Tag: podcasting

Podcast Things

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No, it’s not the Doctor Who post in a vaguely timely fashion. I shall get to that about two hours beofre tomorrow’s ep, probably. Still, I’ve now at least seen last week’s ep. (One and five sixths thumbs up.)

But, anyway, here are some VAGUELY RECENT podcast things I have been doing that I record here for, uh, posterity…no, that’s not right. Let me think about this.

1 – Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Pre-Show Glitterball Special! – A special edition of Unjustly Maligned on this year’s entries to the Eurovision song contest. This was the most homework I’ve ever done for a podcast, and it was awesome. Anyway, if you be a fan of the Eurovision, we had a fab discussion with much flail and glitter.

2 – Inconceivable! – I’m on the latest ep of this marvellously geeky gameshow that I wish had a new ep for me to listen to every week; the only bad thing about being on it is I don’t get to listen to an ep FOREVER, and it is everything I ever wanted from a quiz show.

3 – Reality Bomb – Spoiler Cops are back, hurrah! Is it wrong to be emotionally attached to characters in a Doctor Who podcast comedy skit? Ahem. But, yes, anyway, there is INTRIGUE as well as LOLARIOUS JOKES. Also, like, the whole rest of the podcast, which is QUITE GOOD.

4 – And Verity!, course, where I mostly flailed about Knock, Knock and Oxygen.

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Two podcasts and an article

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Hello, Tuesday, a day of much mist and rain which was LOVELY…it’s not quite windy enough to be a STORM but it is getting there. But, yes, things! I was on a couple of podcasts recently, which were tremendous fun and hopefully Quite Nice to listen to: the latest Low Definition, one of the Incomparable network’s game shows where I think I acquitted myself MAGNIFICENTLY in the field of song-writing. And on the rather spiffy Tangential Deviation Christmas Special where we totally talk about lovely festive things the whole time and no-one mentions Doctor Who *eye-dart*.

And Verity! podcast is in Doctor Who magazine this month! In a smashing feature about podcasts, which is rather spiffy. There are some extras bits that the feature writer, Graham Kibble-White, has put up on his blog over here.New Doctor Who is VERY SOON. Just in case you didn’t know that.

Friday Flail of Yay

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I am sleeping so badly this week. And I know part of it’s down to ridic anxiety with the world at large. Not even mental health related anxiety, since I really don’t think it’s irrational to be anxious given the daily news of what’s going on. As my dear friend Deb Stanish put it on the Twitters “… And yes, it’s a cliche, but it’s the biggest truth I know: Be a light in the darkness. So have a piece of #%@&^ pie.” I assume she means fucking pie and not shit pie, cause no-one wants shit pie. And also the pie is pecan or cherry or even apple and not bloody pumpkin pie, the monster of pies. Not the good sort of monster. The bad sort. ANYWAY, in that spirit, I’m going to try and do a regular blog post on Fridays of Yayful Things I’ve done or seen during the previous week.

1)  My YouTube gaming channel – I started making gaming vids. For it is most yayful and fun and I love talking about gaming but don’t really get a chance to do it all that much. My gaming friends are people what I game with and only game with, and that’s less about gaming chat and more about loot and killing stuff to get more loot. So, yes, this is me nattering away as I play some games. At the moment it’s a playthrough of Skyrim Special Edition, Dota 2 games where I’m trying to improve (I suck, but so much less than I used to; I now feel merely medicorely bad rather than stupendously bad), and classic DOS games from my childhood (also taking requests!). Please do take a look and subscribe if that’s your sort of thing!

2) Verity! talks animated Power of the Daleks – This week’s Verity! is a discussion of the brand new Power animation, and it was awesomely fun, and gosh, I bloody love Power of the Daleks. It’s such a good story. Top quality Who, and I hope more people get the chance to enjoy it now as the animated version is vastly more accessible than the audio or the recon.

3) Michelle Yeoh is a new Trek captain – So, despite not being a Trek fan, ahem, I am quite looking forward to the new Trek show. I’m not sold on the new movies, and having grown up in the Golden Age of Star Trek, I really miss having it on the telly. And the first bit of casting news out of the box is AMAZING. Michelle Yeoh. And then it turns out she’s playing a captain in the new show. I’ve also read that the star isn’t the captain this time but another character (who’s also a woman) which is fine. I care not. Michelle Yeoh. Who is AMAZING. Who is far, far better than we deserve tbh, and she’s going to be there, captaining. And don’t forget female captains are still relatively rare in the Trekverse. There’s only ever been a handful onscreen. And this is sufficiently good casting news that no matter what other nonsense comes out before we get to see the actual show, I am going to be totally rooting for it. Michelle Yeoh, people.

4) Margaret Hamilton, she who led the team that coded the software that got Apollo 11 to the Moon, has been awarded the USA’s Presidential Medal of Freedon.

5) This picture (it’s actually a few weeks old, but it is my favourite one I’ve taken of my local loch…those are starlings, I *think*):

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Despite it being actually freezing, I’m still going out running. Yesterday the loch was frozen over, and the poor local birdlife seemed rather put out at their home being suddenly solid. Also robins have arrived! From somewhere! I hadn’t seen any until this week, and now it’s impossible not to spot a few every day. If pretty rural Scottish scenery and swans, so many swans, are your thing, that’s what my Instagram is entirely composed of.

6) We’ve recorded new Down and Safe! So if you’re missing your fix of tasteful Blake’s 7 commentary a new episode will be with you this Thursday coming.

7) My sister, niece and nephew are doing a Jingle Jog for Parkinson’s UK. Nephew is but a year old so Quite The Challenge for him, but I’ve been assured he will be walking the whole way. If you can spare a pound or two for a good cause, please do consider sponsoring her.

8) There’s been a stupendous archeological discovery in Egypt, a new city! Over 5000 years old! Amazing stuff.

9) Though not QUITE as amazing as the NASA report released about the electromagnetic propulsion drive, which could be capable of taking us to Mars within 70 days. To sum up “it works, but it shouldn’t”. Which is awesome. And totally not giving me Event Horizon vibes. If I was in charge of stuff, we would be building a GIANT ONE anyway, and seeing what happens. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Probably.

10) I’m trying to talk myself out of buying this even though it would clearly be a very sensible practical purchase.

Ten is a very good round number. I shall stop there, and wish ye all a happy weekend!

Farewell!

Hugo Nomination Recs: Best Fancast

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The Best Fancast category in the Hugo Awards is the newest category of the awards; 2016 will only be the fifth year it’s been contested. It’s also the category that, IIRC, gets the least number of nominations and least number of votes. And this saddens me, cause it’s also one of the most important categories to me: podcasts are my main form of fannish interaction these days, both as a podcaster and a listener, and as a mode of fannish discussion, they are amazing.

We may not have jetpacks, but we can chat with friends all round the world, and then broadcast that conversation to thousands of listeners. It’s like convention panels whenever you like, tailored to your interests. Panels that can have half dozen people in a long, involved sprawling conversation of over on hour, or a single host delivering a short, sharp, on-point opinion in less than five minutes.

I’m a regular on two podcasts, and I’ve guested on dozens more, and I love them. And I want the Fancast category in the Hugos to be as awesome as it can be. To be hard fought and exciting, and to show off all the hard work, dedication, and talent of the podcast community. For more people to vote in it, and discuss it, and flail and complain when their favourites don’t make it, and delight when they do.

So, please, if you are a Hugo voter this year and you’ve not nominated five podcasts in the Best Fancast category, I encourage you to go out and take a look at what’s catering to your interests. Listen to a couple of episodes, find what delights you, and nominate.

The nominees from the previous years are a keen place to start, but there’s so much more. Every year, I find myself with more podcasts I want to nominate than I’m allowed to. So, minus the ‘casts that have already been nominated, these are the ones on my list this year. I think they’re all wonderful, and you should give them a listen if they sound like your sort of thing (heavy on the Doctor Who here, cause that’s my sort of thing):

Women at Warp – My go to Star Trek podcast. Every episode is a delight. It’s a winning combo of utterly loving Trek while cheerfully discussing its problems. I listened to an ep about Ferengi because I love them so. FERENGI. (I do not like Ferengi, except Quark, obv.)

Total Party Kill – This is how I always imagined Dungeons and Dragons would be. It is the best.

Radio Free Skaro – In many ways *the* Doctor Who podcast, and that is mostly because they’re super good at what they do (and a little bit they’ve been at it for so many years).

Cornell Collective –  Cosy yet lively discussions involving authors, comickers (that’s a word, right?) and people from the world of Doctor Who. Ideally listened to with a nice cup of tea.

The Audio Guide to Babylon 5 – Smashing, in-depth B5 discussions as the hosts go through the whole series episode by episode.

Two Minute Time Lord – podcasts can be super short too! I disagree with Chip over so much Doctor Who, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a top quality ‘cast.

The High Council – Fan commentaries on Doctor Who episodes, as lolarious and geektastic as they should be.

 

 

 

Verity! Episode 105 Chatty Daleks

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Good evening, delicious readers! It’s a Wednesday, and that means shiny new Verity!.  This week it’s a chat about the second ever story, The Daleks. And I’m on thanks to it being Kat’s turn to come down with some rotten flu-like thing. We were also recording in early morning time for me, but I’m absolutely sure no-one could possible pick up on that. Ahem. But, yes, here’s Erika excellent post with the show notes (…I can’t help but notice she has decided to use a terrible, terrible nickname for Peter Capaldi throughout, which I’m taking as a personal insult :p:p):

VerityEpisode105We’re back to 60s Who this week with the next installment of season 1. Join Deb, Erika, Liz, and Lynne as we talk about all seven parts of “The Daleks”. We chat about how they compare to their modern counterparts, TARDIS team-building, praise for info-text, and the social context of a really rather dark story. Also Lynne has a cold and Liz hates the nickname “P-Cap”.

How do you feel about “The Daleks”? Do you recommend watching it all in one go like Erika did? Do you prefer the Peter Cushing film? Do you agree that Barbara is “made of awesome”? Let us know in the comments!

^E

Also covered:

Bonus links:
Dr. Who and the Daleks
Verity!’s Dalek episode
Lazy Doctor Who covers “The Daleks”

Download or go to our website to listen now.

Three Lovely Writing Things

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Hello, delicious readers! I am currently rather excited as I’m off to The Americas next week, which will be full of convention (Gallifrey One) and friends and larks, but also HEAT. It is NOT FREEZING in California. Oh, for the joy of not dressing like a Yeti!

In the meantime, let me share three lovely writing things of mine that have happened recently:

1) My essay, Quest for an SF/F Grandmother, is now free for all and sundry to read at Uncanny Magazine. (Along with all the rest of issue eight.)

2) I participated in a Mind Meld article at SF Signal a few weeks ago, where I was asked what spaceship I’d most like to captain. I mean, it’s a TARDIS, obviously. But I tried to give answers that didn’t feel a bit like cheating too. (It’s like if I was asked what car I’d most want – Doc Brown’s DeLorean. It’s not precisely cheating, but it is a bit.)

3) I’ve written a book! (A short book, a non-fiction novella…there isn’t an actual non-fiction word for novella length, is there?) It’s for Obverse Books’ Black Archive range, and each book examines a single Doctor Who story in tremendous depth. Mine is on the rather wonderful classic story from Jon Pertwee’s first season, The Ambassadors of Death. It’s out in March, and available for preorder here.

Also the latest episode of Down and Safe just went up. Oh, Amal, we’re so sorry!

Podcast Recs: The Audio Guide to Babylon 5

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It’s Podcast Tuesday! (This is a terrible lie…it’s not even Tuesday. Tuesday was delayed horridly by BT Internet going down NATIONWIDE. It was a terribly annoying six hours.)

I don’t care about your Internet problems. What is the name of today’s fine podcast goodness? The Audio Guide to Babylon 5.

And who is responsible for this delicious podcast goodness? Shannon Sudderth, Chip Sudderth and Erika Ensign.

This isn’t a Doctor Who podcast. CORRECT. This is a podcast that discusses each episode of the nineties American sci-fi show Babylon 5, in order, from the beginning.  The podcasters are rewatching and YOU can watch along too, and they have kindly split the show into non-spoiler and spoiler-y sections so people new to Babylon 5 can watch for the first time and enjoy most of the discussion each podcast ep, and this is a particularly excellent feature for B5 since it’s a show that works especially well if you’re not spoilered for it and the idea of watching along with a group of enthusiastic fans who’ll discuss each ep afterwards is quite lovely.

But hang on, you don’t even like Babylon 5! Remember that time you said- SHUSHT. I do like B5. Why on Earth would I buy the entire series on VHS and then again on DVD and rewatch it *mumblemumble* times if I didn’t like it?

You’re a confused person. Yes, but not confused enough that I don’t know what telly I like. My opinion about B5 tends to be irritatingly contrary. Hate B5? I shall defend it! Love B5? I shall think judgily of it. I’M SORRY. I can’t help it, let’s try not to worry too much about it. Left to myself I do enjoy it very much but there are some bits that I find quite dreadful (and, no, not Season One, or that bit of Season Five –  I like the rubbish telepath arc, *and* Infection.)

This podcast really loves the show. That must work out so well for you. Yes. It is a celebration of it. That doesn’t mean they are entirely positive or uncritical, but they are very positive. So while I do occassionally and metaphorically tut at my speakers, that’s nought next to the fact the discussion is always thorough, in-depth, and interesting. In fact, the clever sods have managed to improve my view of quite a few bits of B5, either because of looking at it from a new perspective, a greater appreciation of the complexity or depth of the story, or just sheer yay at stuff.

Are you going to say someting about the accents now? YES. Everyone has smashing accents! It is the best podcast I’ve listened to for accents. I’ve never been put off a podcast by anyone’s voice or accent or such, but I have been yayer at some podcasts because I partic enjoy some voices, and to my ear, this is the best I regularly listen to.

Are you listening to this podcast RIGHT THIS SECOND? I am. It is v good. Really every episode is quite classy. Though I shall give a shoutout to one in particular cause POSSIBLY they have not yet surpassed the glorious Soul Hunters ep with its amazing musical number.

Is this a good time to mention you’ve written B5 fanfiction? GOODBYE.