Shift Run Stop

Kev Cecil, Kev Cecil. Rings a bell, doesn't it? You've definitely come across Kev's work, because he's written for everything. Black Books, Little Britain, Armstrong and Miller, Katy Brand, Harry & Paul, Armando Iannucci... wherever you go, there he is, often teaming up with writing partner Andy Riley. Most recently, the pair co-created the three-part hiking comedy The Great Outdoors, which was acclaimed for its funny jokes and brilliant cast including Mark Heap, Katherine Parkinson and Ruth Jones. He's a performer too, and has been in various things you like, including The IT Crowd and Spaced. This week we hear about all that, plus hiker geeks, Hyperdrive and Animal Crossing.

That rustling noise you hear? Why, it's our mercurial snacks expert Dave, returning with a cornucopia of weird trans-seasonal treats from the bargain bin of hell.

Links: Kev Cecil (Twitter) | Kev Cecil (IMDB) | Andy Riley on Shift Run Stop | The Great Outdoors (IMDB) | Leila's new fave film Going The Distance | Justin Long on Chart of Lust | Animal Crossing (Wikipedia) | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy a cassette tape of this podcast

Kim Plowright is an inspiration. She turns up in all the best projects like a digital Bill Murray, and instantly makes everything a million times better. This week we learn why Hypercard games were so weird, how to voice a Numbers Station, and what it was like sharing a school with our Dave, who returns this week armed with a few snacks that should never have been made.

Kim Plowright | Hypercard | The Manhole | Prestel (again, it's like we're obsessed) | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy this podcast on audio cassette | Or simply donate

Elizabeth Sparrow is President of the Chartered Institute for I.T. In this week's fun-packed episode, we find out about being in charge of geeks, use the phrase 'digital native', and ask our guest whether kids should be forced to use Facebook. We also get the scoop on a film competition you can enter - with real prize money. And be warned, you might be going up against US. Yeah.

In other episode 42 news, Roo calls Leila's bluff with a surprisingly difficult quiz about Red Dwarf, and we welcome the return of snacks expert Dave, under whose expert supervision we sample a few crisps Francais - and some from nearer home where we just call them crisps.

Links: BCS (The Chartered Institute for I.T) | Digital Revolutions Competition | Digital Revolutions on YouTube | Red Dwarf (Wikipedia) | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy this podcast on audio cassette | Or why not cut out the middle man, and just donate?

We chat to Alex Bellos this week. You must have seen his popular maths book (illustrated by SRS guest Andy Riley); Alex's Adventures in Numberland is everywhere at the moment. But is maths really that interesting? How many loaves of bread does it take to change a bell curve? What's 'God's Number' and is it cheaper if you ring after 6pm? Alex computes the answers, while in an unexpectedly gothic twist, your hosts assemble an edible skeleton and pool their entire knowledge of Twilight.

We have three copies of Alex's book to give away. Email us your address to stand a chance of winning one!

Links: Alex Bellos (homepage) | Alex Bellos (Twitter) | Alex's illustrator Andy Riley when he was on this show | Alex's Adventures in Numberland (Amazon) | The science part: Rokicki's God's Number site | Drop us an email | or add us on Twitter | or buy a tape of this episode

This week's guest is a prolific game designer. So prolific, in fact, that if you like games you probably already have something he's created in your house. So it was an honour to talk to Reiner Knizia about German board games, the iPhone market, whether German telly really is rubbish, and lots more.

And your hosts play a game of their own this week, too. To celebrate the podcast's 40th birthday, Leila quizzes Roo on his knowledge of Shift Run Stop. But how well will you do? Pause the cassette, and try the quiz yourself. The game is afoot!

Links: Reiner Knizia (Wikipedia) | Reiner's company Knizia Games | Ingenious (Amazon) | Buy this episode on audio cassette and party like it's 1988 | ...or simply donate an organ.

Denise Wilton, co-founder of B3ta and creative director at Moo, joins us this week to discuss creativity, community, Chris Morris, Commodore PETs, cross stitch, corpses, Community Chests and cheating.

Meanwhile, your hosts become angry and confused about popular culture and Leila badly wants to believe something Roo still can't bring himself to stomach.

Are you prepared to experience the most interesting thirty-six-and-a-bit minutes of your life so far? Go and get a cup of tea first. We'll wait.

Magicians are massive geeks and we thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Ali Cook's lonely adolescence in this enchanting episode. Your hosts also find a moment on a park bench to discuss the toaster/Kryten overlap in Red Dwarf and share details of the idiotically simple video games they've been wasting their brains, time and 21st century computing power on this week.

Links: Ali Cook (home page) | Ali Cook (Twitter) | Ali's 2010 Edinburgh show "Pieces of Strange" | Ali's amazing water tank trick on YouTube | The Complete Works of Derek Dingle | List of Red Dwarf episodes (Wikipedia) | Buy this podcast on audio cassette | ...or just donate, and keep the dream alive.

Film-maker Ivo Gormley drops in this week to tell us about his new projects, as well as the ones he's probably best known for - Us Now and the brilliant new documentary about live gaming, Playmakers. He's an inspirational and interesting chap - why not follow him on Twitter? We also enjoy some unusually tasty snacks with regular guest Dave and talk about Roo's favourite iPad games, supermarket fruit machines, and other stuff too...

Links: Playmakers | Us Now | Ivo on Twitter | Think Public | Dave's Snackspot site | Buy this podcast on audio cassette

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock tells us how to make a telescope, where you can launch a satellite, and why people STILL haven't gone back to the moon, in this week's show. Maggie leads the optical instruments group at Astrium and communicates big ideas in an accessible way through her own company Science Innovation Ltd. She must be the most enthusiastic scientist in our neck of the galaxy and we really loved meeting her and her new daughter, Lauren.

Elsewhere this week, Roo and Leila discuss eyesight, All The Rage gets an almost embarrassingly comprehensive plug, Dave feeds us summer pies, whatever they are - and lots more.

Maggie (Wikipedia) | Maggie on Desert Island Discs | Maggie talking about a really big star on the news | All The Rage magazine | Dave's site Snackspot | Buy this podcast on audio cassette

Meet the esteemed computer scientist, academic and Bletchley Park campaigner Dr Sue Black, and find out how she fell in love with the birthplace of British computing, and why the 1980s classroom BBC Micro is more dangerous than you think. Elsewhere, your hosts discuss everything from the 'Hide and Seek' live gaming event that took place at London's National Theatre recently, to why boys aren't allowed to play with girls' toys, and The Great Twitter Portrait Project. Our Dave pours out more odd drinks, and are we having a stroke, or does everything taste of cinnamon?

When you've listened to that, check out Leila's anti-lifestyle magazine All The Rage, which returns this month after a year away, like Wispa. The summer special is themed on STYLE and is resplendent with former Shift Run Stop guests including Naomi Alderman, Adam Tandy, Peter Fletcher, Alex Preston and our very own Roo and Dave!

Links: Dr Sue Black | Sue on Twitter @Dr_Black | Hide and Seek | The Great Twitter Portrait Project | All The Rage magazine | Buy this podcast on audio cassette