The Radio Show

The official archive of all available ComputerTalk with Dave Mason radio shows. Spend some time with Dave. Listen to a full show or explore clips by topic.

Flashing On Air sign from Dave’s original website
ComputerTalk with Dave Mason show archive

Clips by topic

3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.

Personal Stories

How computers became Dave's calling · Proposed air date:

When Evil Steve asks how computers captured him three decades earlier, Dr. Dave says plainly that he needed a job and began selling them. His inability to stop asking why initially drove his trainers berserk, but within two or three years those same people were calling him for help—a compact story of the curiosity and persistence that shaped his career.

1:24 · Personal Stories

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Technology, politics, business and people · Proposed air date:

Previewing the antitrust guest, Dr. Dave explains why the subject particularly motivates him: he is excited by technology, politics, business and people, and comes alive when one topic brings all four together. Evil Steve's repeated teasing about the word excited keeps the reflection rooted in the brothers' on-air rhythm.

0:54 · Personal Stories

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Everything revolves around the Saturday show · Proposed air date:

After correcting the Halloween date, Dr. Dave says his life revolves around the Saturday broadcast and that he knows the rest of the week by its distance from the show. He and Evil Steve remember once having to push through high water to get there and tell listeners that the effort reflects how much they care about the program and its audience.

0:51 · Personal Stories

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Browse all 439 Personal Stories clips

Humor

I would be a millionaire if I charged for every answer · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave and Evil Steve imagine helping a frightened caller when Dr. Dave remembers an email suggesting he charge one hundred dollars every time he answers a question for free. Their response, that he would be a millionaire but cannot do that, is a funny glimpse of how naturally he gave people his time and expertise.

1:00 · Humor

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Forty-five Hungry Man dinners · Proposed air date:

The novelty of ordering food by computer becomes a family conversation when Dr. Dave says their mother already has groceries delivered and reports that the produce arrives unbruised. Evil Steve imagines his own six-month order as 45 frozen turkey dinners, liters of Pepsi, pizzas, milk and boxes of Cap'n Crunch, with no fresh produce necessary.

1:54 · Humor

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Make fun of yourself first · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave and Evil Steve imagine Microsoft embracing its own “dark side” reputation by putting Bill Gates into a Darth Vader parody. Beneath the joke is a practiced lesson: when people already know what can be mocked about you, make the joke first and take the wind out of the attack.

0:43 · Humor

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Seasonal toppings for the Computer Talk pizza · Proposed air date:

The arrival music announces the official Computer Talk pizza, and Dr. Dave and Evil Steve thank the local restaurant that knows their order without being told. They extend the bit by claiming the show has separate summer, fall, Christmas, New Year and spring topping schedules.

1:28 · Humor

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Browse all 315 Humor clips

Politics

Why we built CelebrityHypocrites.com · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave and Evil Steve remember creating CelebrityHypocrites.com after September 11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq debates gave them a need for a political outlet beyond the computer show. Dr. Dave says the hostile responses expose a contradiction in people who praise tolerance and diversity but reject anyone whose ideas differ from theirs.

2:51 · Politics

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Gratitude and the time it takes to build freedom · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave and Evil Steve open by sincerely thanking veterans and saying the broadcast itself is possible because of their service. They then put modern complaints in a longer perspective, remembering how long the United States took to form its constitutional foundation and arguing that countries taking their first steps toward democracy also need time to develop.

3:27 · Politics

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Browse all 191 Politics clips

Philosophy

Use the computer, but do not let it run your life · Proposed air date:

Listener Will, a farrier, writes that a new computer finally made the Internet useful for his business. Dr. Dave and Evil Steve admire the balance of using technology as a tool, then warn him not to trade a full working day for another night spent behind the screen.

3:26 · Philosophy

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A smartphone became a nervous habit · Proposed air date:

At Dr. Dave's son Nick's homecoming football game, Dr. Dave realizes he is pulling out his smartphone for no real reason, almost like biting his nails. Evil Steve notices the same reflex among students in the cheering section, turning a small family-night observation into a candid early portrait of habitual phone use.

2:16 · Philosophy

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Data, information, knowledge and wisdom · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave asks whether constant devices and social networking replace real relationships or simply create busyness. He reaches for an old consulting principle: data is not information, information is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, a distinction that captures the show's concern with what technology actually produces in a life.

3:26 · Philosophy

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Browse all 364 Philosophy clips

Consulting Philosophy

Steve finds the missing detail · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave is working through a flash drive that appears on other computers when Evil Steve recognizes a U3 behavior from his own experience. The caller confirms the detail, and Dr. Dave immediately says it is the key and thanks his brother for solving what he had missed.

2:07 · Consulting Philosophy

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A “PhD in making things work” · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave admits that his urge to try everything sometimes leaves him in a technical rat's nest for an entire day. Because he experiments on machines he does not depend upon, the mistake becomes on-the-job training: when a caller or client later does the same thing, he recognizes it, knows the work required and jokingly calls that experience his “PhD in making things work.”

2:19 · Consulting Philosophy

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Browse all 1414 Consulting Philosophy clips

Technology History

Raspberry Pi at two · Proposed air date:

On the Raspberry Pi's second anniversary, Dr. Dave and Evil Steve marvel at a credit-card-size computer inexpensive enough to invite experimentation. A father's NASA-style control-panel desk, built with his sons using a Raspberry Pi and Arduino, shows the imagination and practical skill the small machine could unlock.

3:31 · Technology History

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Technology that brings history to life · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave and Evil Steve praise computer-generated recreations of air and naval battles for making veterans' experiences understandable instead of offering empty eye candy. Their curiosity turns to the production process and the testimony behind each angle, and they remember cheering together on the couch as though the historical account were a football game.

2:28 · Technology History

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What made personal computers revolutionary was autonomy · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave remembers the personal-computer revolution as a transfer of authority from the mainframe room to the person doing the work. He then returns to a skill from his own career, building integrated Lotus and Excel systems for million-dollar and international businesses, to explore whether modern convenience can coexist with locally controlled data and the ability to keep working independently.

6:54 · Technology History

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Browse all 562 Technology History clips

Memorable Moments

Julie thanks Dave for helping from the beginning · Proposed air date:

Near the end of the year, longtime listener Julie calls simply to thank Dr. Dave for helping her with computers from the beginning. Dr. Dave receives the appreciation warmly, remembers her machines and thanks her in return for listening so long.

1:19 · Memorable Moments

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Attitude affects everyone around you · Proposed air date:

A longtime listener thanks Dr. Dave for his spiritual, patriotic and positive attitude. He and Evil Steve agree that the way a person looks at things changes the world around him, then undercut the earnest point with a joke about Dr. Dave being angry.

0:54 · Memorable Moments

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Browse all 190 Memorable Moments clips

Full episode archive

Browse by year, then month, to find the episodes from that month.

442 proposed broadcast dates, plus 2 undated entries. Dates are based on archive filenames and may be approximate. Some broadcasts survive as separate parts or incomplete recordings.

2015 (15 dates)
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January
2014 (12 dates)
July
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2013 (26 dates)
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2012 (35 dates)
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2011 (29 dates)
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2010 (33 dates)
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2009 (42 dates)
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2008 (52 dates)
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2007 (52 dates)
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2006 (52 dates)
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2005 (52 dates)
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2004 (40 dates)
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January
2003 (1 date)
April
2000 (1 date)
March
Date unknown (2)