Story x Story

In this Rewind episode, we're revisiting the first roundtable discussion from the 2025 "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" Next 1UP: End of Year Livestream, where Nigel talks with three super supportive voices from across the games industry. Joining the conversation were Jarvs Tasker, Head of Communications at Happy Volcano and an award-winning accessibility advocate; Roshelle Patterson, a gam...

Happy New Year! In this Rewind episode, we're revisiting the opening interview from the 2025 "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" Next 1UP: End of Year Livestream, where Nigel sat down with Dean Gichukie, CEO and Game Producer at Kunta Content. Dean shares his journey founding an African game studio with a vision to make great African games. We talk about his experience building Kunta Content i...

It's the final episode of 2025!! For our Season 7 Wrapped episode, Nigel and Tazziii are back with their personal top five favourite stories of the year. And this year we're adding some new categories including 'In Memoriam' for stories we've said goodbye to, and 'Personal Story Highlight' for those moments that really stood out. Of course, we've still covering hono...

The end of another means it's time to look back at the past 12 months of incredible story discussions! This special episode brings you the best highlights, pre and post-show chats, and (many, many) bloopers from Season 7 of the podcast, featuring Nigel, Tazziii, and a brilliant line-up of guests from across the creative industries. We've packed our favourite moments into this episode, cele...

This week on our final interview episode of 2025, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Inel Tomlinson, a multi-talented actor, comedian, gaming host and presenter. We had a wide-ranging conversation about making a creative career across stand-up comedy, hosting, video games and acting. Inel shares invaluable insight on navigating the difficult schedules in television, the importance of being consistent...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii dive deep into Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (starting at 31:40), with guests Sky Tunley-Stainton from Safe in our World and comic creator Pigeon. Del Toro's darker retelling of the classic tale brings stop-motion craftsmanship and new emotional depth to Carlo Collodi's original story. But how does it succeed as a narrative beyond great visuals and themati...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Martha Julian from Thought Bubble and Abi Wright from Festival of the Girl, two event organisers running national events at large scale. We explore what drives them to create these community spaces and the impact events can have on attendees across creative interests. From the logistics of planning and the realities of funding to the challenges of sustain...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii dive deep into Pixar's Elio (starting at 26:45), with guests mayamada illustrator Pinali and Lao K, the other mayamada co-founder. Pixar's latest animation didn't receive the warm reception the studio might have hoped for. We explore the off-screen drama that impacted the on-screen narrative, why Elio felt disconnected and made it difficult to connect with...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Chitra Soundar, an award-winning children's author and executive producer, to discuss her journey from telling stories in Chennai, India to producing them for UK television. We delve into the long process of bringing an idea to our screens in the form of animation, and how Chitra brought the Nikhil & Jay show to life on CBeebies. Chitra tells us w...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii dive deep into The Last of Us Season 2 (from 19:36), with a special voice note from Mr Midas sharing his thoughts on the game for context. NOTE: Unfortunately, we experienced technical difficulties during recording which resulted in lost audio that we couldn't recover. This affected the Stories We're Enjoying segment and the start of the main story discussion....

In this Rewind episode, we're bringing you the audio from our live panel at MCM London Comic Con in October 2025: Anime 101 - Why It Hits Different. Joining Nigel and Tazziii are Simone Giampaolo kayPOWXD, and Badgerz as they explore why anime creates such powerful emotional connections and why it's making an even bigger splash in the mainstream. This is a new format we're aiming to do...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Michael Nakan, a creative entrepreneur working at the intersection of media and technology. Michael shares his journey from (unexpectedly) British roots into the worlds of film, TV, and now comics, including his work founding Envision Entertainment and creating content across Europe, the U.S., and Asia. We get into the scary decline in reading for pleasur...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii are by themselves as they dive deep into Bong Joon Ho's darkly funny sci-fi satire, Mickey 17 (starting at 28:06). We explore the film's anti-capitalist themes and how it uses the concept of "expendables" to critique exploitation of workers under capitalism. We also talk about Pattinson's impressive dual performance playing two versions of Mickey,...

This week, we've got an Rewind episode for you with the audio from our autumn video game roundtable livestream! Due to an unexpected last-minute change, it's just Nigel and Tazziii alongside our faithful chat community, diving into the games we've been playing and the biggest news stories shaking up the industry right now. We tackle some of the most pressing questions in gaming today:...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Marina Díez, an award-winning game designer and Forbes Under 30 lister, to discuss her extraordinary journey as the first guest who was encouraged to get into games by their parents! She’s now CEO of her own game studio, Three of Cups Games and we delve into how a proactive approach to creating opportunities helped her break into the gaming industry rathe...

In this Rewind episode, we're revisiting our Story Club discussion of The Colors Within, where Nigel and Tazziii invite guest for a novel twist om the book club format. This episode features Film Scholar Rayna Denison, making her first appearance on the show, and returning guest Bish from GAL Podcasts. Together, they delve into explore this beautifully animated coming-of-age film that explores...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii dive deep into KPop Demon Hunters (at 29:58), with guests Comic Creator Liza N. Cooper, and Watercolourist Tony Moy. This Netflix animation has become overnight sensation and we explore how it manages to make the local global, connecting with not just KPop fans but mainstream audiences of all ages (ourselves included!). The film uses simple, emotional storytelling to k...

In this Rewind episode, we're revisiting one of our Studio77 shows, Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, where Nigel sits down with a different creator to explore their work and the craft of making comics. This series is all about highlighting the people behind the art as we uncover their unique stories. This episode features a conversation with award-winning creators Rachael Smith and Pa...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Fergo and Judy Powell, two comic creators at different stages of their creative journeys, to discuss their paths into the world of independent comics. From introspective perspectives…to stories about premeditated murder (true story!), we explore what drives them to persevere through the challenges of the creative process. We delve into their contributions...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii dive deep into Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (starting at 19:58), with our guest SARE, a music artist and DJ from London. The third instalment in the Sonic film franchise brings some darker themes with the introduction of Shadow the Hedgehog while maintaining its family-friendly appeal. But does the balance work when the lead character brings enough slapstick for the entire cas...

This week, Tazziii is away for one more week so Nigel is joined by guest co-host Aisha (aka Doomed Prinny) for an insightful conversation about cosplay culture in 2025. We dive into a discussion on the evolution of cosplay in the digital age, we explore how technology has transformed the craft, culture and our perceptions of what makes a good cosplay. We debate the boundaries between digital enhan...

This week, Tazziii is away so Nigel goes solo with guest Des Gayle from Altered Gene to dive deep into the new Superman film (starting at 20:14), directed by James Gunn. The latest addition to the DC Universe is a fresh take on the iconic superhero, introducing a new cast and new lead, but does it succeed as a narrative beyond being the first film in James Gunn's DCU reboot? We examine how thi...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Tom Jenkins, Creative Director at Spud Gun Studios, to hear about his journey from North West London to being part of a leading team in British online animation. Listen as we delve into how navigating challenging educational experiences shaped his approach to creativity and content creation, leading him to Mashed — formerly owned by Channel 4 and now an i...

We're back from our recording break with brand new episodes of Story x Story! This week, Nigel and Tazziii get into the family spirit with a deep dive into The Fantastic Four: First Steps (starting at 26:39), with special guest filmmaker Jed Shepherd. We discover whether third time is the charm with yet another reboot of Marvel's first family. Now under Marvel's stewardship, is this th...

We're on a recording break over July and will be back with new episodes in August. In the meantime, we're bringing you Rewind episodes to enjoy as we revisit the conversations from our "Do I Look Like A Gamer?" representation campaign launch livestream back in April. Each segment will be released as a new episode on the podcast feed and features fantastic guests, including partic...