Podcasts in Review

August 2, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment

Doing something a little different this week. First off, before we dive into a long list of reviews, I want to point out my top five picks this week which might save you some reading time, and I’d like to include some honorable mentions. Then be sure to check out the full list of reviews as there’s a lot of great ones out there and some news ones I’ve listened to.

This Week’s Top Five

My Star Wars Story Episode 28
The Geek Supreme Disnified Adult Muppet Situations
Blast Points Podcast Episode 133
Kanata’s Castle Episode 36
Comic Book Noob Shazam

Honorable Mentions

Tarkin’s Top Shelf dives into Thrawn: Alliances in Episode 42
Talking Bay 94 interviews Mark Austin (Boba Fett in A New Hope Special Edition) in Episode 12
And you can listen to me on Wookiee Radio in Episode 76

Now here is this week’s Podcasts in Review…

501stCast: Episode 111 covers The Clone Wars news, new approved costumes for the 501st, troop reports and upcoming events. I like the little Star Wars commercial segments in this one. Nice addition.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 31 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Nicky, Joe, and Marcus
Rating: Good

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 133 kicks off with the Episode IX casting news, and they have some fun with it. Hand it to Blast Points to make the news segment entertaining. Then they go into their main discussion which covers the first official Star Wars convention which was back in 1987. They bring on special guest Richard Woloski from Skywalking Through Neverland to talk about it since he was there. They set the stage for what 1987 was like for Star Wars fans, then they dive into what they deem Star Wars Celebration Zero. They talk about the guests, the panels, the cosplay, what was there, the Archive Room, and Rich talks about video taping the George Lucas panel and grabbing a one of a kind collectible. Great episode and lots of fun. I highly recommend giving this one a listen.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Jason, and Gabe
Rating: Great

Children of the Force: Episode 109 Nick shares his thoughts on Solo, then they talk comics, Legends comics, Billy Dee, Quay Tolsite and his allergies, other Solo characters, and other stuff.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 56 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Al, Anna, and Liam
Rating: Good

Coffee With Kenobi: Episode 133 features guests Aaron Sagers and Neil Harrington as they talk about Beckett from Solo. Then they talk about San Diego Comic Con, Tom joins them for the news, and they wrap up with some more discussion on Beckett. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 1 hour 11 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Host: Dan
Rating: Good

Coffee With Kenobi: Episode 135 Dan talks about SDCC, The Clone Wars panel, and then is joined by guest Bobby Roberts as they talk about TCW news. Then Dan talks with Amy Ratcliffe about SDCC, doing panels, TCW panel, and her book Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy. Tom joins Dan to cover the news, then Dan and Bobby wrap up with TCW and hopes for the return.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Dan
Rating: Good

Comic Book Noob: Shazam features Scott, Regina and special guest host Jeff McGee as they talk about Shazam’s origins, being the alternative to Superman in the 1940’s, parallels between Bruce Wayne and Billy, the wizard, the source of his powers, how they work, how he’s technically more powerful than Superman, and characters connected to Shazam. Plus their recommended reads. Great episode.

Podcast Network: Assembly of Geeks,
Runtime: 29 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Scott, and Regina
Rating: Great

DorkLair: Episode 48 Bill goes over the SDCC news for Thursday, the toy news, Star Wars figures, and non-Star Wars stuff. Then Larry reviews the S.H. Figuarts Thanos. Excellent review.

Podcast Network: RetroZap
Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Bill, and Larry
Rating: Good

Faking Star Wars Radio: How Much Star Wars is Too Much? is hosted by Storm Duper and special guest host Teeb Ront’r as they play some games, do mad libs, they have a segment with Tiffany Joe joking around about Kathleen Kennedy, they joke around about a reboot of The Clone Wars, Star Wars addiction, Kerri Russell’s role in Episode IX, and other stuff. Now first things first, this is a Star Wars parody podcast, so they’re not serious about anything. Everything is a joke. They take bits and pieces of news and spin it off into jokes and comedy. Comedy is a very subjective thing, so some jokes work for some people and some don’t. Some might even be a little offensive to some people, but they won’t phase others. This episode was okay, there were a few funny things and a lot of misses in my opinion. With a parody podcast, episodes might be very hit and miss, so I’m willing to listen to a few more before I decide if this one will stick around in the reviews. Plus I didn’t get to hear the normal hosts as one of them was out for this episode, so maybe the chemistry was off with the guest host. Regardless, depending on your taste in comedy and if that’s something you’re looking for, you might want to try this one out.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Host: Storm Duper
Rating: Okay

Fangirls Going Rogue: Episode 60 features special guest Sandra Choute who joins them as they talk about Kerri Russel, Star Wars Resistance art, Star Wars Rebels Emmy nominations, and lots of Star Wars and non-Star Wars listener questions.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 30 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Tricia, Teresa, and Sarah
Rating: Good

Fly Casual: Episode 189 starts with some Helen Keller jokes and transitions to Max Headroom, so lengthy non-Star Wars intro on this one. Petrie is also a guest on this episode. About 16 minutes in, they get to Star Wars. They go over the Star Wars: The Clone Wars news, Episode IX casting, and a Solo box office update. There’s lots of joking around and tangents. For the toy report, they go over the Elite Star Wars line, Hot Wheels, Hasbro’s cardboard playsets, Black Series Ezra and Chopper, The Archives figures, Revan and other toy news out of San Diego Comic Con. Lots of nipples discussion and Helen Keller jokes in this one.

Podcast Network: Betterkind Media
Runtime: 1 hour 23 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Corey, Steve, Garrick, and Mike
Rating: Goodish

Geek Out Loud: Episode 240 features Steve and Erich as they talk about San Diego Comic Con. They talk about the movie trailers for Aquaman, Shazam, Mr. Glass, Teen Titans, The Clone Wars, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and more. Ethan joins them a bit for the DC stuff. They also touch on the Star Wars book news. Erich had to roll out early on this one, so Steve wraps up by covering the James Gunn thing, and sharing some thoughts on some TV stuff and frozen fries. Erich’s audio is a little off, but good episode still.

Podcast Network: Geek Out Loud
Runtime: 1 hour 3 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Great
Host: Steve
Rating: Good

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 60 focuses on the music of Star Wars. They talk about John Williams, his award wins, specific songs they like, then they branch off into their favorite music from Star Wars Rebels, Rogue One, and Solo. They circle back to some deeper cuts for Williams, and wrap up with the hits.

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

Hyperspace PodBlast: Episode 75 they talk Episode IX and go over the cast and crew news, the returning actors, new actors, and Carrie’s return.

Podcast Network: Hyperspace PodBlast
Runtime: 25 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Bryan, and Shelby
Rating: Good

Idiot’s Array: Episode 71 goes over the SDCC news, The Clone Wars, hopes for what stories will be tied in, they talk about the Master and Apprentice novel, and the other books and comics announced.

Podcast Network: Making Star Wars
Runtime: 49 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Alan, Ryder, and Mark
Rating: Good

Kanata’s Castle: Episode 36 goes over the Solo Blu-ray details, new Her Universe items, then they look at Rey and how her character mirrors and parallels other characters. For instance, the similarity between Rey and Han’s early years on Corellia. They look at how Han offered Rey a job just like Beckett offered him one long ago. He even gives her a blaster just like Beckett did. They look at the connections between Rey and Leia. Lots of good connections. Great episode to check.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 8 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Becca, and Devon
Rating: Great

Ladies Night: Episode 10 features Sophie and Phil from Bright Tree Radio as they talk about Captain Phasma. They talk about her homeworld, her background, they give a brief rundown of the Phasma novel, they talk about Gwendoline Christie’s casting as the character, what they like about Phasma, her assertiveness, her presence, thoughts on the book and the films, and the character’s future potential. Great little episode.

Podcast Network: Bright Tree Radio
Runtime: 33 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Sophie, and Phil
Rating: Great

Less Than 12 Parsecs: Episode 241 goes over bad Star Wars ideas. Like ideas that they could do with the Star Wars franchise, but wouldn’t necessarily be a good idea. Okay episode.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth,
Runtime: 7 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Tim
Rating: Okay

Me and My Padawan: Episode 20 covers The Clone Wars news, listener emails and questions (some good questions). For example, could a lightsaber cut through Superman since he’s the man of steel? Which Jedi could pick up Thor’s hammer? And more. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 27 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Ryan, and Braden
Rating: Good

Mighty Marvel Geeks: Episode 215.1 covers the news of James Gunn being fired over ten year old tweets and the impact of social media. Great little discussion there. Afterwards in the last ten minutes of the show, they go over their comic picks for the week.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network
Runtime: 37 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Mike, Eric, and Kylan
Rating: Great

My Star Wars Story: Episode 28 yes, My Star Wars Story is back with a brand new episode. This one features Steve Bennett who talks about the toys he had growing up, seeing Star Wars toys in the story, playing with the toys, his first Star Wars memories, seeing The Empire Strikes Back in the theater, interacting with friends, knowledge of Star Wars, the Ewok movies, the books, the special editions, the prequels, being in Japan for a while and experiencing Star Wars there, moving back to the US, collecting as an adult, and his interest in Burger Chef crossing over into Star Wars. He also talks about his Fanboys connection, meeting Sean Astin, going to conventions and how that started, visiting Yavin, meeting Ben Burt and Jimmy Mac, meeting George Takei and Steve Sansweet, Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, his AT-AT prototype story, traveling to England, Scotland and Ireland. Going to Skellig Michael, hanging out with Mike Edmonds, and more. Steve had a lot of great stories. Fantastic episode. Definitely make some time to give this one a listen. This is the kind of thing that can rejuvenate your fandom.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Scott Ryfun
Rating: Fantastic

Podcast Love: Episode 1 is a new podcast from Neil Lowery that focuses on Star Wars podcasts with shoutouts to some of his favorites with brief descriptions of each. If you’re looking for podcasts to check out, this is worth a quick listen. Great idea by Neil, hopefully he’ll continue with more episodes as I think this could be useful for listeners looking for more Star Wars podcasts. The short format is also a good idea, that way listeners don’t get bogged down with too many podcasts to remember.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 3 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Great
Host: Neil Lowery
Rating: Good

Rebel Grrrl: Episode 98 is hosted by Amanda and Jess as they go over the Episode IX casting news and go off on some tangents on L3-37, Luke, and Kylo Ren. They touch on some Episode IX rumors, they talk a little about Thrawn: Alliances and why it isn’t working for them, they tackle the James Gunn being fired topic, and they talk about why they don’t like The Last Jedi that much anymore. There’s some swearing so keep that in mind if you haven’t listened to this podcast before. Okay episode.

Podcast Network: Making Star Wars,
Runtime: 1 hour 28 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Amanda, and Jess
Rating: Good

Skytalkers: By George: The Early Years is part one of a three part series they’re doing on George Lucas. This one covers his childhood and teenage years, going off to film school, and his student films. They talk about his work as a filmmaker, themes, and they go over each of his student films.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Escape Pods Network
Runtime: 1 hour 4 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Caitlin, and Charlotte
Rating: Good

Skytalkers: By George: The Star Wars Years starts off with The Clone Wars news out of San Diego Comic Con. Then they go into part two of their three part series focusing on George Lucas. In this episode they focus on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, success, pressure, independence, and they touch on Captain EO and over saturation. It’s an interesting conversation that talks about George and his friends and fellow creators, like Steven Spielberg. They look at how things fell into play to create the success that was Star Wars, as was as the immense pressures in making those films happen.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Escape Pods Network
Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Caitlin, and Charlotte
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1483 provides an update on Rian Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy and what 2020 is looking like.

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1484 provides an update on Benioff and Weiss, timeline for Game of Thrones, and when they’ll be freed up to work on Star Wars.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 6 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1485 goes over seven good reasons why you need to watch Forces of Destiny.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 7 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1486 goes over Forces of Destiny season 2 episodes “Hasty Departure” and “Unexpected Company.”

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1487 goes over Forces of Destiny season 2 episodes “Shuttle Shock” and “Jyn’s Trade.”

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 7 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1488 goes over Forces of Destiny season 2 episodes “Run Rey Run” and “Bounty Hunted.”

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1489 goes over Forces of Destiny season 2 episodes “The Path Ahead” and “Porg Problems.” These Forces of Destiny podcast episodes are good for fans who haven’t watched the show, as Allen gives you an idea on what you’re missing out on, thus it’s a good way to find out if these Forces of Destiny shorts are ones you’d want to check out. For fans who have already watched these, there’s some fun bits and observations that also make them worth a listen.

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

Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels: Episode 60 they go over the Episode IX casting news, the Disney Fox deal, the unused crawl for Rogue One, Skystalking update for upcoming conventions and celebrity appearances, then they talk some Star Wars: The Clone Wars as they go over the Obi-Wan undercover arc. Great Clone Wars discussion. A little bit of some echo issues here and there, but great audio quality overall.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Dennis, Taxus, and Jay
Rating: Great

Talk Star Wars: Episode 129 covers listener emails, time travel in Star Wars, hopes for Kylo, Force ghosts, favorite Star Wars film fight, horrifying implications in Star Wars, and they cover the news with the new books announced at SDCC, toy news, and comic news. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth,
Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Host: Rob, and Brad
Rating: Fun

Talking Bay 94: Episode 12 features an interview with Mark Austin. He talks about his first experience with Star Wars as kid, what it was like playing Boba Fett in the special edition of A New Hope, how he got into the movie business, his work as an animator, getting the role of Boba Fett, and the Boba Fett short films he did. Nice interview.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 29 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Host: Brandon Wainerdi
Rating: Great

Tarkin’s Top Shelf: Episode 42 covers the Star Wars news out of San Diego Comic Con, from The Cone Wars to the new books announced. Then they discuss Thrawn: Alliances. They do go into spoilers, so fair warning. They share their initial thoughts on the book, then dig into the plot, the characters, and their favorite moments. Good discussion.

Podcast Network: MakingStarWars.net
Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Becca, and Mark
Rating: Good

Tatooine Sons: Episode 34 they talk about hanging out at SDCC, meeting fellow Star Wars fans, and talking to Matt Martin. Then they talk about Saw Gerrera, Hamill shaving his beard, Star Wars #51, Galaxy of Heroes news, Solo Blu-ray extras, TCW news from SDCC, what we know about the siege of Mandalore, new books, and new comics.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: David, Nate, and Samuel
Rating: Good

Tatooine Sons: Episode 35 covers their trip to Arizona, future plans, their thoughts on The Clone Wars news, Sam Jackson’s latest comments on Mace Windu, the Disney Fox deal, reactions to Thrawn: Alliances (no spoilers), and the Episode IX news.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: David, Nate, and Samuel
Rating: Good

TechnoRetro Dads: The End of Dystopia and the Return of The Clone Wars Shua talks about his trip to Yellowstone, they do some body part jokes, then head into SDCC news as they talk about the trailers for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Shazam, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, new shows, and the return of The Clone Wars. They also touch on some more dystopian movies, and tackle listener feedback.

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

The Deucecast Movie Show: Episode 338 features special guest Teresa Delgado as they go over all the podcasts she does, they talk a little Cars, some about Ashley Eckstein’s book, then they go over their favorite RomComs of the century. Now I generally don’t watch RomComs, so most of the movies they talked about I haven’t seen. However, their discussion of these movies was a lot of fun, which made this episode very enjoyable. Definitely worth a listen. As always, Teresa is a great guest on any podcast.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Dave, Mikey, and Dr. Earl
Rating: Fun

The Geek Supreme: Disnified Adult Muppet Situations starts out with some anime discussion, then they get to the good stuff as they break out the Muppets and start playing F/Marry/Kill. This leads to some serious hilarity. For this part of the episode alone, I give this one a high recommendation. Afterwards they talk some Star Wars Episode IX casting news, the plot change for the Flash movie, the Disney Fox deal, and they have some fun Disnifying various Fox properties. Great episode.

Podcast Network: Assembly of Geeks
Runtime: 1 hour 1 minute
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Darth Taxus, Scott, Jeff and Regina
Rating: Great

The Great Big Beautiful Podcast: Episode 191 opens with Jamie and Sherry (not sure on spelling) talking about Star Wars Rebels. At 15 minutes in, the interview with Tiya Sircar begins. They talk with Tiya about her business degree, her acting career, doing various Disney shows, and getting into voice acting. Some different topics than your usual Star Wars interview with Tiya, so worth checking out.

Podcast Network: Geek Dad
Runtime: 52 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Jamie, and Sherry
Rating: Good

Wookiee Radio: Episode 76 features Mike, Derrick, Ken, special guest Jim, and myself as we discuss the Star Wars news out of San Diego Comic Con. We start with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, expectations for the twelve new episodes, and we go over the rest of the info covered in the panel – which I admit does get a little drawn out. There’s also a few mic issues here and there. But then we get back to the good stuff as we jump to the Episode IX casting news and our thoughts on the Skywalker saga. Afterwards we jump back to SDCC as we go over the toy and collectible news. It’s a fun discussion and worth checking out.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network
Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Great
Hosts: Ken, Derrick, and Mike
Rating: Fun