The missing phone chargers
Scott became convinced somebody at Radio 2 was swapping his working phone chargers for broken ones.
Several white cables had disappeared or stopped working after being left in the studio.
The possible studio users included Tony Blackburn, Lisa Tarbuck and Rylan, although Scott stressed that he was not directly accusing any of them.
Listeners argued that cheap charging cables simply failed regularly and advised buying a brightly coloured cable that nobody could claim to have taken accidentally.
Others joked that Tony Blackburn probably still used a Nokia 3310 and therefore could not be responsible.
The Birthday Game: Simon
Simon from Grantham turned 58.
He worked for a health and social-care charity supporting volunteers and enjoyed walking along the Lincolnshire coast and in the Derbyshire Dales.
His birthday plans included a family meal for nine and a spa day with his wife.
Simon shared his birthday with Bob Dylan, Priscilla Presley, Jim Broadbent, Kristin Scott Thomas and Dermot O’Leary.
His favourite artists included Ed Sheeran, Billy Joel and Adele.
His first spin was Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s I Don’t Care, number one in 2019.
Simon accepted it immediately.
His unused alternatives were the Tremeloes’ Silence Is Golden and the Tamperer featuring Maya’s Feel It.
The smart-speaker experiment
Scott attempted what he described as a major scientific experiment.
The BBC Sounds rewind function allowed a listener to ask a smart speaker to return to an earlier moment in the live programme.
Scott’s theory was that a recording of him telling the device to rewind might itself be replayed after the rewind, causing the instruction to trigger repeatedly.
The hoped-for result was an endless loop or “time paradox” involving smart speakers across the country.
Listeners positioned devices close to the radio and followed the instructions.
The results were mixed. Many speakers ignored the command, misunderstood it or played something unrelated.
A small number appeared to enter repeated loops, giving Scott enough evidence to claim at least partial success.
The experiment continues
Scott asked listeners to describe exactly what happened in their homes and collected recordings of devices repeating the programme.
The attempt became one of the week’s main features, although it was clear that the experiment worked only with particular devices and settings.
Handover
Scott handed over to Sara Cox after declaring the smart-speaker experiment inconclusive but worthwhile.
COMMENTS