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Nerdist Camp

Nerdist Camp

By: Cup The Mic Productions
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Kris Grainger & Andi Elliott present a weekly podcast that aims to free the geek! Join drill sergeants Kris & Andi as they set up camp and parade all things geek for your inspection. Each week they'll be raiding the barracks for all things gaming, music, hobbies, role-play, sci-fi, astronomy, science, conspiracy, unsolved mystery, toys, comics, cosplay, film, documentary, coffee, vinyl, home recording, computers, AI, retro-tech, radiation, cold-war, history, UFO...and so on. Join us under the canvas for a delve into the world of the nerd, and make suggestions on Discord for topics and questions that you'd like us to look into. From time to time we'll have guests in the mess tent who are experts in particular topics. So keep us on your podcast provider's radar and keep your comms open, because Nerdist Camp needs you to sign up right now!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kris Grainger & Andi Elliott
Episodes
  • Ghost Ships

    Ghost Ships
    Jun 19 2026
    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!If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:nerdistcamp@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • The World's Deadliest Air Disaster

    The World's Deadliest Air Disaster
    May 29 2026

    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 truth
    • Stanley 40oz Water bottle with Straw

    Andi:

    • In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers - Discovery UK
    • Blue Moon Safari - Air. Remix album by Vegyn, heard a track on You Friends & Neighbors (Apple TV)
    • The Boroughs - Netflix


    Links to things we discussed:

    • Tenerife Air Disaster WIKI
    • Air Crash Investigation: Tenerife Air Disaster (Season 16, Episode 03, 2018). YouTube (4k, 60fps.).
    • Episode IMDB
    • Gimli Glider - Wikipedia
    • The Electric Ferrari Luce Is Finally Here | WIRED


    If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.

    If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:

    nerdistcamp@gmail.com


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 12 mins
  • Quatermass

    Quatermass
    May 15 2026
    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!If you like what you hear, please subscribe to get notifications when each episode drops.If you'd like to suggest topics for the show, or even if you think you might be geeky enough to be a guest, then please contact the show at:nerdistcamp@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 21 mins
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