Podcasts in Review

September 15, 2016 at 12:01 am | Posted in Books, Interview, Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Trek, Star Wars, Star Wars Books | Leave a comment
Tags: j.w. rinzler, james arnold taylor, jeremy bulloch, john jackson miller, prey

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

After Dark Side: Episode 22 is the best After Dark Side episode I’ve listened to so far. They start out talking about YouTube, stuff they’re watching and new policies, then the discussion shifts to UFO’s and poltergeists. They get into dream examinations and spook stories which is pretty cool. Fun one to listen to.

Beltway Banthas: Episode XII features guests Lauren Milberger and Rachel Leishman (The FordCast) as they talk about actor Harrison Ford, his activism and his politics. It’s a very interesting episode covering aspects you don’t normally hear about on most Star Wars podcasts. Good one to check out.

Blast Points: Episode 39 covers Rogue One news, the product catalog, Star Wars Rebels clips, episode titles, and then they go into the George Lucas Super Live Adventure. They talk about the show, all the stuff it covered, the various music acts, etc. Now they don’t go into the history of the show too much as this one is mostly an overview of what was in the show as they watched the whole thing on YouTube. If you don’t know anything about it, Tested.com did a really nice write up on it a while back. That said, this episode gives you a better idea of what actually happened in the show without watching it yourself. Of course, it’ll also persuade you to check it out. Have fun!

Bombad Radio: Episode 248 features an interview with author J.W. Rinzler as they talk to him about the Star Wars making of books, the comic The Star Wars, working in the archives, the extras for the digital making of books, his Edgar Allan Poe project and much much more. Very interesting interview and definitely worth a listen. I recommend combining this one with Great Big Beautiful Podcast’s recent Rinzler interview episode (see review below) for a double dose of goodness.

Bombad Radio: Episode 249 focuses on Star Trek. They start with some discussion about the upcoming tv show Star Trek: Discovery, then they bring on author John Jackson Miller to talk about Star Trek, the films, and his new trilogy–Star Trek: Prey–which will be coming out over the next three months. John sets the stage for what happens in the series and it’s a great primer for those who are interesting in the books. Good episode.

Brews and Blasters: Episode 87 gets into some Star Trek and features guest Bobby Roberts. They talk Trek sweaters, the new series, the films and the past shows. Then they transition to Star Wars toys, Phasma, Prequels Strikes Back, give/buy/trash for Star Wars toys, and more. Lot of toy talk in this episode and it’s a fun one.

Children of the Force: Episode 45 starts with the kids’ guest appearance on The Boink Show, then they cover news, the Catalyst synopsis, the Rogue One toy video, Mark Hamill’s beard shaving, Star Wars coloring books, therapy Ewoks, they review The Freemaker Adventures, and they talk and speculate about Star Wars Rebels Season 3. Good episode.

Databank Brawl: Episode 18 features Major Bren Derlin, aka Cliff from Cheers, against Greeata, the female Greedo backup singer in the Max Reebo band. This one is pretty fun. Major Derlin gets drunk in a bar on Rodia, insults Greeata, and the fight is on.

Disney Vault Talk: Treasure Planet celebrates their 50th episode. They begin with some of their favorite moments, some listener feedback, three things you can’t do in a Disney movie, Disney owning the box office this year, and cameos. The main discussion delves into Treasure Planet for their usual fun coverage and some comparisons to Muppets Treasure Island. Fun episode.

Fangirls Going Rogue: Episode 36 covers some various topics, what they’re doing, news, and the new Thrawn covers. Then Rich from Skywalking Through Neverland joins them to talk about the locations of Star Wars, which leads to a very fun discussion. They talk about the Star Wars shooting locations they’ve visited and what the places are like. Afterwards they talk about Jyn’s rank as sergeant, and the symbolism of the Ahsoka card art. Very good episode.

Fauxthentic History: Bursting Point: The Destruction of Toronto tackles the Robotech franchise and the events leading up to and including the destruction of Toronto. Now coming into this, I’ve heard Dave Filoni mention Robotech and I’ve read one of the books, so my knowledge of Robotech isn’t all that comprehensive. Thus this episode was pretty interesting as I learned about some events I missed out on. Robotech is a very strange universe to get into but it has a lot of interesting facets. If you’ve never been exposed to it, this episode would be an eye opener.

Fly Casual: Episode 105 kicks off with a dirty joke, a PSA on bathroom etiquette and KFC tips as they warm up the show with their usual brand of humor. They dive into some comic reviews–Poe Dameron #5 and Star Wars #22–then rebound into rumors which leads to Benicio names and a lengthy prequels debate. Good episode with laughs and some thought provoking observations.

ForceCenter: Episode 26 covers the Force and balance as they discuss that as well as some other topics including fan edits and fan films. This one is hosted by Joseph, Ken and special guest John Rocha. Unfortunately Ken’s mic was a little loud which made it difficult to get a good balance to the volume while listening in my car (either someone was too loud or someone was too quiet). Otherwise a good episode.

Full of Sith: Episode CLXXXII features the audio from the Jeremy Bulloch panel hosted by Bryan Young at Salt Lake Comic Con. The audio is really good and there’s some good stories when the audience questions kick in. Definitely an episode of interest for Boba Fett fans.

Great Big Beautiful Podcast: Episode 82 features an interview with voice actor James Arnold Taylor. James talks about doing voices as a kid, his first standup gig, early jobs, some of the voices he’s done, his Talking With Myself show, Star Wars, Ratchet and Clank and more. Good interview.

Great Big Beautiful Podcast: Episode 79 starts with a little Rogue One discussion then heads into their interview with author J.W. Rinzler. They talk about Star Wars, the making of books, The Force Awakens making of book, the original version of A New Hope, Riddle of the Black Cat and more. Good interview and worth checking out.

Less Than 12 Parsecs: Episode 9 features Tim receiving his first vintage Star Wars figures (following his recent outreach to listeners). You can skip this one.

Less Than 12 Parsecs: Episode 10 covers the top 5 lines from A New Hope. Kind of fun. Again these are very short episodes so you can squeeze these in wherever on your playlist or pile them up in a row.

Radio 1138: Episode 50 features a bunch of guests. They talk with Dan Jolin, the editor for Empire magazine, about Star Wars and Rogue One. They talk with Jo Garfein about Cancer Gets LOST, they talk with another guest about Family Fun Day, they chat with Star Wars artist JAKe, and with Mark Mulcaster from the Rebel Legion. Lot of variety and good audio.

Rebel Force Radio: Episode 9.9.2016 starts with some Black Series coverage as Jason talks about the exclusive figures he picked up which leads to a discussion on restoring vintage figures. Guest Din from The Soles joins them as they talk about the Star Wars Rebels Season 2 Blu-ray extras, Yoda being a human and who would play him, Ahsoka, Filoni, intended fate, fan impact, meaning of the artwork and speculation. Plus there’s a Lando quote of the week and some listener questions. Fun episode.

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 135 starts with stuff that’s going on, marathon recap, the John Williams’ concert they went to with some cool audio clips of John speaking, and a nice interview with Margaret Kerry as she talks about her new memoir. Good episode.

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 797 is part 3 of 3 as Allen wraps up his coverage of the updated Star Wars Year By Year book. This part touches on the Rogue One coverage in the book, the new canon, Kathleen Kennedy and The Clone Wars. Good episode.

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 800 recounts a little bit of the history of the podcast, how it got started, and Allen’s new Patreon goal. I liked this episode as I did not know about the origins of the podcast so it was interesting to hear how it came about. I wish Allen good luck on his goal.

Star Wars Action News: Episode 483 covers the ICE event in the Washington D.C. area. They talk about the event, play some audio of conversations they had with the various Star Wars collectors, one of whom met the President, and reveal that the Library of Congress has a pretty good digital copy of The Holiday Special. Fun episode.

Star Wars Report: Episode #239 is hosted by Riley, Mark and Bruce as they talk about the new TFA Blu-ray release and visual effects, the Catalyst blurb, new Rogue One toys, the new Rogue One droid, crawl or no crawl and other Rogue One discussions, and there’s a couple clips from Dragon*Con. Pretty good episode.

Starships Sabers and Scoundrels: Episode 11 covers Force Friday, the Catalyst blurb and other news. Then they do a very funny bit on a football-esque press conference for the Death Star. Afterwards they get into a pseudo Star Wars fantasy football discussion, but covering alien species instead of sports teams, which is fun. They also talk about the Han Solo comic series. Great episode. I highly recommend this one.

The Justice Cast: DC’s Rebirth Crushes Marvel in Sales episode covers DC’s Rebirth comic launch and their overwhelming success. It’s a quick episode, just six minutes, so it’s a nice one to squeeze in between shows on your podcast playlist.

The Justice Cast: Dr. Travis Langley on Batman and his Villains Part 1 is from an older interview they did on Bombad Radio. If you haven’t heard the interview, this is a good episode to check out as it’s an excellent interview. Dr. Langley talks about the psychology of Batman and how his enemies naturally reflect that uniqueness by being equally interesting psychologically. You can also check out part 2 here.

Tosche Station: Q&A with Star Wars’ Finest Authors episode features the full audio of the panel from Dragon*Con which features Star Wars authors Kevin J. Anderson, Delilah S. Dawson, Janine Spendlove, Michael A. Stackpole and Timothy Zahn. They talk about the stories they worked on, writing for Star Wars and toward the end they take questions from the audience. Good episode and a big thumbs up to Tosche Station for sharing the audio of the panel, it’s much appreciated.

Tosche Station: Star Wars Rebels episode features the full audio of the panel from Dragon*Con which featured the show’s head writer Henry Gilroy and a special appearance from author Timothy Zahn toward the end. Henry talks about the show and shares some nice insight and behind-the-scenes information. Tim is able to share a little about the experience of working with the Star Wars Rebels creators and bringing Thrawn into this era. Great episode.