Talking techLOLogy with the DesignSpark Podcast cast interview

A follow-up series to the highly rated podcast History Makers has just been launched. BCG tracked down the show's stars - Robot Wars judge Dr Lucy Rogers and award-winning comedians Bec Hill and Harriet Braine - to find out what their new series holds.

Series 2 of The DesignSpark Podcast is out today - what it's all about?

Bec: I'm not entirely sure, but we got free pizza before each recording, which was pretty great.

Lucy: Tech is all around us. We take a light hearted look at what it is, what it was and what it may be in the future.

Harriet: Yes, we take six current hot-topics - big data or artificial intelligence, for example - and talk about them largely through the medium of puns.

What drew you to doing a comedy-tech podcast?

Lucy: The glory. Comedians are much more appreciated than technical people.

Harriet: I appreciate you, Lucy! I was drawn to it because I'm actually a bit of a technophobe, and wanted to conquer my fears.

Bec: The free pizza.

Do comedy and technology really mix?

Lucy: It's more of an emulsion. Like ice cream. (An emulsion is a combination of two substances that don't normally mix together. Instead, one of the substances is dispersed throughout the other. In ice cream, molecules of fat are suspended in a water, sugar and ice and air bubbles.)

Harriet: I know what an emulsion is, thanks. Just look at Futurama - a classic emulsion of comedy and technology. It works well.

Bec: I know what an emu is?

What was the hardest part of making the show?

Harriet: It's a lot of writing and research to do in a short space of time! Or at least a lot more than I'm used to. Also trying to find a rhyme for Ignaz Semmelweis.

Bec: Trying to hide how hurt my feelings were every time Lucy made fun of me being Australian.

Lucy: Making sure I understood the tech we were talking about well enough to be able to explain it in plain English. Or Australian.

Each episode covers a different topic from Space Exploration to Transport through a combination of stand-up, sketch, songs, facts and gags. How did you come up with ideas for material?

Bec: Material?

Harriet: Good old Wikipedia. I tried to find a human story to communicate the history of the topic. I was not always successful! Hence writing a song personifying the World Wide Web...

Lucy: The problem was just focusing on a few things - there is so much fun stuff to talk about in each topic!

Every episode you read out listeners' ideas for future tech - did you have any favourites?

Lucy: The chameleon eyes (?)... the robot that tries on clothes for you (@SueArcher6).

Harriet: I liked @SueCurd's idea for a train journey commentary which tells you information about the landscape and places you pass through.

Bec: Sue is my Mum's name.

If you access to future personality tech, what one attribute would you steal from your co-hosts?

Harriet: Lucy's inventiveness is very impressive, and I'd steal Bec's excellent joke writing skills.

Lucy: Harriet's timing and musical ability, Bec's wordsmithing.

Bec: Their pizzas.

Describe the show in three words.

Lucy: Fun; thought-provoking; playful.

Harriet: nice hyphenation, Lucy.

Bec: Doesn't contain emus.

The DesignSpark Podcast explores the comedy past, present and future of some of the hottest topics in tech. Find it on iTunes, Podbean, Spotify and at rs-online.com