189: Using Computers to Impress Girls

Published: April 5, 2014, 8:46 p.m.

b'Warm up your modem and turn your nuclear-launch key\\u2014it\\u2019s time to play Global Thermonuclear War! We discuss \\u201cWarGames,\\u201d the 1983 John Badham film starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, and Ally Sheedy. Is this the ultimate film for computer nerds like us? How do the film\\u2019s Cold War themes contrast with its anti-technology themes? Can a computer make moral decisions? Why is there so much nerd shaming and sexism? And why do they let tour buses into the heart of America\\u2019s nuclear command? So many questions, Professor Falken, and so few remote-controlled pterodactyls.'