Jeff Bridges turns on his maximum Dude to thrill the nerdists
• The Nerdist
• The perfect office
"How is a podcast different from a radio show?" It's the first question guest star Jeff Bridges asks his hosts on *The Nerdist*, and while the answer ends in some guffawing and swearing (presenter Chris Hardwick's only explanation: "It's less formal. You can swear. Shit, fuck, balls."), that Bridges is able to free-form for an hour is reason enough for him – and us – to go with the flow.
Bridges is on maximum Dude form here: the drawl is gruff, deep, and chilled. You can practically see him playing with the straggles of his beard while talking about his childhood decision – or not – to become an actor. "My parents [both actors] loved showbiz. They wanted us all to do it. I remember my dad convincing me: 'Come on, man! You'll get out of school, make some money, buy some toys.'" Bridges submits to the in-jokes, the goofiness and even Hardwick's overbearing tendencies. He's too full of pep, I think. Hardwick's conversational style too close to the over-stylised, zippy one-liner syndrome infecting all of E4's worst US sitcom imports. Plus, the sound is haphazard, mumbling is frequent and conversation streams jam over each other.
And yet, many thousands of regular Nerdists are evangelical about the show. It is one of the first ridiculously successful bedroom podcast to multimedia mega-brand stories. Just three years in and its three hosts, all portfolio career/fingers in pies guys, have created an entire industry (that is, Nerdist Industries) to capitalise on the fact that geeks have very much inherited the earth. Because yes, nerd culture – as helmed here by Hardwick who brands himself a kind of Geek Overlord – is mainstream in 2013. I just wish it sounded more Wired, less Beavis and Butthead.
Why do we hate our offices? Our co-workers talk too much. They don't talk at all. The layout is terrible, the lights glare, they are dehydrating germ factories. Above all, we have to work in them. Claudia Hammond's *The Search For The Perfect Office* (Radio 4) doesn't quite fulfil its quest but she does uncover some good facts on the way there (top tip: the volume of noise doesn't affect concentration, change in noise does. Who knew, etc.) Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
• The Nerdist
• The perfect office
"How is a podcast different from a radio show?" It's the first question guest star Jeff Bridges asks his hosts on *The Nerdist*, and while the answer ends in some guffawing and swearing (presenter Chris Hardwick's only explanation: "It's less formal. You can swear. Shit, fuck, balls."), that Bridges is able to free-form for an hour is reason enough for him – and us – to go with the flow.
Bridges is on maximum Dude form here: the drawl is gruff, deep, and chilled. You can practically see him playing with the straggles of his beard while talking about his childhood decision – or not – to become an actor. "My parents [both actors] loved showbiz. They wanted us all to do it. I remember my dad convincing me: 'Come on, man! You'll get out of school, make some money, buy some toys.'" Bridges submits to the in-jokes, the goofiness and even Hardwick's overbearing tendencies. He's too full of pep, I think. Hardwick's conversational style too close to the over-stylised, zippy one-liner syndrome infecting all of E4's worst US sitcom imports. Plus, the sound is haphazard, mumbling is frequent and conversation streams jam over each other.
And yet, many thousands of regular Nerdists are evangelical about the show. It is one of the first ridiculously successful bedroom podcast to multimedia mega-brand stories. Just three years in and its three hosts, all portfolio career/fingers in pies guys, have created an entire industry (that is, Nerdist Industries) to capitalise on the fact that geeks have very much inherited the earth. Because yes, nerd culture – as helmed here by Hardwick who brands himself a kind of Geek Overlord – is mainstream in 2013. I just wish it sounded more Wired, less Beavis and Butthead.
Why do we hate our offices? Our co-workers talk too much. They don't talk at all. The layout is terrible, the lights glare, they are dehydrating germ factories. Above all, we have to work in them. Claudia Hammond's *The Search For The Perfect Office* (Radio 4) doesn't quite fulfil its quest but she does uncover some good facts on the way there (top tip: the volume of noise doesn't affect concentration, change in noise does. Who knew, etc.) Reported by guardian.co.uk 2 days ago.
