Date: Wednesday, November 19th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

This month, we have guests from the Wisconsin Wayfarers for all three of our presentations! If you love animals, this one is for you.

First up is Elizabeth Braatz with “Bees! Who are the bumble bees of Wisconsin, and how you can help”: Did you know that there is an endangered bumble bee in Wisconsin, and you might be able to see one here in Madison? Learn about the bumble bees of Wisconsin, who they are, where they go in the winter, and how we can all help pollinators.

Our second talk is “Monarch Butterflies: Mighty Morphin’ Marathoners”, presented by Marie Jensen: Monarch butterflies are one of the most charismatic creatures of the insect world, but there’s serious brawn behind the beauty! Learn about their insane migration, why you should care about their protection, and what makes Madison special when it comes to monarch conservation.

Our last presentation will be given by Lisie Kitchel: “The complicated life of Wisconsin’s Native Mussels, not just rocks on the bottom of a stream”. The 50 species of native mussels in Wisconsin have amazingly complex life histories with unique ways to accomplish critical life stages. Their diversity is only excelled by their creative ways to accomplish reproduction, pretty smart for the lowly clam.

Date: Wednesday, October 29th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Welcome to another Nerd Nite, ghouls and goblins! We have three great talks scheduled, as well as a costume contest! Wear your favorite nerdy costume for a chance to win prizes!

Our first presenter is Lynn Hyland with “The Real Hyper-Drive: Understanding the ADHD Brain”: What happens when you mix an ADHD diagnosis and a degree in Clinical Psychology? You get Lynn Hyland, a psychologist specializing in ADHD with a deep personal understanding of the experience, issues, and strengths of having ADHD. If you’ve wondered if you or someone in your life might have it, this presentation will give you the facts about what it’s really like to have this particular flavor of neurospice.

Second is Dr. William Koebe, sharing “The Normalization of Deviance: How Silence Will Kill Us All”. A culture of silence about unsafe practices has killed a ton of people. From the Challenger disaster to the COVID pandemic, we’ll see how this process makes tragedies inevitable.

Last for the evening is Matt Daley with his talk “Planeshift to Hell: Satanic Panic, Demons, and how they shaped Dungeons & Dragons”. Paranoid parents conflating D&D and Satanism is an old joke which has permeated pop culture, but how did this originate and what impact has it made on the World’s Oldest Roleplaying Game? Game Designer Matt Daley shares the history of Dungeons & Dragons’ Satanic Panic episode of the 80s, the game’s handling of demonic elements across different eras, and how these shape the D&D of today.

Date: Wednesday, August 20th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

We will start the night with a classic Nerd Nite presentation from David Hinschberger, “Monopoly: A Story of Capitalism and How It Lingers.” The Landlord’s game?! That’s the original title for Monopoly. Why does the game pit people together so brutally and how did it come to be how it is?

The second and third speaker blocked will be taken by a one of a kind interactive video game concert featuring Extra Lives.

Extra Lives is the world’s first Audience RPG: a fully narrated, inclusive choose-your-own-adventure
game where you are the main character. Plunge into an exciting story with visuals, music, sound effects
and footage drawn from the legendary console games of the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s… and a live score provided by the lovable nerds of Extra Lives.

At key junctures you’ll get to vote on how the character proceeds, leading to special story branches. With multiple endings and 60+ possible variations depending on the audience’s in-game choices, this immersive feast for the imagination will transport you back to your childhood. To the next level!

Madison Nerd Nite is always 100% free, however if you would like to support the band, tips are welcome at the show.

Date: Wednesday, April 9th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Join us for our last Nerd Nite before summer break!

First is Manushi Vatani with “Martin Shkreli: The Man, The Meme, The Menace”. Manushi says “Join me for the wild story of how a smug hedge fund kid became the most hated man in America—raising drug prices, feuding with Wu-Tang Clan, and somehow still thinking he was the hero. From his meteoric rise to his inevitable downfall, this is the ultimate guide to the internet’s favorite pharma bro.”

Our second speaker is Ken Fager, sharing “A Nerdy Intro to 3D Printing”. It is getting even easier to make just about anything with a 3D printer. Local artist Ken Fager will print a Mini WI live during an introduction to the highs and lows of this creative technology.

Last for the night is Addison Smith: “Castles: The Aircraft Carriers of the Middle Ages”. Anchors aweigh, my knights! These two apparently dissimilar structures fill essentially the same niche in their respective strategic contexts. I’ll be taking you on a whirlwind tour of medieval military history, and modern military/naval history (WWI-present), to make the case that they’re far more similar than they seem. If you still aren’t convinced, feel free to use the Q&A period to poke holes in my theory, as long as you can phrase your objection in the form of a question.

Date: Wednesday, February 19th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Our first speaker is Bartje Wakker presenting “Treasure Amongst the Trees: The Beginner’s Guide to Foraging Wild Mushrooms in Southern Wisconsin”. If you’ve eaten mushrooms at the grocery store, you’ve probably only experienced a few varieties, but there’s so many more delicious and fascinating fungi out there! If you want to adventure through the wilds, try new healthy and delicious foods, get a head start on the upcoming and coveted morel season or just find these strange organisms and admire their beauty, then come and listen as I explain everything you need to know to get started, and details on the most common, delicious, and even dangerous fungi to watch out for around the Madison area – maybe even in your own backyard.

Up next is Anu Devkota with “Party like a Mugwump: A Brief History of the 1884 Presidential Election”: Some say that politics used to be a noble activity, where facts mattered and people cared about real issues. But long before our current ridiculous political era, the Gilded Age served up one of the wildest elections in US history. Come learn about a sex scandal, railroad bribery, religious sectarianism, and other tawdry matters related to the election of 1884!

Last but not least is Manushi Vatani, sharing “Lyrics, Law, and Percs: The Young Thug RICO Case”. “Join me for a deep dive into one of the wildest trials in hip-hop history—Young Thug’s RICO case. We’ll break down what RICO actually is, the facts of the case, and the most ridiculous courtroom moments (yes, including the infamous ‘pass me a Perc’ incident). Whether you’re a legal expert or just here for the chaos, this presentation will have you questioning both the justice system and your playlist.

Date: Wednesday, January 22nd
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

First is Lucas McGranahan with “Dark Side of Your Mom: What Freud Got Right”: Sigmund Freud revolutionized modern thought, but his thinking is often caricatured or dismissed. I will defend Freud’s best ideas, no matter how much cocaine he was doing when he thought of them.

Second we have Ania Bialic with “All I Want for Christmas is Warp Technology”! For decades, Star Trek has captured the imagination of nerds and non-nerds alike, with technology that once seemed like pure science fiction—until now. Instant translators, Bluetooth, tablets, and holograms are already part of our daily lives. But what about the real juicy stuff? Transporters, warp drives, photon torpedoes, and food synthesizers—how close are we to turning Federation dreams into reality? Join us for a deep dive into the physics of Star Trek (with a few Picard memes sprinkled in) to explore how far we’ve come and how much farther we have to boldly go.

Our last speaker of the night is Connor Ciecko, presenting “POLISCI1977: A Brief Overview on the Political Happenings of Star Wars”! We all know about the blasters and lightsabers and Han Solo shooting first, but the foundation of why the stars were in a war is a little less clear. We’ll start with the Phantom Menace and work our way to Return of the Jedi and outline the political context underneath each movie in an attempt to explain the unrest in the galaxy. Is Jar Jar Binks the mastermind behind the largest conflict we’ve ever seen on the silver screen? Probably not, but he is the reason why the second Death Star blows up.

Date: Wednesday, December 4th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Our first speaker is Ben Rush with “Unused CT scan data for individual and public health”: CT scans are incredibly valuable for diagnosing medical conditions, but their usefulness does not end with a single diagnosis! Abdominal CT scans contain rich information about the health of our entire bodies, but this information about our muscle, bone, fat, liver, and other organs is rarely used. We will take a tour of how CT scans can be used beyond one diagnosis to inform us about our overall health, shape public health, and potentially redefine aging.

Next to the stage is Erica Christensen, presenting “One Brick at a Time: A Brief History of Lego”. This is one woman’s exploration of the history and cultural impact of her favorite childhood past time.

Last but certainly not least is Michael Yu, sharing his talk “Leave Room for GPT: AI’s Say in Your Dating Life”: Another cuffing season is here, but this time it wants to open up the relationship. Come speed date the newest member of your polycule—artificial intelligence (AI). Learn about its hobbies, interests, and how a $621.19 billion industry is influencing your love life from AI-driven Tinder matches to the people marrying AI (if you want this to be raunchier, you can replace “the people marrying AI” with “AI-powered sex robots”).

Date: Wednesday, September 4th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

School’s in session, and so is Nerd Nite! We are thrilled to bring you three more amazing presenters this month.

First up is Wil Koeb teaching us about the history of pre-film animation!
Second is Rebecca Stone with “Today’s Brain Rot Generation: How to be a Skibidi Rizzler”: Confused by all of gen alpha’s brain rot lingo? Same! But as a teacher of small brains, I have developed a comprehensive key to understating the confusing randomness of the internet. Join me, melt your brain, because nobody wants to be Ohio (that’s bad).
Last but not least is returning presenter ARJ with “Some Like it Raw: Parallelisms between Drinking Raw Milk and Unprotected Sex”. Your hosts never thought they’d have to google images of “sexy milk”, but here we are!

Date: Wednesday, August 7th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Madison Nerd Nite is back from Summer break, and we have got an awesome lineup of speakers!

David Trossman is our first speaker with his talk “The Sounds of the Oceans Between Us”: Jacques Cousteau was wrong: the ocean is not a silent world. And it’s not just because of whales and waves or even human-made sounds. You probably don’t listen to music for the science, just like you don’t listen to comedy to have jokes explained to you. But I’m going to tell you about the science that my own ocean-themed songs are about anyway. At the very least, you may hear music inspired by artists you actually like.

Next up is Chris Ott with “What is High-Speed Rail– and When Can You Ride It?”: In 2010, Wisconsin cancelled plans for a new train to Madison—but it wasn’t high-speed rail. What exactly is high-speed rail anyway? And what are the prospects for getting better American trains running, including for us in Madison?

Our last speaker of the night is Adam Spencer, explaining why we should worry about AI later and not now, but cybersecurity now and not later. AI is disruptive technology that with great potential impact – later. There are no real pathways to real disruption in the near term. Cybersecurity is having a devastating impact now, particularly economically – but in the mid-term there is reason to have hope for positive change.

Date: Wednesday, March 20th
Time: 8pm
Location: High Noon Saloon

Get ready for the final Nerd Nite ’til AUGUST! Come get your fill of nerdiness with three spectacular topics!
First, we have Max Olmsted with “The History of the Nintendo PlayStation Prototype: The Rarest Video Game Console in the World”: Imagine a world where Mario and Crash Bandicoot teamed up! That almost became a reality with the Nintendo PlayStation, a legendary console shrouded in mystery. This presentation dives into its exciting backstory – a tale of a vanished prototype, and a dramatic rediscovery. Get ready to journey into a hidden chapter of gaming history!

Next up is Bartje Wakker taking us into outer space with “Oops! All Neutrons!: The End of Lives of High Mass Stars”: Big stars burn bright and die young, but how do they die? And what happens next? And where do they come from in the first place? Understanding these and their demise can tell us where the elements come from, why there exists as an atomic nucleus the size of manhattan, and even how the strongest material in the universe is… tasty?

Our final presenter til we meet again in AUGUST is Dr. Sarah Koske, getting us ready for Derby Day! She will be presenting “Bat Ship Bray: Why Racehorses Have Crazy Names”: Have you ever wondered why racehorses have such bizarre names? Racehorse names can range from badass (Hades) to funny (Bodacious Tatas), to sentimental (Always Dreaming), so how do these athletes come to be named? Sarah will explain the various horse naming traditions and the complex system of rules that govern the naming of racehorses. We’ll also touch on the psychology behind names and how they might affect your own performance at the track.