Nerdist Camp

Remember childhood, remember the innocence of doing something just because it’s fun and not feeling the need to be productive and to produce content? Today we examine the hobbies we forgot could just be fun and we discuss the ones we have decided to revisit or are considering going back to. NewsArtemis IIIGoogle AI terminates Spam YouTube accountsCMG's Ghostwatch documentary picked up by 5 - TelevisualListen to Britain’s dawn chorus of 1976: the dramatic loss of birdsong in 50 years | Birds | The GuardianThis fortnight we are recommendingAndi:The Agency - Paramount+This Is for Everyone a book by Tim Berners-Lee - Bookshop.org UKDon't Call It Art a book by Austin Kleon - Bookshop.org UKKris:Prismacolor pencilsBerlin and The Lady with an Ermine.Ann DroidLinks mentioned in this episodeIan Ruhter Photography - YouTube3 Pack Silver Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins Box Containers - AmazonHey Weirdo! — VictoreCanon Selphy CP1500

Unless you’ve been sleeping for the last 97 years, you will have hear something recorded there, be it classical, pop, rock or hip-hop music, or many of the film scores and voiceovers that we see on both our big and little screens.Nowadays if you want the perfect recording studio, you build it from scratch, to be the perfect recording studio. But with space at a premium in the heart of London in the 1930s and also a lack of understanding of what would be the perfect recording space, Abbey Road Studios came to be born, and it would be a place, not only of incredible recordings, but of discovery, experimentation and innovation, leading us to now know exactly what we mean by the perfect recording space. Thanks Thanks to David Hepworth for his amazing book on Abbey Rd. which some of today's episode was taken from.NewsWhy tech firms are raising PC and console prices - and blaming AI for chip costs - BBC NewsTowers once planned for California shuttle launches leveled for SpaceX rockets - Ars TechnicaFirst look: November launch set for space shuttle Endeavour's towering display | collectSPACEKatalyst's satellite rescue mission is now in pursuit of NASA's Swift - Ars TechnicaCERN bids farewell to the LHC and enters Long Shutdown 3 – Home | CERNXbox Cuts Deepen: 3,200+ Jobs Gone, id Software GuttedBonnie Tyler passed away 9th July at 75 years old.This fortnight we are recommendingAndi:YouTube Watch Later Tidy - Chrome Web StoreRooster on HBO MaxStar CityKris:Kakimori Brass NibWorst Neighbor EverUnacceptable: Ed GambleMars Horizon (Switch)“Right about now - ish” (anniversaries we might have missed)Logan’s Run turned 50 on June 23, 1976Steven Spielberg’s A.I. premiered 25 years ago on 30th June 2001. National Space Centre in Leicester also turned 25 on 30th JuneIndependence Day, 30 yearsBig Trouble In Little China, 40 years8th July - 30 years since Wannabe - Spice Girls - Wannabe (Official Music Video) - YouTube8th July, - 40 years since Roxette’s debut single “Neverending Love” was releasedLinks mentioned in this episodeGoogle AI Edge Gallery  |  Google for Developers

S2E9 - Ghost ShipsHave you ever stood on a quiet harbour wall at dusk and wondered what might come drifting in on the tide — sails set, lights burning, and not a living soul aboard? Today we're casting off into the eerie world of ghost ships: the derelicts found adrift with their crews vanished, the phantom vessels doomed to sail forever, and the stubborn real-world mysteries that still refuse to be solved.There's something uniquely unsettling about a ship with no one aboard. A haunted house at least stays put — you can choose to walk away from it. A ghost ship comes to you, sliding silently out of the fog with everything in its place but the people who should be there. The idea has haunted sailors for centuries and crossed over into folklore, literature, film and games. But ghost ships aren't only the stuff of legend. Some are very real: genuine vessels found abandoned in circumstances that have never been satisfactorily explained, their stories passed down, embellished, argued over, and occasionally debunked. So tonight we're going to separate the documented from the legendary, work out why these stories grip us so tightly, and ask why, in an age of GPS and satellite tracking, the empty ship still gives us the shivers.Related Media You Might LikeGhost Ship (2002) — the gory studio horror; infamous for its opening sequenceTriangle (2009) — a clever, underrated British time-loop film set partly aboard a derelict linerThe Fog (1980) — John Carpenter's spectral mariners coming ashoreShip is called the Elizabeth DaneDead Calm (1989) — not a phantom ship but the same dread of the wrong vessel on an empty seaEvent Horizon (1997) — the ghost-ship template relocated to deep space (an easy pivot to the sci-fi end of the show)The Terror (AMC, 2018) — the Franklin expedition as slow-burn horror; ice-locked rather than adrift, but the same DNANews'World-first' vaccine designed by artificial intelligence - BBC NewsWorld first: Cambridge researchers have created a vaccine whose key component was designed entirely by AI — and it's already been tested in humans.Big ambition: The vaccine targets all coronaviruses — including future variants and animal viruses — to get ahead of the next pandemic before it starts.How it works: AI analysed genetic codes from dozens of coronaviruses and designed a "super-antigen" that trains the immune system against the whole family at once.Early trials: Safe in 39 people, with a larger 200-person study now underway. Immune response so far is modest, but scientists are calling it genuinely exciting.What's next: The same AI approach is now being used to develop vaccines for flu, bird flu, and Ebola — with experts calling AI a potential "game changer" for global health.Anthropic shuts down Fable, Mythos models following Trump admin directive - Ars TechnicaInside the fight over Claude Mythos 5 | The VergeTrump policies have accelerated the take up of renewable energy, and development of Nation based AI.Brian Johnson, special effects giant has passed away.The designer of the Eagle from Space:19992001,Stingray, Empire Strikes Back, Alien.Grainger ThingsPhiladelphia Experiment.This fortnight we are recommending:Andi:Boards Of Canada - InfernoClarkson’s Farm season 5Widow’s Bay - Apple TVEven the Good Girls Will Cry - Melissa Auf der MaurKris:The Mother of All ConsOne Person Found This Helpful (Season 4)Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (ITVX) Hypermarination.Thanks for listening, see you next time, under the canvas!

Today we’re taking a steep-dive into the world’s deadliest air disaster. We’ll look at what happened, who was affected, the causes, the things we’ve learned from it, and how a stream of events, not one single action, can eventually lead to disaster. We’ll examine the environment, the airlines themselves, what happened in the cockpit and who were the crews involved. We’ll look at Air Traffic Control and ask the all important question, “who was to blame?”We'll take a look at the events of that fateful day, as well as our usual features as Andi brings us the latest Tech News and Kris brings us more tales from the strange goings-on from the worlds of conspiracy, mystery and Cold War with Grainger Things. This fortnight we are recommending:Kris:The Crash (Netflix, 2026).Signs of Murder: A small town in Scotland, a miscarriage of justice and the search for the truthStanley 40oz Water bottle with StrawAndi:In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers - Discovery UKBlue Moon Safari - Air. Remix album by Vegyn, heard a track on You Friends & Neighbors (Apple TV)The Boroughs - NetflixLinks to things we discussed:Tenerife Air Disaster WIKIAir Crash Investigation: Tenerife Air Disaster (Season 16, Episode 03, 2018). YouTube (4k, 60fps.).Episode IMDBGimli Glider - WikipediaThe Electric Ferrari Luce Is Finally Here | WIRED

Hello and welcome back to season 2 episode 7 of Nerdist Camp.Today we have all our usual features, a deep dive into our main topic, updates on the world of tech and geekdom, and of course Grainger Things, where we look at the unusual, unexplained or declassified from history.The barracks of the nerdist camp has a sealed perimeter, because we’re deploying into one of the most influential broadcasts in British science-fiction history. Before Doctor Who, and well before the modern era of televised space horror, there was a transmission that rattled living rooms, redefining what science fiction could do on screen: The Quatermass Experiment.First broadcast in 1953, Nigel Kneale’s story follows Professor Bernard Quatermass and his rocket research team as they recover a spacecraft that returns from orbit… and it is not empty. What comes back instead is a cosmic contamination that slowly turns the single survivor into something no longer human.Today we are raiding the archives and inspecting this early Cold War-era nightmare. We’re asking what made this serial so unsettling for its time, how it shaped decades of British genre storytelling, and why its influence still echoes through modern sci-fi and horror. So fall in and keep your comms open—and welcome to Nerdist Camp.We’ll look at how it moved from TV to film, from B&W to colour, and why it’s still one of the best British Science Fiction franchises. Related Media You Might LikeThe Stone Tape (BBC, 1972) — Kneale's other masterpiece, ghosts as recordings in stoneBeasts (ATV, 1976) — Kneale anthology, includes the brilliant "Baby"Threads (1984) — not Kneale, but the natural endpoint of British apocalyptic TVGhostwatch (1992) — owes its DNA to Kneale's mockumentary instinctsAtomfall (2025) — Rebellion's post-apocalyptic videogame, openly Kneale-influencedMark Gatiss's various documentaries on British horror and ghost storiesLinks to things we talked about:The Cold War Nuclear TowerQuatermass — WikipediaNigel Kneale — WikipediaThe Quatermass Experiment (1953) — WikipediaQuatermass and the Pit — WikipediaBFI Nigel Kneale collectionEDC Belt Pouch (various colours)Spitfire notebookSwan Nordic air coolerThis fortnight we are recommendingKris:This is a Bomb: The Nevada Casino Heist (BBC iPlayer)Nuclear War: A Scenario, by Annie Jacobson (Penguin)Once Upon a Time in the West…Country, by Tony Hawks (Audible)Andi:The Pitt - HBO MaxFor All Mankind season 5 - Apple TVProject Hail Mary - home releaseThe Expanse (Prime Video)Quatermass and the Pit - JustWatchWar of the worldsThanks for listening, see you next time, under the canvas!

We all know a good film when we see one. And we sure as hell know a bad one when we see one. But some films go deeper than that. Some films challenge the boundaries of good or bad. For some films, quality doesn’t matter, especially if they don’t age well. Some films are not about the content, the acting, the dated SFX. Some films transcend that to become part of our very being, the films that define and route us in a moment from our past. Yes, today we’re not talking about the greatest films of all time (although we may think they are), today we’re talking about the films that mean something to us. The films that transport us to a time in our lives when they meant something to us. Today Andi and I look at our very personal Top 5 Films, what they mean to us, and why quality is irrelevant when a film is part of your soul. You'll have to listen to the episode, of course, to find out what we chose!This fortnight we are recommendingAndi:For All Mankind season 5. Incredible.S4: The Bob Lazar StoryKate Nash on Davina Macoll’s podcast “Beginning Again”Kris:Untold: Chess Mates (Netflix)Links mentioned in this episodeSci-Fi Graveyard (10 Classic Sci-Fi films that define the genre, but you probably missed). S4: The Bob Lazar StoryVoyager 1Coyote vs. ACME | Official Trailer - YouTubeUK powers on supercomputer that runs 21 quintillion operations/secBluetooth tracker hidden in a postcard and mailed to a warship exposed its location — $5 gadget put a $585 million Dutch ship at risk for 24 hours | Tom's HardwareOlight 19th Anniversary Sale: Baton Pro Ultra and an ArkLite Pro Ultra. DAP (Mp3 player): Hiby R4 

It’s lonely out in space. It’s lonelier when you’re a plant-loving hippy and the rest of the crew not only hate you, but they’re totally indifferent about soil, plants and wildlife. When you’re only friends are droids and plants, but you feel like the one man to save what’s left of the Earth, in the hope that one day, there might be trees, lakes and nature there once again. Today we trade the Nerdist Camp tent for a dome. So grab your watering can, load up the buggy, grab Huey, Dewey and Louis and head for the biodomes, but not too fast mind! For today we take a deep dive into the film, and the legacy of its message. Yes, today we look at Douglas Trumbull’s 1972 hippy epic, Silent Running. This fortnight we are recommendingKris:Mike and the Mechanics debut album (featuring Silent Running). Crime Next Door: The Cop, The Kidnap and the Killer (good time to explain family links to this story - Higley and the break-in at the flat). WangsplainingOnce We Were SpacemenAndi:Paradise - Disney+Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - Apple TVScrubs, season 10 on Disney+ (Kris interject with The Roses mistaken identity story, Brooklin 99)How To Get To Heaven From Belfast - NetflixDisclosure Day - new trailer

Have you ever worried about being scared by the ghosties, or grabbed by the ghoulies? Then today might be the chance you’ve been looking for to rip the covers off the mystery, or just stay away from that trap door.Ghost hunting has exploded in popularity over the last couple of decades, largely thanks to TV shows like Most Haunted, Ghost Adventures, and more recently countless YouTube and TikTok creators wandering around dark buildings with gadgets. But as the hobby has grown, so has the market for ghost hunting equipment, and that now includes a whole world of smartphone and tablet apps that claim to detect spirits, translate their words, or even display them on screen. So how much of this is genuine investigation, and how much is entertainment dressed up as evidence?NewsThere’s a tiny digital camera inside these retro 35mm film rolls | The VergeGhosts TV sitcom brought back to life as a feature film - BBC NewsThis fortnight we are recommendingKris:The Roses (Jay Roach, 2025)You Heard It Here First (Chris Macausland, BBC Sounds). Ghost radio - Leopoldo GoutHunting Ghosts with Gatiss & ColesThe Anglesey Vampire Killer (Crime Next Door, BBC Sounds)A Ghost Story for ChristmasAndi:The CreatorThe Last Frontier - Apple TVThe Mothman Prophecies - JustWatchRichard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf - podcast (writer of the Mothman Prophecies screenplay)Hannah Fry - AI ConfidentialKatee Sachoff Show - BSG rewatchLinksSandi Toksvig Billy Bragg records a radio broadcast and hears something very strange on Sandi's live show.