Best STEAM APE Podcasts (2024)

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Our Lives Matter S1E31: Worldviews and the Principles of Learning 15:17

22h ago15:17

15:17

People live their lives using their abilities and ideas in their environments, and they think of new ideas in the process. The ideas they think of and learn over the course of their lives affect how they see the world. What does education psychology tell us about that? Teachers use principles of learning in school to make ideas memorable. How do th…

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The Free Cheese Episode 563: Batman: The Video Game 1:06:02

4d ago1:06:02

1:06:02

This week on The Free Cheese, you wanna get nuts? It's the 35th anniversary of Batman and we're celebrating by playing the Sunsoft video game adaptation. We discuss the impact of Tim Burton's 1989 film, our history with Batman, and of course we rank Batman: The Video Game on The List.

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Our Lives Matter S1E30: The Pros and Cons of Rigid Morality 18:47

8d ago18:47

18:47

People always use their abilities and ideas in their environments to decide what to do in life. They think of more ideas in the process. Those ideas build up to a personal history and cultural background of ideas they use to interpret the world and keep making their decisions. What do you think of other people’s worldviews? How similar do they have…

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The Free Cheese Episode 562: Halfway Point 1:16:32

11d ago1:16:32

1:16:32

This week on The Free Cheese, we like our new, old consoles. As we reach the 50% mark of the year and this season, we reflect on the games we’ve played so far. We discuss our disappointments in some and surprises in others. We talk a bit about what 2024 has brought us, both in new titles as well as new experiences for us. Finally, we discuss the pu…

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Our Lives Matter S1E29: Understanding Worldviews 20:58

15d ago20:58

20:58

One easy way to see the Web of Human Behavior and Empathy Formula play out is by looking around at people you know. The people who relate to best are usually the people you feel you have the most in common with. But you can relate to anyone if you can figure out how their life is different from yours. What does that tell us about how people see the…

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The Free Cheese Episode 561: Ape Escape 59:33

18d ago59:33

59:33

This week on The Free Cheese, DualShock controller required. We play, review, and rank one of Sony’s early first-party efforts to see how it stands against The List. We discuss the unique gameplay of Ape Escape and how the right stick combat works with each gadget you acquire.

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Our Lives Matter S1E28: The Empathy Formula 49:28

22d ago49:28

49:28

We’re all human, and we’re all unique. How do we see through our unique differences to see our fundamental similarities? The Web of Human Behavior connected the first principles of evolutionary psychology and modern theatre. That shows us a map of human decision making, which we can use to tell our own and other people’s stories, and to understand …

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The Free Cheese Episode 560: Out Run 58:10

25d ago58:10

58:10

This week on The Free Cheese, we try to set the high score for car flips. A Sega classic joins The List this week while we take an intense, leisurely drive across several countries. We dissect the gameplay of Out Run, how it has held up for almost forty years, and share our tips for success (or more realistically, how to avoid our mistakes).…

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Our Lives Matter S1E27: The Web of Human Behavior 45:01

29d ago45:01

45:01

Modern theatre and evolutionary psychology are founded on parallel discoveries of the same first principles. What’s an easy and effective way to translate between the two? The Web of Human Behavior is a checklist of 20 components of human behavior. It starts with the five fundamental traits of human mental activity, of our instincts for survival an…

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The Free Cheese Episode 559: Halo: Combat Evolved | Part II 1:17:23

1M ago1:17:23

1:17:23

This week on The Free Cheese, grab your Xbox and 15 friends, we're having a party. Our three-part series on Halo: Combat Evolved continues with a focused conversation on the competitive multiplayer of the game. We discuss our history with Halo multiplayer, how it influenced other titles, and try to uncover what makes it special. As a bonus, we add …

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The Free Cheese Episode 558: Arcade Special 51:17

1M ago51:17

51:17

This week on The Free Cheese, we charge by the bomb. We took a trip to a local arcade and share the experience of the modern arcade. We reflect on the arcades of yore and the games that used to draw us to them. Finally, we look ahead at what is to come of arcades and what we hope the future holds.

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Our Lives Matter S1E25: The Magic of Modern Theatre 34:11

1M ago34:11

34:11

Constantin Stanislavski pioneered modern theatre by discovering a set of artistic principles. They let actors construct the subconscious levels of their characters’ thought processes. Those discoveries are parallels to first principles of evolutionary psychology. We can talk about those artistic principles using ordinary words, and we can see actor…

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The Free Cheese Episode 557: Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow 59:15

2M ago59:15

59:15

This week on The Free Cheese, six more weeks of Syphon Filter. The final entry in the Syphon Filter series becomes the first to join The List. We recap our understanding of the series’ plot, highlight some of the differences introduced in this game, and discuss how it fares against the PSP library at its time of release.…

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Our Lives Matter S1E24: The First 24 Centuries of Theatre 13:24

2M ago13:24

13:24

Theatre turns human behavior into an art. But people are very perceptive of human behavior. We have highly developed instincts for interpreting why people do the things they do. For actors to produce realistic human behavior onstage is very complicated. Theatre artists struggled with that problem for about 2,400 years. They found many ways to make …

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The Free Cheese Episode 556: Daikatana 1:06:44

2M ago1:06:44

1:06:44

This week on The Free Cheese, we can’t leave without our buddy Superfly. After reviewing and ranking Quake and Quake II over the last two seasons of the podcast, we follow it up John Romero’s Daikatana. Wielding the titular weapon (as briefly as possible), we travel through time and fight the power before it ends us all.…

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Our Lives Matter S1E23: Agriculture and the Clashes of Civilizations 33:55

2M ago33:55

33:55

The development of farming led to further social and technological developments. The increase in food production led to the specialization of labor and population growth. Population growth led to cities and kingdoms. The specialization of labor led to the inventions of metal working and writing. The growth of cities led to plagues. Each of these de…

1
The Free Cheese Episode 555: Metal Gear Acid 1:21:27

2M ago1:21:27

1:21:27

This week on The Free Cheese, no fair, she drew more guns than me. We return to the launch of the PSP to check out how Konami diverted the Metal Gear Solid games and created something more suited for portability. Metal Gear Acid joins The List this week once we get over the fact that we move by cards, shoot by cards, and do everything else by cards…

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Our Lives Matter S1E22: Geography and the Spread of Farming 26:11

2M ago26:11

26:11

Farming was developed first in the Middle East, about 10,000 years ago. It was developed in China 1,000 years later, and in three parts of the Americas several thousands of years later. The environmental conditions of the Middle East at the time made it the most favorable environment in the world for people to develop farming. Several geographical …

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The Free Cheese Episode 554: Zone of the Enders 58:22

2M ago58:22

58:22

This week on The Free Cheese, we have obtained the metatron ore. It's time we take on the role of Leo Stenbuck and climb into Jehuty. If that makes any sense to you, you already know how much fun we had this week. If not, come learn about Zone of the Enders with us. We discuss our time with the first game in the series, how it's connected to other …

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Our Lives Matter S1E21: The Evolution of Farming 17:00

2M ago17:00

17:00

The first people in the world ate wild food that they hunted and gathered. Over the millennia they learned about the lifecycles of plants and animals and used that to increase the food productivity of their environments. In five places on Earth, and maybe four others, people had combinations of environmental factors that led them all the way to ful…

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The Free Cheese Episode 553: Tetris Effect: Connected 52:40

2M ago52:40

52:40

This week on The Free Cheese, I’m yours forever. We’re revisiting our Game of the Game of the Year, only this time we’re together. Our fourth and final Wii Sports Killer for Season 12 enters the conversation as we discuss the new additions to Tetris Effect Connected, breakdown its individual modes, and reminisce on other games that made us feel som…

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Our Lives Matter S1E20: The Critical Race Theory of Evolution 26:32

3M ago26:32

26:32

Genetic evolution for our species is slow, because it depends on parents passing genes down to children generation by generation. Human intelligence evolved over millions of years and hundreds of thousands of generations. Our intelligence has evolved from genes to ideas. We evolve mentally much faster now by thinking about ideas and deciding which …

1
The Free Cheese Episode 552: Super Mario Kart 53:35

3M ago53:35

53:35

This week on The Free Cheese, the road is rainbow. We play Super Mario Kart in this episode and discuss how it started not only the kart racing genre but also opened the world up to crossovers. We compare the first entry to our favorites and talk about where it sits in the history of SNES games.

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Our Lives Matter S1E19: Around the World in 40,000 Years, and 7 Failed Explanations of Race and Intelligence 28:24

3M ago28:24

28:24

Our ancestors originated in a small part of Africa and spread all over the world. They adapted to life in different places by using their intelligence to figure out how to live there. Many people have tried to explain the differences in people’s lifestyles on different continents by explaining how people in different parts of the world could’ve evo…

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The Free Cheese Episode 551: MLB Slugfest 2004 46:12

3M ago46:12

46:12

This week on The Free Cheese, is he on fire? Our first baseball game makes The List with MLB Slugfest 20-04. Just in time for the start of the season, we check out how the alternative to modern simulation baseball games holds up.

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Our Lives Matter S1E18: Religion and the Evolution of Conflicting Thought Processes 21:57

3M ago21:57

21:57

Religion played an important role in the evolution of our species. Many people still feel it’s important today. But it can also lead people to make bad decisions. How do religions make people feel like they’re finding what they’re looking for in life? And how can that bring people’s feelings into conflict with each other? How do religions seem to g…

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The Free Cheese Episode 550: Syndicate 1:00:36

3M ago1:00:36

1:00:36

This week on The Free Cheese, you can't hack this boss. We finally check in with a game we've talked about for years to see how Starbreeze's Syndicate reimagines the classic strategy game. Can Brian Cox and Rosario Dawson save the story? Does Detective Vision™ enhance every game? Let's find out and rank Syndicate on The List!…

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The Evolution of Religion (text) 29:07

3M ago29:07

29:07

ACT I Scene 1 Are you on my side? Am I on your side? If we want to be on the same side but we don’t know each other, what should we do? Do we believe in the same things? Can we trust each other? People of different religions have been looking for ways to see themselves as part of the same story for a long time. Archeology and evolutionary psycholog…

1
Our Lives Matter S1E17: The Evolution of Religion 29:07

3M ago29:07

29:07

Human intelligence lets us see a big picture of the world, and makes us wonder how to see an even bigger picture. All over the world people have asked the same questions about life, and have used what they knew about the world to look for answers. Religions tell stories about the origin of the world, what make the world function, morality, and the …

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The Free Cheese Episode 549: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream 46:58

3M ago46:58

46:58

This week on The Free Cheese, did you think that the book was better? We point and click our way through Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream, exploring each of the game's characters and stumbling our way into different endings. We discuss the central themes in the game, some of the surprises we found, and explore how the game feels …

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Our Lives Matter S1E16: The Two Main Arguments Against Evolutionary Psychology 20:49

4M ago20:49

20:49

If we have survival instincts, why do people commit suicide? Why do people sometimes sacrifice their lives? If we have reproductive instincts, why are some people homosexuals? Why do some people not want to have children? These questions seem to some people to disprove evolutionary psychology. But in fact, they give us some of the best pictures of …

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The Free Cheese Episode 548: Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version | Part I: Journey Through Johto 1:11:18

4M ago1:11:18

1:11:18

This week on The Free Cheese, you have to get more of them. Our two panel members play through Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version. We visit Johto in this episode and discuss our third of four Wii Sports Killers. While only the second in the core series, the pair of games were originally intended to be the final games in the series and …

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Our Lives Matter S1E15: The Stone Age + 50,000 Years 23:17

4M ago23:17

23:17

Archeology shows us that 50,000 years ago our ancestors had invented art, religion, music, and all the other patterns of behavior we have today. That means people 50,000 years ago had all of the brain components we do. What sets us apart from people 50,000 years ago is that we’ve had 50,000 years to think of new ideas and inventions. But the instin…

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The Free Cheese Episode 547: DemiKids: Light Version and Dark Version 53:25

4M ago53:25

53:25

This week on The Free Cheese, time is a key to creation and a vessel for destruction! What happens when Atlus translates its Megami Tensei series into something to compete with other monster collecting RPGs on Game Boy Advance? The DemiKids are born! We take a look at the first and only DemiKids games to release in North America. We explore where t…

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Our Lives Matter S1E14: The Five Mental Traits of Evolutionary Psychology 24:17

4M ago24:17

24:17

Intelligence, for any animal species, starts with brains doing five basic things. All of animal behavior is the results of the interaction of those five mental functions. Everything people think, feel, and do begins with the same five mental functions. The next step in understanding human psychology is to look at how our instincts for survival and …

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The Free Cheese Episode 546: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! 48:29

4M ago48:29

48:29

This week on The Free Cheese, play some games, dork! We join the WarioWare corporation five seconds at a time, punching, mashing, picking, and jumping all the way to the top. In this episode, we break down the essence of what makes WarioWare so intriguing and easy to learn. We look at how the game is able to satisfy each element of playing a video …

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Our Lives Matter S1E13: The Three First Principles of Evolutionary Psychology 24:55

4M ago24:55

24:55

Our story has led us from philosophy to math to physics to chemistry to biology to the origin of our species and the evolution of our intelligence. The next step is evolutionary psychology. That means understanding how the evolution of our intelligence affects how we think and feel now. That starts with our looking at three underlying themes in eve…

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The Free Cheese Episode 545: Gravity Rush 49:22

4M ago49:22

49:22

This week on The Free Cheese, everything is upside down. We revisit what we consider the title synonymous with Sony's original vision for the PlayStation Vita just in time for the platform's twelfth anniversary. While Gravity Rush would later receive a port to PlayStation 4 and a sequel on the platform, its beginnings on Vita are definitive. We dis…

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Our Lives Matter S1E12: Africa 7 Million Years Ago 24:30

4M ago24:30

24:30

Seven million years ago our ancestors were chimpanzees living in a forest in Africa. Then a drought caused a food shortage, and some of them walked into the grassland looking for food. That change in their environment set the evolution of human intelligence in motion. ACT I Scene 1 [113 bpm] 7 million years ago, in southeastern Africa, there was a …

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The Free Cheese Episode 544: Super Mario Galaxy 2 | Part I 55:40

5M ago55:40

55:40

This week on The Free Cheese, three sentences in three languages! Our second Wii Sports Killer™ is introduced this week in Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Nintendo Wii. We discuss its role as one of the Wii's best titles in the library, some of our favorite levels in the game, and how Yoshi adds to 3D Mario.…

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Our Lives Matter S1E11: Plants and Worms to Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles 27:57

5M ago27:57

27:57

How did we get from single celled organisms to all the diversity of life in the world today? If you focus on how many differences there are between one species and another, you’ll be overwhelmed with information. But if you look at the critical differences between one species and another, suddenly it’s a coherent story. Now you’re looking at how fe…

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The Free Cheese Episode 543: Civilization VI 57:13

5M ago57:13

57:13

This week on The Free Cheese, who will rule the world? First, we do some homework. Then, we try to take over the globe. Civilization VI marks our first 4X entry on The List and gives us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes as we play. We share our tips for getting started in a Civilization game and stories about some of the victories and loss…

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Our Lives Matter S1E10: A Conceptual Detour of Evolutionary Biology 20:23

5M ago20:23

20:23

There are a lot of steps in between the evolution of multicellular life and the evolution of the plants and animals as we think about them today. We can fill in that part of the story by talking about the meanings of vocabulary words from biology. Each of those words refers to a concept in biology that tells a story about some part of evolution. Ea…

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The Free Cheese Episode 542: Ring Fit Adventure | Part I 51:23

5M ago51:23

51:23

This week on The Free Cheese, are your thighs sore? Nintendo continued its series of fitness video games with Ring Fit Adventure, creating a full role-playing game that happens to use your body as the controller. In this episode, we set goals for 2024 with Ring Fit Adventure, discuss the broad gameplay and scope of the game, and share the impact th…

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Our Lives Matter S1E09: The Evolution of Life 26:26

5M ago26:26

26:26

Genes are molecules. Evolution is caused by the replication, variation, and selection of genes. For life to begin on Earth, the geology of the Earth had to start a chemical reaction that could evolve. How did that happen? How did the evolution of genes lead to cells? To chromosomes? To multicellular life forms? The evolution of genes eventually cre…

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The Free Cheese Episode 541: Knightmare 36:37

5M ago36:37

36:37

This week on The Free Cheese, we are back in Greek mythology! Our first MSX game joins The List with Konami's Knightmare. We take control of the hero Popolon and battle through 8 stages, one line at a time. Knightmare transforms a traditional arcade shooter into an epic adventure but where does it lie within Konami's legacy?…

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Our Lives Matter S1E08: The Big Bang to the Periodic Table of the Elements 17:58

5M ago17:58

17:58

The Big Bang was a huge explosion of energy. Some of it condensed into matter. That set the universe in motion. It led to the formation of atoms. It also led to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets. Physics is the study of matter and energy. Atomic physics leads directly into chemistry. Electrons are attracted to the nuclei of atoms. What …

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The Free Cheese Episode 540: The Guardian Legend 55:31

6M ago55:31

55:31

This week on The Free Cheese, infinite spiders! We add our first game to The List for Season 12, another of Compile's catalogue. The Guardian Legend combines top-down shooting with top-down exploration. We discuss how the blend of genres works to create something new and where this game ultimately falls in the history of the NES' library.…

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Our Lives Matter S1E07: A Philosophy of Four Mathematical Laws 29:29

6M ago29:29

29:29

Math is the metaphysics of science. Every scientific discovery is the discovery of a mathematical pattern in the world. To tell a mathematical story of the world that people can grow up with, we need to start with games we can show to preschoolers to help them visualize the fundamental mathematical patterns in the world. As they get older they can …

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The Free Cheese Episode 539: Halo: Combat Evolved | Part I 1:14:46

6M ago1:14:46

1:14:46

This week on The Free Cheese, how do I become the demon? We begin our journey through Season 12 and toward potentially dethroning Wii Sports from its high perch above The List. Bungie's Halo: Combat Evolved takes the spotlight as our first of four games chosen to become the new number one. We cover the campaign, our favorite moments and weapons, an…

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