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Arctic Paranoia

Arctic Paranoia

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SILKSONG OF SILENCE: The highly anticipated follow-up to the 2D Metroidvania, Hollow Knight, released on Thursday, September 4, and was so popular that all major digital storefronts collapsed under the demand for the game.

RETCON WHERE NO ONE HAS RETCONNED BEFORE: With Star Trek: Strange New Worlds dipping into the continuity of the original series, D. Bethel went even deeper and watched first-season episode of the original series, “The Menagerie, Part 1 & 2,” to see the original (or second original appearance?) of Captain Pike and finds a lot to like and even more to admire.

THE THING ABOUT THE THING: D. Bethel rounds out the episode talking about his experience reading the novella, Who Goes There?, by John W. Campbell, which served as the basis for one of his favorite films, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and was surprised at how faithful that adaptation was.

TOPICS:
(0:00:00) Intro – Silksong breaks barriers
(0:05:02) Star Trek, “The Menagerie, Parts 1 & 2,” and its long-reaching implications
(0:54:41) Outro – D. Bethel reads Who Goes There?, the inspiration for John Carpenter’s The Thing.
(1:01:37) No outtakes?! How can this be?!

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Bone Juice

Bone Juice

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew buys a Bluray player to watch Stargate: Atlantis, while D. Bethel stays current and sees both Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (NO SPOILERS).

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Food News
(07:36) Andrew’s WiG: Stargate: Atlantis
(26:00) D. Bethel’s WiG #1: Superman
(39:33) D. Bethel’s WiG #2: The Fantastic Four: First Steps
(53:08) Outro – Audio Schiit
(57:23) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Chunchullo – The weird Argentinian food Andrew mentioned.
  • Bridgy Fed – How Andrew posts to Bluesky from Mastodon.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Keyboard Blades

Keyboard Blades

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THE EDGE OF THE BLADE: In the midst of his Fear the Walking Dead watch-through, Andrew rediscovers the wonder and majesty of the actor (and musician and politician) Ruben Blades.

DOCTOR WHO: [WARNING: the discussion contains SPOILERS] Our hosts discuss the second season (series 15) of Doctor Who, showcasing the Fifteenth Doctor (as played by Ncuti Gatwa) struggling to get his displaced companion, Belinda Chandra, back home to Earth. It had a lot of great stories and a lot of surprises and a lot of ties back to the previous season; our hosts discuss all the angles.

NEW REALMS OF NERD: D. Bethel briefly discusses his foray in to mechanical keyboards and is reasonably perplexed by the experience.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – The Rediscovery of Ruben Blades
(06:19) Doctor Who, season 2 is done!
(08:38) What these two seasons did differently
(21:14) Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth (?) Doctor
(26:30) More cameos of old Doctors (and companions), please
(31:43) A genuinely surprising regeneration?!
(42:51) Outro – Dan buys a new keyboard
(46:10) Outtakes

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Nerd Intervention” (28 June 2024): Where our hosts discuss season 1 of Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa’s first season on the show.
  • “Turn on the Window” (9 May 2025): Where our hosts discuss the season 2 episode of Doctor Who, “Lucky Day,” and all the discomfort its story and characters bring.

RELEVANT LINKS:

  • Keychron Q11 – The mechanical keyboard D. bought to make his digital art process less physically painful.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

Turn on the Window

Turn on the Window

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RIDICULOUS REMAKES: D. Bethel goes off on “live action” remakes of beloved animated movies––Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon––that genuinely seem unnecessary.

DOCTOR WHO: With the first half of season 2 (series 15) of Doctor Who done, our hosts talk about what it’s doing differently from the previous season before zooming in specifically on the most recent unsettling and surprisingly profound episode, “Lucky Day.”

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – What are they doing with these “live action” remakes anyway?
(05:11) Doctor Who, season 2 (series 15) episode: “Lucky Day”
(36:32) Outro – D. finally heard the Wilhelm Scream in Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
(37:32) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Nerd Intervention” (28 June 2024): Where our hosts reflect on the previous season of Doctor Who.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

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:

No Herbs

No Herbs

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SHINE ON: Our hosts spend a quick minute discussing the fall of Diamond Distribution and all the markets it touched.

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Section 31, while D. Bethel finally jumps on the bandwagon and watches the beginning of the Apple TV+ show, Severance.

TOPICS:

(00:00) Intro – Diamond Comics Distribution goes bankrupt
(08:52) Andrew’s WiG: Star Trek: Section 31
(30:44) D’s WiG: Severance
(43:21) Outro – “Superhero” is public again
(46:03) Outtakes

RELEVANT LINKS:

RELEVANT EPISODES:

  • “Jersey Finger” (26 April 2024): Where our hosts discuss the breakup of the comical overreach of the Embracer Group.

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.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC:

The Sheng Long Distraction

The Sheng Long Distraction

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WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew watches the new Disney+/MCU show, Agatha All Along, before realizing he’s still all-in on zombie media. D. Bethel, on the other hand, checks out the newest entry into the venerated Alien franchise with Alien: Romulus.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – Agatha All Along first impressions
(11:18) Andrew orders a lot of The Walking Dead
(32:04) D. Bethel watches Alien: Romulus
(51:10) Outro – More Alien franchise talk
(54:40) Outtakes

The two The Walking Dead collections Andrew bought. LEGO minifig for scale.

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The Deep Nerd Zone

The Deep Nerd Zone

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WEEK IN GEEK: This week, our hosts are hard at work in the different worlds and in deep space as Andrew watches the first two episodes of the final season of Star Trek: Discovery while D. Bethel has a good time playing a scoundrel in Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds.

TOPICS:
(00:00) Intro – We survived the eclipsageddon
(02:39) Andrew watches Star Trek: Discovery (Star Trek talk ensues)
(23:06) Dan gives a quick update upon finishing Sea of Stars
(24:10) D. gives first impressions on The Outer Worlds
(37:53) Outro – more eclipse talk.
(39:11) Outtakes

INFO:

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.

INFO:

FEATURED MUSIC: