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Ear Covid

Ear Covid

AD&D (ANDREW, DUNGEONS, & DRAGONS): Andrew, after years away, gets drawn into a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Planescape adventure and shares his thoughts on how the game looks after having avoided it for so long.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – The dangers of COVID broadcasting
(01:35) Andrew’s new D&D adventure adventure
(51:02) Outro – Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show
(55:16) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • The Space Dog and Bacchus Show” (21 August 2014): Where Andrew first experiments with Dungeons & Dragons‘ 5th Edition open beta, DnDNext.
  • Some Solid Copy” (31 July 2015): Where our hosts discuss Jon Stewart’s departure from The Daily Show.
  • Choose Your Weapon” (31 July 2020): Where Andrew discusses the documentary, Secret of Blackmoor: The True History of Dungeons & Dragons.

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Lunch Talk

Lunch Talk

PROOF OF LIFE: Our hosts have been absent for a few weeks and wanted to check in and discuss why. They also provide a short Week in Geek with Andrew talking about playing Dungeons & Dragons again for the first time in years while D. Bethel was quite impressed with Max’s animated sci-fi series, Scavengers Reign.

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Day of the Diver

Day of the Diver

DOCTOR NEW: Our hosts spend a little bit of time discussing the newest episode of Doctor Who, “The Church on Ruby Road.”

FISHING & STUFF: Our hosts talk about the charm, the complexities, and frustrations of the hit video game, Dave the Diver.

THE CALL OF PUBLIC DOMAIN: With the new year brings a new slate of texts into the public domain. While most people are talking about Disney’s latest loss, Andrew focuses in on a piece of cosmic horror that has officially entered public domain this year, H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.”

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Doctor Who
(03:11) Dave the Diver
(28:59) Outro – New items in the public domain
(32:48) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Quite Easily Done” (08 June 2018): Where our hosts discuss a documentary by the video game documentarians, NoClip, about the history of the developer, Bethesda.
  • Academic Quality Entertainment” (04 August 2023): Where Andrew talks about his time playing Dredge.
  • Pleasure Quotes” (22 December 2023): Where our hosts talk about the bigeneration episode that introduced the new Doctor as played by Ncuti Gatwa.

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Academic Quality Entertainment

Academic Quality Entertainment

WEEK IN GEEK: It’s all about indie video games this week as both of our hosts have been indulging in new ludic adventures. Andrew participates in the eldritch fishing adventure of Dredge while D. Bethel has been having roguelike RPG fun with Star Renegades.

RIP PEE-WEE: Paul Reubens died after a long bout with cancer on July 30; our hosts spend a bit of time memorializing his work.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Baguettevania” (24 August 2018): Where our hosts discuss the roguelike Metroidvania, Dead Cells.
  • Hobbit Seasons” (24 June 2022): Where Andrew talks about the iterative awesomeness of Rogue Legacy 2.
  • Tentacles or Bust” (12 May 2023): Where D. Bethel shares his experience with the Lovecraftian adventure game, Call of the Sea.

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Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

Don’t Pull Out Your Deck

ANDY’S STEAM DECK ADVENTURES: Andrew shares what it was like to actually take his handheld PC-device on the road (and what games he’s been playing).

BOMBING THE BOX OFFICE: This summer has been marked with a series of movies that had really big budgets and very low returns, and it’s a trend that seems to only be continuing. Our hosts talk through possible causes and possible futures of this distressing trajectory.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Space Man From Pluto” (30 June 2023): Where our hosts talk about studios’ use of AI as well as the financial struggles of streaming services.

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Dungeons & Grandmas

Dungeons & Grandmas

ROLL TO SAVE: Now that Andrew has finally seen it, our hosts dive into the surprise hit of the year, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and look at how it honors (and deviates from) the game it’s based upon.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • The Black Arts of Algorithms” (5 August 2016): Where our hosts discuss the disparity of interpretation of box office numbers with regard to Ghostbusters: Answer the Call and the first Suicide Squad.
  • Open Awesome License” (13 January 2023): Where Andrew discusses the Open Game License controversy D&D publisher, Wizards of the Coast, got into.
  • Madmacguffin” (20 January 2023): Where our hosts share their thoughts about the first (and only?) season of the Disney+ show, Willow.

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Jellyfish Panthers

Jellyfish Panthers

A-NEWS BOUCHE: It’s been a busy few months, so our hosts felt that it was time to get away on a cruise, albeit a news cruise. They talk about the recent legal woes with Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, recap all of the Wizards of the Coast’s woes, and all the strange Twitter drama as of late.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Hammering With a Screwdriver” (19 August 2016): Where D. Bethel discusses the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series.
  • Nature’s Velcro” (3 July 2020): Where Andrew relays his time with Owlcat’s Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

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Full Frasier

Full Frasier

WEEK IN GEEK: After avoiding the microphones for a week due to disaster-level weather, our hosts return with their Weeks in Geek. Andrew watched Cobra Kai, season 5, and finds it makes a bad movie good. D. Bethel watched people play videogames over on the Nextlander YouTube channel, where they work their way through the incredibly dated, but also incredibly daring point-and-click adventure game, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (aka Gabriel Knight 2).

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Premature Clapulation” (19 June 2014): Where our hosts talk about the history, legacy, and current state (as of 2014) of point-and-click adventure games.
  • The Tainted Lens” (28 April 2017): Where D. Bethel discusses his favorite point-and-click adventure game, LucasArts’ Full Throttle, after it was remastered as Full Throttle Remastered.
  • Chekhov’s Honk” (22 January 2021): Where our hosts talk about the first three Karate Kid movies.
  • Too Many Johnnies” (05 February 2021): Where our hosts have a big talk about the Cobra Kai series.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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Patient Zero

Patient Zero

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets caught up in the new ARG run by Paizo for its upcoming Pathfinder book, even getting involved in deciphering the obtuse and mysterious clues; D. Bethel, on the other hand, delights in the incredibly faithful (yet different!) adaptation of The Sandman on Netflix.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Andrew check-up

(01:40) Andrew’s dive into Paizo ARG conspiracies

(12:38) D. Bethel talks about Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman.

(35:17) Outro – She-Hulk

(37:32) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • The image Andrew created using the redacted image Paizo posted with a page from one of the company’s books:
Andrew’s attempt at deciphering Paizo’s mystery.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Premature Clapulation” (19 June 2014): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts about what makes a good adaptation.
  • The F-14 in the Backyard” (12 February 2016): Where our host talk about the ARG run by the creators of Sentinels of the Multiverse.
  • Lovecraftian Minus Tentacles” (7 April 2017): Where Andrew shares his thoughts on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
  • Non-Stop Jason” (13 November 2020): Where our hosts attempt to decipher the conspiracy (or reality) of “Umbrella Labs.” Resident Evil ARG? or legitimate medical supply company?

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An Optimistic Dystopia

An Optimistic Dystopia

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew endures convalescence by getting a double dose of survival horror, by watching the premiere season of Netflix’s live-action Resident Evil series while also playing through Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 3. D. Bethel, on the other hand, finds incredible connection in the first game from Blue 12 studio’s Stray.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • Tile Pile” (22 November 2019): Where D. Bethel discusses his time with another Annapurna-published game, Outer Wilds.

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