This is Only a Test

We recap the big news out of this past weekend's D23 expo, including announcements from the lands of Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Disney+. Plus, a new trailer and title for Breath of the Wild's sequel, and the trailers from Sony's State of Play.

A lot of news to go over this week as we recap Apple's big fall product launch and the most interesting features of the new iPhone. Disney+ Day goes head to head with Star Trek Day in which we see the full trailer for Picard Season 3, and we discuss the first episode of The Rings of Power. Plus, behind Adam's lightsaber build and a revelations in 3D printing.

We're back from SiliCon! Joining us this week is Mike Corrie aka Props To History, a new friend and one of the guests we met at this past weekend's convention! We share our favorite sights, cosplays, and memories from the event, frustrations over TSA mishandling of props, and our mutual love for 1999's The Mummy. Plus, the strange new world of AI-generated artwork. Thanks to Mike for joining us this week! You can find Props to History at: http://www.propstohistory.com http://www.corrisonstudios.com

SiliCon is upon us! Jen Schachter joins us to talk about what to expect from the MakerVerse panels and workshops at the convention, as well as guests and makers we're excited to meet up with at the show. Plus, we review the first episodes of She-Hulk and House of the Dragon, lament the cancellation of an upcoming Batman show, and scratch our heads at screenshots from the metaverse.

What a week. From the passing of cultural icons like Nichelle Nichols and Bill Russell to the chaos around the Batgirl movie, we could take a breath to process major news as it broke from minute to minute. We discuss our hopes for the future of HBO Max and DC, get pumped for Andor, and get an extended return of A Moment of Science!

We're back after a week off to talk about our blitz through San Diego Comic-Con and all the bit movie announcements from the weekend's Hall H panels. We discuss the vibe on the show floor and our favorite booths as well as break down Marvel's Phase 5 and 6 reveals. Plus, what's going on with VR hardware pricing increases?

It's a big week for science and science fiction as Norm and Kishore are joined by science communicator Ariel Waldman to geek out about the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (aka. Jelly Welly Space Telly). We also review the first season of Star Trek Strange New Worlds (very minor spoilers within) and get hyped for Comic-Con! Thanks to Ariel for joining us this week! You can sign up to get dispatches from her Antarctic expedition here: https://mailchi.mp/arielwaldman/updates-from-antarctica and get notified when her book Out There is available to order here: https://www.amazon.com/Ariel-Waldman/e/B015SGHJSQ/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk

As convention season starts to pick up, this week's episode is all about the incredible large size cosplay builds we've seen. Special guest Allison Chase joins us to talk about her journey making showstopping cosplays such as her Power Loader from Aliens, Snowball from Rick and Morty, and My Neighbor Totoro's Catbus that Adam saw at MegaCon last year! Thanks so much to Allison for joining us this week! You can find her work at https://www.instagram.com/aachase1401/ https://www.tiktok.com/@allison.chase.cosplay https://www.instructables.com/member/AllisonC74/

We have an interview special for you this week as Norm is joined by Tested contributor Sean Charlesworth and modelmaker Bill Krause to geek out about Star Trek's starships, and pay tribute to modelmaking legend Greg Jein. We recap our visit to Bricks by the Bay, hear about this year's Wonderfest modelmaking show, and learn how Bill and Sean worked together to make scale model starships that appeared in season 2 of Star Trek: Picard! Thanks to Bill for being our guest this week! Follow his starship builds at https://www.instagram.com/admiralbuck/

The prodigal podcaster returns! Jeremy comes back for a special episode of the podcast as we discuss our recent trip up to Reality Labs Research to demo Meta's prototype VR headsets. We also chat about Top Gun in 4DX, LEGO's new 90th anniversary sets, and rank the films in the Toy Story franchise. Of course, there's also a pinball update--it's been too long!