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Theme Song Detectives

Theme Song Detectives

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It’s been nearly a month with lots of things happening, under our hosts’ control and not, but they check back in this week with some overview of life stuff as well as nerdy and geeky stuff.

WEEKS IN GEEK: Andrew finds a lot to like in the recent MCU-Disney+ show, Daredevil: Born Again, continuing the series from its run on Netflix. He also returns to survival gaming with Far From Home’s Forever Skies. D. Bethel dips into new old sci-fi with the well-regarded series, The Expanse, but has been occupying his gaming time with Machinegames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN: The show wraps with a short remembrance of Jean Marsh, an incredibly expressive actress whose career ran decades. Our hosts, of course, remember her fondly for her dips into Doctor Who across the years (she even used to be married to the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee) as well as her turn as the unforgettable villain, Queen Bavmorda, in Willow.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Where we’ve been
(02:06) D. Bethel’s Mister Rogersification
(05:25) Andrew’s WiG #1: Daredevil: Born Again
(13:44) Andrew’s WiG #2: Forever Skies
(24:03) D.’S WiG #1: The Expanse
(28:51) D.’s WiG #2: Indiana Jones & the Great Circle
(42:03) Outro – RIP Jean Marsh
(46:07) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “A Warm Heat” (23 June 2017): Where D. Bethel discusses the Machinegames’ reboot, Wolfenstein: The New Order.
  • “Whatever We Bring, We Bring It” (13 October 2017): Where D. Bethel discusses his time playing Machinegames’ Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • “It’s Always a Game” (08 February 2019): Where Andrew relates his experience with the survival game, Subnautica.
  • “Earl British” (25 September 2020): Where our hosts discuss Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda Softworks.
  • “Bear is Watching” (21 May 2021): Where Andrew plays the Subnautica sequel, Subnautica: Below Zero.
  • “The Soundness” (01 September 2023): Where Green Hell becomes Andrew’s survival game of choice.
  • “Nomanski” (24 November 2023): Survival goes to space as Andrew and D. Bethel discuss No Man’s Sky.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

New Machine, New Problems

New Machine, New Problems

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TOM HANKSGIVING: Andrew bought a new Mac, so he decides to play No Man’s Sky while D. Bethel is Tom Hanksful for the delightful retro-stylings of the indie RPG, Beyond Galaxyland.

GRIPESGIVING: With all the thanks out of the way, our hosts decide to complete the holiday by complaining about things. Andrew is mad at the new season of Cobra Kai while D. Bethel becomes irrationally furious with the new Wicked movie.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro: It’s American Thanksgiving
(03:34) Andrew buys a Mac Mini and plays No Man’s Sky
(17:59) D. Bethel loves Beyond Galaxyland
(25:19) Outro: Gripesgiving #1 – Cobra Kai season 6 is interminable
(28:27) Gripesgiving #2 – the 3-hour Wicked adaptation is only PART ONE?!
(32:13) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Chekhov’s Honk” (22 January 2021): Where our hosts discuss The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part 2, and The Karate Kid Part 3, briefly.
  • “Too Many Johnnies” (5 February 2021): Where our hosts dive into Cobra Kai.
  • “Nomanski” (24 November 2023): Where our hosts talk about No Man’s Sky.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

The 2-Body Solution

The 2-Body Solution

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WEEK IN GEEK: Our hosts jump right into it as Andrew gets sucked back into the world of Stardew Valley with their most recent update and D. Bethel taps into the zeitgeist and plays the roguelike, deckbuilding, poker-themed (?!) game, Balatro.

THE SEASON OF REGENERATION: With the release of the trailer for the new series of Doctor Who, it contains all that fans could hope for––action, humor, adventure, drama…and it’s “season 1”?

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Andrew got too distracted to podcast…

(01:37) …because he got sucked into Stardew Valley‘s 1.6 release.

(15:33) D. Bethel can’t stop playing the not poker video game, Balatro.

(28:49) Outro – In May we start Doctor Who‘s…first season?

(31:35) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew first dives into the addictive world of Stardew Valley.
  • “States of Play” (30 August 2019): Where Andrew shares his first experiences with Klei Entertainment’s Oxygen Not Included.
  • “Reliable Virtual Helmets” (27 September 2019): Where D. Bethel shares his first experiences diving into the world of roguelike deckbuilding games with Meteorfall: Journey.
  • “Smell the Duke” (4 February 2022): Where D. Bethel discusses the roguelike conversation/combat deckbuilding game by Klei Entertainment, Griftlands.

RELEVANT LINKS:

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FEATURED MUSIC:

Day of the Diver

Day of the Diver

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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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FEATURED MUSIC:

Privilege of Ubiquity

Privilege of Ubiquity

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STALLED ENGINE: Creators of the popular game engine, Unity, made some disquieting news this week when it announced some changes to its licensing policy for developers. Andrew and D. Bethel do their best to break down the changes and examine some of the response from developers.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Fair Point, Dude” (1 June 2018): Where Andrew discusses his dabblings with game development in the Unity engine.
  • “An Optimistic Dystopia” (12 August 2022): Where D. Bethel shares his thoughts on his initial playthrough of Stray.

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FEATURED MUSIC:

The Soundness

The Soundness

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A LESSON IN SURVIVAL: Our hosts are going to take it easy this week, but they’re stopping in for a quick look at what’s been drawing their attention. Andrew gets frustrated by the difficulty to be found in Green Hell while D. Bethel dips a toe into the wildly popular independent game, Vampire Survivors.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Where the Hands Touch” (13 January 2017): Where D. Bethel first discusses the video game documentary YouTube channel, Noclip.
  • “It’s Always a Game” (8 February 2019): Where Andrew shares his impressions about Subnautica.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Bedroom Heat

Bedroom Heat

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EVEN STRANGER: This week, our hosts reflect on the recently finished second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and, to no one’s surprise, have nothing negative to say about it.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Aggressive Modulation” (4 November 2022): Where our hosts ponder the influence and impact of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • “Klingon Time Lords” (15 July 2022): Where our hosts share their thoughts about the very compelling and referential season one finale to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Academic Quality Entertainment

Academic Quality Entertainment

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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.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Tentacles or Bust

Tentacles or Bust

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts dive deep into the video game pool as Andrew gets his caveman farming on with Soda Den’s Roots of Pacha while D. Bethel finds a lot of adventure and fun in the deeply Lovecraftian adventure puzzle game, Call of the Sea by Out of the Blue.

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Your Cursor is My Prisoner” (19 February 2016): Where D. Bethel talks about another fun walking simulator, Firewatch.
  • “Love the Stank” (30 December 2016): Where Andrew begins his long love affair with Stardew Valley.
  • “Starting By Starting” (3 January 2020): Where D. Bethel plays a different––in many ways––Lovecraftian adventure game, The Sinking City.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Dragon Crap

Dragon Crap

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew gets entranced (and a little ill) playing the hit indie rhythm game, Trombone Champ, while Dan gets charmed by the hit AppleTV+ show, Ted Lasso.

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Jerry Goldsmith White Noise Machine” (6 March 2015): Where D. Bethel talks about John Carpenter’s first album of instrumental music, Lost Themes.
  • “An Existential Poem” (12 August 2018): Where D. Bethel talks about John Carpenter’s second album of instrumental music, Lost Themes II.
  • “Toxic Delivery Mechanism” (12 October 2018): Where our hosts discuss another of John Carpenter’s incredible entries into the horror genre, Halloween.
  • “Chasing Chickens” (17 July 2020): Where Andrew shares his excitement for an early AppleTV+ show, For All Mankind.

INFO:

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