Contents May Vary

John Kovalic is an award-winning cartoonist, game designer and writer. His work’s appeared everywhere from The New York Times to Rolling Stone and Dragon Magazine . His world of geeky goodies includes Dork Tower – one of the very first webcomics, debuting online in 1996. John was a co-founder of Out of the Box Games and helped in the creation of the revolutionary party game Apples to Apples. John’...

Brandie June spent most of her childhood onstage or reading, as both activities let her live in fantastic stories. She moved to Los Angeles to study acting at UCLA, and eventually branched out into costume design, playwriting, prose, and even got her MBA in entertainment marketing, becoming the marketing director for Kids & Family Entertainment at Shout! Studios. When not writing or marketing,...

Los Angeles native Jeri Westerson writes a Tudor series, the King’s Fool Mysteries , and a Sherlockian pastiche called An Irregular Detective Mystery . She wrote fifteen Crispin Guest Medieval Noir Mysteries, a multi-nominated series. She also wrote several paranormal series and standalone historicals. She has served as president of the SoCal chapter of Mystery Writers of America, president and vi...

On April 25, 2024, the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California, was the home of the 40th Writers of the Future Awards and 35th Illustrators of the Future Awards. I wrote up the event for The Geekiary , but there were some interviews that didn't quite make the final cut. So, consider this a 'behind the scenes' extra for the Awards.

J. Caroline Toy (she/her) is Learning Experience Manager in the Center for Learning & Teaching at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, and Adjunct Professor in the College's humanities Core. Her research and teaching focus on religion, popular media, and fan cultures, specializing in how fans use types of ritual and narrative practices that are traditionally associated with religion. Trai...

This episode's guest is Andrea Davis. Her background is in the film & television industry where she's worked on both television series & movies, from creating/designing costumes & specialty wardrobe, building sets & displays and making props. Additionally, she has crafted numerous costumes, accessories, props and set pieces for commission work. She has a degree in Fashion Design an...

This episode's guest is Michaela Weissburg, an LA native. Mickie and I worked briefly together at a media organization in the YouTube space. After working in the field for 6 years, Michaela’s experience in VFX production management has given her depth as well as breadth of knowledge. From zombies, to vampires, to aliens, to dragons, there has been no shortage of cool stuff for her to work on. And...

This episode's guest is author, screenwriter, and lapsed academic J.M. Frey. She has a BA in Dramatic Literature and an MA in Communications and Culture and has discussed all things geeky through the lens of academia. J.M. grew up in the comic book convention circuit, consuming copious amounts of scifi and Japanese TV, spending all her pocket money on manga, and honing her skills as an award-winni...

This episode's guest is Myke Dodge Weiskopf. I met Myke through KCRW's Independent Producer program, as he's the senior producer in the Music Department. He's been publicly writing, thinking, and obsessing about music since age 13, when he published his first fanzine on a hand-me-down Apple IIe and a dot-matrix printer. He is the founding producer of KCRW's Lost Notes (which I reviewed on my websi...

Josephine Green Zhang is a storyteller who aspires to empower characters to rise above their circumstances and create their own happy endings – with a special focus on misfits and flawed, funny women. Josephine has been a tv writer on Season 2 of Hulu's "Dollface" and on Seasons 2 and 3 of "First Wives Club" on BET+. She has also developed an unproduced, animated action kung-fu fantasy for Netflix...

This is one of the interviews I did on June 21, 2022, when I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day", although we had to do a redo because the audio was unsalvageable. Chivaun Oldes is a 30-something wife and mother of two. She is a craft enthusiast, dabbling artist and pet lover. A self-identified 'ball of anxiety,' she is a mental health awareness advocate and creates childr...

This is one of the interviews I did on June 21, 2022, when I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day". Jennifer Shiman is best known for being behind the hilarious 30-Second Bunnies Theatre, a Flash animated series of shorts that ... well, re-enact movies (and some TV episodes) in 30 seconds, but with bunnies. When COVID hit, she stopped that and started work on a middle school...

On June 21, 2022, I participated in the Alzheimer's fundraiser "The Longest Day". This had me livestreaming interviews (with the goal of them winding up podcast episodes) from 6 am to 9 pm. I interviewed all sorts of fun people, and got a lot of good content out of it. One of the interviews was with Sean Cawelti, the artistic director of the Rogue Artists Ensemble in Los Angeles. We talk about wha...

In October 2021, I attended the ceremony for both the 2020 and 2021 Writers and Illustrators of the Future Award. I did a write-up of the event, which you can read on my website. However, there were some great pieces I got via audio that didn't transfer well to the written word, so I wanted to do an extended edition. It also includes some snippets from the ceremony itself, which you can watch in i...

I can't believe this podcast has lasted 50 episodes, nor that it's been going strong since (technically) 2013. The past 8 years and 50 episodes have been varied, and also sporadic. I discuss the history of the podcast, the current situation with COVID, and my thoughts on where I want it to go in the future. Visit my website for full show notes and to contact me with feedback.

Jody Lynn Nye is a fantasy and science fiction writer that has been active since 1987. I met her thanks to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards, where she's been a judge since 2016. She has over 40 books and 120 short stories published, and is still going strong. We talk about the contest, her writing inspirations, and more.

I first was introduced to the artwork of the artist known as Another Well Kept Secret thanks to Tumblr and Sherlock. Her artwork shows a stylized humanity with very animated features - and she has a romantic flair that shows that love is indeed at the heart of everything she does. Her real name is Kelley and she's from Tennessee. She's been on my list to interview for a while, but got bumped up pa...

Alex DeVore is a culture editor for the Santa Fe Reporter. Additionally, Alex is the guitarist for the punk band Fibber: he's played music for over 20 years, but Fibber is a relatively new creation. We talk about his writing, why he plays (and plays punk specifically), and gaming as a medium and art form. For complete show notes, go to my website.

While living in Kansas City, I volunteered with the all-volunteer performing arts magazine KC Stage . We covered not only theatre, but any of the performing arts -- which included the surprisingly strong independent film scene (partially thanks to the, and faculty member Kevin Wilmott). Additionally, I also (unsurprisingly) participated in a lot of geeky and sci fi activities and helped out with t...

Back in February, I attended my second Gallifrey One convention here in Los Angeles. While there, I managed to snag 30 minutes of time with animator and artist Alisa Stern, the woman behind the YouTube web series Doctor Puppet . We talk about what got her into animation, why she chose to do a Doctor Who -based series, and what's next on her plate now that she's decided to wrap it all up. For compl...

This is the third episode in my ongoing series where I interview women in the geek community about what their experiences were like, and their history as a fangirl. Cerberusia is one of the women I had originally interviewed back in 2014, when I was visiting London. I had been working on an article on fan fiction for the company I was interning at, and had reached out to Tumblr to find people outs...

I've attended the Writers & Illustrators of the Future Awards several times now. In fact, Episode 22 of this podcast was covering the 2017 ceremony. Attending this awards ceremony is always fun, and this year was no different. This was the 35th annual awards ceremony, and the them was Retro Robotics.  The keynote was a 'Science Fiction 101' by journalist Ed Hulse. Illustrator Bob Eggleton...

I first heard about what is known as WhedonCon back in 2016, when I wrote an article for SciFi4Me about it changing its name. It, like GallifreyOne, is a Los Angeles-based con that I first heard about once I moved here.  Since that initial article, I'd kept my eye on it and started seeing posts from one of the people who run it in some of my other geeky groups. Marsia Powers is a Los Angeles...

This is part of a new series of episodes that will be me playing around with audio. These episodes will be produced on no particular deadline - just when I have the time and energy. They also will be published on my feed at times that don't compete with the (somewhat) regular schedule of G33K Out. And, so you can skip them if you want, they will all start with the title "Contents May Vary". ...

 I've been a fan of the Reduced Shakespeare Company (and their podcast) for a long time. In fact, I jokingly refer to Austin Tichenor, the one who does the weekly podcast, as the 'honorary godfather' of G33K Out, as that podcast was one of the many influences on G33K Out, and its predecessor Stage Savvy .  If you're unfamiliar with their work, the RSC has been around since 1981, and star...