Shift Run Stop

What if you could play a game of Friends? Or The Wire? What would that be like? We saw Duncan at Playful 09 and were instantly hooked by his idea that dramatic storytelling and video games could merge in a new interactive concept called "Fictive Worlds". Duncan also shares his experience of developing the first PMOG (Passively Multiplayer Online Game), The Nethernet, and learning to program in COBOL (without a computer!) You should most certainly add him on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Leila reports from Grid ref TQ2191, an overgrown section of motorway near the end of the M1; Dave mops up some unlikely Valentine's Day bargains (and answers a listener's question - send them in via #askdavegreen on Twitter); we update you on our fridge sounds appeal (the audio equivalent of Roo's Flickr group) - and lots more.

Oh! And you can now donate to us by Paypal, and we've even done an FAQ page. I know! Mental.

We loved putting this episode together, and think it sounds pretty sweet. For a lot of it you can hardly even tell we're drunk.

More links: Duncan's website | and his Twitter | Play The Nethernet now | Justin Hall and Merci Victoria Grace | Abandoned motorway on Google Maps | BBC BASIC User Guide | Toblerone Tobelle | Dave's snacks site | 'In the fridge' Flickr group | Passage and Creator's Statement | Big Trak is back! | Buy Shift Run Stop on audio cassette

We love a bit of tech abuse on this podcast, so it's a real pleasure to bring you James Larsson, mad scientist extraordinaire. James hit the headlines on the BBC news site with his most recent project, Boot Fetish Pong, but old-skool listeners might remember seeing his prawn sandwich BBC micro clock back when Dave and Danny were still a couple, at Notcon 04.

We also read out some of your letters, greet our new listeners, road test Britain's spiciest crisps, and come up with an infallible new business model for the podcast. Roo has a go on a vintage adding machine and, to celebrate the week in which the podcast went nuclear, Leila visits the steamy reactor towers of scenic Dungeness. Just look at the links below. Phew! What a line-up.

More links: James Larsson's website | The Facit C1-13 Pinwheel Calculator | Dorkbot (London) | Leila in the new issue of Wired | Dungeness Nuclear Power Station | Leila's video from just outside Dungeness A [plus James Bridle, matchbox-loving friend of the SRS, has a lovely writeup and photo set of Dungeness too] | Snackspot | Travel Without The Tardis [buy].

Oh, and we were serious about putting limited edition hand made Shift Run Stop episodes on cassette tapes. Buy one now, quick, before you change your mind.

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.

More links: Aleks: blog | twitter | wikipedia | shrine | 1984 in 369 days Flickr project | Tech Weekly podcast

Unfinished Swan

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?

Links:

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.

Those numbers again:

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.

who was also there!

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?

So farewell then, 2009. We've had a great time over the last few months and are thrilled to be ending the year with what must be our most thought-provoking episode to date. Film maker Adam Curtis joins us to talk about his latest project, 'It Felt Like a Kiss' and has some brilliant theories on all of Shift Run Stop's favourite subjects: humour, games and the computer age.

Rising star of the internet and Twitter comedy powerhouse Avery Edison shares some of her work so far, and Dave Green is back with his most disappointing snacks of 2009.

Oh and we set you a new competition. It's a good, geeky one, we think you'll like it. Happy New Year!

Links:

We have an unprecedented number of guests for you in the mystery Christmas package with airholes that is this special festive episode of Shift Run Stop. Maggie Philbin and Click presenter LJ Rich join us to talk about tea, t-shirts and the days of three-channel TV, while comedy writer-performer Daniel Maier regales us with showbiz anecdotes and shows off his Pocketeers collection. Noted anosmic Alice Bartlett knows the best ice creams for people who lack the sense of smell, and writer Anna Pickard recounts her efforts to find a real Dickensian Christmas in the States.

We loved making this jolly episode: some of us were drunk on the festive excitement of it all, some on Dave's already notorious 'Christmas Coke'. Happy Christmas!

Links:

Robot competition winners

The winner of the card robot model kit from Sandy is:

Other exciting prizes will be posted in the new year to the three runners up:

This week we are joined by Russell Davies (the author and organiser of the Interesting conferences) and discover that he was once in a band.

We also hear from Karen (wife and nightly documenter of the infamous Sleep Talkin' Man) and eat some festive snacks with Dave Green.

Links:

Competition deadline extended: tell us your top three fictional robots by Sunday the 13th of December for a chance to win a lovely prize. Listen to next week's trailer (mini episode 5.5) next Thursday to hear the winner and runners-up announced.

As always, be the first to load and run the program included in episode four and we'll give you something nice. Or, you might want to chat with us on Twitter, email us your thoughts or feedback, rate and review the podcast on iTunes or even scrobble us on Last.fm.