Dave Podnar

AwesomeCast 797: Apple Shortcuts + Fast & Furious Coaster Chaos

September 23rd, 2026  |  1 hr 8 mins

ai automation, ai generated art, ai graphics, apple automation, apple carplay, apple intelligence, apple maps, apple shortcuts, artificial intelligence, astronaut, baja sae, barbie, carplay, cody rhodes, dave podnar, ellen ochoa, engineering students, fast and furious, fast and furious hollywood drift, formula sae, guile, haas foundation, hispanic heritage month, instagram automation, ios shortcuts, iphone automation, michael sorg, nasa, nissan rogue, pittsburgh podcast, popcorn bucket, roller coaster, sae international, santa monica, siri, social media automation, sorg, street fighter, technology podcast, teenage mutant ninja turtles, tmnt, tmnt pizzeria, universal studios hollywood, waze, women in stem

Sorg and Dave Podnar dive into Apple Shortcuts’ increasingly powerful automation tools, including a shortcut that can generate Instagram captions and hashtags from a photo and prepare the post for sharing.

Then Sorg brings stories back from California: a visit to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pizzeria in Santa Monica, a wild experience aboard Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster, and a useful Nissan Rogue CarPlay setup that let him run Waze and Apple Maps at the same time.

Just Pro Wrestling News: Moose Saves His TNA Career, MLW Lands Tubi Deal & Aalyah Gutierrez Joins WWE

September 18th, 2026  |  1 min 44 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

Just Pro Wrestling News: Mercedes Moné Out of All Out, Okada vs. Ciampa & Steven Borden Gets Big Match

September 17th, 2026  |  2 mins 8 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

AwesomeCast 796: The Deepest, Darkest Statsand Apple’s $2,000 Foldable iPhone Has Us Talking

September 15th, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

911th air wing, apple, apple intelligence, apple watch, artificial intelligence, banger in the hangar, captcha, carnegie mellon university, chachi says video game minute, dave podnar, duolingo, foldable iphone, hispanic heritage month, image playground, ios 27, iphone 18 pro, iphone 18 pro max, iphone duo, jimothy questy, katie dudas, luis von ahn, mapquest, mario kart world, metroid, nintendo, nintendo switch 2, ocarina of time, pittsburgh robotics, pittsburgh technology, prospect pro wrestling, questies, recaptcha, rufus questy, siri ai, siri ai beta, snes, sorg, sorgatron media, ssd prices, super nintendo, tech news, technology podcast, technology trends, tetris, zelda

Apple’s foldable iPhone is finally here, but is a $1,999 phone actually useful enough to justify the price? Sorg, Katie Dudas and Dave Podnar break down the iPhone Duo, iOS 27 and the Siri AI waitlist, Apple Watch listening features, rising storage prices and what Apple’s latest hardware could mean for creators.

Plus, Nintendo brings back more of its past with the Switch 2 Ocarina of Time remake and classic Mario Kart tracks, MapQuest adds new Questies, Chachi reports on the disappearing White House Tetris clone, and Dave celebrates CAPTCHA and Duolingo co-founder Luis von Ahn for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Sorg also takes us behind the scenes of producing professional wrestling inside the 911th Air Wing’s massive hangar.

Support the show at Patreon.com/AwesomeCast and find more at www.SorgatronMedia.com.

El Grande Americano Wins Triple A Gold, La Catalina Ends Historic Reign

September 14th, 2026  |  1 min 59 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

Just Pro Wrestling News: Nic Nemeth Survives Matt Hardy, Moose Risks His TNA Career & Jarrett vs. Blue Panther

September 11th, 2026  |  1 min 58 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

AwesomeCast 795: Xbox Cloud Limits, Retro Gaming, and MapQuest’s Comeback

September 8th, 2026  |  51 mins 51 secs

alarm clock app, carplay, cartridge save backups, chachisays, cholera mapping, clucky, console affordability, dave podnar, dungeon crawler carl, epilogue gb operator, game boy, game boy camera, gaming news, geek culture, great pumpkin, john snow, katie dudas, lego ideas, mapquest, michael sorg, nintendo switch 2, ocarina of time, panic, pittsburgh podcast, playdate, princess donut, project helix, questies, retro gaming, roman reigns, sn operator, snoopy, star trek 60th anniversary, starbucks peanuts, strange new worlds, street fighter 6, super nintendo, tariff refunds, technology podcast, tetris, the legend of zelda, wastewater surveillance, xbox cloud gaming, xbox disc to digital, xbox game pass, xbox series s, zelda 40th anniversary

Xbox cloud limits send Sorg back to his console, MapQuest gets an 8-bit makeover, and Clucky makes you earn your snooze. Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar talk Star Trek at 60, Zelda, retro gaming gadgets, Snoopy collectibles, and Dungeon Crawler Carl LEGO fan projects.

AwesomeCast 794: Xbox Discs Go Digital, Gamescom’s AI Problem, $100K Keyboards & Retro Tech

September 2nd, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

ai in video games, brütal legend, cable management, chachisays video game minute, commodore 64, cyberpunk, dave podnar, dolly parton, donkey kong country, double fine, exoplanets, game preservation, gamescom 2026, generative ai, katie dudas, lego advent calendar 2026, luxury keyboards, mechanical keyboards, nancy grace roman space telescope, nasa, nintendo eshop, nintendo switch, nintendo switch sale, peter cullen, physical media, physical video games, pittsburgh podcast, pro football hall of fame, retro computing, retro gaming, roku city, sorg, sorgstock, tech news, technology podcast, tim curry, usb-c cables, virtual races, xbox, xbox discs to digital

Xbox is finding a new way to bridge physical and digital gaming, Gamescom 2026 has restarted the debate over generative AI in game development, and somehow we’ve found a keyboard that costs around $100,000.

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar discuss Xbox’s Discs to Digital program and what it could mean for used games, delisted titles and game preservation. ChachiSays looks at AI use in Gamescom titles and the continuing decline of physical game sales. Katie explores Roku City’s tributes to Dolly Parton, Tim Curry and Peter Cullen, while Dave dives into the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Plus: LEGO Advent Calendars arrive early, Brütal Legend honors Tim Curry with 666 minutes of free gaming, the bizarre Donkey Kong Country CGI cartoon returns to our lives, the Nintendo Switch bargain bin gets weird, Katie labels a slow USB-C charger, Dave finds luxury keyboards with unbelievable prices, and a Cyberpunk-themed Commodore 64 sends us back into retro-computing memories.

Hosted by Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar.

Just Pro Wrestling News: Penta Gets Roman Reigns, OTM Destroys The Usos & Dragon Lee Earns Gold Shot

September 1st, 2026  |  1 min 55 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

Just Pro Wrestling News: Will Ospreay Wins AEW Gold, New Level Debuts & Mercedes Moné Makes History

August 31st, 2026  |  2 mins 6 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

Just Pro Wrestling News: Moxley vs. McGuinness Set, WWE Settlement Moves Forward & TNA Makes History

August 27th, 2026  |  1 min 53 secs

pittsburgh, podcast

Just Pro Wrestling News: NXT Heatwave Shakeup, AEW All In Week Hits Glasgow & WWE Leaves ABEMA | JPWN 8/26/26

August 26th, 2026  |  2 mins

pittsburgh, podcast

AwesomeCast 793: Apple M6 Macs, Grogu & RC Racing

August 25th, 2026  |  1 hr 3 mins

3d printing, airport gaming, apple, apple m6, artificial intelligence, bathroom finder app, cloudrc, dave podnar, disney nfl, dolly parton, dungeon crawler carl, field museum chicago, gameway, grogu, gta 6, gta vi, hasbro pulse, hot wheels, katie dudas, kingdom hearts 4, kingdom hearts disney plus, linus torvalds, linux, linux 35th anniversary, local ai, m6 chip, mac mini, mac studio, mattel game studios, michael sorg, minecraft, nature calls app, pittsburgh international airport, pittsburgh podcast, pittsburgh steelers, pittsburgh technology, plastic fun time, pokemon, pokemon fossil museum, racing simulator, rc cars, rc racing, rockstar games, sorg, star wars, technology podcast, thunderbolt 5, transformers, transformers minecraft, ultimate grogu, unix, uno

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar are back with a packed AwesomeCast covering the latest intersections of technology, gaming, gadgets, and geek culture.
The show opens with a remembrance of Dolly Parton and her extraordinary charitable legacy before diving into RC cars controlled through full-size racing simulators and Apple’s updated Mac mini and Mac Studio hardware. Dave explains the M6 chip, Thunderbolt 5 clustering, and why running AI locally could become increasingly attractive for businesses and creators.
Chachi takes us inside Chicago’s Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibit and delivers gaming news on Kingdom Hearts 4, Mattel Game Studios, and the latest GTA VI leaks. Katie opens a box full of 3D-printed Dungeon Crawler Carl collectibles, while the crew celebrates 35 years of Linux.
Plus: Transformers invades Minecraft, Hasbro creates a $600 interactive Grogu, the Nature Calls restroom finder launches, Pittsburgh International Airport gets a gaming lounge, and Disney characters are being paired with NFL teams.
Get geeky. Get awesome.

AwesomeCast 792: Apple’s Camera AirPods and an AI Tamagotchi?

August 19th, 2026  |  59 mins 26 secs

ai pocket pet, ai tamagotchi, air traffic controllers, airpods camera, alltrails hidden tracks, apple airpods, apple visual intelligence, boston dynamics robot dog, creator monetization, dungeon crawler carl, faa gamers, factory automation, five nights at freddy’s, freddy fazbear’s pizza, gadget podcast, google street view game, hello kitty godzilla, hop earth, hyundai ev factory, hyundai metaplant, kevlar, mcdonald’s happy meal, pittsburgh tech podcast, roblox safety, snes demake, stephanie kwolek, super mario bros wonder, sweekar, tamagotchi, tech news, technology podcast, tiktok privacy, tiktok voice calls, youtube analytics, youtube views

Could Apple be preparing AirPods with tiny cameras? Can an AI-powered Tamagotchi grow up, develop a personality, and remind you to take a break?

Sorg, Katie Dudas, and Dave Podnar explore those questions in AwesomeCast 792. The crew examines the Sweekar AI pocket pet, a possible Apple AirPods camera leak, and TikTok’s new voice-calling concerns.

Also discussed:

• Hello Kitty x Godzilla Happy Meal collectibles

• Hop Earth’s Google Street View driving game

• Stephanie L. Kwolek and the discovery of Kevlar

• Roblox safety litigation and a real Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza

• The FAA recruiting gamers as air traffic controllers

• AllTrails Hidden Tracks

• A Super Mario Bros. Wonder SNES demake

• Autonomous sleds and robot dogs inside Hyundai’s EV factory

• YouTube’s new approach to public view counts

• Turning Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom into a subscription business

Support the show and unlock bonus AwesomeCast content at https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast.