Podcasts in Review

May 10, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment
Tags: jon kasdan

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review.

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 122 they talk about May 4th, news, Star Wars Resistance, new Forces of Destiny, fun little discussion there, then they talk Solo, the worm thing, Ron Howard on The Star Wars Show, Donald Glover touring the Falcon, Chewie’s theme, and the 360 video. Their main discussion covers the 1983 Atari Star Wars: The Arcade Game. They talk about the history of the game, Lucasfilm’s feedback on the game, George playing it, and their thoughts on it. Fun discussion.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 57 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Jason, and Gabe, Rating: Fun

Brews and Blasters: Episode 166 they celebrate May 4th, they talk Solo, Dryden Vos, Jabba, and they go over listener emails and voice mails which is the bulk of the episode. This leads a range of topics, from midichlorian counts at the hospital to the closing of Toys R Us. Great episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Joe, and Chris, Rating: Great

Comic Book Noob: Jonah Hex features just Matt and Scott as they talk about the Jonah Hex comics, how it started, the comic history, the character’s origin, and showing up in the Legends of Tomorrow TV show. Very informative.

Podcast Network: Assembly of Geeks, Runtime: 30 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Scott, and Matt, Rating: Good

Fly Casual: Episode 179 includes comic reviews for Darth Vader #14, Poe Dameron #26, Star Wars Adventures #9, and Star Wars Adventures Annual 2018. Then they touch on a Movieweb op ed piece on Rian Johnson which leads them down another rant on The Last Jedi, the sequel trilogy and failures of modern movie makers. At some point they move on to talk EU storytelling, Clint Howard in Solo and Episode IX casting. As someone who likes The Last Jedi and the sequel trilogy, I did not enjoy listening to this episode. Wish I would have known to skip this one.

Podcast Network: Betterkind Media, Runtime: 1 hour 47 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Corey, Steve, Garrick, and Mike, Rating: Beating a dead horse

Fly Casual: Episode 180 starts with a funny Cobra Kai intro. They talk NICS, The Karate Kid, Justice League, Cobra Kai, May 4th and Avengers: Infinity War. Then they get to Star Wars news as they talk Solo ticket pre-sales, Solo hype, the sabacc lawsuit, listener feedback, and they dive into a meaty Force ghost discussion. Then they talk Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing game, Her Universe, the Funko Pop documentary, and Toys That Made Us. Great episode, lots of fun. This is the reason I keep listening.

Podcast Network: Betterkind Media, Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Corey, Steve, Garrick, and Mike, Rating: Great

Full of Sith: Special Release: Jon Kasdan is an interview between Bryan and Jon Kasdan as they talk about Solo. Jon talks about his dad’s involvement in The Force Awakens, signing up for Solo, working with his dad, Lord and Miller, the deep cuts of Mimban and Tag and Bink, tackling the story of Han, and what makes this film different. Great interview. Jon’s audio isn’t the best since he’s calling in from his phone, but this one is still a must listen.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 30 minutes, Audio Quality: Good, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Holly, and Bryan, Rating: Great

Full of Sith: Episode CCLXVII features just Bryan and Holly as they talk Solo toys, Holly talks about the Millennium Falcon experience, then they talk about the Star Wars novel Last Shot. Both are very positive about the book with no criticism. They don’t get into a ton of details so if you haven’t read the book, you could still listen and not get spoiled. Afterwards they talk about Forces of Destiny and Donald Glover on Saturday Night Live.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Holly, and Bryan, Rating: Good

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 21 is from back in October, so it kicks off with the trailer for The Last Jedi. It’s kind of fun to hear their thoughts on it back then. Part two of the episode focuses on the novel Phasma, but it takes them a bit to get there as they discuss some other things first. Phasma discussion kicks in at the 25 minute mark. They go over their general thoughts, some of the things they didn’t like, thoughts on the audiobook, then they dive into the details of the story, and the character of Phasma. Afterwards they have their predictions of The Last Jedi, and they read a poem in the book using Yoda and Kermit voices, which is funny. Plus there’s out take as usual at the end of the episode. The audio is a little sucky. The first part had good audio except for Isaac who had to call in. The second part had some audio issues for both Riley and Issac, and was choppy in parts. However, if you don’t mind the audio, the book discussion is still pretty good. Now from here I did a bit of a marathon to catch up on some episodes as I realized last week that it had been a while since I listened. Then I realized that was an understatement. So expect a bunch of reviews as I catch up.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes, Audio Quality: Okay, Editing: Great, Hosts: Riley, Jake, and Isaac, Rating: Okay

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 23 starts with the episode dedication, listener feedback, then they discuss Leia: Princess of Alderaan. They share their overall thoughts on the book, they talk about the characters, cover the plot and dive into some of the details but nothing too spoilery. Isaac’s audio isn’t too bad in this episode. Good discussion.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 3 minutes, Audio Quality: Good, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Riley, Jake, and Isaac, Rating: Good

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 24 is an RPG episode as they explore the Fantasy Flight Games Edge of the Empire RPG and how it works. This episode touches on character creation. Now before I lose anyone, this episode is absolutely freaking hilarious. It’s one of the funniest podcasts I’ve listened to in a long time. You see, in this episode they create their characters, but they have a lot of fun with it. For instance, one of them is a Tito on Jakku who runs a donut stand that thrives on deliveries of special sauce. When they got to the special sauce, I was cracking up laughing. When they got to obligations, one of them chose to be addicted to arm pit spice. They breezed past careers, experience points and motivations in order to keep things interesting. Then they did some roleplay which had me busting up laughing. It’s complete with each of them doing voices for the various characters and background music (nice touch). Seriously, great stuff. This one earns my pick of the week. Go back and listen to this one. It’s worth it.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Riley, Jake, and Isaac, Rating: Pick of the Week

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 25 is the debut of Jazmine as a new cohost. In this one they go over listener feedback, they talk about the Visceral Games shutdown, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, some general discussion on EA, then they get into the From A Certain point of View book as they talk about the things they liked about it. Plus there’s out takes. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 28 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Riley, Jake, Isaac, and Jazmine, Rating: Fun

Grand Moff Talkin’: Last Jedi First Takes is split into a couple parts. It starts off with Jake, Riley and Christina prior to seeing the movie as they share their thoughts and hopes. Then they cut to after seeing the movie. Isaac joins them for that part and there are others with them that weigh in at times. They share their initial reactions, thoughts on the humor — which is pretty much everyone’s initial sticking point — Del Toro’s stutter, the stuff they loved, shirtless Kylo, Luke’s awesomeness, Ben Solo and redemption, and more. Plus there’s out takes at the end. Great discussion. With the amount of time that has passed, and after hearing so many people discuss the film, some of whom who have changed their opinions, it’s interesting to go back and hear those initial pre and post thoughts.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 15 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Riley, Jake, and Isaac, Rating: Great

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 48 celebrates their one year anniversary. They talk about how they met, how the podcast came together, and they diverge over to the peanut butter challenge and the new podcast challenge. Afterwards they get to their main discussion, Knights of the Old Republic. They talk about both KOTOR I and KOTOR II video games, with some excellent recaps of the stories and characters by Riley. They also touch on the patched version of KOTOR II, the differences between the two games, and why people want KOTOR to come back. Plus there’s out takes at the end. This one is an excellent discussion of KOTOR, so anyone who is a fan or who is interested in the story of those two games, this episode is worth a listen. Isaac’s audio is also good for this episode which is a nice change.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Riley, Jake, Isaac, and Jazmine, Rating: Great

Hyperspace PodBlast: Episode 63 begins their discussion of Star Wars: Last Shot and features guests Amy, Jorgie and Jess. This episode covers part one of the book (the first 90 pages). They talk about the characters, the writing, dealing with time jumps, the Ewok slicer and some minor issues. Lots of praise though, too. Nice balanced discussion of the book. Looking forward to listening to the rest as they go along.

Podcast Network: Hyperspace PodBlast, Runtime: 26 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Bryan, and Shelby, Rating: Great

Less Than 12 Parsecs: Bonus Episode #0010 Tim goes over the Star Wars news for the last two weeks including Star Wars Resistance, the new Forces of Destiny episodes, Solo ticket pre-sales, Denny’s Solo promotion and going there. Not a straight news episode as Tim turns each into a discussion point. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 20 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Tim, Rating: Good

Magic on a Dollar: Episode 27 kicks off with Disney news, Donald’s Dino Bash, upcoming movies, Disney After Hours, Bourbon Trail, fast passes, Toy Story Land, and Dave goes over Hollywood Studios, it’s history, and the various attractions.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 44 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Dave, Rating: Good

Mighty Marvel Geeks: Episode 205 starts with Marvel news, possible title for next Avengers film, possible characters, some Infinity War, some Deadpool 2, they talk movie trailers, then they dive full on into their discussion of Avengers: Infinity War. They pull in info from the various interviews to answer questions, there’s a Venom tangent, and they do get into spoilers. The episode ends a little abruptly without the usual sign off as it’s continued in Episode 205.1. So if the audio drops, don’t be alarmed, that’s just the way the episode ends.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network, Runtime: 58 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Good, Hosts: Mike, Eric, and Kylan, Rating: Good

Mighty Marvel Geeks: Episode 205.1 continues off of Episode 205 as they talk about Lucasfilm’s hand-off to Marvel, movie news with Power Rangers and M.A.S.K., their comic picks for the week, and some more Infinity War discussion.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network, Runtime: 20 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Mike, Eric, and Kylan, Rating: Good

Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw: Infinity War: Obsessed Reviews features Joseph and his wife Sarah as they discuss Infinity War. They talk about the journey to this point, the things they liked, the character pairings, things they questioned, the themes, predictions, final thoughts and questions for each other.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Joseph, Rating: Great

Radio Free Endor: Season 2 Episode 30 stars with a musical intro bit, then they talk about what they’ve been up to, and then dive into the news. They talk about Mark Hamill’s comments on The Last Jedi which leads them into a discussion on The Last Jedi, they talk about Clint Howard’s role in Solo, Episode IX casting rumors, Denny’s Solo promotion, Solo TV spots, they take a break from Star Wars to share their thoughts on the movie Ready Player One, then they wrap up with the announcement of Star Wars Resistance and their thoughts. Great episode. Excellent audio and production quality, and great discussions.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 16 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Jamie, and Paul, Rating: Great

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 211 starts with news and countdowns, they talk about the anniversary of Heir to the Empire and MGM Studios. They touch on the Your Universe book, then they get into their Avengers: Infinity War discussion. They start out with a primer going over the comics. Then they talk with guest Joseph Decklemeir as they share their thoughts on the movie, they talk about Captain Marvel, play some clips from the press conference, and make some connections to Transformers (1986). Great discussion. They do go into spoilers.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Sarah, and Richard, Rating: Great

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1399 goes over the new Solo video touring the Falcon, Clint Howard’s role in Solo, and Ron Howard’s comments on capturing the magic of Star Wars.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 8 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen Voivod, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1400 is a reflection episode taking in what Star Wars 7×7 has done, and there’s some mad lib fun.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 12 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen Voivod, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1403 goes over the story “Rules of the Game” from the Canto Bight novel and provides a little speculation on possible ties to Solo.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 14 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen Voivod, Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1404 goes over the story “The Wine in Dreams” from the Canto Bight novel.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 11 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Host: Allen, Rating: Good

Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels: Episode 54 starts with news as they talk about Star Wars Resistance, their interest in what style of anime the show will have, Alden’s multiple movie deal, Solo updates, they have the “That’s So Wizard” segment covering new shoes, Han Solo card game, Han Solo Monopoly, Lando tableware, Her Universe, and Denny’s. They they discuss Brian Daley’s novel Han Solo and the Lost Legacy. Then they cover listener emails, porgs, and what Star Wars character they would take on a treasure hunt. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Dennis, Darth Taxus, and Jay, Rating: Fun

Talk Star Wars: Episode 116a breaks the news that Marc will be leaving the podcast and Rob will be taking over. In this episode they talk about the change and their plans. By it’s nature, this episode is a bit different than usual as it isn’t a Star Wars discussion episode, but for fans of the show, it’s worth listening to in order to hear Marc’s reasons on why he’s leaving. Marc will definitely be missed. As someone who listens to a lot of Star Wars podcasts, Marc was a big reason why I liked Talk Star Wars so much, and why it stood out from others. That said, I will definitely keep listening as Rob is also a great host, and hopefully the great Star Wars discussions continue.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Marc, and Rob, Rating: Okay

Talk Star Wars: Episode 117 starts with some movie discussion as they talk about the films they need to catch up on, then they get to listener feedback. They talk about Junis not getting credit as Chewbacca on the posters, discuss whatever happened to Watto, they talk about the Kessel Run, the lost twenty, and then get to news. They cover some of the Solo TV spots, the featurette, various Solo items, ideas, Solo images, some speculation, toy stuff, Falcon details and more. Great episode.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Marc, and Rob, Rating: Great

TechnoRetro Dads: Get Lost in Space with the Bee Gees includes space and robot jokes, news on the Tremors reboot with Kevin Bacon not happening, a He-man movie coming out, Atari VCS, and Indy 5 rumors. Then they talk about Lost in Space, starting with the original TV show, the the movie remake, and then the new Netflix show. They do some helium theater for The Princess Bride, and finish up talking about the Bee Gees and disco. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap, Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Shazbazzar, and JediShua, Rating: Fun

The Nerd Room: Episode 117 features special guest Kyle from TumblingSaber as they all talk Avengers: Infinity War. This one is a thorough discussion that does get into spoilers. They start off with their feelings going in, their general feelings on the film, and then they start to dive in. They talk about the build up to Thanos with his previous cameos, the creators involved, the long game, the box office success, the MCU timeline, the editing, and then they begin to break down the movie from beginning to end. They talk about how Thanos was established in the opening scene, the heroes, the characters playing off each other, the Scarlet Witch love story with Vision, sidelining Vision’s powers, the shift in tone as it switched to the Guardians of the Galaxy, how much Ragnarok allowed for this transition to work, Thor and Rocket, and of course the ending. Great discussion.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 2 hours 25 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Tim, and Troy, Rating: Great

The Resistance Broadcast: ‘Last Shot’ Spoiler Review with Alex Damon From Star Wars Explained goes over the book Last Shot with guest Alex Damon. They talk about the characters, Lando, the bad guy, droids, how the villain measured against other villains, the story, the Ewok, and the timeline. It’s a nice discussion of the book that offers both praise and criticism, and gives people something to think about. Afterwards they discussion various things and tackle listener questions. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: John, James, and Lacey, Rating: Good

The Skyhoppers Podcast: Episode XCIII focuses on redemption in Star Wars as they talk about the ultimate example with Vader, but also ones you might not think about with Iden and Del from Inferno Squad, Ulic Qel-Droma from the old comics, and Kylo Ren with some nice speculative parallels to Ulic. Great discussion, and not that many tangents. I really liked the idea of Kylo Ren having a redemption style story arc similar to Qel-Droma.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth, Runtime: 1 hour 9 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Ben, and Ash, Rating: Great

The Soundtrack Show: Star Wars, Lucas, and Williams: An Introduction includes a mini-bio for George Lucas, touches on how he went from THX-1138 to American Graffiti to Star Wars, George’s shifts in focus and film making, how George and John Williams met, and Dave goes over some of the temp tracks for A New Hope. Great episode that delves a bit more into the history side than the music side, but all great stuff for Star Wars fans.

Podcast Network: HowStuffWorks, Runtime: 51 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: David Collins, Rating: Excellent

Toy Run: Episode 108 goes over news, toy news, Star Wars Resistance, Donald Glover video of the Falcon, toy runs, Wookiee Weekend in Australia, and they go over the new ForceLink 2.0 and play some sound samples from it.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Criz, and Jake, Rating: Good

Who Talks First: May the Fourth: Disneyland After Dark! Star Wars Edition covers their experience at Disneyland for the After Dark event. They talk about the character meet greets, their costumes, how the event went, and a little Fett versus Phasma discussion.

Podcast Network: N/A, Runtime: 42 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Solo, and CT, Rating: Good

Wookiee Radio: Episode 64 goes over Youtini news, they talk about being a fan and knowledge of Star Wars, they go over some higher end Star Wars collectibles like the Kotobukiya 4-LOM and IG-88, Solo ticket pre-sales success, new clip, Alden’s contract deal, John Boyega on time jump in Episode IX, Celebration and Reed Pop, the machete order, the origin of May the Fourth Be With You and more. Good discussions.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network, Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes, Audio Quality: Excellent, Editing: Excellent, Hosts: Ken, Derrick, and Mike, Rating: Good