A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew dives into the storied No Man's Sky and kind-of-fights with Dan about games media coverage while D. Bethel relates his experience speaking about comics––and his webcomic, Long John , to a college graphic novels as literature class. RELEVANT LINKS: D. Bethel's webcomic, Long John . Start Chapter 1 here . Kuchera, Ben. "The Second Coming of No Man's Sky ." Polygon . Vox Media, 2...

A MARVEL OF A MOVIE: Albeit a few weeks late, both Andrew and D. Bethel have finally seen Marvel Studios' newest entry into their cinematic universe with Captain Marvel , and they have a lot to say about it. This conversation does discuss SPOILERS for the film, so be wary of listening if you have not yet seen the film. RELEVANT EPISODES:   Shortcast 46 - Wakandan Skip Fires : Where D. Bethel and A...

WEEK IN GEEK: We start with Andrew getting a bit sick while trying to play multiple versions of Minecraft before D. Bethel gets charmed by the grimdark world of the 2017 NetherRealm hit, Injustice 2 , and then rounding back to Andrew as he talks about Rodney Thompson's heist RPG in a box, Dusk City Outlaws . RELEVANT EPISODES:   Shortcast 16 - Nostalgia Mining : Where D. Bethel discusses what went...

MARVELLOUS DEBUT: A quick check-in with the toxic male comics fandom to start the show. A few weeks ago, Andrew and D. Bethel talked about how proponents for ComicsGate and their robot army were trying to tank Captain Marvel well before it released into theaters with negative scores on Rotten Tomatoes . The hosts just wanted to recognize that Marvel Studios' newest movie debuted to record-breaking...

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew goes back to the wasteland for the first time as he plays Fantasy Flight's board game version of Fallout , while D. Bethel does a postmortem on the X-Men-based Fox television show, The Gifted , after its second (and final?) season finale [SPOILER ALERT]. RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 143 - This Is A Family Show : Where Andrew and D. Bethel discuss the announcement of F...

HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER (THAN THE TROLLS CAN FOLLOW): As with many nerdy movies lately that have been labeled as being damaging to the field, Marvel's upcoming tent-pole film, Captain Marvel (the first from Marvel Studios to have a woman in the lead role), aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes have been targeted by these organized hate campaigns by getting "review bombed." This means people have t...

WEEK IN GEEK: Both Andrew and D. went to see new movies over the last few weeks, so they can enter the incredibly potent world of hot takes as Andrew discusses how The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part delivers on the promise of the first one and D. tries to figure out what he thinks of Alita: Battle Angel and if he can separate nostalgia and snobbery from cinematic compromise. RELEVANT LINKS: Bethel,...

THE CLIPS EPISODE:  Due to a distortion of the space-time continuum, Andrew ended up on his own to record an episode. Instead of 50 minutes of dead air, he decided to throw together a clips episode featuring past segments on Star Trek! RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 25 - Unnecessary Tassels : Where Andrew and D. Bethel talk about I, Mudd from the second season of the Original Series. Episode 26 - The...

The lauded limited podcast series returns with a new episode as well as a fan-favorite co-host, Kyrun Silva of Taurus Comics as he and D. Bethel (check out his webcomic, Long John , and his podcast, A Podcast [ , ] For All Intents and Purposes ) pair up to take on the first StocktonCon Winter show. This episode focuses on the strange space that indie creators inhabit, that realm between fan and pr...

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew and D. finally return to video games for their Weeks in Geek. Andrew gets lost (in a good way) playing Subnautica by Unknown Worlds Entertainment while D. Bethel explores the mysterious labyrinthine world found in Team Cherry 's Hollow Knight . RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 75 - A Sad Game About Nuclear Disarmament : Where Andrew shares how a mission from Metal Gear So...

MIRA DEL MAHER: Bill Maher redoubles his "complaints" against adult comic book fans on a recent episode of his show, Real Time with Bill Maher , in an editorial titled, " Grow Up " (from the "New Rules" segment he does at the end of his show). Andrew and D. examine less the content of his argument and more the ideas it intersects, discussing the need for fandom self-reflection, literature and lite...

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew takes dives into season three of Netflix's The Travelers and ponders how it continually plays with time travel in interesting ways while D. Bethel gets educated and affected by the Netflix documentary, Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski ––a documentary about artist Stanisław Szukalski and his time trying to create a national artistic identity for Poland, h...

NERD LAW, 2019: Two unrelated but intriguingly similar trademark cases have made the rounds in the news this last week. Chooseco, the owner of the Choose Your Own Adventure franchise has brought a lawsuit to Netflix over Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and the tenuous if not honorific connections that movie has to the classic children's book series. In the world of video games, the Pinkerton Consulting...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew...watches? plays?...the Black Mirror interactive movie, Bandersnatch , while D. Bethel gets sentimental about Transformers again after watching Bumblebee . RELEVANT EPISODES : Episode 06 - Heart Law, Article 9 (03 July 2014): Where D. Bethel relays his thoughts on the fourth Transformers movie, Transformers: The Age of Extinction . Shortcast 26 - It's Fun to Do Less (07 July 2...

LOOKING FORWARD: With 2018 behind them, Andrew and D. Bethel discuss what they're looking forward to in 2019. Andrew is interested in the upcoming premium Disney streaming service, Disney+, as well as to Bethesda Game Studios adding more content to Fallout 76 , while D. Bethel can't wait for It, Chapter 2 to hit theaters as well as playing the new game from Firewatch 's Campo Santo, In the Valley...

THE YEAR THAT WAS: With the final week of the year barreling toward us, Andrew and D. Bethel decide to throw format out the window and just talk. Guided by the question, "What does 2018 make you think of?", they veer all over the place from Fallout (of course) and learning how to code to the many-tiered beast that was ComicsGate and the panacea to that garbage with things like the new Halloween an...

WEEK IN GEEK: D. Bethel gets inspired by Tintin and Alph-Art , the final Tintin book started by creator Hergé before his death. The book is a collection of his layouts and notes and remains unfinished but showcases the process of one of the world's best comic book storytellers. After nearly a year, Andrew finally dives into Star Trek: Discovery (originally released on CBS All Access) and gives you...

After (approximately) ten weeks of teasing, Andrew and D. Bethel finally talk about the newest series of Doctor Who , which not only introduces Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor (as well as her substantial crew) but also new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, and his team to bring the world a fresh look at a 55 year-old character. RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 140 - A Vernal Pool of Talent : Where Andrew an...

A TAYLORED EXPERIENCE: With D. Bethel locked behind closed doors to grade the work of his beloved students, friend-of-the-show Taylor Katcher has graciously stepped in to help Andrew in his hour of need. Together, they run the gamut of nerdy topics, from Super Smash Bros. to Betrayal Legacy to Civilization VI on the iPhone to the most recent DC/CW crossover event, "Elseworlds." RELEVANT EPISODES:...

WEEK IN GEEK:  For once, both D. and Andrew are playing new games at their release! Andrew shares his experience diving in to the buggy but compelling world of Bethesda's foray into MMO gaming with Fallout 76 while Dan finds a groove playing Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2 and finds himself getting lost in it. RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 143 - This Is a Family Show : Where D. Bethel discussed...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew plays Charterstone by Stonemeier Games, a new take on the "legacy" board game style while D. Bethel is moved by the new Halloween . Below is the image D. Bethel mentioned in the episode where Jamie Lee Curtis comforts her character from the new Halloween : RELEVANT EPISODES: Episode 87 - Thunder and Lighting (11 Mar. 2016): Where Andrew first discussed the "legacy" game style...

POST-APOCALYPSE NOW: After D. Bethel talks a bit about the California fires (he's safe albeit drenched in smoke from the Camp Fire), Andrew discusses his hour or so playing Fallout 76 . #IRONSHITES: Richard Meyer and the ComicsGate controversy has been covered many times before on the show, and the latest installment has Richard Meyer aka "Comics & Diversity" putting his money where his mouth is....

OPPORTUNITY DIABLOWN: At the end of the keynote presentation for this year's BlizzCon––a convention devoted to game developer, Blizzard, created by game developer, Blizzard––the wildly successful PC developer announced a new entry into its long-running and beloved Diablo franchise: Diablo: Immortal. While ostensibly a new Diablo game, Diablo: Immortal is a phone game made not by Blizzard but by Ch...

WEEK IN GEEK: This week, Andrew starts things off by falling in love with the crafty goodness of using paper mini-figures for tabletop gaming. D. Bethel dives back into consuming the written word (about video games) with Boss Fight Books' Shovel Knight by David L. Craddock . Andrew wraps back around to dish a little about Stardew Valley on iOS and how its able to manage saves between platforms. RE...

WEEK IN GEEK: Andrew gets impressed with The Bard's Tale Trilogy remastered collection on Steam while D. Bethel watches Venom and, even though he enjoyed it, wonders why it's hitting such a strong chord with viewers. DOCTOR BOO!: With Spookytober drawing to a close, Andrew and D. couldn't not talk about Doctor Who , so they dove into the archive to talk about what they argue may be one of the seri...