Tinkling on the ivories: Horseman, AKA ‘Thorne Jackson-Reynolds’

We’re back from our summer break and on Monday Nick Horseman rocks up in Dakota for a sarsaparilla and a few blasts of his shotgun. That’s right - he’s going straight to the heart of the Wild West to try and diffuse tension between gold-crazed miners and the local Sioux tribe in the only way he knows: through the medium of song.

But will the native Americans trust him? Will the miners buy into his mozzarella farm? And is the Wild West ready for The Spice Girls?

Tune in to find out. Episode drops on Monday 7th July.

The art of the deal: Jackson-Reynolds proposes a ‘beautiful’ solution

AI in the news

Festival toilets: comfortable

It’s a dirty job. So why not let AI do it for us?

Southern Water says that AI is preventing homes in West Sussex from flooding - by learning the normal behaviour patterns of sewers.

It can tell the difference between busy times and when there may be a blockage forming, so that people can take action and unblock the waterways before it’s too late.

I wonder where else AI could be deployed to solve problems in unsavoury environments. How about keeping festival toilets tidy?

So, this is the horse someone left us…

Troy: filmed by a dick with a selfie stick

The latest AI video tools have spawned a wave of clips featuring ‘locals’ in historical settings giving interviews in the style of modern news reports, or in this instance in the style of an influencer twerp.

I’d like to believe the tough living conditions of ancient Greece would have curbed the worst excesses of influencer culture.

But in truth I think humans have always had the potential to be annoying jerks, even in the time of ancient Troy. It was only the lack of tech that was holding them back…

Behold the pilum!

Anyone who listened to our recent episode about Asterix and the marching powder might have been left wondering what was so special about the Roman soldiers’ pilums (spears).

Wonder no more. This excellent video spells out exactly why the pilum was so effective.

Check out S4e12 if you missed the episode.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Tan and the PastMaster crew.

PS if you’ve got any suggestions for what you’d like to see the PastMaster team try next, get in touch:

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Email: pastmasterpod@gmail.com