Raven On: A Pop Culture Podcast

It's time for James Bond to make like 1980's one-hit wonders The Vapors - he's "Turning Japanese". Yes, your hosts Nat & Stu, two very white people, grapple with the incredibly uncomfortable plot twist of You Only Live Twice that sees 007 disguised as a Japanese man. Natalie tries to find explanations in the differences between the book and film, while Stu is mostly horrified. There's also a bunch...

Once again, Nat & Stu are recording long podcasts for the James Bond retrospective, which means some necessary cutting. But this was a fun 10 minutes which we thought it worth sharing as its own little teaser. A discussion of the depiction of Bond's two Japanese female leads as relatively "innocent" (which will be in the main podcast), Natalie started reminiscing about Beyonce's casting in Goldmem...

Nat & Stu bring the thunder this week to discuss the fourth film in the franchise and it's "biggest" to date (certainly in terms of length), Thunderball. With Natalie still emotionally bonded to this movie, it's up to Stu to explain just how overly long and in need of an edit it is. There's some wibbley-wobbley-timey-wimey stuff happening as well, despite Bond most definitely being on the clock to...

GOLD-FINGER! Admit it, you just did the "bwap bwaaa-bwaaa"s in your head. You can't HELP it when it comes to Shirley Bassey's first Bond theme and one of the all-time great Bond movies. Join Nat and Stu as they deep dive into the third film instalment of the 007 series and the way it established so much of what we consider "Bond" DNA. Also, more talk about James Bond's magical penis as it pertains...

A tasty little morsel from the upcoming Goldfinger Raven Bond podcast that will be excised because the rest of the damn thing is LONG! Nat got predictably distracted when pointing out that Felix Leiter is seen waiting outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken while surveilling Bond. This podcast is in no way sponsored by KFC but WE WELCOME IT DEAL LORD GIVE US ALL THE CHICKEN

Grab your tear gas canister briefcase, strap on your shoes with the poisoned pointy spikes, and get cracking with Nat & Stu on the cracker film that is "From Russia With Love". Bond is in Istanbul getting lured into love for a Lektor, ably assisted by the brilliant M16 station head Ali Kerim Bey, and pursued by the evil Rosa Klebb and her assassin Red Grant. There's also talk of the stunning Tatia...

Welcome to Raven Bond, the James Bond-themed offshoot of the Raven On pop culture podcast! Nat & Stu are turning their eyes to the longest-running film franchise, and Natalie's personal favourite. The pair start, as linear time requires, with the 1962 big screen debut of 007 - Dr No. It's a spy movie until it becomes a Bond movie, and your sly hosts wriggle their way from one genre to the other, b...

Yes, you cool cats and kittens, it's time for Nat and Stu to take on the behemoth that is "Tiger King"! Join your favourite (?) podcasters as they grapple with the world of Joe Exotic, the characters at the Wynnewood Zoo and beyond, and of course the large predatory cat in the room - did Carole Baskin really feed her husband to the tigers? Thanks so much for listening!

Well, looks like the shoddy Doctor Who season wasn't "literally the worst" after all. With the COVID-19 outbreak escalating, Natalie forced Stu to join her via Skype for a random podcast on all things viral. The pair try to establish a new normal - but they're also keen to hear your ideas about other stuff they could podcast about to pass the time. Warning: may contain Natalie ranting about suppor...

Strap yourselves in, because this is a long one! Nat & Stu are joined by Dan from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast to talk all things Doctor Who season finale. There's a lot to digest about "The Timeless Children", much of which gets stuck halfway down the small intestine. Your intrepid hosts gallantly play the role of pop culture psyllium husk in the hope this too shall pass. Enjoy!

Nat & Stu are back, with Nat uncomfortably keen to update everybody on her health, leading to a wild Inception-style tangent stack into June Dally-Watkins, 90s-era deportment courses and egregious hormone use on teenage girls. Eventually they crack open this week's Doctor Who episode, which starts with the Doctor conveniently parking the TARDIS far enough away to allow PLOT to occur. Nat & Stu sti...

Natalie has not been well, which accounts for the first ten minutes of this episode describing symptoms to her long-suffering co-host Stu that were probably not necessary. But still, it hopefully sets the scene for the spookiness of the Doctor's trip back to Lake Geneva circa 1816, in which Frankenstein may or may not be written, and Mary or Percy Shelley may be the most important person in histor...

Nat is back in Brisbane but suffering from serious gym-related physical pain, so is back on Skype with Stu for "Can You Hear Me?". There's a general feeling that this was a mixed bag, with some cool spooky concepts (such as Kevan Lannister's immortal fingering) but a slightly odd take on mental health, conflicting fears and nightmares. There was also a HYPER WEIRD scene between Graham and The Doct...

Natalie's been roller skating and crashed on her head, which might explain another long episode of Who's Raven On. However, she and co-host extraordinaire Stu also discover there's way more crap in this episode than you initially think on first viewing. So there's a lot of pointing out the messy joins in "Praxeus". There's also a TON of radio in-jokes that will be really funny to maybe three peopl...

Hells bells, wasn't that just the darnedest good episode of Doctor Who in a long time?! Nat & Stu are back to swoon over the platoon of Judoon near a lagoon (or canal); not to mention all the other VERY EXCITING REVEALS in this episode. They're so focused, they even forget to do lengthy sidebars about other topics. That's how thrilling this episode was! Enjoy.

Saddle up for another deep dive, as Nat & Stu connect via Skype to chat all things Nikola Tesla. Turns out this episode was... fun? A nice change from last week. Electricity and scavenging scorpion creatures make for a good time. Greg from the "Smart Enough to Know Better" podcast also weighs in; plus there's a bunch of other pop culture news, including the return of Captain Picard and the somewha...

Natalie and Stu catch up via Skype to talk about the general disappointment that was "Orphan 55", the third episode of this season of Doctor Who. Disappointment is one word - "giant unholy and rather preachy mess" are several more. Greg from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast even chimes in to express his A n G e R Y feelings about this relaxing-spa-trip-gone-wrong-oh-wait-it-turns-out-it-was...

Greetings! Nat & Stu were able to do a Skype hook-up to discuss the second part of the Doctor Who adventure "Spyfall". They discuss the rollicking adventurous nature of it, complete with historical badass ladies and just plain bad old Nazis. They also check in with Dan and get his written suggestions on the episode after his tirade last time. And they put the call out for fans to "call in" (or, yo...

Welcome to the first podcast of 2020! Another year of what Natalie calls "friendship" but what Stu might call "getting press-ganged into indulging more of Nat's rambling opinions on things she is mostly unqualified to comment upon"! This time, Dan from the "Smart Enough to Know Better" podcast joins Nat & Stu to discuss "Spyfall Part 1", the New Year's Day episode of Doctor Who, which turns out to...

It's the last Raven On podcast for 2019! Natalie & Stu are joined by Greg from the "Smart Enough to Know Better" podcast to recap the final episode of season one of "His Dark Materials", before launching into a discussion of all things "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker". As an aside, the title "Garbage" is inspired by Natalie's Dad, who accidentally calls in to the podcast just moments after it ge...

Nat attempts to surprise Stu with a belated birthday cake, and accidentally creates the new broadcast format "cake-casting". The subsequent sugar rush allows the chatty pair to rave on for nearly three hours, but that's OK, because at least they're not out on the streets causing trouble. Chill out and enjoy many thoughts on the penultimate episode of His Dark Materials, including the BEAR FIGHT, b...

Look, Baby Yoda is only tangentially mentioned in this podcast, but the name just stuck. That's right, Nat & Stu are back in the same room and raring to go HARD on Ep 6 of "His Dark Materials" and Ep 8 of "Watchmen". Strap yourselves in for an epic run-time, because there's a lot to talk about. There are problematic daemons, Mrs Coulter back walking the corridors and the destruction of Bolvangar i...

It's a particularly spell-binding episode, as Natalie had just seen the first instalment of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" play before catching up with Stu via Skype. Natalie's increasing exhaustion means this is the shortest episode to date, clocking in at just over an hour. What?! Still, the pair manage to shoot the breeze over Episode 5 of "His Dark Materials", which Natalie found more ent...

Nat & Stu are back on Skype this episode, given Natalie has been running around Nakatomi Plaza as part of "Die Hard: The Movie, The Play" and could only podcast very late at night. It's another long episode as your daring duo discuss two great episodes of TV - Episode 4 of "His Dark Materials" and Episode 6 of "Watchmen". There's armoured bears and aleithiometers galore, plus the exquisitely told...

This week, Nat & Stu drag special guest - Greg, from the Smart Enough to Know Better podcast - down to their level, as they get stuck into His Dark Materials Episode 3 and Watchmen Episode 5. There's all manner of tangents about fantasy, and space, plus a lot of respect for the synchronicity of the joke "squid pro quo". Enjoy another lengthy chin-wag around the microphone!