WhatTheCast? » Audio

Episode 106: Scott Sigler’s Covered Wagon

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:35:19 +0000

Here’s a rare treat for you on WhatTheCast: an interview! We talk to author Scott Sigler, whose newest horror novel Nocturnal is coming out in April. Scott, one of the pioneers of podcasting novels, has turned many of those podcast novels into traditionally-published works. He’s a clever fellow with a lot of interesting things to say about publishing, 700-year-long story arcs, why Stephen King is his idol, the pain of turning a podcast into a written novel, why he tries to get the science right in his books, and why every single one of his novels should be turned into a Clone Wars-style show.

We still manage to drag Scott along for the usual WhatTheCast ride, which this week features Brian’s new filk convention, the possibility of a version of Sherlock Holmes in which Holmes is American, the TV show Alcatraz, and what batteries last the longest.

(If you’d like to see what Scott’s works are like, try the podiobook version of Nocturnal.)

Episode 105: Crispy Fights Not to Play Skyrim

WhatTheAdmin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:09:45 +0000

We survived the holidays and came through it stronger and with more board games! While Brian was off at GAFilk, Crispy valiantly resisted the siren’s call of Skyrim and everyone else resisted Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Speaking of video games, we ask why you need a PS Vita when you’ve got an iPhone or Android phone. The live-action Akira is on hold (this one’s for you, Joe Peacock!). We all love the BBC series Sherlock, but Crispy hates Amy Poehler and also puppies and America. Through listener email we learned about the Lord of the Rings musical (though, alas, it’s not dubstep). We end with a touching PSA from Patrick: if you move, change your mailing address at Amazon and other online retailers.

Episode 104: Michael Bay’s Oregon Trail

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:16:10 +0000

It’s our final episode before the holidays, and we have a lovely set of presents for you. We have GaFilk and Anachrocon and Chattacon for your conventioning pleasure, plus new Dragon*Con guests, including Cary Elwes. We got you two lost Doctor Who episodes that have been found and a Doctor Who free-to-play MMO.

For after-dinner entertainment, we pitted Mission Impossible 4 against Sherlock Holmes: A Game of ~~Thrones~~Shadows, and everyone wins! Crispy likes the G.I. Joe 2 trailer, much to everyone else’s bemusement. And if you look under the tree you’ll find a Middleman/Doctor Who crossover fanfic, a new Louis CK special that he’s selling un-DRMed, an evil Apples-to-Apples-like game called Cards Against Humanity, and Kim Jong Il re-imagined as a DJ.

While you’re celebrating, why not take a look at our shiny new Google+ page?

Episode 103: Depressing Bus

WhatTheAdmin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:26:24 +0000

Remember when we talked about nostalgia last episode? Those were good times. This time, however, we’re talking TV, videogames, and the frightening number of musicals based on movies. Stephen is tentatively excited about Prometheus, Ridley Scott’s semi-prequel to Alien that’s coming out next summer. Muppets made Crispy choke up — just a little bit — and everyone experienced the surprise Shakespeare of Coriolanus, in which Voldemort faces off against That Dude From 300.

In videogame news, Crispy talks about the new Zelda game, Stephen talks about the older sequels such as Bioshock 2 and Brian is captivated by the spectacle of Desert Bus, which is now available for iPads. If ever there was a videogame suited for iPads, Desert Bus is it. There’s also talk of a TV show about Booster Gold, how there’s a musical version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Rocky, and we all have fun with the idea of Google Maps indoors. Also, Crispy really didn’t like how The Walking Dead ended its season.

Episode 102: I Loved It When They Rebooted Nostalgia

WhatTheAdmin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 03:34:59 +0000

In this episode, Crispy and Stephen fly tandem and discuss nostalgia and the plethora of reboots that plague genre media. They recap their ongoing experiences with Grim, Once Upon a Time, Batman, Deus Ex, and Fringe. Crispy talks about Zelda and the nostalgia we experience as new games and media are revamped, as was done to the Fallout and Golden Eye series. How much does nostalgia factor into our decision to buy and consume new media? Stephen talks about reboots, from the rumored Doctor Who movie to Star Trek, with Crispy chiming in on Batman, Sherlock Holmes, and Footloose. They throw the question to the listening audience: are there non-genre reboots like Hawaii 5-0 that they overlooked?

In other news, Stephen is obsessed with Breaking Bad and Crispy can’t stop talking about Muppets. Stephen now has Siri in his pocket and AT&T on his back, while Crispy is headed to Florida to visit Disney World. Since Patrick is leaving Florida, we had to replace him with another WhatTheCast host.

Episode 101: Patrick Puts On His Robe and Wizards of the Coast Hat

WhatTheAdmin — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:51:31 +0000

This episode, all four hosts assemble to make jokes about binary numbers and discuss Halloween. Crispy thinks Once Upon a Time is crazy, Patrick’s enjoying Death Valley, and Brian is suffering through Grimm. Speaking of grim, Patrick’s deadpool for TV shows is going poorly, as he picked shows that all are doing well.

In happier news, Joss Whedon made a Shakespearean film, Bollywood is giving us Ra.One, a superhero flick, and Crispy found a video of David Tennant and the Doctor Who cast and crew being super cute. We finish with Patrick’s amazing news about his new job and a plug for the eighth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Episode 100: Meanwhile, 4.5 Years Later

WhatTheAdmin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:46:19 +0000

On Feburary 8, 2007, Brian, Crispy and Stephen recorded the first test episode of WhatTheCast. Over the next four-and-a-half years we’ve produced many hours of geek-oriented programming. The podcast is older than Stephen’s daughter and Patrick’s marriage. It’s undergone countless changes.

So of course we made the same Zune jokes we’ve always made during our 100th episode.

Crispy and Stephen recorded Episode 100 at the Geek Media Expo 3.0. They discussed GMX, the new direction of WhatTheCast, using Fiber One bars as a measure of how good something is, and the death of Zune (complete with actual Zunes!). Since they recorded next door to the convention’s videogame room, they discussed Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Arkham City, along with that time that game designer Ron Gilbert argued with Steve Jobs about whether videogames could really tell a story. To kick off the next 100 episodes there’s new theme music and a new pixellated logo. Now we just need a new whipping boy to replace the Zune….

The new WTC theme includes the song Pulse (George Ellinas remix), by George Ellinas.

Episode 99: Short Cargo Shorts and Long Ugly Jacket

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:07:59 +0000

In this episode, Brian, Crispy and Stephen tackle bad Batman cartoons, the Wedding of River Song on Doctor Who, and the Nobel Prize in Physics. Along the way we discuss River Song’s timeline (which Doctor Who Confidential was nice enough to detangle for us), the death of the Zune, the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the end of Nintendo Power magazine. We also got feedback from Brad Bowyer (of Podculture and Tardis Interruptis fame) and Mike Hall on our earlier comments about Torchwood and Children of Earth.

Want to tell us what we should do for our upcoming 100th episode? Let us know! Want to see us live? Crispy and Stephen will be representing WhatTheCast at GMX in Nashville on October 21-23, and Brian will be speaking at Digital Atlanta 2011 on November 9th. And if you’ve got some spare time, why not check out the text adventures that were entered in the 2011 Interactive Fiction Competition?

This episode of WhatTheCast is brought to you by Audible. Check out http://audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a 14 day free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 98: Everybody Gets a Blimp!

WhatTheAdmin — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:12:01 +0000

It’s our annual live episode from Dragon*Con! We had Patrick, our sports reporter, giving us live updates from the Magic: The Gathering pro tour in Pennsylvania. Brian talked about Shatner’s explanation for Star Trek V‘s rock monsters, Crispy had a good time at the Jonathan Coulton and Paul and Storm concert, and Stephen was being stalked by Colin Ferguson. (Little did he know what bathtub scene awaited him after the podcast.) From there we discussed the BBC America premiere of the Doctor Who episode “Night Terrors”, geek proposals at Dragon*Con, Game of Thrones, drunk Tony Stark, and more. By the way, did we mention that we won a Parsec award?

Episode 97: A Blu-ray Bathtub Moment

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:57:10 +0000

We’re back with our first podcast recorded via a Google+ hangout. We discuss our experiences at Dragon*Con, including winning a Parsec award and Stephen being in the bathtub with Colin Ferguson from Eureka. In other con news, Crispy and Stephen will be representing WhatTheCast at GMX Vol. 3 in Nashville on October 21-23. Stop by and hear us live!

In geekier news, Patrick has a new fantasy league: drafting new fall TV shows that are sure to be cancelled. Stephen and Crispy agree Torchwood: Miracle Day was not so miraculous. Patrick’s lost the Alphas love, while everyone is very sad about Green Lantern making back its money. Brian gets to hear Kevin Pollack’s William Shatner impersonation in person, Crispy loves the videogame Dead Island, and Stephen has a new podcast called Disasterpiece Theatre. And we all agree: Patrick is going to clean up in the Fall TV Cancellation league.

This episode of WhatTheCast is brought to you by Audible. Check out http://audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a 14 day free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 96: Christ, What a Green Lantern

WhatTheAdmin — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:34:28 +0000

We’re doing the time warp with this episode, which was actually recorded a month before Dragon*Con but thanks to the magic of procrastination is only now available in mid-September!

Thrill! to hearing Crispy tear apart the Green Lantern movie.

Gasp! as we all agree that Dark Skies and Game of Thrones are pretty good.

Listen! as we talk about Doctor Who and the then-current spoiler about River Song.

Plus! Lulzsec, Weird Al’s video for Perform This Way, and Brian’s anniversary.

All in this long-lost episode of WhatTheCast, available now from fine podcast vendors everywhere.

This episode of WhatTheCast is brought to you by Audible. Check out http://audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a 14 day free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 95: Delay of Game of Thrones

WhatTheAdmin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 02:16:22 +0000

Yes, it’s been a while since we did a podcast (stupid personal lives). This episode was recorded in early June, so there’s little chance we spoiled any of your favorite shows or movies.

Brian talks about Thor. Crispy talks about Brian’s inability to watch Doctor Who or Game of Thrones in a timely manner. Stephen talks about robot helicopters and their inability to take over the world in a gentle breeze. Then they all talk about (in no particular order) LinkedIn, Dragon*Con guests, LA Noire, being protested by the KKK, Misfits of Science and summer TV programs that are keeping your favorite time slot warm.

WhatTheCast is once again brought to you by Audible. Check out http://audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a 14 day free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 94: Six Degrees of Mark

WhatTheAdmin — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:26:12 +0000

It’s another walk through the minds of nerds … WhatTheCast delivers over 45 minutes of Doctor Who reviews, musical chairs with Game of Thrones and thoughts on Thor. Plus we introduce the “Six Degrees of Mark Sheppard” game in our WhatTheCon segment. The cast also talks about the indie film “Zero Charisma“, answers listener questions from Twitter and listens to Brian mangle names from “Lord of the Rings” in our Final Thoughts segment.

Once again brought to you by audible.com. Check out audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 93: Spoiler Portal

WhatTheAdmin — Wed, 04 May 2011 03:12:27 +0000

On this episode of audio weirdness …

Crispy & Stephen get spoilery as they show their love for Portal 2 … you monster.
Game of Thrones and Doctor Who are firing on all cylinders (and we may give out a few spoilers … whoops)
WhatTheCon talks about Dragon*Con (again). We have some great guests, including Jonathan Coulton (you know, that guy from Portal 2).
Brian unplugs from TV to watch some cool webseries … check out Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Pioneer One if you haven’t exceeded your bandwidth caps.
Crispy, Brian & Stephen wish Jim Cantore would check into FourSquare so our friends know when to duck and cover.
Of course there’s more, so why don’t you listen …

Note: we recorded this episode before a large wave of tornadoes swept through Alabama and Georgia. We have friends affected by the storms, but fortunately none of them lost their lives. Others were not so lucky. Please consider giving prayers, thoughts, blood, time or money to help those in need.

Once again brought to you by audible.com. Check out audibletrial.com/whatthecast for a free trial of this great audiobook service.

Episode 92: Zach Snyder Owes Me Ten Bucks

WhatTheAdmin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 04:13:20 +0000

The cast discusses too many things! This podcast must have too much content to be legal … it’s all about Sucker Punch (including Brian’s attempt to create a drinking game for this movie), WonderCon (even though we released the episode after the con is over, whoops), the Governator (the fail is strong with this one) and a lot of TV news.

This episode of WhatTheCast is sponsored by Audible, with over 85,000 audio book titles for any MP3 player … find out more and sign up for your free 14-day trial by visiting audibletrial.com/whatthecast

Episode 91: Sucker Special

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:58:28 +0000

Yes, you found the April Fools Episode. Sorry, we had to do something.

Episode 92 is the real deal, coming soon to an MP3 player near you.

It’s a special episode of WhatTheCast, where we talk about how we all got surprised by the movie Sucker Punch. Crispy loves the soundtrack, Brian loves the story, Stephen explains the science of dreams and Patrick compares it to the Blue Man Group. Got comments … hatemail@whatthecast.com.

Episode 90: Loud Food

WhatTheAdmin — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:27:08 +0000

It’s another “scotch cast” from Brian’s living room as the cast debriefs you on our latest Dragon*Con staff meeting. It’s a show about IKEA, Beer, PAX East, Terrible Movies, Booth Babes That Aren’t Booth Babes, Television Cancellations, Dragon*Con, Scotch and Germans wearing funny hats. Seriously …

This episode of WhatTheCast is sponsored by Audible, with over 85,000 audio book titles for any MP3 player … find out more and sign up for your free trial by visiting audibletrial.com/whatthecast

Episode 89: No Such Thing as Bad Press

WhatTheAdmin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:14:45 +0000

The cast is back, trying to record a show before Brian disappears for AnachroCon and a ten day trip to Germany. Brian, Stephen & Crispy discuss all sorts of nonsense … zombie video game trailers pretending to be short movies, the space shuttle’s swan song and FOX News getting called out by bloggers (again). We also discover how packing for two weeks of convention and business travel tests the limits of Brian’s underwear selection.

It’s another episode of WhatTheCast, so anything can happen!

Episode 88: Mountain Stronghold

WhatTheAdmin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:33:29 +0000

It’s another live episode of WhatTheCast, so anything is possible. We talk conventions, movies, Dalek toys, awards and crazy Indian robot cinema. I could go on, but seriously …

Listen to this episode and see what all the fuss is about …

Episode 87: Year of the Wabbit

WhatTheAdmin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:45:23 +0000

We’re back to kick off 2011 in style … well, as much style as we are capable of bringing. The cast talks new movies, old movies, good TV, bad TV, superheroes, conventions and how Andrew Wakefield needs a punch in the junk.

It’s a long episode as Brian, Crispy & Stephen catch up on the new year. We’ve gone a bit stir crazy in the Snomagedden/Hothlanta madness, so it’s awesome to talk to anyone that isn’t already trapped in the house under six inches of snow. Some show links …

Hothlanta on CNN / Creative Loafing / Facebook
‘Neverland‘ miniseries preview
‘Green Hornet‘ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
AnachroCon 2011 (Feb 25-27 in Atlanta)
ChattaCon 2011 (Jan 21-23 in Chattanooga)
MTAC 2011 (April 22-24 in Nashville)
Frolicon 2011 (April 21-24 in Atlanta) – adult content, site may be NSFW

Darth Vader's search for the rebel base on Hoth encountered some delays due to his failure to check the weather report and an unfortunate sinkhole.

On a serious note, we still have our friend Jeff McClure in our thoughts. Jeff was in a bad motorcycle accident before Christmas and he’s still recovering in a Birmingham ICU. Good news: he’s breathing on his own and can handle basic communication. If you want to support our friend then check out Team Jeffie on Facebook and buy a t-shirt for the team.