AwesomeCast: Tech and Gadget Talk

A Minions Router, Windows 98 Solitaire and Fast-Food Emo | AwesomeCast 798

September 29th, 2026  |  54 mins 26 secs

Castlevania, Katie Dudas, NASA, Xbox, activision, boeing starliner, book it, call of duty, castlevania 40th anniversary, commercial spaceflight, crew dragon, dave podnar, davolink minions router, gadgets, gaming news, grimlock, internet culture, kevin minion router, little free library, microsoft gaming, minions router, optimus prime, pittsburgh great race, pittsburgh podcast, pittsburgh technology, pizza hut, retro computing, retro gaming, solitaire, solitaire alone together, sorg, sorgatron media, spacex, symbiote studios, tech podcast, technology news, technology podcast, transformers, weird tech, wendy's emo album, wi-fi 6e, windows 98

The Minions made a Wi-Fi router — and somehow it’s actually good.

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar are back for AwesomeCast 798 with a wonderfully strange collection of tech, gaming, nostalgia and Pittsburgh stories.

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.

AwesomeCast 794: Xbox Discs Go Digital, Gamescom’s AI Problem, $100K Keyboards & Retro Tech

September 2nd, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

Katie Dudas, NASA, Xbox, ai in video games, brütal legend, cable management, chachisays video game minute, commodore 64, cyberpunk, dave podnar, dolly parton, donkey kong country, double fine, exoplanets, game preservation, gamescom 2026, generative ai, lego advent calendar 2026, luxury keyboards, mechanical keyboards, nancy grace roman space telescope, nintendo eshop, nintendo switch, nintendo switch sale, peter cullen, physical media, physical video games, pittsburgh podcast, pro football hall of fame, retro computing, retro gaming, roku city, sorg, sorgstock, tech news, technology podcast, tim curry, usb-c cables, virtual races, xbox discs to digital

Xbox is finding a new way to bridge physical and digital gaming, Gamescom 2026 has restarted the debate over generative AI in game development, and somehow we’ve found a keyboard that costs around $100,000.

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar discuss Xbox’s Discs to Digital program and what it could mean for used games, delisted titles and game preservation. ChachiSays looks at AI use in Gamescom titles and the continuing decline of physical game sales. Katie explores Roku City’s tributes to Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Peter Cullen, while Dave dives into the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Plus: LEGO Advent Calendars arrive early, Brütal Legend honors Tim Curry with 666 minutes of free gaming, the bizarre Donkey Kong Country CGI cartoon returns to our lives, the Nintendo Switch bargain bin gets weird, Katie labels a slow USB-C charger, Dave finds luxury keyboards with unbelievable prices, and a Cyberpunk-themed Commodore 64 sends us back into retro-computing memories.

Hosted by Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar.

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.

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

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

July 21st, 2026  |  1 hr 6 mins

Katie Dudas, Sae, 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, 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, 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.

Awesome Chat: iTargetGolf

July 9th, 2026  |  27 mins 16 secs

TrackMan, awesomecast, awesomechat, cash cup golf, driving range technology, entrepreneur advice, frédéric guitton, gamified golf, golf business, golf entertainment, golf innovation, golf range, golf startup, golf technology, hole in one challenge, in bay lights, inrange, interactive golf, interactive targets, itargetgolf, pittsburgh podcast, real life video game, rfid golf balls, sorgatron media, sports entertainment, sports tech, startup interview, technology podcast, toptracer, virtual golf

AwesomeChat welcomes Frédéric Guitton of iTargetGolf to talk about the future of interactive golf technology and how driving ranges are becoming more social, competitive, and game-like.

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.