Story x Story

This week's episode is a rewind from our Studio77 show, Casual Conversations With Comic Creators. Each month, mayamada co-founder Nigel speaks to a different creator to discover their journey and showcase the human behind the art form we love. In this episode, Nigel was in conversation with Japanese manga creator and VTuber Mikiko for a one-hour Twitch livestream. The pair discussed Mikiko's journ...

It's an intimate roundtable for three as Nigel and Tazziii are joined by content creator Miabyte for a deep dive into a selection of video game news stories from across the industry (from 32:51).  We get into a host of topics, including the apparent death of live service games and headlines from each of the big three platform holders: Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. We also discuss the pricing o...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome Comic Creator Sammy Ward to unpack the story of her journey into the world of illustration and sequential art. Sammy started making comics in 2018 and has since gone on to be  listed in Broken Frontier’s ‘Six to Watch’ for 2022. We talk about making the decision to go full-time as a freelance creator, the challenges that come with pricing your work, and how cro...

We're BACK! Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast starts today and we're kicking things off with Whiplash. Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Lao K and The Popcorn Podcast for a deep dive into this masterclass debut film from Damien Chazelle (from 31:33).  The cutthroat musical drama gives us a lot to think about when it comes to storytelling and the pursuit (and cost) of greatness. We discus...

We're almost ready to return for Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast! While you wait for new deep dives and discussion, enjoy a rewind of our Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, a mayamada show where we speak to a different creator each month to discover the human behind the artform.  In this episode, Nigel speaks with Italian illustrator and comic artist Eren Angiolini for the one-ho...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast in February. In the meantime, enjoy a Rewind of our Creativity & Cosplay roundtable Twitch livestream from earlier this month. Host and content creator Tazziii talks with three different cosplayers, Izzy Kento, Midnight Pursona and Kasumikat. It's a conversation that spans continents and is definitely one of o...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy a rewind of our Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, a mayamada show where we speak to a different creator each month to discover the human behind the artform.  In this episode, Nigel spoke with London based illustrator and comic artist Dominique Duong for the one hour...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy a rewind of our Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, a mayamada show where we speak to a different creator each month to discover the human behind the artform.  In this episode, Nigel spoke with Cantonese-Scottish comic creator Chris Manson in a one hour Twitch livestr...

We're on a recording break and will return for Season 5 of the Story x Story podcast in February! In the meantime, enjoy a rewind of our GamePad Report show where Nigel and Tazziii talk about the video games stories that have caught their attention over December 2022. Tazziii discusses a new effort to bring the joy of playing video games to Man's Best Friend, while Nigel continues to be drawn to t...

It's the final episode of 2022!! For our season 4 Wrapped episode, Nigel and Tazziii have put together their personal top five favourite stories of the year. There's also room for honourable mentions, stories that surprised, and disappointed us as well as our favourite ongoing or unfinished stories. So join us as we recap our favourite comic, anime, TV, film and video game stories that mad...

It's the end of the year, so we're taking a look back at 12 months of entertaining story discussions! Listen to the best highlights, pre-show chats and (so many) bloopers from Season 4 of the podcast, brought to you by Nigel, Tazziii, great guests...and a reformed Craig?!  We've packed our favourite moments from a year of conversations about stories across pop culture with new and returning g...

PLEASE NOTE: We had some audio issues for the first 11 minutes of the episode, but they get sorted from then on. This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome the Scriptwriter Mariama Ives-Moiba, to unpack the story that is her journey into writing for television. Mariama has turned a childhood passion for theatre into a freelance writing career, writing on shows that include Pip and Posy, The Rubbish Worl...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii head to the Upside Down for a retrospective deep dive into Season 4 of Stranger Things with Auroch Digital Community Manager Pastelbat and Cosplayer Black Bettie. We get into the longest season so far and dissect the character journeys and troubled relationships seen from Hawkins to Russia Gulags. It's a return to form for the show and we get to debate what worked so w...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii take on a common perception of comics...that there's no money to be made in creating them. To help with the discussion, we've invited Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and previous UK Comics Laureate Hannah Berry onto the show. We get into the common (mis?) conception that comics and money never meet, as well as digging into Hannah's work on the first national...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii journey back to Wakanda for deep dive into the Black Panther sequel with Dylan from the Popcorn Podcast and Destinee Cleveland from the Burn Out Brighter Podcast. We consider the decision not to recast Chadwick Boseman before tackling the narrative itself, discuss stand out performances and how director Ryan Coogler's vision fares against the weight of expectation and...

This week we have a rewind of our Story Club roundtable livestream. Nigel and Tazziii are joined by Twitch Streamer (and possible future cat owner) BillieTrixx for a deep dive into the indie hit video game Stray! Recently nominated for Game of the Year and Best Narrative at The Game Awards, we get into all aspects of the story and themes of this charming feline adventure. From its cyberpunk aesthe...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome back video game lawyer Rahul Gandhi to discuss everyone's favourite topics...blockchain, NFTs and the metaverse! We aim to have a (somewhat) balanced discussion on these Web3 technologies in the video games space. Along the way, we break down what they are, why they matter to video games...and why everyone seems to hate them. This may be our most controversial...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome the Dynamic Duo of Greg Driver (Ace Comicals) and Annabel Anzy (Melanin Gamers) for a super powered deep dive into the latest DC film, Black Adam (from 28:39). We get stuck into this bombastic blockbuster to examine what worked and what didn't across the story's rollercoaster journey. It's a comic book film over a decade in the making so we take time to debate...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome the founder of FORMAT, Simran Whitham, to unpack the story that is his journey into the world of video game events. Described as "the ultimate gaming social", FORMAT is a nightlife event for gamers and non-gamers alike, and we discover how Simran found a passion for events and outreach that led him to create a platform for game studios, developers and fans to c...

This week we have a rewind of our video game roundtable livestream. Nigel and Tazziii are joined by a great panel of guests from the games industry: Rosie Taylor and Sky Tunley-Stainton from mental health charity Safe In Our World, alongside host and presenter CJ The Geek. We share some of the games we're playing, before getting into video game news stories around the industry. The panel give thei...

Nigel and Tazziii welcome YouTuber Daniel Morris to the show for a spooky deep dive into the stop-motion animation Coraline. We dig into what makes this well crafted story so creepy for young and older audiences while marvelling at the effort required to create such stunning visuals. The storytelling tip this week is all about setting the tone for your story. Other stories we're enjoying: House of...

This week we have a rewind of our Story Club livestream for Tropic of the Sea. Nigel and Tazziii were joined by comic creators Lara Callaghan and Vittorio Deluca for a deep dive into the late anime auteur Satoshi Kon's first feature-length manga. We get into the narrative of this modern day fantasy, discuss its characters and the environmental themes while considering the process of creating comic...

Nigel and Tazziii welcome manga artists Inko and Chie for a deep dive into Makoto Shinkai's Weathering with You. We go on an emotional journey of young love within impending disaster to discuss this wonderfully animated feature. Along the way, we debate the environmental message of the film as well as the significance of the handgun in the narrative and Japanese society. This week's storytelling t...

This week, Nigel and Tazziii welcome comic artist and writer Cara Gaffney to talk about her journey as into the world of comics. We discuss her anthology project Tilt: Six Tales, successfully funded on Kickstarter this month and how she tackles the concept of digital immortality in her story “In Lilac & Silver”. Cara  talks about her personal comic projects and what she learned from devel...

We're keeping it in house this week as Nigel and Tazziii welcome mayamada’s own Story Editor and ITV Programme Lawyer Lara-Lee Green for a deep dive into the impeccably crafted Pixar animation, Up. We take flight on a discussion about this unique Hero’s Journey with twists and turns that had us contemplating life’s meaning and the challenges of letting go to make space for new adventures in life…y...