Dispatch Ajax! Podcast

Fog curls over jagged granite and the tide keeps its own secrets—Maine feels like a place where myth, memory, and menace overlap. We head straight for that seam, weaving the state’s stark coastline and Wabanaki dawns into a guided tour of folklore, and true crime. Along the way we reckon with names that linger in the record—Mary Cohen, Constance Margaret Fisher, Malcolm Robbins Jr.—and the ways ge...

Fog rolls in, the horizon narrows, and a silent ship drifts across the bow. We dive into the world of ghost ships, separating verifiable derelicts from enduring legends to understand why the ocean is such fertile ground for fear, folklore, and forensic dead ends. Together we revisit the Mary Celeste with its missing lifeboat and intact cargo, the SS Baychimo wandering the Arctic for decades, and t...

A quiet New Year’s stroll at Miami’s Bayside turns into a story you feel in your bones—a swell of bodies running, a ripple in the air that won’t resolve, and a shape you can describe only in metaphors. We step into that moment on the linoleum, right where curiosity edges past fear, and bring you the first-person rush of a night that refuses to fit the official script. From the intimate details—the...

Horror doesn’t hand down commandments from a mountaintop; it scavenges from headlines, folklore, and fear, then welds those scraps into images we can’t shake. We open the vault on a Halloween favorite to map where the genre’s “rules” actually come from—Lover’s Lane, masks without faces, babysitters on the edge, clowns that cross lines, and formless things that fall from the sky. The trail starts w...

What if vampire movies weren’t just capes and candlelight, but living ecosystems of ideas—about infection, class, desire, grief, and the high that won’t let go? We pulled on that thread and followed it everywhere, from neon-soaked action to art-house melancholy, from airplane sieges to centuries-long love stories. Along the way we map how Blade built a sleek underworld of boardrooms and blood bank...

Here's s sneak peak of the first of Spooktember's horror specials! In this one Jake breaks down some underseen - sometimes cult - Vampyre (Vampire) Films and media. 

Dive into the remarkable transformation of America's longest-running comic book franchise as we explore how Archie Comics evolved from wholesome teenage stories to groundbreaking horror, genre-bending crossovers, and multimedia dominance. The year 2009 marked a pivotal turning point when John Goldwater Jr. took the reins following the passing of the previous leadership. What followed was noth...

Ever wonder how a blue video game hedgehog became the star of the longest-running licensed comic book in history? The saga of Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog series offers a fascinating glimpse into the intersection of gaming culture, corporate licensing, and passionate fandom. Born during the heated console wars of the early 90s, Sonic was Sega's answer to Nintendo's Mario. As we...

In accordance with Star Trek Day we bring you a special episode of Memory Gamma! Once considered an enemy of the Federation, a member of the Augmented Klingon generation, Kor, has a complicated and eventually venerated legacy - at least within the Klingon Empire.   In this episode we explore the long and storied legend of the mighty Kor, the Dahar Master, and his place in Star Trek lore. 

Archie Comics represents one of the most fascinating paradoxes in American pop culture – a property deeply associated with mid-century nostalgia that has somehow remained culturally relevant for over eight decades. This exploration takes you from Archie's origins in 1939 to its surprising evolution as one of the most experimental publishers in modern comics. Before Batman dominated box office...

What makes a machine human? When does an algorithm become more than just ones and zeros? In this fourth installment of our artificial intelligence in pop culture series, we tackle the profound philosophical questions raised by science fiction's most compelling AI narratives. We begin with Star Trek's Data—the "fully functional" android whose quest to understand humanity mirrors...

We begin by exploring the curious case of droids in the Star Wars universe – conscious beings treated as property and slaves despite their clear personhood. The moral contradiction is striking: characters form deep emotional bonds with these synthetic beings while simultaneously accepting their status as possessions. This paradox raises profound questions about how we define personhood and the eth...

Nostalgia colors our perception of beloved franchises, sometimes more powerfully than any objective quality measurement could. We dive deep into how childhood memories shape our connection to stories like Star Wars and Star Trek, and why it's perfectly valid for people to hold differing opinions about which iterations of these franchises succeed or fail.

In this episode, we explore how artificial intelligence has been portrayed in popular culture, from the replicants of Blade Runner to the feminized AI of Ex Machina. We examine the fundamental philosophical questions these stories raise: What constitutes life? What separates consciousness from programming? At what point would we need to recognize an artificial entity as deserving rights and autono...

In this previously unreleased episode we muse over James Gunn's 'Superman'. This Superman exists in a world that immediately feels more "comic booky" than previous iterations – complete with Superman robots, a super-powered dog, and pocket dimensions that defy explanation. It's a deliberate step away from the gritty realism of previous DC films, embracing the fantasti...

The passing of Jim Shooter marks the end of a contentious yet undeniably influential chapter in comic book history. From teenage prodigy to Marvel's commanding editor-in-chief, Shooter's nine-year reign from 1978 to 1987 fundamentally transformed how superhero stories are told and sold.

Though the geopolitics were a complicated web of interconnected parts, certain events before, during and after Earth’s 3rd World War are undisputed. At least, today.  One of the most infamous figures in Human history is Colonel Phillip Green - a key player in the build-up to war and the literal fallout to follow. He’s viewed - rightfully - as one of the biggest villains ever to walk the Earth. As...

Our exploration of artificial intelligence continues as we bridge the boundary between current AI technology and fictional representations of artificial minds. While last episode focused on the technological trajectory toward superintelligence, this time we tackle the philosophical dimensions of machine consciousness.

Who carries Charles Bronson's torch in today's action landscape?  Bronson carved out a unique space in cinema history with his stoic presence, minimalist acting style, and everyman quality that somehow made his extraordinary feats believable. We dive deep into what made him special – that gritted-teeth delivery, the intimidating presence despite his average stature, and his ability to pl...

The extraordinary powers of the Q Continuum defy comprehension: instant teleportation across infinite distances, manipulation of time and space, creation and destruction at will. Yet beneath Q's flamboyant persona and apparent disdain for "lesser beings" lies a complex relationship with humanity. While introducing himself as judge, jury, and potential executioner of our species, his...

What does it mean to truly think? This question has haunted humanity since we first gained the ability to contemplate our own existence. Our fascination with creating thinking machines didn't begin with computers—it stretches back millennia, to ancient tales of bronze giants and mechanical beings that could sing, dance, and even flirt. But the crucial question remains: are today's AI sys...

When the Borg assimilated El-Auria, Dr. Tolian Soran lost everything—his wife Leandra, their children, and his entire civilization. The once-gentle man who "wouldn't hurt a fly" became a hollow shell, adrift among the few survivors of his species. His life changed forever during a rescue mission in 2293 when the Enterprise-B, assisted by the legendary James T. Kirk, saved him from a...

This deep dive explores the surprising origin and evolution of Superman's crystal aesthetic. But why crystals? We unpack the ancient human fascination with these mythic natural formations.  What began as a bold artistic choice in Richard Donner's 1978 film transformed Superman's visual identity forever, replacing the Buck Rogers-inspired aesthetics of early comics with something alt...

Let's turn back the clock and dive into CBS's forgotten fantasy romance Beauty and the Beast, where a lion-man from beneath NYC forms an empathic bond with an assistant district attorney. It's a tale as old as time.

Q stands among the most captivating figures in the Star Trek universe - a being of seemingly limitless power who appears as both antagonist and catalyst throughout pivotal moments in Federation history. But what if everything we thought we knew about Q's motivations was incomplete? In this special bonus episode of my old show, Memory Gamma, I talk about the enigmatic Q and his place in the St...