Greg knows his Star Wars, Speedmasters and NASA history inside out. Greg’s rebuttal to Allen’s deconstruction of “Grand American Space Narratives” via the Swiss watch industry opens up new ways of thinking about the Omega Speedmaster, humanity’s role in space, and much more.
Category: Podcasts
Podcast Insights E21 – Rethinking The Space Race & The Omega Speedmaster
Allen finally takes on this horological masterpiece, which he’s never really felt anything for at all – perhaps until now. From musicological analysis of Phillip Glass’s minimalist music to deconstructing nationalist narratives, this episode doesn’t critique Omega’s branding of the Speedmaster as much as it critiques modern branding entirely.
Podcast Field Reports E7 – The Rolex Explorer II at Vail Colorado
Allen takes us on a downhill journey back to his days as a ski-punk while rocking an Explorer II Polar White in Vail, CO. It’s a tale of personal rediscovery aided by a badass tool watch.
Podcast Insights E20 – The Quartz Crisis & The Future of the 20th Century
Pedro comes on to discuss his new-found acceptance of some quartz watches, and he and Allen end up discussing the Quartz Crisis from many different angles.
Podcast Conversations E12 – The Quartz “Disruption” of the 1970s (w Pedro Mendes)
Pedro comes on to discuss his new-found acceptance of some quartz watches, and he and Allen end up discussing the Quartz Crisis from many different angles.
Podcast Insights E19 – Wrist-Presence & The Inelegance of Tool Watches
Evolutionary theory suggests that we are drawn to certain people and not others based on hardwired aesthetic judgements wrought over some five-million years. Allen suggests that similar hardwired aesthetics are at play when we judge “wrist presence,” and goes on to suggest that tool watches categorically fail to achieve this elusive quality. A deep dive… Read more »
Podcast Conversations E11 – Is Your Pilot’s Watch a Nazi Watch? (with Oren Hartov)
We see so many recreations of vintage watches issued to commemorate moments in history, people, wars, accomplishments, and so on. A certain line of WWII pilot’s watch recreations present difficult questions about memorializing the Hitler’s Nazi regime. Israeli paratrooper and military watch expert Oren Hartov joins Allen in an open dialogue which explores numerous angles… Read more »
Podcast Conversations E10 – The Oris Calibre 400 Movement (with VJ Geronimo)
The Calibre 400 is not the first of Oris’ in-house modern movements, but it is their first work-horse automatic winding movement of the modern era. Designed from the ground-up according to Oris’ value-focused ethos, this movement is highly efficient, packs a 5-day power reserve, is robustly anti-magnetic, and happens to look a bit like the… Read more »
Podcast Conversations E9 – Seiko’s Dueling Factories, (w David Flett & Pedro Mendes)
Seiko famously had two factories working simultaneously in both collaboration and competition to produce the most accurate watches in the world in order to beat the Swiss at their own game. David and Pedro had done deep research into this topic and come up with new intel that’s fascinating in its own right, and very… Read more »
Podcast Field Reports 6 – Mission Lake George (Allen Reflects on a Successful Mission)
With the diving behind them, the BTD Crew that dove Lake George is unpacking both their gear and their thoughts about the experience. Allen reads an essay he wrote about SCUBA diving in search of outbreaks of the invasive species Eurasian Milfoil, and he muses on everything from bringing climate change deniers together with environmentalists… Read more »