2025 was a rough year, but it did produce some pretty top notch media. For this special year-end episode, we will recap our top recommendos of 2025, and yes, we immediately thought of a bunch of stuff we forgot immediately after we finished recording so this is by no means definitive. Bonus: Start this podcast at exactly 10:26 PM on December 31st and we'll countdown the new year with you.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

This week we have an extra long episode to keep you warm on the cold Christmas nights coming up, even if your Christmas is forecasted to be around 65 degrees like ours is. The Running Man may seem like a goofy action movie on it's surface, and maybe that's what it is below the surface as well, but whether intentionally or by accident, it actually ends up showing a pretty strong example of how a media-obsessed culture can be controlled and spiral into a fascist police state. Sound familiar? Don't worry about it. Thanks to Kristen from the Astronomica Podcast for sitting in on this one!

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Cover art by Gillyvor

Robocop 2 is a movie about the drug epidemic, no wait nevermind. Robocop 2 is a movie about a man turned machine separated from his family, no actually scratch that. Robocop 2 is about corporate overreach, actually... Who the hell knows what Robocop 2 is about, it's got cool stop motion robot fights, explosions, and some decent gags, and that's good enough dammit.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Welcome to Part 2 of our recap of the Ten Percent Thief. This week we explore the second half of tales from Apex City, and ask the question: Did Lavanya Lakshminarayan pull it off? Once again we are joined by Geoff of the Astronomica podcast to lend his beautiful brain to the project.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Bite The Hand: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/spellbook-gaming/bite-the-hand-cyberpunk-panic-engine-ttrpg?ref=bk-social-project

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

This week we are covering the book The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan. The book is about a world strictly divided by social hierarchy, and told via interlocking short stories, ranging from humorous to horrific. Your boys were divided on this one, but even if it fell short in places, the book definitely set itself up for a monumental task, and, for the most part, accomplished that task. As with most of our book episodes these days we are thrilled to be joined by Geoff of the Astronomica podcast to help us break it down.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Cover art by Gillyvor

Once in a while we pick a movie neither of us have heard of but yet of which we both end up singing the praises. It's pretty rare, but thankfully Sleep Dealer is one of those movies. The Budget: Low. The effects: Not so special. But there is an unmistakable talent in the writing, directing, and acting that more than makes up for the small amount of money they had to make this film. And to top it off, the theme of the film is extremely important for the time we are living in, despite the fact that it was made 18 years ago.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

It's an anime ep! AD Police is a horny, cheap, and blessedly short collection of cyberpunk tales from 2027 Neo Tokyo. We have covered a couple other series just like it, and it is, unfortunately, the worst of the bunch. There might be a few nuggets of cool to pan out of this river of mediocrity, however, so stay tuned and see if these old prospectors manage to... sluice some... gold? This metaphor has gotten away from me.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

The Dream of the 90s is alive on the High Tech Low Life Podcast. This week we watch The Net starring Sandra Bullock. This movie is as 90s as it gets, and even though it's incredibly flawed and not that great, we just can't bring ourselves to hate it.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Bluesky: @hightechlowlife.bsky.social

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

As promised the thrilling conclusion of our Alien Earth recap featuring Colin of the Astronomica Podcast. In this installment we cover episodes 3-8 of the series, and give it our ratings.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com

Cover art by Gillyvor

This week we are thrilled to be joined by Colin of the Astronomica podcast to recap the recently concluded first season of Alien: Earth. The show is a mixed bag of good and bad, but lots of interesting details to discuss and pontificate upon. So many details that this is, once again, being split into two parts, however FEAR NOT! The second part will be released in just a few days and we will have another full episode next week covering a completely different property.

The High Tech Low Life Podcast is a retrospective of cyberpunk fiction across all forms of media. Film, Television, Literature, Games, and Music are all on the table. In each episode we will revisit the property, it's influences, it's prescience, and enshrine it in the chrome and neon halls of Neo Valhalla.

Astronomica: http://www.astronomicapodcast.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnny60seconds

Patreon: http://patreon.com/hightechlowlife

Cover art by Gillyvor

Theme music by http://www.nihilore.com