The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast

Renee Murphy, Marc Massar

5.0 (1)
Technology
Updated Weekly

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

22h ago · Bonus

S3E02 Bonus - Seven Ten!

Tomorrow's episode is all about the history of bowling technology. Pins, pinboys, automatic pinsetters, rubbers, resins, polymers! Oh, so much chemistry and mechanical engineering. But this week's lively soul/funk groove is all about the dreaded 7-10 split. Hope you're enjoying our new Season 3 house band. Lyrics below. [Verse 1] Eight went down Eight Went Down I heard 'em fall Heard Them Fall Two still up Two stand wide On the left On the right [Pre-Chorus] That lane is quiet Men stand still Two pins waitin' Waitin' on me [Chorus] Sev! Ven! Ten! Seven-ten Corner, corner Nothing 'tween Sev! Ven! Ten! Seven-ten Worst two pins Man ever seen [Verse 2] Four steps Count 'em out One Two Three Slide Thumb out Fingers last Ball rolls Moving fast [Pre-Chorus] That lane is quiet Men stand still Two pins waitin' Waitin' on me [Chorus] Sev! Ven! Ten! Seven-ten Corner, corner Nothing 'tween Sev! Ven! Ten! Seven-ten Worst two pins Man ever seen [Bridge ] It's rolling It's rolling Right board Right board Hit that wall Hit that wall Come across Come across Take 'em both Take 'em both [Final Chorus] Sev! Ven! Ten! Seven-ten Corner, corner Nothing between Seven Ten Seven-ten Watch me Watch me now [Outro ] Rolling Rolling Seven Ten 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.
6d ago

S3E01 - Going Up

For most of history, the top floor was where the poor people lived. Nobody wanted to climb four flights, so the ground floor was the good address and the attic was the punishment. Then a man in Yonkers built a brake, stood on a platform in front of a crowd, and had someone cut the rope with an axe. The car dropped a couple of inches and stopped. He said "all safe, gentlemen," and the shape of every city on earth changed. Otis didn't invent the elevator. Hoists and lifting systems go way back, and the Colosseum ran twenty-eight of them under the arena floor with eight men on a capstan for each one. What Otis invented was safety. Also the close-door button. It doesn't work. You know it doesn't work. Press it anyway. Join us for a fun and informative Season 3 opener. 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.
Aug 12 · Bonus

S3E01 Bonus - One Floor

Have you ever entered a full elevator car just to ride the elevator one single floor? Did you feel the judgement? Did you feel the shame? This week's song is a begging, pleading, song about that unforgivable sin. The single floor elevator ride. Renee and Marc are back this week after some time off with a brand new season that starts tomorrow. Our first tech topic is...wait a minute, this can't be right...elevators? Elevators. Huh. OK. Interesting. Tune in tomorrow for the Season 3 opener all about elevators. And since we've got a new Season, we've got a new house band for the season. This time, a soul ensemble. Hope you enjoy it. 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.
Aug 6

S2E26 - Aniversary, B Roll, and Renee as Orca

Happy One Year Anniversary! Marc and Renee want to thank you for a great year of the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast. We've been on a bit of a holiday with the summer months, but people are still listening. This is just a bit of a behind the scenes and a little discussion about Orcas, Bruce from Australia, Numbers, and a few flubs and redos. Just a bit more context on our discussion on numbers and listening stats...while a "big" episode a few months ago might have a couple hundred listens, the last episode we released will hit 500 this week probably. We're just shy of 12,000 downloads in a year and we've seen amazing growth thanks to all of you! So, hope you enjoy this bit of behind the scenes before we kick off Season 3 with an episode on Elevators. 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.
Jul 9

S2E25 - The Box That Ate the Living Room

Renee and Marc grew up in a prime time for television. School House Rock. Newhart. Saturday Morning. Must See TV. Somewhere in the twentieth century, a box arrived and everyone in the house started facing the same direction. For a few decades, half a billion people could watch the same moment at the same instant. Then the box multiplied. We cover the story of how TV changed the culture. This isn't a typical TV story though. Because we're us, we jump into the details of the tech as well as the impact to 20th century culture. And talk about an unsung hero - Philo Farnsworth. Who's he? Come have a listen to find out. 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.
Jul 8 · Bonus

S2E25 Bonus - Snap Back

Tune in tomorrow for a very special episode of the Nostalgic Nerds Podcast. All about Television. But the nerdy science-y television stuff. So, we had to do a song all about the way a tube TV manages to keep the image in sync. Snaps, triggers, latch, return. It was just begging to be a snappy, poppy, funky song. Lyrics below: [Verse 1] Picture starts to drift Rolling on the glass That beam won't fire on time Vertical hold is slack Phase is off the mark Every sixty-three, we're gonna Bring this picture round [Pre-Chorus] On my count On my mark Every sixty-three Now [Chorus] Snap back (snap back) Fire the pulse Latch on (latch on) Trigger the return Snap back (snap back) Every line, every field Snap back (snap back) Do what you're told [Verse 2] Picture's still on the run Frame rate's coming down Subcarrier drifts to blue Fringe on every edge Sync pulse coming late Every sixty-three, we're gonna Bring this picture round [Pre-Chorus] On my count On my mark Every sixty-three Now [Chorus] Snap back (snap back) Fire the pulse Latch on (latch on) Trigger the return Snap back (snap back) Every line, every field Snap back (snap back) Do what you're told [Bridge] Locked to the line (locked to the line) Locked to the field Sync pulse coming in on time Phase clean, no drift Snap Fire Latch Return Every sixty-three Picture's back on track [Final Chorus] Snap back (snap back) Fire the pulse Latch on (latch on) Trigger the return Snap back (snap back) Every line, every field Snap back (snap back) Locked in the frame [Outro - vocal fading] Snap back (snap back) Snap back (snap back) Every sixty-three 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.
Jul 2

S2E34 - Jell-O, America's Most Unsettled Triumph

Shout out to Bruce, from Australia for contacting Renee! Feel free to contact us any time. A perfect moulded jelly used to be a way to show you had money. Someone spent a full day boiling bones and clarifying stock so you could set a shivering centrepiece on the table and let the room see what you could afford. Then it came in a box for pennies, and everyone could have the shape. This week one wobbling dessert travels from aristocratic showpiece to grocery aisle novelty, and we ask what gets lost when you take the work out of something. 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.
Jun 27 · Bonus

S2E24 Bonus - Ninety-Five

Have you ever witnessed Jell-O reach that special temperature and just...melt away. Too long in the sun and a once solid, but wiggly, dessert turns liquid once again. That special temperature is a just a bit below average body temperature. Right around Ninety-Five degrees F. So, that's our song this week. Sorry we're running a bit behind. Schedules and production issues collaborated to keep us a bit late. Enjoy the song and the episode when it comes out. Lyrics below. [Verse 1] I hold my shape in the chill set in the dark, sitting still firm on the shelf, sealed and sound cold is the thing keeps me round [Pre-Chorus] then the room warms up real slow and the cold finally lets me go [Chorus] Ninety-five (ninety-five) just ninety-five That’s when I come alive keep me cold and I keep my shape When it’s warm, I just escape [Verse 2] they brought me out into the sun picnic day, the warm had won left too long in open air ain’t nothing holding there [Bridge] I keep my whole life on ice steady, careful, cold, precise then they left the ice box wide and now ain’t no more me inside [Final Chorus] Ninety-five (ninety-five) just ninety-five That’s when I come alive keep me cold and I keep my shape When it’s warm, I just escape [Outro - vocal fading] ninety-five warm it up, I'm gone Gone Just melt away 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.

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

Creator

Renee Murphy, Marc Massar
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

74
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast
Show Website

The Nostalgic Nerds Podcast