Podcasts in Review

May 23, 2019 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

Sabers and Spells Episode 2
Skywalking Through Neverland Episode 247
Star Wars Loose Canon Star Wars Celebration Recap OR How to Spend $5 on Pins Right Away
The Soundtrack Show The Fellowship of the Ring: the Music (Part II)
ForceCenter Episode 168

Honorable Mentions

TechnoRetro Dads Controversy, Conspiracy, and Tim Conway lots of fun Tim Conway discussion.
The Padawan Report (Coruscant Radio Underground) Episode 7 fun TPM discussion with the kids.
Fly Casual Episode 224, their secret episode only available in Discord.

Now here is this week’s Podcasts in Review…

Blast Points Podcast: Episode 171 they talk about Benioff and Weiss doing the next Star Wars movie after The Rise of Skywalker, thoughts on Rian Johnson, then they talk about Solo reflecting on it, the short time gap between it and The Last Jedi, and their three favorite moments from the film. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 51 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Editing: Excellent
Hosts: Jason, and Gabe
Rating: Good

Brews and Blasters: Episode 209 they talk about Peter Mayhew, Boston accents, whiskey and metal music, Solo‘s under performance, movie release dates, third live action Star Wars show mentioned by Bob Iger, their pitch for a Max Reebo show, they talk a little about Dooku: Jedi Lost without spoiler anything. Good discussion to pique your interest. They go over listener feedback, looking forward to Fan Expo Boston, whether The Rise of Skywalker will be heading to the Forest Moon of Endor, and if there will be Ewoks. Fun episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Joe, and Chris
Rating: Fun

Children of the Force: Episode 134 they talk about reading before bed, Star Wars books, Free Comic Book Day, movie release dates, some non-spoiler discussion of Game of Thrones, the break between The Rise of Skywalker and the next Star Wars film, they talk about the Vader’s Castle comics, Beckett comic, and Anakin speaking droid. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 45 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Al, Anna, and Liam
Rating: Good

Coffee With Kenobi: Episode 279 features guest Jim Hill as they talk about Peter Mayhew, meeting him, Comic Book the Movie, his hospital visits, then Tom and Dan take a break to discuss Benioff and Weiss and the third Star Wars live action TV show. Afterwards Dan talks with Clayton Sandell about Peter Mayhew. There were some audio issues with Clayton, but good episode overall. Nice look back at Peter and the work he did.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Dan Zehr
Rating: Good

Doing Talking: Episode 46 Madison talks about Benioff and Weiss and her thoughts on them and Game of Thrones, though she doesn’t watch the show but she’s read what was done. She addresses worry for Rian Johnson, talks about John Williams’ comments on The Rise of Skywalker, hope for Bendemption, the cover for the Art of The Rise of Skywalker, listener feedback on the Chosen One prophecy, and some discussion of Kylo and Rey.

Podcast Network: The Audio Geekdom
Runtime: 1 hour 3 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Madison Thames
Rating: Good

DorkLair: Episode 91 Bill, Chris and Larry talk about recent purchases, toy news, and toy info. Then they review the S.H. Figuarts Count Dooku action figure. They talk about the look of the figure, the coloring, the articulation, the things they liked, and the things they didn’t. Good review.

Podcast Network: RetroZap
Runtime: 44 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Bill, Chris, and Larry
Rating: Good

Fangirls Going Rogue: Star Wars Resistance First Impressions Tricia and Sandra talk about Star Wars Resistance panel (no spoilers), and the Vader Immortal experience.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Sarah, Teresa, and Tricia
Rating: Good

Fly Casual: Episode 224 they talk about Inception, vinegar and t-shirt armpits, then they talk about Vader – Dark Visions #3 and the writer’s comments on the comic. Afterwards they break out the Star Wars edition of Cards Against Humanity which gets fun, but it’s for the adults. The only way to get this episode is via their Discord channel.

Podcast Network: Betterkind Media
Runtime: 1 hour
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Corey, Garrick, Mike, and Steve
Rating: Fun

ForceCenter: Episode 168 they talk about vacations, naming dogs, and other things they’ve been up to, they touch on the news, movie release dates, and then the discuss The Phantom Menace. They reflect on what their thoughts were back when they first saw it, their thoughts on it now, the things that did and didn’t work, who they think the main protagonist was, thoughts on Anakin’s story in TPM, how the lightsaber fight ranks with others, favorite design in the film, favorite podracer, and who would you meet and hang out with. They wrap up with listener questions. Great discussion of the The Phantom Menace. Great episode.

Podcast Network: ForceCenter
Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Ken, Jennifer, and Joseph
Rating: Great

Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 97 is another edition of Fan Fiction Theater as they go over two comedic Star Wars fanfics, “The Good, The Bad, and the Funny” and “Naboo Who?” Complete with dramtic readings and music, the only problem with this one is that both stories were pretty bad (they went in blind so they didn’t know how bad they’d be).

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 40 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Jake, and Riley
Rating: Okay

Kanata’s Castle: Episode 56 they talk about Peter Mayhew and Chewbacca, the break in the film releases, they touch on May the 4th, they discuss Dooku: Jedi Lost a little and there’s one BIG spoiler (they do give warning but make sure you skip ahead during the podcast if you haven’t listened to the audio drama yet as it is a major spoiler). Afterwards they talk about their experience at Star Wars Celebration Chicago, they discuss The Rise of Skywalker teaser trailer and the return of Palpatine, and they focus in on Leia and the medal she’s holding. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Becca, and Devon
Rating: Good

Lattes With Leia: Episode 39 they talk about where they were when The Phantom Menace came out, what their drinking, Star Wars: Aliens Archive, Dooku: Jedi Lost, then they talk about Master and Apprentice (which does get into spoilers). They share their observations and thoughts and go over what happens in the story. Nice discussion.

Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 1 hour 22 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Amy, and Andrea
Rating: Good

Magic on a Dollar: Episode 56 Dave talks about Bongo’s closing, NBA Experience opening, new restaurants opening, and the park challenge he did. He also talks about Marvel meet and greet characters, and the Guardians of the Galaxy ride. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 36 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Dave
Rating: Good

Making Tracks: Episode 19 Mark and Dave talk about the passing of Peter Mayhew, (slight echo issue pops up early on for Dave’s audio), audio from MonCalCon and interview with Ross Sambridge. He talks about Snoke, Wookiees, collecting, and more. Mark and Dave talk about movie release dates, getting a break, then they have audio of interview with Hugh Quarshie from Star Was Fan Fun Day. Nice conversation with Hugh. Worth a listen.

Podcast Network: Fantha Tracks Radio
Runtime: 45 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Dave, and Mark
Rating: Good

Rebel Force Radio: Episode 5.17.2019 is hosted by Jimmy and BillMac as they talk about Game of Thrones and franchises coming to an end, the end of the Skywalker saga, Billy reads some Billy Dee tweets, they talk post-Celebration thoughts, go over new toys, Star Wars Marvel comics, Star Wars: The Clone Wars thoughts, listener questions and feedback, they touch on the news, new movie release dates, Bob Iger’s comments, Benioff and Weiss thoughts, and thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker teaser trailer. Good episode.

Podcast Network: Rebel Force Radio
Runtime: 2 hours 25 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Jason, and Jimmy
Rating: Good

Sabers and Spells: Episode 1 kicks off their new podcast. This one is hosted by Teresa Delgado and Christy Morris, who were hosting the Galactic Fashion podcast. They talk about The Star Wars Show winning a daytime Emmy, Star Wars movie release dates, then they introduce themselves, go over their fandoms and likes, they ask each other some questions, go over recent purchases, and talk about some Her Universe items. Good episode giving you and idea of who the hosts are.

Podcast Network: Skynet
Runtime: 46 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Christy, and Teresa
Rating: Good

Sabers and Spells: Episode 2 centers on Game of Thrones season eight episode one through five. They talk about the Starbucks cup, their overall thoughts on season eight, then they go into a discussion of each episode, their observations, issues they had, things they liked, plus predictions for the finale. Great discussion and I really liked their observation about how Sansa stirs the pot in her own best interests. Looking forward to their discussion of the finale.

Podcast Network: Skynet
Runtime: 54 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Christy, and Teresa
Rating: Great

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 247 they talk about Galaxy’s Edge wrist bands, Disney planner/travel agent stuff, new podcasts, and then Teresa and Christy come on to talk about their new podcast Sabers and Spells and a little wrestling. Afterwards Rich and Sarah talk with Mike Quinn about his work as a puppeteer, hanging out at the studios as a kid, working on The Great Muppet Caper, Return of the Jedi, and the sequel movies. Mike shares some fun stories, great interview.

Podcast Network: Skynet
Runtime: 2 hours 14 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Richard, and Sarah
Rating: Great

Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 248 they talk with guest Jeff Long who went to Galaxy’s Edge. He talks about his experience, some of the things he saw and was able to do like the Millennium Falcon ride, the app, the shops, and more. Jeff does go out of his way to not spoil anything, so some of the things he talks about is not in great detail and is a vague in order to maintain the surprise of the experience for listeners. Keep that in mind. Jeff’s audio is good (not the greatest) but it shouldn’t hurt your ability to listen to the episode at all. Not a bad episode, but if you’re looking for an in-depth, detailed recap of what the Galaxy’s Edge experience was like, this is not it. If you just want to get an idea of what it was like without spoiling anything, then this one may be the one you’re looking for.

Podcast Network: Skynet
Runtime: 1 hour 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Good to Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Richard, and Sarah
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1777 discusses how Disney+ will work with cinematic universe, and looks at Benioff and Weiss trilogy vs Rian Johnson trilogy

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1780 is a one question interview with Liz Heinecke and Cole Horton at Star Wars Celebration Chicago.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 4 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1781 is a one question interview with Tom Spina at Star Wars Celebration Chicago.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1782 is a one question interview with Paul Duncan, author of The Star Wars Archives.

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

Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1783 is a one question interview with Steve Sansweet at Star Wars Celebration Chicago.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good

Star Wars Loose Canon: Star Wars Celebration Recap OR How to Spend $5 on Pins Right Away they get together to talk Star Wars Celebration Chicago. Nick talks about what it was like since he was there, he gives a day-by-day breakdown, and talks about getting frustrated with lines on Thursday. They talk about food in Chicago, meeting listeners, the Episode IX panel, Galaxy’s Edge, the way people react to celebrities, some great Ray Park impersonations, and more. Plus a Wookieepedia segment. Great episode. Lot of fun.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 56 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Alex, Nick, and Patrick
Rating: Great

Star Wars Loose Canon: Five Years of Loose Canon they talk about May 4th, better historical moments than “May the Fourth be with You.” Seeing Star Wars the first time. Parsecs and a Star Wars awakening, lightsaber fights and choking on checkers, and other ways they really got into Star Wars.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 29 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Alex, Nick, and Patrick
Rating: Good

Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels: Episode 79.1 is a “That’s SO Wizard!” episode as Jay and Dennis talk about “I Am The Rebellion” stuff from BlackMilk, Uniform Advantage Star Wars stuff, other clothing lines, Cards Against Humanity Star Wars edition, kitchen gadgets, Out of Print items, Inkkas Galaxy slip-ons, Po-Zu, Her Universe items in stock, and more.

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

Tatooine Sons: Review of Dooku: Jedi Lost by Cavan Scott they talk about movie release info and Rian Johnson, JG weighs in on Doctor Aphra live action, Billy Lorde rumor, and Dooku: Jedi Lost opening up doors for other stories. Then they go over Dooku: Jedi Lost, diving into the story and what happens in the audio drama.

Podcast Network: MakingStarWars.net
Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: David, Nate, and Samuel
Rating: Good

TechnoRetro Dads: Controversy, Conspiracy, and Tim Conway they tell school jokes, talk about the Disney Tron ride, they talk about Tim Conway and The Carol Burnett Show, cereal, the fictional arcade game Polybius, Scooby Doo, The Apple Dumpling Gang, and Bill Nigh the Science Guy. Fun episode.

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

The Deucecast Movie Show: Episode 379 features Dave, Mikey and guest Ethan Bryan as they talk about baseball movies and their favorite baseball scenes in movies. Plus there’s some discussion of baseball cards at the end.

Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Dave, Mikey, and Dr. Earl
Rating: Good

The JATCast: Episode 28 James talks with Hank and Billy, he talks about the power of positive thinking, his videos on YouTube, the film he’s making, he has a story he reads about worry (complete with music and voices), and he goes over listener questions. Good episode.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: James Arnold Taylor
Rating: Good

The Padawan Report (Coruscant Radio Underground): Episode 7 includes Ianna, Adelin, Selina, and Quintin as they talk about The Phantom Menace, their favorite scenes, Jedi, new ships, and the coolest costumes. Fun little episode of the kids talking about TPM.

Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 16 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Andrew, and Merisha
Rating: Fun

The Sandcrawler: Episode 75 they do a commentary for The Phantom Menace. Fun little commentary, really liked their coverage of the podrace.

Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Host: Dan, and Mac
Rating: Fun

The Soundtrack Show: The Fellowship of the Ring: the Music (Part II) Dave goes over the music of the Shire, similarity to Titanic, Hobbit’s theme, ring’s seduction theme, the fellowship of the ring, the there and back again theme, and nine notes and nine members of the fellowship, a note for each, and other places containing nine notes. Great discussion of the music.

Podcast Network: HowStuffWorks
Runtime: 37 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: David Collins
Rating: Great

The Star Wars Report: Episode 381 features Riley and guest Joe Tavano (Brews and Blasters). They talk about the movie release dates, thoughts on Benioff and Weiss, and Rian Johnson. They talk a little Star Wars Resistance, and dive into a big discussion on The Phantom Menace. A few drops in the call, but good episode.

Podcast Network: 2nd Airborne Division
Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Good
Hosts: Bruce, Mark, and Riley
Rating: Good

Wookiee Radio: Episode 110 they talk about Heroes and Villains Loot Crate Box and open up the Star Wars one featuring Endor gear. They touch on the passing of Peter Mayhew and their memories of Peter, they talk about the Star Wars release dates, thoughts about Rian Johnson, Solo‘s box office, the three year time gap, Benioff and Weiss thoughts, and lightsaber churros. Good episode.

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

Wookiee Radio: Episode 111 features special guest Jim as they talk about Heroes and Villains, Benioff and Weiss doing next Star Wars movie, movie release dates, whose directing what, they talk about the Old Republic, Darth Maul comics, third Star Wars live action TV show, John Williams’ Galaxy’s Edge music, the return of Palpatine, Savi’s workshop, and lightsabers.

Podcast Network: We Be Geeks Network
Runtime: 1 hour 1 minute
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Derrick, Ken, and Mike
Rating: Good