Encarta & Chill | A 90s Podcast

E17 | Pets / Digital Pets

Before they became stars of memes and viral videos, there was a time when cats and dogs did nothing more than eat from bowls, chase balls, and curl up for long naps. Yes, the ‘90s were a pretty sweet time for our furry friends… until they were all suddenly replaced by keyrings boasting 16-pixel LCD screens in 1997.
This episode pays tribute to late 20th-century Animalia - from Sabrina's zesty feline with an attitude problem and Sam Neill’s prehistoric travel companion with a burger addiction to others that may or may not resemble Bill Clinton.
So PAWS what you’re doing, slip into your dandiest pantaloons, and cozy up by the fire with your two faithful companions, Tom and Tomek. Just don’t stroke their hair backwards. They hate that.

E16 | Swimming

Yeah, buoy! This week, the Toms are spreading their water wings and diving headfirst into what Tomek's dad once called "The Golden Age of Council Swimming Pools."
From the thrill of the wave machine to the terror of the deep end, it's time to revisit those chlorine-scented childhoods spent cheating death at Croydon's Water Palace and basking in the glory of sewing a Pool Frog 3 badge onto a manky old Garfield towel.
Will they ride the tide of memory like seasoned swimmers or sink like a slippery black brick? Take the plunge and press play now to find out!

E15 | Blockbuster Video

You might be wondering why a podcast about the '90s has taken 15 episodes to land on the subject of film. It’s the kind of inconsistency that filmmakers of the time certainly wouldn’t have worried about. After all, when in doubt, just add a talking dog.
This week, chatty animals, friendly ghosts, and spectacled ugmos are dominating Tom and Tomek’s thoughts, set against the backdrop of what may not have been the golden age of cinema but certainly was the golden age of video rental.
There are sticky carpets to tread and tricky questions to answer, like: Who were Pearl and Dean? Why bother with a self-destruct feature? And how many Eddie Murphys is too many?

E14 | Primary School [ insert disc 2 ]

Picture the scene… The sun is setting on another '90s summer holiday. For weeks, TV ads have taunted you with images of irritatingly happy children, twirling in crisp school uniforms and flaunting their brand-new lunchboxes as if they were Louis Vuitton. And then, reality dawns - this endless summer was finite after all.
Yes, it’s time to head back to school! This time, however, there are a couple of cool new kids to introduce at assembly… but Tom and Tomek are there too, and their mums have asked if you could hang out with them instead - okay?
Their wet-look hair gel might lack the firm hold of someone you’d usually choose to sit next to on the carpet, but they’ve got plenty to say about parachutes, projectors, and poetry book scams.

E13 | Cereal Box Toys etc.

Get ready to travel back to a decade when breakfast time meant diving elbow-deep into the communal family cereal box - grubby little hands and all - in search of a prize.
A time when we didn’t think of McDonald’s as a taker of rainforests but simply as our go-to supplier of Barbies and Hot Wheels.
Was it a better time? No… but it was certainly one that boasted larger quantities of landfill shaped like the Rugrats.
In this episode, Tom and Tomek celebrate all the free tat that inexplicably brought us so much joy that it made our parents wonder why they even bothered saving up to buy us that BMX.

E12 | War

War. What is it good for? Absolutely not as an episode topic of a podcast in which two millennials sit around lamenting the loss of Blockbuster Video...
 
That’s why Tom and Tomek have chosen to sift through the rubble of the 90's most trivial battles instead... Coca-Cola vs Pepsi, Nintendo vs SEGA and Oasis vs Blur. So let battle commence as two 37-year-olds accidentally lock horns with some unnecessarily strong beverages and try to make sense of all things cola, consoles and Britpop.
 
Don’t worry history buffs; Edvard Grieg's providing the soundtrack and Richard Branson's brought a tank!

E11 | Australia

Encarta and Chill is back! Following their brief break, Tom and Tomek go in search of the perfect blend in the land down under one dodgy accent (and spinning appendage) at a time.
 
If you thought The Simpsons skewed Britain's understanding of life in the Southern Hemisphere in the 90s, Round The Twist had us believing it was even stranger.
 
However, there was one show in particular that made our little island nation fall in love with another... Neighbours. From Toadie's hijinks to the resurrection of Harold Bishop, get ready to deep dive the twice daily cultural phenomenon that was curiously dismissed by Australia itself.
 
Kangaroos, Tasmanian devils and unlikely allies of Nigel Farage await in this episode brazenly described by Alf Stewart as having come down in the last shower.

E10 | You've Got Mail

You wrote in so we're reading out! It's time for a trip down memory lane of this trip down memory lane podcast as we revisit previous episodes on the back of your electronic mail.
 
In this special correspondence episode we'll be digging deeper into the origins of the Windows 95 start-up jingle, learning that Poliwhirl really was a big deal in the 90s (but apparently not as a big as butlers) and new evidence comes to light regarding Smoky Beckham crisps.
 
Plus, make sure your Walkman has fresh batteries because it's time to uncover the secrets of everyone's favourite German-Ugandan lothario as we unearth 'The Lou Bega Tapes'.
 
Thank you to everyone who has listened to this nonsense over the last 10 episodes. We will now be taking a short break but Encarta and Chill will return in February!

E09 | The Millennium

At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2000, the world erupted into complete chaos. Planes fell from the sky, Tickle Me Elmos turned on their masters and Robbie Williams realised his ode to the new century had accidentally been released two years too early.
 
Luckily Tom and Tomek lived to tell the tale and are here to ring in the new year by talking about things that happened (or didn't!) 25 years ago. From the Bug to the Dome, it's time to revisit the most giddy changing of a calendar planet earth has ever witnessed... the dawn of the Millennium.
 
Hope you like Jools Holland because Mum says you can stay up for this one!

E08 | Christmas

There's millions of Toms all under one pod... Well, there's two and if you're looking to bore your family with the CORRECT lyrics to the Toys 'R' us advert this Christmas, they've got you covered.
 
'Tis the season for people claiming Coca-Cola invented Santa, crackers filled with curly fish and Kellogg's Ricicles. Only two of those things are true but you can rest assured that all three will be discussed in unnecessary detail.
 
The Argos catalogue autumn/winter 1990 serves as a portal into Christmases of 90s past in this festive special of Encarta and Chill so get ready to circle those Furbys, Tamagotchis and Power Rangers and revisit a time when December really was the most wonderful time of the year.