Comedy writer and performer Steve Dawson gets nerdy — but not really that nerdy — and talks about the culture and stereotypes around the word “geek”. But also there’s lots of stuff with lasers and electronic music. 

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (06:58) - Steve's pick: Star Wars
• (12:42) - Mark's pick: The Big Bang Theory
• (19:26) - Steve's pick: Synthesisers
• (26:32) - Steve's pick: Collections
• (31:52) - Mark's pick: Game of Thrones
• (40:16) - Steve's pick: Comic-Con
• (46:26) - Mark's pick: Board games
• (51:14) - Steve's pick: Knowing how to use gadgets
• (58:46) - Recess
• (01:00:40) - Building the final list
• (01:02:40) - Goodbyes

Steve talks about the book Laughter, by Robert R Provine, which deals with in-group and out-group mentality, why we laugh and who we follow when we’re laughing, which comes into focus when we ask ourselves why certain things are cool to like, and other things just aren’t.

You can follow Steve on Twitter, and check out the work of the Dawson Bros (that’s Steve and his writing-partner brother), who have written for Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Walliams & Friend and Mitchell and Webb. You can — and simply must — also subscribe to the Mind Canyon podcast, a superb mix of improvised comedy and obsessive sound design.