Podcasts in Review

August 23, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in Podcasts, Podcasts in Review, Regular Feature, Reviews, Star Wars | Leave a comment

Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review, starting with the top five and honorable mentions, then moving on to the full reviews.

This Week’s Top Five

The Soundtrack Show Back to the Future, the Music (Part I)
The Soundtrack Show Back to the Future, the Music (Part II)
Blast Points Podcast Episode 136
Full of Sith Episode CCLXXXI
Talking Bay 94 Episode 14

Honorable Mentions

Comics With Kenobi Episode 74 – if you like Star Wars comics, this is a great podcast to check out and Episode 74 is a good one to start with.
Talking Bay 94 Episode 13 features an interesting interview with Gary Whitta covering his work in Rogue One and more

Now here is this week’s Podcasts in Review…

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 136 focuses on Ben Burt and the sounds of Return of the Jedi. Throughout the episode, they highlight various sounds Ben Burt came up with for ROTJ, and how those sounds were created. From Huttese to Ewokese, Gamorreans and Salacious Crumb, the voice of the interrogator droid, the sound effect for Han’s defrosting, the rancor, the sarlacc, Bouush, Nien Nunb, the speeder bikes, and more, they cover a lot of ground. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 12 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Jason, and Gabe
Rating: Fun

Bright Tree Radio: Episode 35 they have some fun, take it casual and discuss San Diego Comic Con Star Wars news. They talk about TCW returning, new books, TCW speculation, hopes for Master and Apprentice, some thoughts on Thrawn: Alliances and Thrawn, Queen’s Shadow and excitement for it, Episode IX casting news, and they go off on a Rose tangent. Then they wrap up with their favorite and least favorite scenes in Star Wars.

Podcast Network: Bright Tree Radio
Runtime: 1 hour 11 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Sophie, and Phil
Rating: Fun

Comics With Kenobi: Episode 73 features reviews for The Last Jedi #5 and Star Wars #52. Great reviews and excellent comic discussions.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 48 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Matt, and Jeff
Rating: Great

Comics With Kenobi: Episode 74 touches on news, comic book sales, and then they review Darth Vader #19. Great review.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 33 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Matt, and Jeff
Rating: Great

Comics With Kenobi: Episode 74.1 is a Young Padawans Edition as they review Star Wars Adventures Free Comic Day issue, Star Wars Adventures #10, and Star Wars Adventures #11. While the audio quality isn’t the best, there’s also some echo issues here and there, it’s still a good episode and a fun discussion.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 53 minutes
Audio Quality: Okay
Editing: Okay
Hosts: Matt, Amy, Emily, Micah, and Jerry
Rating: Good

Comics With Kenobi: Episode 75 touches on John Tyler Christopher’s variant action figure cover featuring Jabba the Hutt in a wraparound cover, and they talk a little about the Star Wars Resistance trailer. Afterwards they review Beckett #1 and Poe Dameron #30.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 58 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Matt, and Jeff
Rating: Great

ForceCenter: Episode 129 they talk about what they’ve been up to, the Disney streaming service, using VR in movie making, E.K. Johnston’s comments on Queen’s Shadow, and for the main discussion, the rumors of Favreau’s TV show to be about Mandalorians and their thoughts and speculation. They talk about the Fett/sarlacc question needing to be answered, Mandalorian culture, Legends, how much Star Wars species or cultures should be explored, Boba Fett and Jango, and they wrap up with listener questions. Good discussion. Great episode.

Podcast Network: ForceCenter
Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Ken, Joseph, and Jennifer
Rating: Great

ForceCenter: Thrawn Alliances Review! covers their expectations, their thoughts on the first book, their overall thoughts on this book, some of the misses, getting to learn about Batuu, Chiss Force sensitivity, the name Skywalkers, Padme, Zahn’s technical focus, Vader and Anakin, the Weekend at Bernie’s moment, Vader having two suits of armor, Vong parallels, Vader and “The Jedi”, and their final thoughts. Good discussion.

Podcast Network: ForceCenter
Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Ken, and Joseph
Rating: Good

Full of Sith: Episode CCLXXXI is solo hosted by Bryan as he interviews composer Kevin Kiner. Kevin talks about returning to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, working on Star Wars Rebels, his black book and studying John Williams, his son getting into music, temp tracks, composing and creating, what it was like working with George Lucas, and more. While the audio quality isn’t the greatest, it’s still pretty good, and it’s a great interview covering some interesting things. Bryan talks to him for a good 50 minutes so there’s a lot of content.

Podcast Network: N/A,
Runtime: 57 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Bryan
Rating: Great

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 62 features special guest Zeke as they do a commentary for Attack of the Clones. This is part one (they finish up in part two). They talk about lots of things, as can be expected in any movie commentary. From the weather on Coruscant, the lighting, the creepiness of the worms, the ads on Coruscant, changelings, the CGI and what holds up and what doesn’t, love for Dex’s Diner, Anakin’s creepy dialog, Padme’s outfits, the fast pace of Anakin and Padme’s relationship, the field tick creatures, time passing, old folks home line, Anakin’s nipples, Watto’s new look, the sound design in the asteroid chase, and more. They keep it fun and casual. Not sure why, but I liked part one of their commentary a lot more than part two.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Great (it’s a commentary so you can’t do much)
Hosts: Riley, Jake, Isaac, and Jazmine
Rating: Fun

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 63 is part two of their commentary for Attack of the Clones. Lots of tangents and a little off the rails at times, this one isn’t exactly the best commentary, but there’s some fun moments. Overall, okay episode. Now while there usually isn’t much you can do for editing with a commentary episode since it has to line up with the film, Riley loses points on this one for leaving a sneeze in the intro.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 14 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Poor
Hosts: Riley, Jake, Isaac, and Jazmine
Rating: Okay

Hyperspace PodBlast: Episode 78 covers the Star Wars Resistance trailer as they talk about the art style, the Solo vibes, the characters, the aliens, it being a kids show, whether we could get Snoke or Cardinal, thoughts on the main character, and other characters they’d like to see in the show. Good discussion.

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

Idiot’s Array: Episode 73 begins with a Fifth Element tangent, then they get into Star Wars Resistance as they talk about the trailer, and a few more tangents. They wrap up with their #StarWarsASportsMovie hashtag and all the feedback they got back on that. Quite a bit of coughing in this episode that wasn’t edited out. Eh, okay overall.

Podcast Network: Making Star Wars
Runtime: 45 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Poor
Host: Alan, Ryder, and Mark
Rating: Okay

Less Than 12 Parsecs: Episode 243 Tim takes a break from Star Wars to talk a little about his childhood G.I. Joe fandom.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth,
Runtime: 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Tim
Rating: Good

Making Tracks: Episode 7 Mark talks with Kim Falkinburg about her work in A New Hope, Claire talks with Topps sketch artist Marsha Parkins, they talk with Paul Casey about his work in Star Wars, Sean Cronin and his work in film and Star Wars, and Colin Skeaping.

Podcast Network: Fantha Tracks Radio
Runtime: 42 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Mark, and Dave
Rating: Good

Me and My Padawan: Episode 22 features Braden, Ryan and Dillon as they go over news, poll results on lightsabers versus Captain America’s shield (which is the discussion that takes up most of the episode, they dig a into the science of it), and Dillon talks a little about Paw Patrol.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 18 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Ryan, and Braden
Rating: Good

Skytalkers: Ahsoka’s Lasting Impact focuses on the character of Ahsoka as they talk about their attachment to the character, their thoughts from back in the day when Star Wars: The Clone Wars was just starting, their favorite Ahsoka episodes, and their thoughts on the fate of Ahsoka and her impact on other characters. They wrap up with a sizable chunk of listener feedback on Ahsoka, thus creating one jammed packed Ahsoka episode. Most of the focus is on TCW era Ahsoka and her overall impact as a character, both in universe and on fandom. Good discussion.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Escape Pods Network
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Caitlin, and Charlotte
Rating: Good

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 221 goes over their contest, this day in history, then they talk with Terri Hardin. Terri is a long time Star Wars fan, and she shares her stories of standing in line for The Empire Strikes Back, her illustration work, talking with Harrison Ford, running into Mark Hamill at conventions prior to Star Wars, making a life size Chewbacca, winning a Bantha Tracks contest, and more. After the bloopers at the end of the episode is a little bit more of their conversation with Terri. Overall, pretty interesting episode. Worth a listen. Terri has some neat stories.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 28 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Richard, and Sarah
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1505 tackles the topic of whether Thrawn is Force sensitive. Allen digs into the content of Thrawn: Alliances for this one.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1506 is Allen’s top seven takeaways from the Star Wars Resistance trailer.

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1507 speculates on what will be next for Thrawn.

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1508 compares Star Wars Resistance to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, comparing the similarities between the two. Plus some discussion on Mandalorion rumors.

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1509 provides a production update for Star Wars Episode IX. Not a lot of news, but Allen touches on some of the rumors out there.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1510 goes over the idea of fan theories and whether they’re good for fandom. Allen wraps up on a different topic, what would Carrie Fisher want her Force ghost to look like? Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars: Beyond the Films: Episode 236 focuses on Solo as they share their thoughts on the movie. They start off with a spoiler free portion, then 33 minutes, the spoiler discussion kicks in. They talk about the need to tie-up loose ends, small scale implications, the way the film opened, it’s placement in the timeline, character ages, then they get into their thoughts on the casting of each of the main characters and how those actors did in the roles. They talk about Lando the pansexual, the connections in the film, continuity, the inclusion of the Maw, Enfys Nest, Maul, and they touch on the book Last Shot a little bit. There was some odd audio noises here an there, almost a crackle on one of the audio feeds, otherwise a pretty good episode. At 2 hours in length, the cover a lot of topics.

Podcast Network: 2nd Airborne Division
Runtime: 2 hours 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Okay
Editing: Excellent
Host: Mark, and Nathan
Rating: Good

Star Wars Bookworms: Episode 93 they talk about book news as they go over Queen’s Shadow, Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, the Solo novelization, Master and Apprentice, and comic book news. Then they review the Marvel comic mini-series Star Wars: Darth Maul.

Podcast Network: 2nd Airborne Division
Runtime: 43 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Teresa, and Aaron
Rating: Good

Star Wars Report: Episode 343 features Bruce, Scott Ryfun, and Mark Hurliman as they talk a little about Galaxy’s Edge, Disney World, Disney’s streaming service, the Mandalorian rumor for the TV show, thoughts on streaming services, rumor of Episode IX being so long the movie will be split in two, toy finds and more. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: 2nd Airborne Division
Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Host: Bruce
Rating: Fun

Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels: Episode 61.1 is a “That’s SO Wizard” special edition as Jay and Taxus go through the latest in fashion items and other Star Wars products with a back to school focus. From Her Universe to State Bags, they talk about R2-D2 mini-fridges, $500 writing utensils, watches, shoes and even exercise stuff. And there’s some good laughs, too.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 52 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Dennis, Taxus, and Jay
Rating: Good

Talk Star Wars: Episode 132 is a listener question show as they cover a bunch of topics. They talk about whether there is a place for Thrawn in Episode IX, the idea of a Porkins movie, thoughts on the Force, action figures, marketing, the music of Star Wars, Vader and they rank all the movies. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth,
Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
Audio Quality: Okay
Editing: Excellent
Host: Rob, and Brad
Rating: Good

Talking Bay 94: Episode 13 features an interview with Gary Whitta who talks about his first experience with Star Wars, being a writer for Rogue One, working on that film and what it was like. He also talks about doing the comic adaptation for The Last Jedi, and he touches on his love for The Last Starfighter. One interesting thing that Gary mentioned that’s worth pointing out is that Lucasfilm screened a 4K restoration of A New Hope at one point for those working on Rogue One. Fair warning, Gary is a fast talker. Definitely worth a listen.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 40 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Host: Brandon Wainerdi
Rating: Good

Talking Bay 94: Episode 14 features an interview with Nick Gillard as he talks about his interest in the movie business, working on The Phantom Menace, getting in via his work on Indiana Jones, developing sword fighting style for Star Wars, working with the actors, the fight choreography, the 12 minute version of the fight that was never released, the fight between Obi-Wan and six of Grievous’ guards that wasn’t used, and what he’s been up to. Good audio quality (it’s a phone interview), great interview.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 20 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Host: Brandon Wainerdi
Rating: Great

TechnoRetro Dads: ABCs with Asteroids, Back-to-School Supplies, and Cinema 1988 starts with some discussion of their travels, school jokes, then they touch on the new with the Robocop reboot, and they talk a little cereal. Then they talk video games as they cover the classic Asteroids. Afterwards it’s the movies of 1988, some back to school stuff, and listener feedback. Fun episode as always.

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

The Fantha From Down Under: Episode 6 kicks off with guest Blair Hiscock (My Saga) as they talk about Star Wars, Star Trek, and Star Wars fandom. Then Adam talks with author Adam Bray about his time as a travel writer, discovering undocumented ruins, working at Lucasfilm, and some Hobbit stuff. Afterwards there’s guest Sander De Lange as they chat about The Essential Guide to Warfare and TCW era, and then guest Richard Woloski (Skywalking Through Neverland) comes on to talk books, future Star Wars stories, and Billy Dee being in Episode IX. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Fantha Tracks Radio
Runtime: 1 hour
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Adam O’Brien
Rating: Good

The Resistance Broadcast: What Will Rey Do With the Skywalker Lightsaber Kyber Crystal? starts with poll results on crawl thoughts, then they talk about Rey’s broken lightsaber. They speculate on what kind of lightsaber she should make, whether the crystal is usable still, and more. Then they go into some news, cinematographer trolling fans, Ewan knowing nothing, and they wrap up with listener feedback on Rey’s lightsaber.

Podcast Network: N/A,
Runtime: 45 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: John, James, and Lacey
Rating: Good

The Skyhoppers Podcast: Episode CVIII features special guest Eva as they talk about the character of Anakin Skywalker. They talk about how Anakin is more sympathetic than Kylo, the emotionally driven nature of the character, Luke the light side assassin, Anakin not having anyone other than Palpatine to talk to about Padme, Kylo and Anakin comparisons, and lots of tangents. While not always on topic, they keep it entertaining. Ben also touches on the Kenneth C. Flint Star Wars book that was never published but is available online (The Heart of the Jedi).

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 1 hour 16 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Ben, and Ash
Rating: Fun

The Soundtrack Show: Back to the Future, the Music (Part I) covers the year 1985, Silvestri’s orchestral music, the main theme, tri-tones, the lydian modes, melodies, and plagal cadence, the challenge and the hero overcoming the challenge. Great kick off to the discussion with some really interesting focus on musical concepts.

Podcast Network: HowStuffWorks
Runtime: 40 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: David Collins
Rating: Great

The Soundtrack Show: Back to the Future, the Music (Part II) covers the scoring of the film, the orchestra, source music, Huey Lewis and the News, genre busting, the lack of music in the opening of the movie with there being very little music for the first 19 minutes, when the orchestral music kicks in, augmenting the source music with orchestral music, the guitar solo, and Dave wraps up with some listener feedback. Great discussion of the music of Back to the Future.

Podcast Network: HowStuffWorks
Runtime: 43 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: David Collins
Rating: Great

The Star Wars Escape Podcast: Episode 39 starts off with the Star Wars Resistance trailer as they talk about it, points of contention with the art style, the amount of negativity online, the show’s description, Filoni not running the show, and Kevin Kiner not doing the music. They also talk about the pic of Jon Favreau hanging out with Dave Filoni at Skywalker Ranch, the live action rumor about Mandalorians, the Kylo abuser controversy, and they talk a little about Thrawn: Alliances, and a Palpatine theory. Okay episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 58 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Good
Hosts: Alex, and Mac
Rating: Good

Wookiee Radio: Episode 78 features Mike, Derrick and special guest host Jim as they talk about Favreau’s Star Wars TV show and the Disney streaming service. They talk about the budget, the Mandalorian rumors, their thoughts, and then they move on to Star Wars Episode IX rumors, splitting the movie into two, Turner distribution rights, and Dave’s comments on TCW. Good episode.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network
Runtime: 58 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Editing: Good
Hosts: Ken, Derrick, and Jim
Rating: Good