Falken's Maze: An 80s Guide to History
21 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 48 ratingsIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television.
This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Spooktober 2019 (Part 1 of 3)
October 02, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Imp of the Perverse
September 25, 2019 07:00 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Enemy Knows the System (Part 5 of 5)
September 18, 2019 07:00 - 20 minutes - 19 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Enemy Knows the System (Part 4 of 5)
September 11, 2019 07:00 - 20 minutes - 18.4 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Enemy Knows the System (Part 3 of 5)
August 28, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Enemy Knows the System (Part 2 of 5)
August 21, 2019 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
The Enemy Knows The System (Part 1 of 5)
August 14, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 20.6 MBIn Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today, our show demystifies the world's most compelling technologies and events through 80's movies, music, and television. This is where history, tech, and retro pop collide. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend, leave a review, click some stars!! Find us onl...
Contact Light (Part 3 of 3)
August 07, 2019 07:00 - 33 minutes - 31.1 MBAs we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon mission this month, what better way to honor the legacy of the US space program and the men and women who made it possible, than to spend some time exploring what their work means for all of us today. In Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexities of today,...
Contact Light (Part 2 of 3)
July 31, 2019 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBEver want to be an astronaut? In this episode, we explore what it takes to become one and what happens when those requirements go awry, including when they result in an attempted murder and kidnapping. We also discuss diapers. Yes. Diapers. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon mission this month, what better way to honor the legacy of the US space program and the men and women who made it possible, than to spend some time exploring what their work means for all of...
Contact Light (Part 1 of 3)
July 24, 2019 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24 MBAs the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo lunar landing, we delve into the dangers of space exploration, including those that are surprisingly earthbound. We also discuss the relative merits of not filleting your wife. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon mission this month, what better way to honor the legacy of the US space program and the men and women who made it possible, than to spend some time exploring what their work means for all of us t...
Setec Astronomy (Part 3 of 3)
July 17, 2019 07:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this third and final episode on cryptography, we explore Allied code breaking efforts during WW2 and their connection to one of the Internet’s most bizarre cryptographic mysteries. We also learn that anagrams are the bombe (and yeah, it's really spelled that way). In Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nostalgic for the 80s but who also want to understand the complexiti...
Setec Astronomy (Part 2 of 3)
July 10, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBIn our quest to understand cryptography, we delve into a little-remembered codebreaking incident during World War I that helped bring the United States into the conflict and also may have denied Metallica the inaugural Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in 1989. Ok not really on that Metallica part. In Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners nost...
Setec Astronomy (Part 1 of 3)
July 03, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 21 MBWe explore the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots and Ralphie's quest for a Red Ryder BB gun in our search to discover how codemaking and codebreaking work. This show kicks off an three-episode exploration of cryptography. In this arc of shows, we’re going to explore the impact of cryptography on modern life. More specifically, we’re going to discover how its used to fight wars, protect the secrecy of our most intimate communication, and enable crooks to further their criminal activi...
The Vanishing Commissar
June 26, 2019 07:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBHow does revenge porn, Stalinist Russia, and the movie Total Recall (Schwarzenegger's classic version) explain fake YouTube videos? In this one-shot episode, we explore the history of deepfakes, what their arrival means, and how dangerous they really are. In Falken's Maze, technologist and former professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners who wistfully long for the 80s but want to understand the complexities of today,...
Leeroyyy Jenkinsss (Part 3 of 3)
June 19, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBIn this 3rd and final episode of our series of shows on video games, we take an in-depth look at player behavior, both in-game and out. We'll uncover lying, cheating, and a little early 80s Tom Hanks. This episode is the third in a three-part series. The overarching goal of this set of shows is to explore the rise of video games and to explain the impact they’ve had on the sociology of the modern world. In Falken's Maze technologist and former international relations professor Jas...
Leeroyyy Jenkinsss (Part 2 of 3)
June 12, 2019 07:00 - 19 minutes - 17.6 MBIn this episode, we explore the seedy side of the video game business, including the rise of Atari corporation and how it helped create a work culture that so many silicon valley companies today are trying to fix. This episode is the second in a three-part series. The overarching goal of this set of shows is to explore the rise of video games and to explain the impact they’ve had on the sociology of the modern world. In Falken's Maze technologist and former international relations...
Leeroyyy Jenkinsss (Part 1 of 3)
June 05, 2019 07:00 - 15 minutes - 14.3 MBIn this episode, we kick off a three-part series on video games and explore why 65% of American adults play them. Think you're not affected? Think again. This episode is the first in a three-part series. The overarching goal of this set of shows is to explore the rise of video games, their influence on art, literature, and medicine. And to explain the impact they’ve had on the sociology of the modern world. In Falken's Maze technologist and former international relations professor...
I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too (Part 3 of 3)
May 29, 2019 07:00 - 21 minutes - 19.3 MBThis episode is the last in a three-part series of shows. Over these episodes, we’ve discovered how the intersection of artificial intelligence, Soviet-US relations, and a variety of 80s pop culture references helps frame the current discussion around AI. In this final episode, we examine current Russian AI development, calls for banning lethal autonomous weaponry, and a little known episode where the Soviets thought the US had fired five nuclear missiles at them back in 1983. In F...
I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too (Part 2 of 3)
May 24, 2019 22:44 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBThis episode is the second in a three-part series. In this episode, we tackle the idea of defining Artificial Intelligence. What is it? What do people mean when they use the term? Where did the idea of machines that could think and reason come from? We examine the life and ideas of Alan Turing and use Knight Rider, the WOPR, and Rene Descartes to find answers. In Falken's Maze technologist and former international relations professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of techno...
I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too (Part 1 of 3)
May 24, 2019 22:33 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBIn this episode, we use the movie WarGames, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, and the downing of Korean Airlines 007 to explore the relationship between the United States and Soviet Union in the 80s, specifically as it relates to nuclear war. n Falken's Maze technologist and former international relations professor Jason Thomas explores the intersection of technology, history, and culture. Created for listeners who wistfully long for the 80s but want to understand the complexities of today...
Beginnings
May 24, 2019 21:28 - 6 minutes - 5.5 MBThis is a brief overview of why Falken's Maze exists and why I made it. There's also a little bit about me. If you're not interested in why I created this podcast, please skip to Episode 1. You aren't going to offend me at all :)