This week we are lucky enough to be joined by technology broadcaster Aleks Krotoski, known for her work at the Guardian (particularly the Tech Weekly podcast) and most recently for her new four-part prime time BBC Two series, Virtual Revolution. Aleks tells us about some of the leading lights she spoke to on this innovative show and explains why she believes we live in such exciting times. Still, we can't resist reminding her of some of her more dedicated followers.
Virtual Revolution is on Saturdays, 8:15, BBC 2, and you can watch the latest episode on iPlayer. Needless to say, she can be found on Twitter.
We also accost Mark, one of the dashing chaps who stands on a box outside Hamleys in a top hat. He tells us about the origins of the biggest toyshop in the known universe, and why his daughter hates Toy Story.
Meanwhile, Dave Green continues to eat rubbish so you don't have to, as we look back on the second half of the decade in snacks.
Aleks also heads up the Guardian's Tech Weekly podcast. She shot to geek megastardom in the late 90s, hosting TV shows like Bits and Thumb Bandits, and she maintains a loyal follower base from those days.
In this week's fun-packed edition of Shift Run Stop we hear the sounds of ponies, meet real life author, Guardian columnist and dad Chris Cleave, learn about the San Francisco weather system from our foreign correspondent Anna Pickard, get a topical confectionery newsflash from our snacks expert Dave Green and more besides! Something for everyone, surely?
Chris is an author and journalist. He writes a column for the Guardian Family section every week and both of his novels have been adapted for feature films. The first, 'Incendiary', starred Ewan McGregor, and the second 'The Other Hand' (published as 'Little Bee' in the US) will feature Nicole Kidman.
He joins us in episode 11 of Shift Run Stop, arriving in your ear holes on Thursday 28th January.
This week we chat to Nick Pope, the former head of the MOD's UFO project (recently released into the public domain). Nick is a well-respected broadcaster who speaks on all aspects of the unexplained, so it was very nice of him to put up with our incessant questions about the Government's contingency plans for alien invasion (hey, it's good to check). It was great fun of course, and we really enjoyed meeting him. You can find Nick's website here.
Dave Green looks back on significant snack events from the last decade, while movie buff Paul Kerensa tells us what to expect from the next one, according to his excellent website, The Movie Timeline.
Meanwhile, your hosts Roo and Leila chat about a games-related book launch that Leila and Dave attended last week, Roo's facial recognition issues... and lots more! This episode features sounds from Space Intruder.
Some extracts from our chat with Nick "spooky" Pope, speaker and broadcaster on the unexplained and former head of the MOD's UFO project. We had a very interesting chat about Robbie Williams, alien invasion and Millennium fever. And as you can see, he's really not that spooky at all.
Nick features in episode 10, released Thursday 21st January 2010.
For those who haven't seen it yet - this is great. Someone has scanned in a children's book from the early 70s called "2010: Living in the Future" and it's well worth a look.
It's a bit of a kids' "Things to Come", a guidebook to living in 2010 written simply because "It is fun to guess what it may be like". Some of the ideas are eerily prescient, e.g. overpopulation, the prevalence of screen-based interfaces - and he even sort of anticipates the ubiquity of the internet. Elsewhere it's a bit more wack (free public transport? no more pollution?!).
This week we were really honoured to talk to two fantastically clever artists who make use of technology in their work. Artist/performer Sarah Angliss has been researching the Uncanny Valley, and we hear about some of the eerie musical experiences she has created, for the Adam Curtis "It Felt Like A Kiss" piece and elsewhere. Sarah plays everything from the piano to the theramin and frequently makes use of automata and robots in her witty and evocative shows.
Paul B Davis is an artist and lecturer at Goldsmiths, well-known for his work with computer art/music collective Beige, particularly NES cartridge hacking. Beige were among the first to record audio data for 8-bit computers onto a vinyl music LP - "vinyl for software distribution". Both classically-trained musicians, both drawn to a historical aesthetic that goes beyond simple nostalgia, and both fascinated by the technical and creative process of art-making, Paul and Sarah find they have much in common.
Plus Leila and Dave Green go to the Tatsuo Miyajima show (running till January 16th), we all play Astro Wars and Dave finds that plenty of Easter treats are already in the shops.
In Thursday's episode we meet musical artist/performer Sarah Angliss. Sarah describes herself as a "musician, engineer and writer" and has a great reputation for creating live shows that make use of unusual instruments and creepy robots. Regular listeners might be excited to hear that she has been collaborating on the Adam Curtis/Punchdrunk project "It Felt Like a Kiss". We invited Paul B Davis in too, cos we really love his work and thought Sarah and Paul should meet each other. Paul is an artist and lecturer at Goldsmiths, well-known for his work with computer art/music collective Beige, particularly NES cartridge hacking which he explains in the video above. Needless to say we found the resulting conversation fascinating!
See you back here on Thursday 14th for all this and MORE - including Easter snacks, obviously. It is the second week of January after all.
This week's episode was tremendous fun. Journalist and comedy writer Ariane Sherine tells us about her new book which features original pieces by everyone from Richard Dawkins to Josie Long. Ariane's now-familiar slogan "There is probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life" was first displayed on London buses in 2008, after thousands joined her campaign to match religious advertising with an atheist message. We also learn about her TV comedy writing career, working with Seinfeld and Larry Sanders producer Fred Barron.
You might be surprised that trendy young thing Samuel Preston ("Preston", formerly of The Ordinary Boys and Celebrity Big Brother) is a big retrogamer and Jim Henson fan. We welcome Samuel's brother Alex too, whose fascinating-looking and extremely timely debut novel "This Bleeding City" will be published by Faber in March. Both Prestons are very gifted writers, and we strongly recommend checking out their websites, below.
Roo and Leila chat amongst themselves about lame tourist attractions of Dorset and Hampshire... oh and everyone's favourite snack-munching former Amiga Power journalist Dave Green is back with some delicious and strange sounding things that aren't, in fact, edible at all! Or are they?
This week we are lucky enough to be joined by technology broadcaster Aleks Krotoski, known for her work at the Guardian (particularly the Tech Weekly podcast) and most recently for her new four-part prime time BBC Two series, Virtual Revolution. Aleks tells us about some of the leading lights she spoke to on this innovative show and explains why she believes we live in such exciting times. Still, we can't resist reminding her of some of her more dedicated followers.
