Encarta & Chill | A 90s Podcast
Tom Skinner and Tomek Glowacki look back at the good, the bad and the niche from the decade that introduced Britain to Tamagotchis, Kangol fleeces and daily double helpings of Neighbours... the 90s!
Get in touch with the show: encartaandchill@gmail.com
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Episodes

Mar 24, 2026
Mar 24, 2026
37 min
Roll up, roll up! The fete is in town and it’s got everything you could possibly want - from cake stalls and face-painting to medieval torture devices and hooker ducks (no, that is not a typo).
This is your opportunity to be Dave Benson Phillips for a day, take home your very first pet, and sit on a random farmer's tractor for a bit. Hope you’ve brought an accountant with you, though, because the cast of Gladiators is here with some questionable financial advice.
This week’s episode of Encarta and Chill sees Tom and Tom visit their local community jamboree where, after 48 episodes of brotherly love, they finally come to blows in front of an ice cream van.
![E48 | Windows 95 Video Guide [ watchalong ]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog19614638/EAC48_300x300.jpg)
Mar 17, 2026
Mar 17, 2026
1hr 11 min
They were on a break! But could they BE any more back?
Tom Skinner and Tomek Glowacki return to the Encarta and Chill studio and this time they've brought some FRIENDS along for a watchalong of the world's first (and last) cyber sitcom.
Microsoft have promised laughs quantified as "more than a few" as a wacky bunch of propellerheads explain how to send an email, install a printer and run a Yiddish crime syndicate out of a deli.
Get ready to coo at Buttons the cat, cruise down the information superhighway with a Bill Gates changeling and attempt to decode the world's first (and last) joke about moo shu pork.
Sounds laborious? Sure. But there's also a big red button that you don't find out the purpose of until the end!
![E47 | Todd Douglas: Boy Wizard [ audiobook ]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog19614638/Todd_Douglas96t5a_300x300.jpg)
Dec 24, 2025
Dec 24, 2025
14 min
World Book Day is proud to present 'Todd Douglas: Boy Wizard' in association with Pinbury Town Council, Pinbury Rotary Club and Southwestern Railways.
Written and narrated by the author, P.G. Spalding.
Any resemblance to existing boy wizards is purely coincidental.
© Funk & Wagnalls, 1999.
![E46 | Christmas [ insert disc 2 ]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog19614638/EAC_Xmas6r8uf_300x300.jpg)
Dec 23, 2025
Dec 23, 2025
34 min
Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!
After being visited by three ghosts in the night, Tom and Tomek have been spooked into doing an Encarta and Chill Christmas special and you better believe it's packed with more unnecessary filler than a turducken.
'Tis the season to reflect upon the legend of Graggle Simpson, Batman and Robin's wildlife crimes and THE most 90s cameo you will ever find in a pantomime.
Gifts are exchanged, poems are shared and a giant Portuguese bird is marvelled at.
...Oh, and keep your eyes on your podcast app of choice tomorrow for an extra little treat nestled beneath the proverbial tree - don't worry, Mum's got the receipt!

Dec 9, 2025
Dec 9, 2025
43 min
It’s time once again to dial up and clear out the Encarta & Chill AOL inbox before it exceeds its 5MB of storage.
When you’re as lackadaisical about research as we are, it’s always a ducksend to be able to turn to our unofficial team of experts with a penchant for penning emails more promising than if they carried the subject 'Pictures of Anna Kournikova, definitely not a virus...'
In our fourth correspondence special, you help us uncover the raunchy secrets hidden within the Spice World video game, ponder the purpose of popper tracksuit bottoms, and recoil at the thought of being burdened with a pile of nugget buddies (as easily as they may be remedied by a comfortable pair of said popper tracksuit bottoms).
John Wark, Dexter Holland’s decoy, and the Princess Diana Beanie Baby round out a stellar lineup of whimsy to draw the curtain/Rachel on 2025.
![E44 | Sky Sports: A Whole New Ball Game [ watchalong ]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog19614638/EAC_Watchalong_36agab_300x300.jpg)
Dec 2, 2025
Dec 2, 2025
50 min
If your grandad ever tries to bore you with talk of the Preston North End 'Invincibles,' point him in the direction of the latest Encarta and Chill watchalong.
This episode sees Tom and Tom attempting to make sense of the “unprecedented sports television machine” that was Sky Sports in the early ’90s - an operation of Death Star proportions that left fans in no doubt that the beautiful game was, in fact, invented in 1992.
“A whole new ball game” was the mission statement as the Premier League burst into life amidst a flurry of quasi-erotic shower sequences, giant Bart Simpsons, and breakfast in bed courtesy of Anders Limpar’s wife.
It's time to go football crazy, podcast mad, but can you really do a watchalong of a 90-second TV advert? When it’s the greatest 90 seconds ever committed to film, you can.

Nov 25, 2025
Nov 25, 2025
34 min
Grab your best Kangol bucket hat, throw on your United Colours of Benetton sweater, and slip into your freshest pair of Reebok Classics – or whatever your mum’s laid out on the bed (Donnay, probably) – because it’s time to talk fashion!
The Toms may only wear red and blue jumpers, but this week they’ll be reminiscing about a time when their drips gave Dennis Taylor and Princess Diana a run for their money.
They’ll also be discussing alternatives to 'The Rachel', exploring the origins of Mufti Day, and presenting evidence that could blow one of the world’s most notorious Mandela Effects wide open.
![E42 | Video Games [ insert disc 2 ]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/image-logo/19614638/Encarta_and_Chill_Logo_2shykw_300x300.jpg)
Nov 18, 2025
Nov 18, 2025
39 min
Did Mariah Carey write the music for Wario Land? No.
Did Michael Jackson write the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3? Quite possibly...
And that’s not even the most fascinating piece of video game folklore Encarta and Chill has to offer this week - because this is a podcast that dares to accuse Geri Halliwell of committing high treason in her own video game!
Join Tom and Tomek for their second look back at ’90s gaming in an episode that - much like Metal Gear Solid - is best enjoyed from inside a box.

Nov 16, 2025
Nov 16, 2025
42 min
Hei! Tervetuloa Encarta ja Chill. Jos pystyt lukemaan tämän, älä tuhlaa aikaa tämän tekstin kääntämiseen, vaan paina play-nappia...
Have Tom and Tom run out of ideas, or is this actually the most fitting 90s topic of all?
Far from the distracting colours, shapes, and sounds exported to British shores from across the Atlantic, one particular Nordic republic quietly set about changing how we communicate about the former forever.
No era-appropriate mood board would be complete without a Nokia handset and it's the Finnish pulp-mill-turned-telecommunications giant that provides the backbone of this episode.
Sure, it was assumed the fourth-largest listener base would be Canadian. Yes, a Due South watchalong was already in the works to celebrate that fact. But instead, here's an episode about Moomins and Mika Häkkinen.
Just don’t make the same mistake as Kelly Rowland by trying to listen to this through an Excel spreadsheet.

Nov 4, 2025
Nov 4, 2025
49 min
The Toms are planning a birthday party — and you’re all invited… although you will have to fight them for Colin the Caterpillar’s face.
Encarta and Chill is celebrating its very first podcastiversary, so expect the passing of anticlimactic parcels, orange squash weaker than a kitten, and of course, a McDonald’s balloon on a stick.
Set against a backdrop of sickly Dalmatian cakes, sticky ball pits, and shticky bugs voiced by Woody Allen, this promises to be the ultimate 90s kinder soirée.
And don’t forget to grab a party bag on your way out (translation: stay tuned until the end of the episode for some BONUS AUDIO — which, frankly, doesn’t deserve the capital letters it was just announced in).


