We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants. And there are no more impressive shoulders to stand on than the great physicists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

This week, Mark is in conversation with author and teacher Katherine Benfante, to determine who wins physics.

• (00:00) - We need physics!
• (00:32) - Introduction
• (02:37) - Katherine’s pick: Sir Isaac Newton
• (05:01) - Mark’s pick: Joseph Swan
• (07:29) - Katherine’s pick: James Clerk Maxwell
• (13:53) - Mark’s pick: William Shockley
• (15:41) - Katherine’s pick: Ernest Rutherford
• (19:13) - Mark’s pick: Heinrich Hertz
• (21:22) - Katherine’s pick: Albert Einstein
• (25:23) - Mark’s pick: Guglielmo Marconi
• (28:12) - Katherine’s pick: Stephen Hawking
• (33:26) - Mark’s pick: Alexander Graham Bell
• (37:04) - Midamble
• (40:01) - Building the final list
• (42:59) - Honourable mentions
• (43:46) - Katherine’s p ick: Sir Isaac Newton
• (46:40) - Scattered

Find Katherine via her website, buy her book Scattered on Amazon, or follow her on Twitter.

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Hands up who overthinks stuff? Did you really put your hand up? Is anyone else putting theirs up? Did you put yours up too quickly? Maybe you were too slow? And what is a hand meant to do once it’s up in the air, anyway? I mean, we’re always being told to wave them like we just don’t care… how does a person do that?

And breathe.

Kim Witten helps people turn their overthinking into expert thinking, and she joins Mark to build a top-5 list of ways to tame the gremlins in our brain.

• (00:00) - You are in charge
• (00:40) - Introduction
• (01:21) - Why the brain?
• (03:30) - The vice of advice
• (06:13) - Kim’s pick: Make a top-5 list of you
• (11:33) - Mark’s pick: Walk for a 10-song playlist
• (15:06) - Kim’s pick: Get some perspective
• (18:52) - Mark’s pick: Occupy your chimp
• (22:26) - Kim’s pick: Treat feelings as feedback
• (25:20) - Mark’s pick: Make the right thing the easy thing
• (28:28) - Kim’s pick: Get stuff out of your head
• (32:04) - Mark’s pick: Dance like nobody’s watching
• (34:33) - Kim’s pick: Be like Alice
• (39:00) - Mark’s pick: Meditate for 15 minutes
• (45:31) - Midamble
• (46:42) - Building the final list
• (48:00) - Honourable mentions
• (54:01) - Hold That Thought

Find Kim via her website, and make sure to sign up for her newsletter to keep the journey of gremlin-taming going.

PS: Mark doesn’t usually have coaches or coachy-type conversations on this podcast. But Kim’s one of the good’ns, and what she has to say is sound.

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Staple a jelly doughnut to your ear, set your spleen to channel 27 and ask your favourite albino squirrel to a dance. Lex Friedman joins Mark to discuss their top-5 songs by “Weird” Al Yankovic that aren’t parodies.

Lex is, among many things (musician, improviser, podcaster, game developer and consultant), a turbo Yankovic fan, and it’s quite possible that even Al himself might struggle to come up with a better list.

• (00:00) - Stay weird, Al
• (00:40) - Introduction
• (01:04) - Getting into Weird Al
• (05:52) - Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
• (08:02) - Lex’s pick: Word Crimes
• (11:06) - Mark’s pick: Everything You Know is Wrong
• (14:26) - Lex’s pick: Trapped in the Drive-Thru
• (18:16) - Mark’s pick: Albuquerque
• (21:41) - Lex’s pick: Hardware Store
• (24:04) - Mark’s pick: Christmas at Ground Zero
• (26:49) - Lex’s pick: Skipper Dan
• (28:33) - Mark’s pick: Your Horoscope for Today
• (31:04) - Lex’s pick: Frank's 2000" TV
• (32:49) - Mark’s pick: The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
• (37:27) - Midamble
• (39:40) - Building the final list
• (40:55) - Honourable mentions
• (45:17) - The music of Liam & Lex
• (48:00) - More of Lex Friedman

Find Lex online on his website, play one of his many word games, hang out with him on Mastodon, or buy one or all of Liam & Lex’s albums.

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Rhythm is a dancer. The rhythm is gonna get ya. And you must not, under any circumstances, stop the beat.

This week, Stephanie Fuccio joins Mark to pick their top 5 songs that drag them to the dance floor. At the end of this, you’ll either leave with an earworm or the need to jump on a mini-trampoline for a bit.

• (00:00) - We have to dance
• (00:17) - Introduction
• (00:58) - When do you dance?
• (05:41) - Steph’s pick: Missy Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
• (08:40) - Mark’s pick: Brush Shiels – Fields of Athenry
• (10:37) - Steph’s pick: Girls' Generation – 소녀시대
• (12:31) - Mark’s pick: Deee Lite – Groove is in the Heart
• (16:46) - Steph’s pick: Donna Summer – The Last Dance
• (18:43) - Mark’s pick: House of Pain – Jump Around
• (20:25) - Steph’s pick: Walk the Moon – One Foot
• (24:47) - Mark’s pick: Madness – Baggy Trousers
• (26:36) - Steph’s pick: Elderbrook – Glad I Found You
• (36:54) - Midamble
• (36:54) - Mark’s pick: Reef – Place Your Hands
• (38:57) - Building the final list
• (41:09) - Honourable mentions
• (47:23) - Ai and Podcasting

If you have a podcast, you can work with Steph to make it better, or follow her AI and Podcasting newsletter to learn how to make ChatGPT do your bidding.

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Whether they go “pew pew”, “what is this thing called ‘love’?” or “Give me your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle”, androids have, it turns out, been a staple of sci-fi films for a century.

This week, Ayesha Khan joins Mark to rank androids from sci-fi films.

• (00:00) - Cold open
• (00:19) - Introduction
• (02:00) - What is an android?
• (03:38) - Ayesha’s pick: The Terminator, from Terminator 2: Judgement Day
• (07:32) - Mark’s pick: Marvin, from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• (10:29) - Ayesha’s pick: Ava, from Ex Machina
• (13:16) - Mark’s pick: Ash, from Alien
• (15:46) - Ayesha’s pick: Evil Maria, from Metropolis
• (20:58) - Mark’s pick: The Terminator, from The Terminator
• (24:33) - Ayesha’s pick: The Stepford Wives, from The Stepford Wives
• (26:54) - Mark’s pick: David, from AI
• (31:39) - Ayesha’s pick: Data, from Star Trek
• (35:10) - Mark’s pick: C-3PO, from Star Wars
• (39:28) - Midamble
• (41:28) - Building the final list
• (44:39) - Honourable mentions
• (48:03) - Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

Ayesha is the host of the podcast Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*. You can follow her tireless work wherever you get podcasts, and on Youtube and Instagram.

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Whether you like to bash away at them or tickle them gently, you can get a lot of beautiful noise out of 88 keys.

Jon Hickman rejoins Mark to discuss their top-5 piano pop ac.

• (00:00) - Cold open
• (00:26) - Introduction
• (00:47) - Jon’s pick: Billy Joel
• (03:21) - Mark’s pick: Ben Folds (Five)
• (15:28) - Jon’s pick: Regina Spektor
• (19:12) - Mark’s pick: Elton John
• (24:20) - Jon’s pick: Sean Smith
• (31:14) - Mark’s pick: Muse
• (35:42) - Jon’s pick: Keane
• (41:12) - Mark’s pick: Stevie Wonder
• (49:55) - Midamble
• (52:14) - Building the final list
• (54:56) - Honourable mentions
• (01:01:17) - More of Jon Hickman

Find Jon @jonhickman just about everywhere (but not on the hellsite), or visit his lovely website.

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Nothing is ever quite as it seems in the world of spies. A watch isn’t just a watch – it’s a deadly weapon. That phonebooth? Also a weapon. Bag pipes? Weapon. This sandwich though, that’s just Q’s lunch. Don’t touch it.

Valerie Paris rejoins Mark to discuss their top-5 Bond gadgets. Like Valerie’s previous appearance, it’s funny and charming. Unlike Mark’s previous Bond episode, it’s accurate and researched.

• (00:00) - Cold open
• (00:26) - Introduction
• (00:54) - Welcome to Bond
• (03:29) - Valerie’s pick: The rebreather from Thunderball
• (05:00) - Mark’s pick: Garrote watch from From Russia with Love
• (11:51) - Valerie’s pick: The Felix lighter from License to Kill
• (14:00) - Mark’s pick: Mini rocket cigarette from You Only Live Twice
• (17:03) - Valerie’s pick: Crocodile suit from Octopussy
• (18:54) - Mark’s pick: Ericsson JB988 from Tomorrow Never Dies
• (21:37) - Flip phone nostalgia
• (23:22) - Valerie’s pick: Grenade pen from GoldenEye
• (26:36) - Mark’s pick: Single digit sonic agitator from Day Another Day
• (31:33) - Valerie’s pick: The golden gun from The Man with the Golden Gun
• (33:38) - Mark’s pick: Smart blood from Spectre
• (36:54) - Bring back romantic Bond
• (43:33) - Midamble
• (45:32) - Building the final list
• (47:53) - Honourable mentions
• (50:56) - If Bond gadgets were real
• (51:46) - Bond’s silliest gadgets
• (54:58) - More of Valerie

Find Valerie’s interactive novel and video games on her itch.io page, and follow her on Twitter.

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The world faces a host of very real and serious dangers. But if you believe there’s nothing little ol’ us can do, it’s probably because that’s what certain people want you to think.

No, this isn’t a conspiracy episode – just a collation of ways you can actually make a difference in your home, your street, your local area, and maybe a little further afield.

Rebecca Bratspies, environment expert and law professor joins Mark to discuss their top-5 ways we can actually make a difference.

• (00:00) - Cold open
• (00:28) - Introduction
• (01:03) - More than trees and bunnies
• (03:06) - What’s the world’s problem?
• (04:51) - Mark rationalises his list
• (06:01) - Rebecca’s pick: Vote
• (08:05) - Mark’s pick: Ask before you judge
• (11:36) - Rebecca’s pick: Get involved locally
• (18:24) - Mark’s pick: Teach empathy
• (21:53) - Rebecca’s pick: Eat less meat
• (27:38) - Mark’s pick: Watch the Monty Python Argument Sketch
• (28:58) - Rebecca’s pick: Rethink your use of plastic
• (33:10) - Mark’s pick: Stop othering people
• (37:59) - Rebecca’s pick: Be a lifelong learner
• (41:22) - Mark’s pick: Spend time with people, not systems
• (46:02) - Midamble
• (50:36) - Building the final list
• (52:19) - Honourable mentions
• (54:04) - Keep up with Rebecca

Find Rebecca’s work via her website, and follow @RBratspies on Twitter.

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