September 1, 2023

Episode 315: The Musical Episode

The word is musical. The nerds talk about special musical episodes, musicals in general, and the new musical episode of Star Trek. Then Keith mentions the sad news that his mother passed away, and spends some time eulogizing her and celebrating the many ways she encouraged his creativity. One example they both get nostalgic about are the giant Icehouse pieces she made out of cloth & stuffing back in the 80s. This also leads to an extended story from an early LARP game called Recon-5. Then Keith reports on his experiences at GenCon. After dropping the spoiler curtain, they discuss Star Trek SNW S2 Ep 8-9 and also Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

August 16, 2023

Episode 314: “This is a Time Portal.”

The word is well. The nerds have a surprising amount to say about wells. Then they talk a bit in non-spoilery terms about the stuff they’ll be talking about after they drop the spoiler curtain, which they do pretty early in the episode because they have so much media they want to discuss, namely the Star Trek Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode, Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, and the final episodes of The Leftovers. Other topics include Keith’s grandmother’s involvement with the Manhattan Project, Ketih’s mini-reviews of games he’s been playing lately on his new Switch, vintage videogames (including the terrible classic Night Trap), and of course, wells.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

July 18, 2023

Episode 313: Panama!

The word is Leila since this is episode 313 and Leila’s birthday is 3/13. (They forgot to mention it on the show, but Leila provided all the vocalizations for this podcast’s opening.) Andy tells a few Leila stories, including the reason why her Burning Man nickname is Panama. Then Keith has stories from his recent trip to Origins, and talks a little about the newest Spiderman movie. They also talk about Secret Invasion (and its AI-generated title sequence) and other new Marvel shows, pinball machines, Thunder Road, Set, and Keith’s current D&D campaign. Lastly, after dropping the Spoiler Curtain, they discuss the Leftovers and Star Trek Strange New Worlds.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

July 4, 2023

Episode 312: Robots Making Coffee

The word is leftovers so the nerds talk about leftovers of various sorts, including pizza, mac&cheese, french fries, and a TV series from a few years ago called The Leftovers. Andy talks a little about binging Breaking Bad, and Keith gives his impressions of the endings of Succession and Ted Lasso. This ends up leading to yet another conversation about Star Wars, followed by yet another conversation about tarot decks. Other topics include robot baristas, automated emissions testing, and the pending take-over of society by AIs. Lastly, they drop the Spoiler Curtain to get into a more in-depth discussion of The Leftovers.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

June 20, 2023

Episode 311: Bingo!

The word is bingo and Keith has a lot to say about homemade bingo cards. Andy mentions receiving his copy of Cool Cool Cool and Keith tells more stories about his recent trip to Toronto for more appearances on Six Sides of Gaming. He also reports on visiting Stormcrow Manor. Then they lament the loss of the Galactic Starcruisier. Moving on to media, Andy talks about finally watching Breaking Bad after watching most of Better Call Saul. Then Keith gives a few thoughts about the first few episodes of The Leftovers, and Andy mentions starting to watch Silo. Lastly, after dropping the Spoiler Curtain, they discuss the new Dungeons and Dragons movie.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

May 16, 2023

Episode 310: Is it the 12 of Clubs?

The word is masks and it turns out the nerds have very different views on these. Andy detests wearing a mask, while Keith actually enjoys it. They discuss their own views and also discuss the Mandalorian and its always-masked characters. Keith provides a little recap of the stuff he talked about last week that was lost in transmission. This leads to a discussion of some memorable magic tricks. Then they drop the Spoiler Curtain to discuss at length the season finales of Mandalorian Season 3 and Picard Season 3.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers

April 11, 2023

Episode 308: A Very Very Dark Comedy That’s a Little Light on the Comedy

This week the word is Sonder, so the show starts with a discussion of what that word even means. Then Keith talks about his recent trip back to Maine, visiting the Bates Discordians, which led to discussing the history of this college organization Keith help launch 30 years ago. Next, Andy mentions a few more things about Disney parks, and also talks about the real-life versions of the games from Star Wars, notably Dejarik, the holographic chess game. The nerds talk a little about work and life and stuff, then they dive into media discussions, starting with The Last of Us, The Menu, Midsummer, and then, after dropping the Spoiler Curtain, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Star Trek: Picard.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers!

Here’s the definition of Sonder, as read by Keith during the show. Sonder is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own – populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worried and inherited craziness – an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

March 8, 2023

Episode 307: Bring Me the Head of R2-D2!

This week the word is Disney, since Andy has recently returned from Disney World and has a lot to say about Star Wars Land and other things that have changed since his last visit 15 years ago. He also talks at length about an event he attended in Miami called Love Burn. Then Keith talks about what he’s been doing lately, including appearing with several other famous game industry folks in a series of televised D&D sessions called Destiny of Worlds. Moving on to media, they discuss Poker Face, Ghosts, Kaleidoscope, and after dropping the Spoiler Curtain, the first episode of season 3 of Star Trek Picard.

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers!

March 1, 2023

Episode 306: Fifty Years of Spiders

This week the word is Fidget, since the nerds are both fidgeters, and they discuss various ups and downs of fidgeting. Then Keith gives a detailed report on his recent trip to Canada where he was filming a D&D session series with several other game industry luminaries. Keith talks about other D&D projects he’s been up to as well, then they talk a little about various media, including Mr. Robot, Velma, That 90s Show, Ashes to Ashes, and Taskmaster. Keith also talks about playing a new game called Scout. Lastly, Andy talks about a new Parsely game he just wrote, called Trapped! and it’s so short that he decided to let Keith play through the game on the air (after dropping the Spoiler Curtain, of course).

Spoiler Warning: Contains Spoilers!