The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast

Renee Murphy, Marc Massar

5.0 (4)
Technology

A podcast exploring the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now.

5h ago · Bonus

S3E10 Bonus - Same Seat

This week, the nerds talk gambling tech. Which reminded Marc of a time he was walking to work in Japan and passed a man in a pachinko parlor feeding the machine and smoking his cigarette. Eight hours later...same seat, same man, and a whole lot more cigarettes. Our song is about that man. Here's to you chain-smoking pachinko parlor gambling man. [Verse 1] Shutters rattle up at nine I'm the first one through the door There you are, old friend of mine Waitin' like the day before [Pre-Chorus] Folks rush by, they got no clue They don't know you like I do [Chorus] I'm still here (still here) By your side, old friend Nowhere else to be You and me until the end I'm still here (still here) [Verse 2] Ashtray's filling up by two Lunch crowd's gone around the bend All my silver goes to you That's the way you treat a friend [Chorus] I'm still here (still here) By your side, old friend Nowhere else to be You and me until the end I'm still here (still here) [Bridge] Ain't no gamblin', just a game All I win's a little prize Diff'rent window, diff'rent name Turns to cash, and no surprise [Verse 3] Same folks walkin' home at eight Phone's been ringin' half the day Let it ring, they'll have to wait You and me, we're here to stay [Final Chorus] Lord, I'm still here (still here) By your side, old friend Nowhere else I'd go You and me until the end I'm still here (still here) We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
6d ago

S3E09 - Scope Creep

In 1608 a Dutch spectacle maker put two lenses in a tube to spot enemy ships, and the government wouldn’t even give him a patent. Four hundred years later the same idea is a ten-billion-dollar gold mirror a million miles from home, catching light older than the Earth. Renee and Marc follow the glass from Galileo to Webb: telescopes held up with string, a mirror polished perfectly to the wrong shape, and Renee’s forty-year grudge against a smudge. We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Oct 21 · Bonus

S3E09 Bonus - Farther Than the Eye

For this week's episode Marc and Renee look to the sky. Big fans of telescopes and astronomy the Nerds run through the history and future of astronomical instruments. Humble beginnings as tools for naval intelligence to instruments that peer into the very beginning of time. So, our song this week is about that longing to see farther that you can with your eye and the desire to see the heavenly bodies more clearly. Lyrics below. [Verse 1] Lay me down in the cool night grass Mama gazing way up high That one's a world just like ours Just a light up in the sky [Pre-Chorus] Only little lights Only tiny sparks Twinkle through the night Hiding in the dark [Chorus] I want to see farther (see farther) Farther than the eye I want to see clearer (see clearer) Clear across the sky [Verse 2] Held the glass up to my eye Jupiter came swimming in Four small moons were at his side Saturn wore a silver ring [Pre-Chorus] Oh, I never knew All that waited there Hiding in the blue Hanging in the air [Chorus] I want to see farther (see farther) Farther than the eye I want to see clearer (see clearer) Clear across the sky [Bridge] Every light I'm looking at Left before my mama's day Some of them burned out and gone Still they're shining down my way Lookin' back (lookin' back) A long, long way [Final Chorus - key change] I want to see farther (see farther) Farther, far away I want to see clearer (see clearer) Clear to yesterday [Outro] Farther (farther) Farther than the eye We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Oct 15

S3E08 - Radar Love

A secret radar valve crossed the Atlantic in 1940, a candy bar melted in an engineer’s pocket, and the first microwave oven weighed 750 pounds and needed its own plumbing. Fifty years later it was a $200 box in nine out of ten kitchens. Marc and Renee get into the magnetron, a radio telescope tricked by somebody’s lunch, and a brother who set his hair on fire with a paper towel. And, after eighty years, why your leftovers are still cold in the middle. Shout out to Tom for correcting us on some pigeon facts from the storage episode. We talk about that and thank Tom at the end of the show after the outro. Here's a link to a film he worked on about microfilm. https://www.tombessoir.com/microfilm We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Oct 14 · Bonus

S3E08 Bonus - Cold in the Middle

Tomorrow's episode is all about the microwave...where it came from and where it's headed. But, as modern and convenient as the microwave is...sometimes it just leave your food cold in the middle. Have a listen to the episode's song and see if you can relate. The sadness, the disappointment, the frustration. The edges are too hot and the middle of that mystery burrito is still cold. Lyrics below. [Verse 1] Took it from the freezer Laid it on the plate Watched it turnin' in the light Lord, I could not wait [Verse 2] Bell rang out like Sunday Steam rose to the sky Edges hot as lava, Lord Tears came to my eye [Pre-Chorus] Then I took a bite And it wasn't right [Chorus] Cold in the middle (cold in the middle) Cold, Lord, cold Lava round the edges And the middle's just like ice They told me it was modern They told me it was fast I had it on the highest I had it on full blast [Verse 3] Mama's stove took an hour Grandma's took all day Came out warm the whole way through Now it's gone away [Pre-Chorus] Then I took a bite And it wasn't right [Chorus] Cold in the middle (cold in the middle) Cold, Lord, cold Lava round the edges And the middle's just like ice They told me it was modern They told me it was fast I had it on the highest I had it on full blast [Bridge] Two more minutes (two more minutes) Stir it round again Two more minutes (two more minutes) Lord, I don't know when Edges gettin' harder Middle still won't give Two more minutes That's the way I live [Final Chorus] Cold in the middle (cold in the middle) Cold, Lord, cold Lava round the edges And the middle's just like ice They told me it was modern They told me it was fast I had it on the highest I had it on full blast [Outro - fading] Two more minutes (two more minutes) Two more minutes (two more minutes) [beep] Still cold We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Oct 1

S3E07 - Price Check

The first thing ever scanned at a supermarket checkout was a 67-cent pack of Juicy Fruit, in Troy, Ohio, in 1974. Now barcodes get scanned ten billion times a day, the price sticker is long gone, and the price on the shelf may soon depend on who's buying. Renee and Marc cover freight-car grime, grease pencils, the mark of the beast, and the smart cart that still wants you to hold everything up to the light. We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Sep 30 · Bonus

S3E07 Bonus - When the Light Hits Me

What would the barcode say to you if it could talk? Would it wax poetic on its journey through the consumer landscape? Would it tell you all about the hands it passed through? No. It wouldn't. It's a barcode. Lyrics below. [Verse 1] I'm on the milk and the morning bread I'm on the pills beside your bed You carry me through every door You never looked at me before [Pre-Chorus] There's so much in me Waitin' to come free Just shine on me [Chorus] When the light hits me (when the light) Gonna tell you all I know Every mile and every hand Everywhere I've had to go When the light hits me [Verse 2] I rode a truck from Tennessee I waited weeks in Aisle Three I've seen the loading dock at dawn I know the hands that passed me on [Pre-Chorus] There's so much in me Waitin' to come free Just shine on me [Chorus] When the light hits me (when the light) Gonna tell you all I know Every mile and every hand Everywhere I've had to go When the light hits me [Bridge] Here it comes I see it red Everything I never said Closer now It's findin' me Oh, this is it Now you'll see [Final Chorus] When the light hits me (when the light) Gonna tell you all I know Every mile and every hand Everywhere I've had to go When the light hits me When the light hits me [outro] Oh (oh) Seven, two, four (seven, two, four) One, oh, six (one, oh, six) Eight, three, nine (eight, three, nine) One... five [Outro - spoken] Huh. ...I thought there'd be more. We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.
Sep 24

S3E06 - Out of Space

For centuries, even millennia, the price of storing important information has gone down as technology advances make each generation obsolete. That was mostly true until the last couple of years. Storage prices have increased drastically and it's the first time this has happened in the mechanical storage era. This generation of storage is more expensive today than it was last year. Renee and Marc, always students of history, decided to take a look into the history of storage. From clay, to papyrus, to parchment, to sticks, and beyond into the modern era. Grab a frosty beverage and relax as we briefly tour the history of storing information. And losing some of it too. We'd love to hear from you. Click here to give us ideas on new episodes. Join Renee and Marc as they discuss the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now. email us at nostalgicnerdspodcast@gmail.com Come visit us at https://www.nostalgicnerdspodcast.com/episodes or wherever you get your podcasts. Merch is available on the site too. It helps cover the cost of the podcast.

5

out of 5

4 Ratings

A podcast exploring the history of technology, and what it teaches us about now.

Creator

Renee Murphy, Marc Massar
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

90
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast
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The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast

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