, and why running AI locally could become increasingly attractive for businesses and creators.
Chachi takes us inside Chicago’s Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibit and delivers gaming news on Kingdom Hearts 4, Mattel Game Studios, and the latest GTA VI leaks. Katie opens a box full of 3D-printed Dungeon Crawler Carl collectibles, while the crew celebrates 35 years of Linux.
Plus: Transformers invades Minecraft, Hasbro creates a $600 interactive Grogu, the Nature Calls restroom finder launches, Pittsburgh International Airport gets a gaming lounge, and Disney characters are being paired with NFL teams.
Get geeky. Get awesome.

Xbox Games on Mac & Linux? Freddy Fazbear Goes IRL & Video Stores Return | AwesomeCast 791

August 11th, 2026  |  59 mins 40 secs

EA, Five Nights At Freddy's, Michael Sorg, Netflix, Xbox, adobe project indigo, ai photo editing, ai photography, american dream, amusement parks, atari, betamax, binge buster, cedar point, cloud gaming, computational photography, dave podnar, diablo, digital ownership, doom the dark ages, dvd, electronic arts, forza horizon, freddy fazbear's pizza, gaming news, geforce now, grand theft auto vi, gta 6, lawrenceville pittsburgh, lewis latimer, linux gaming, lost lizard pittsburgh, mac gaming, movies anywhere, nature calls run, nvidia geforce now, physical media, pittsburgh apps, pittsburgh tech, pittsburgh technology podcast, pittsburgh weather, quake, quake 30th anniversary, reddit pittsburgh, restroom finder, running apps, six flags, sorg, stormfreak, streaming movies, streaming services, tech news, technology podcast, vhs, video stores, xbox game pass, xbox on linux, xbox on mac, xodus

Sorg and Dave Podnar explore what happens when new technology collides with some very old ideas. Binge Buster turns streaming discovery into a virtual video-store experience, Pittsburgh's Lost Lizard is actually renting VHS, DVD, and Betamax again, and disappearing digital movie purchases have Sorg wondering whether physical media deserves another look.

Steam Game Cartridges Are Real?! Xbox’s Disc Comeback & AI Love Island | AwesomeCast 790

August 4th, 2026  |  56 mins 16 secs

Katie Dudas, Michael Sorg, Social engineering, Space photography, Xbox, ai reality show, ai slop, ai video, apple health, artificial intelligence, august interactive, battlefield 6, brother p-touch, creator tools, cybersecurity, dave podnar, digital ownership, ea layoffs, electronic arts, fitbit, fruit love island, gadget podcast, galaxies, game preservation, health technology, kevin mitnick, label maker, lsst camera, lunar science, moon impact, moonbase y, nasa games, national social engineering day, pc gaming, physical media, pittsburgh podcast, playstation discs, sony playstation, spacex, steam cartridges, steam games, tech news, technology podcast, travel apps, travel technology, vera c rubin observatory, wrinkles app, xbox backwards compatibility, xbox disc to digital

AwesomeCast 790: Steam Game Cartridges Are Real?! Xbox’s Disc Comeback & AI Love Island

AI Graphics Get Smarter + Xbox Classics on PC & LEGO Star Trek | AwesomeCast 789

July 28th, 2026  |  54 mins 51 secs

AI, Katie Dudas, Michael Sorg, Star Trek, Xbox, accessibility technology, adobe photoshop, ai education, ai image editing, artificial intelligence, atari, atom smasher, audible, audiobook, audiobook history, autobot blaster, centipede, chachisays video game minute, chatgpt, chatgpt images, commercial street bridge, dave podnar, dungeon crawler carl, education technology, game preservation, generative ai, graphic design, hasbro, humanoid robot, jem and the holograms, lego, lego smart play, optimus prime, peter cullen, photoshop, pittsburgh history, pittsburgh tech podcast, pittsburgh technology, pong, retro gaming, robosen, robotics, sorg, squirrel hill tunnel, steam deck, tech news, technology history, technology podcast, transformers, universal pictures, uss enterprise, video game news, westinghouse, xbox backward compatibility, xbox pc

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.

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.

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.