A Sunderland based podcast host hopes to invite more North East residents into her ‘Nerdy Up North’ community

Sunderland woman, Samantha Bryce, 39, is inviting people in the North East that might be interested in ‘nerd culture’ to listen to her podcast ‘Nerdy Up North.’

‘Nerdy Up North’ reportedly stemmed from a website launched by a man named Paul Watson in February, 2021, who felt isolated during the nationwide lockdown.

The website was designed to be a place where Watson could write articles about movies that he liked, and bring people together online during the height of the pandemic.

Samantha Bryce, from Sunderland, said: “I pushed him into doing a podcast on nerdy topical things in April, 2021, he took the idea, and created the platform we now have today.”

‘Nerdy Up North’ – described as the ‘North Easts premier pop culture podcast’ discusses topics of ‘nerd culture’, with regular guests, mid-week features, news, reviews and discussions.

When asked to describe ‘nerd culture’ Samantha said: “we class nerd culture as ‘everything can be nerdy’ – but what you really find is ‘comic book nerds’, such as superhero, star wars and star trek enthusiasts, etc.

“But there are people in our Facebook group that talk about, and are passionate about food, for example.”

The podcast is reportedly designed to promote ‘no toxicity in fandoms.’

“If you are part of nerd culture, you will usually find that a lot of fandoms, have a lot of toxicity. Which we want to change.

Ms Bryce is campaigning for more listeners that reside within the North East to join the community that has reached people as far as America.

“Our main, live podcast is aired every Sunday, where we discuss ‘top-fives’, such as top-five British TV programmes.

“Last weeks (May, 7) was about top-five British sitcoms.

“We have two hosts that do reviews, and we have branched out into collaborations with other podcast hosts, with a show called ‘Star Trekking’ which airs every Friday.”

Ms Bryce’s most recent podcast show, called ‘Monsters up North’, aired Monday, May 8, where she reportedly discusses Hollywood monsters, beginning with Creature of the Black Lagoon.

“We want people in the North East to know that there is a place and community for them online.”

Ms Bryce will be taking ‘Nerdy Up North’ to SunnyCon Anime Expo in June, where they will be paneling.

“If you search for ‘Nerdy Up North’ in your search engine, you will find us on any podcast streaming service, including Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.”

A link to their Facebook community can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/nerdyupnorth