Media criticism and coverage writ large (depending on font size).
The below text is a highly-edited-for-readability version of the podcast episode. For a more direct transcript of the audio, see this Google Drive folder for the downloadable document.
My solo podcast-discussion-podcast Stuff I’ve Listened To is no more. Well, in name, at least. I’ve enjoyed making SILT all these weeks but the name sucked both as an intitialism and a thing someone has to type into a search bar.
Continue reading “The Pod Report Weekly – 7/24/20”Yes, this isn’t podcast-related, but I argue always-online podcasters/freelancers/content creators in particular are probably in need of some good things to distract from the world outside. There’s many phenomenal lists written by phenomenal people showcasing hopepunk, comedy, and general escapist podcasts, this list covers things that do that for me when my brain isn’t in the mood for audio alone.
Continue reading “Chill YouTube for When You Just Need a Bit of a Break”
It all started with a box of toy plastic spiders.
Today Critical Bits, an actual play podcast using the Masks system, celebrates its one-year anniversary. 12 months of the three unlikely teen heros Gene (Paul Byron), Kim (Shannon Strucci), and Ace (Shelby Lee) blundering their way across Heavendale in an attempt to thwart evil. Things go well… sometimes.
Continue reading “Critical Bits host Joel Ruiz talks Spider Day, roleplay”
Welcome to my listen/read-through series of the first arc of The Adventure Zone! Each installment of this series I will listen to an episode of the first arc of TAZ: Balance, then the accompanying pages of the graphic novel adaptation. We’ll compare, contrast, and see what the McElroys have done to retroactively massage a fully-formed narrative into a Dungeons & Dragons starter kit.
It’s here, the beginning of the adventure. I’m thrilled to be taking on this quest with you, dear reader. Let’s get tucked in.
Continue reading “Here There Be Gerblins: Episode One | Pod to Page”
It’s October, which means it’s time for one of my favorite seasonal podcast events: The We Hate Movies Spooktacular! For the uninitiated, throughout October the WHM gang only cover horror movies. From the biggest franchises to deep cut obscure flicks you’ve never heard of; the Spooktacular always delivers. You know you’re in for a good time when the fantastic Spooktacular theme song kicks in.
Continue reading “6 Killer We Hate Movies Spooktacular Episodes”
Fan Wars: The Empire Claps Back is a romantic comedy about two massive Star Wars nerds bickering about The Last Jedi on Skype. Or, at least, it starts off this way, metamorphising into a frenemies-becoming-friends tale through snippets of conversation.
I don’t normally ship characters. I really like characters and it’d be cool if they end up dating, but few elevate me to that special level of commitment where any scrap of implication they’re falling for each other makes me want to craft a Twitter thread
Continue reading “Fan Wars delivers delightful nerdy rom-com storytelling”
As The Adventure Zone begins wrapping up season two’s Amnesty plot with one final arc I find myself nostalgic for the first season. This is surprising to no one; the three constants of the universe are death, taxes, and the inevitability I’ll re-listen to old episodes of Adventure Zone instead of the 14,000 new episodes in my podcast queue.
Continue reading “It’s time to get back in the zone | Pod to Page”
[This review has been edited to incorporate new information that has come to light re: Luminary. Edited/added content will be appropriately tagged.]
The venture-capitalist funded podcast company Luminary launched their app this morning, capping weeks of hype and controversy with a podcasting app sporting fewer features than its free competitors. Launching two months earlier than originally proposed, Luminary lacks some basic quality-of-life functions one has come to expect from a podcatcher after years of just having these features for free. It feels like Luminary the Company put all of their power into establishing themselves as The Company With 40 Exclusive Podcasts You Have to Pay For they never stopped to ask the question “how do we also make Luminary a good podcast app.”
Luminary is the only place you can go to listen to certain shows, namely Lauren Shippen’s The AM Archives, set in the Bright Sessions universe. While the boutique content is a large selling point of the app, this review will specifically focus on the app itself. Plenty of Twitter debate and column inches have already been dedicated to how much Content the company has promised to deliver (and failed, as of this writing, but we’ll get to that) but it seems nobody wants to dig into discussing the fact Luminary’s app is, first and foremost, a podcatcher. It has a gated-off community of paid shows exclusive to the app, but it also can listen to freely available podcasts.
Continue reading “Luminary Launches App Lacking Features, Content”
For one glorious January weekend, hundreds of podcast nerds descended on Seattle for PodCon 2. Between the convention itself and several pop-up fan events, I was surrounded by podcasting for seven days straight. It was a life-changing experience. Yet through it all, I had the sense we were making our own fun, not following the curated experience every convention strives to be.
Now that I’ve had a month to ruminate on my first podcasting convention experience, let’s talk about the things PodCon 2 did right, the things it didn’t quite nail, and hopes for the future.
Continue reading “PodCon 2: A Month Later”
You can’t throw a super-stick without hitting someone with powers in Antaean City. Odds are you yourself probably have super stick-throwing powers. This is the backdrop for recently re-released audio fiction series On Patrol with The Broadcaster.
Continue reading “Local radio gets super-powered in ‘On Patrol’”
Gavin Gaddis 