Episode 5: All Things Sherlock, Sherlock VS. House M.D., Top 5 Detectives

The game is afoot! We dive into all things Sherlock Holmes by exploring the character's origins, discussing how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle influenced the procedural genre, and debating modern versions including the Sherlock Holmes films, BBC's Sherlock, and CBS's Elementary. In the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER, it's a battle of wits between Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock and Hugh Laurie's House, M.D. We deduce our top 5 detectives.

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Show Notes

• 0:00 - 45:12: All things Sherlock.

• 45:13 - 50:54: INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER - Sherlock VS. Dr. Gregory House.

• 50:55 - 1:11:23: Top 5 Detectives.

Links

• The Official web site of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Wikipedia
• Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes
• How Sherlock Holmes changed the world
• Alphonse Bertillon and the invention of fingerprinting 
• The Sherlock Holmes Society of London
• The legacy of Jack the Ripper
• Daniel Kahneman on "Thinking, Fast and Slow"
• When intuition misfires
• Implicit Association Test
• The suicide detective
• Sherlock's expiring copyright: it's public domain, dear Watson
• Why do we keep resurrecting the same literary characters?
• House, M.D. solves a real life medical mystery
• The science of why we don't believe in climate change
• How to create your own mind palace
• The personal blog of Dr. John Watson (from BBC show)
• The science of deduction (from BBC show)
• Benedict Cumberbatch on Sesame Street
• Sherlock in Star Trek and Star Trek in Sherlock

Top 5 Detectives

Conrad:

1. Sam Tyler & Gene Hunt (Life on Mars)
2. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (The X-Files) 
3. Veronica Mars 
4. Clarice Starling (The Silence of the Lambs)
5. Harry Dresden (Dresden Files)

Ali: 

1. Columbo
2. Veronica Mars 
3. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (The X-Files) 
4. Dr. Samuel Beckett (Quantum Leap)
5. Judge Joseph Dredd (2000 AD)

Honorable Mentions:

• Jane Tennison (Prime Suspect)
• Jessica (Murder, She Wrote)
• Matlock
• Inspector Lynley (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries)
• Perry Mason
• Doctor Who
• Detective John Hartigan (Sin City)
• Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon)
• Kojak
• Detective Hercule Poirot (Agatha Christie: Poirot)
• Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man)
• Magnum, P.I.
• Charlie's Angels
• Adrian Monk (Monk)
• Dexter
• Scooby-Doo
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Angel
• Dirk Gently
• Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)
• Rorschach (Watchmen)
• Richard Castle (Castle) 
• Father Dowling Mysteries
• Brother Cadfael (The Cadfael Chronicles)
• Batman
• Spock (Star Trek)
• Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• Sam and Max (Sam & Max Hit the Road)
• Dick Tracy
• Inspector Gadget
• Scruff McGruff the Crime Dog

Episode 4: Geek Relationships, Bill VS. Nhu-An, Top 5 Geek Power Couples

Left: Bill & Conrad, Right: Nhu-An & Ali

It's the Valentine's Day Super Fantastic Nerd Hour special! Our real life partners join us for a conversation about love, geekery, and everything in between. Bill and Nhu-An battle for the title of ultimate nerd partner in the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER. We list our top 5 geek power couples.

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Show Notes

• 0:00 - 32:35: Geek relationships.

• 32:36 - 53:28: INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER - Bill VS. Nhu-An.

• 53:29 - 1:09:26: Top 5 Geek Power Couples.

Links

• Coming Out as a Geek Is Hard to Do (Ali and Nhu-An's story)
• 10 Annoying Habits of a Geeky Spouse
• The Most Awesome Geek Wedding
• On Taking Pictures (Bill's podcast)

Top 5 Geek Power Couples

Conrad:

1. Lalla Ward & Richard Dawkins (Doctor Who's Romana & biologist/author)
2. Uhura & Spock (Star Trek 2009)
3. Doctor Who & every companion (Doctor Who) 
4. Zoe & Wash (Firefly)
5. Shawn & Gus (Psych)

Ali: 

1. Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak (Apple)
2. Han Solo & Princess Leia (Star Wars)
3. The Joker & Harley Quinn (Batman)
4. Admiral Adama & President Roslin (Battlestar Galactica)
5. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream)

Honorable Mentions:

• Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen / Professor X & Magneto (IRL besties, X-Men)
• Wolverine & Jean Grey (X-Men)
• Marie & Pierre Curie (Nobel Prize winning chemists)
• Tara & Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• George R.R. Martin & Parris McBride (author & Celtic-nerd)
• Simon Pegg & Nick Frost (actors)
• Josh Clark And Chuck Bryant (Stuff You Should Know Podcast)
• Data and Tasha Yar (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day (The Guild, TableTop)
• Kirk & Spock (Star Trek)
• Worf & Jadzia Dax (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• Glenn & Maggie (The Walking Dead)
• Leslie & Ben (Parks & Recreation)
• The Doctor & TARDIS (Doctor Who)
• Sherlock & Watson (Sherlock)
• Hermonie & Ron (Harry Potter)
• WALL-E & EVE (WALL-E)
• Carl & Ellie (Up)
• Mulder & Scully (The X-Files)
• Samwise & Frodo (The Lord of the Rings)

Episode 3: Ready Player One, Wade "Parzival" Watts VS. Scott Pilgrim, Top 5 Nostalgia Media

The cover of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.

“Going outside is highly overrated" so join us as we nerd out on Ernest Cline's Ready Player One! We dive into the novel's expansive world of 1970s and 80s pop culture, explore why it makes us nostalgic, and debate if the story is more than just a mashup of nerdy references. It's a street fight between Ready Player One's Wade "Parzival" Watts VS. Scott Pilgrim in the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER and we get all the feels with our top 5 nostalgia media.  

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Show Notes

• 0:00 - 33:39: Ready Player One.

• 33:40 - 45:44: INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER - Wade "Parzival" Watts VS. Scott Pilgrim.

• 45:45 - 1:07:35: Top 5 Nostalgia Media.

Links

• Why vintage video games make us nostalgic
• Conan O'Brien plays Atari 2600 classics on Clueless Gamer
• Why The Big Bang Theory isn't real nerd culture
• How video game avatars change your behavior
• Josué Cardona of the Geek Therapy podcast and Kelli Dunlap on video game stigma

Top 5 Nostalgia Media

Conrad:

1. Freaks and Geeks
2. Wreak it Ralph
3. Dazed and Confused
4. MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator)
5. That 70s Show

Ali: 

1. The Wonder Years
2. New Super Mario Brothers (Nintendo DS)
3. Smashing Pumpkins – "Tonight Tonight" music video
4. Toy Story 3
5. Midnight in Paris

Honorable Mentions:

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Psych
• Community
• 13 Going on 30
• Sherlock
• Doctor Who
• Matt the Electrician - "Facebook Friend"
• The White Stripes – “We’re Going to Be Friends”
• Adventureland
• The Wedding Singer
• Pleasantville
• Hugo
• Bryan Adams – “Summer of ’69″
• The Beatles – “Yesterday”

Episode 2: Her, Samantha VS. HAL 9000, Top 5 Artificial Intelligence Films

Come with us if you want to live! We discuss Her, Spike Jonze's new film, breakdown its social commentary, and debate the film's depiction of the technological singularity. It's a computerized battle royal in the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER with Her's Samantha against 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000. We wrap up with our top 5 favorite AI films.

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Show Notes

• 0:00 - 23:35: Her.
• 23:36 - 33:28: INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER - Samantha VS. HAL 9000.
• 33:29 - 1:02:35: Top 5 AI films.

Links

• The New Yorker's Richard Brody Her film review 
• Radiolab - Talking to Machines
• What is the uncanny valley?
• Does the uncanny valley still exist?
• The psychology of Her's online relationships (scroll down for Lowen's comment)
• The long-term future of AI (and what we can do about it) TED talk by Daniel Dewey
• Saturday Night Live's parody of Her

Top 5 AI Films

Conrad:

1. Blade Runner
2. The Terminator + Terminator 2: Judgement Day
3. The Iron Giant
4. The Matrix 
5. Metropolis 

Ali: 

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
2. Ghost in the Shell 
3. The Matrix
4. The Iron Giant
5. A.I.

Honorable Mentions:

• Edward Scissorhands
• TRON
• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• D.A.R.Y.L.
• Hellboy 2
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Alien
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Battlestar Galactica
• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Short Circuit 
• Space Camp
• Isaac Asimov: The Complete Stories
• Transformers (maybe)

Episode 1: Origin Stories, Man of Steel VS. Monsters University, Top 5 Origin Stories

It's the first episode of the Super Fantastic Nerd Hour! We discuss the forces that turned us into super nerds, why we created this show, and break down origin stories from Gilgamesh to Luke Skywalker. We throw Man of Steel's Clark Kent against Monsters University's Mike Wazowski in the INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER and countdown our top 5 favorite origin stories. 

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Show Notes

• 0:00 - 14:06 : Our origin stories, the inception of Super Fantastic Nerd Hour.
• 14:07 - 30:34: Why we love origin stories. 
• 30:35 - 40:08: INFINITE CROSSOVER CHAMBER - Clark Kent VS. Mike Wazowski.
• 40:09 - 1:00:40: Top 5 origin stories.

Links

• Growing Up Trekkie (Ali's origin story)
• Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey (as explained by puppets)
• Why we are wired to believe in supernatural origins
• The psychology behind superhero origin stories
• John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Original Sins
• The secret history of Tetris
• Dean Trippe and the Something Terrible kickstarter

Top 5 Origin Stories

Conrad:

1. Batman 
2. X-Men
3. John Constantine, Hellblazer
4. Dr. Manhattan, Watchmen
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Ali: 

1. Batman
2. Dean Trippe
3. X-Men
4. Tetris
5. Spock

Honorable Mentions:

• Kill Bill
• Harry Potter
• Doctor Who
• The Godfather: Part II
• Star Trek's Khan
• The Terminator's Sarah Connor
• James Bond (Casino Royale)
• Unbreakable