Podcasts in Review

May 7, 2015 at 12:06 am | Posted in Interview, Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment
Tags: christie golden, Freddie Prinze Jr, james luceno, jeffrey brown, john jackson miller, sam witwer

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

Coffee With Kenobi: Freddie Prinze Jr. Interview features several podcasts as they interviewed Freddie at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. It’s a short interview, but Freddie covered some very intriguing topics from elaborating on Hera and Kanan’s relationship to giving out some details on Kanan and Rex’s relationship. He even gives a surprising yet compelling defense of risque fan art. Definitely worth a listen. The audio starts out a little hard to hear but picks up pretty quickly.

Coffee Chat with Jim Hill and Len Testa is a good one. In this episode Len and Jim dig in deep with some background and history on Disney and their relationship with Star Wars which is an intriguing and entertaining discussion. They talk about the plans Disney has for Star Wars attractions, and even touch on some of the differences between Disneyland and Disney World.

Dead Talks: Episode #37 discusses the episode “Try” with another excellent breakdown of the show and some great character analyzation. While it may be a long wait for next season, there’s plenty of time to go back and catch up on the podcast.

Far Far Away Radio: Episode 204 goes into depth with a scene-by-scene breakdown of the second The Force Awakens trailer. They give a pretty good analysis, picking up on some things I didn’t notice or hadn’t thought of. With a handful of guests weighing in, they cover a lot of different viewpoints and observations. While there is a lot of speculation, it’s nothing spoilery. Definitely a fun one to listen to.

Fly Casual: Episode 35 is a reviews and rumors episode. They cover Kanan – The Last Padawan #1, give some very positive feedback on Heir to the Jedi (everyone liked it), do a funny Ponda Baba/Dr. Evazan parody, then head into some rumors, which is where I stopped (I’m still avoiding spoilers). While I did wimp out on the rumors section, the reviews half was good. A lot of fans have been mixed on Heir to the Jedi, so it was nice to hear someone else enjoyed it as much as I did.

Episode 36 is a news and toy review episode. They discuss the new trailer, the Star Wars Rebels news, and ponder if Barriss Offee might be the female inquisitor. They cover Rogue One, the new Lando comic, The Force Awakens novelization, the Star Wars Battlefront novel, J.J. Abrams’ comments at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim on practical effects and more. Really nice episode covering a lot of ground.

Full of Sith: Episode CXII is their post-Celebration episode with Mike, Bryan and Bobby as they all talk about what happened at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim. It’s interesting because while Mike and Bryan were there, Bobby was not, so he shares what it was like seeing everything via the livestream. They talk about seeing the trailers and get into a really fun conversation that I could have listened to for hours. Seriously, in regards to fun conversations, this is my pick of the week.

Hyperspace Theories: Star Wars Celebration Anaheim Pre-Convention Show is hosted by Tricia, Kay, Linda and BJ as they talk about Disneyland, Jedi training and drinking with the 501st. A quick episode but enjoyable.

RebelForce Radio: The Force Awakens Trailer Reaction Show is a must listen because it features special guest Sam Witwer discussion Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and The Force Awakens. Sam talks about voicing the Emperor and as always, shares some awesome insight into Star Wars.

Episode 5.1.2015 is part one of their Star Wars Celebration Anaheim recap. Having hosted 17 panels on the Behind-the-Scenes stage, they have a lot to talk about, from con stories to just sharing what each panel was like. In fact they actually go through each of their panels, at least half of them, which is cool as I was only able to go to one panel at the Behind-the-Scenes stage. It’s a nice way to find out what you missed out on.

Rock Out Loud: High School Rocks starts with some listener emails, a discussion on The Breakfast Club, and then they share their picks for the songs that define their high school years. With Steve and Kristin having gone to high school in different decades, there’s a big gap in music styles. Steve’s picks brought back a lot of memories for me.

Round 3: is apparently an old podcast that Steve Glosson is bringing back to life over on Geek Out Loud and it’s an interesting one. They have three hosts and answer three competition matches submitted by fans. Questions can be as simple or creative and the discussions vary just as much with some getting deep and others being quick off the cuff answers. The episodes are also very short so you can squeeze them in between the other podcasts on your playlist or cram through a bunch in a row. With Episode #55 they discussed the better burger joint (Red Robin vs Five Guys), the Family Ties family vs the Growing Pains family, and which would you rather take: the highway to hell or stairway to heaven? In Episode #60 they discuss their last meal and the crime they would be punished for, the best year of the 80’s, and are internet celebrities really celebrities? Episode #61 starts with an odd one, popcorn – buttered or not buttered? (Do people really eat plain popcorn?) Then it’s Wonderwoman vs Black Widow which leads to a discussion of death match or points match, and they wrap up with a pizza face off between Papa John’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Little Caesar’s. They’re all short but fun.

Skywalking Through Neverland: Age of Ultron Press Conference is another short episode, but a neat one as they recorded the audio from the Age of Ultron press conference featuring all the major actors in the film. None of them really shed a whole lot of new info or in-depth character analysis, but it’s still worth a listen.

Episode 74 is a Celebration after party as they talk with various guests about the convention, reactions to the trailer, favorite con moments, panel stories and more. They also talk with Chris Alexander (the Star Wars origami guy) and do some interviews with the Star Wars Rebels cast and crew on the red carpet. Fun episode with lots of Star Wars content.

Star Wars Bookworms: Episode 41 comes in two parts. In the first part, Aaron and Teresa recap their Star Wars Celebration Anaheim experiences, which is fun to listen to. In the second part, they share their author interviews with Christie Golden, John Jackson Miller, James Luceno and Jeffrey Brown. As a love of author interviews, this was very very cool. Each of the authors talk about seeing the new trailer, being at Celebration Anaheim, and their latest Star Wars books.