All the Podcasts oh my!!

If you, like me, still spend most of your time at home due to quarantine, you might always be looking for new things to watch or listen to. So I have collected a few of my favourite wholesome, feel good things you might enjoy:

This time, with a (semi) double recommendation:

Tollkühn - Ein Mittelerde Podcast // Mordor She Wrote

(podcasts)

Have you ever thought “Hey, I have more time now, why don’t I just read a book? Like I used to do, when I was a kid!” and then you picked up a book and started reading and - realised that it is somehow is not as easy as it used to be to really lose yourself in the story for hours and hours?

Welcome to the club!

I really wanted to re-read The Lord of the Rings, one of my favourite books of my youth, but found myself unable to sit down and read it for a more than like fifteen minutes.

Then I found the wonderful and amazing “Tollkühn”. Now, this is of course a Podcast in German, which is why I have also added “Mordor she Wrote”, which has a similar premise…

Tollkühn - Ein Mittelerde Podcast

Max is a big Lord of the Rings fan, has read it many times, and knows a lot about the lore. Ramon has watched one (or maybe more?) of the movies many years ago and knows next to nothing about Tolkien.

And once a week they sit down together and discuss a chapter of the books. 

It is such a simple concept, but to me it is so much more.

Because I started reading along. Somehow it was the motivation that I needed, and I am now half way through The Two Towers. And I cannot express how much that means to me, and how grateful I am for this. Especially during quarantine. 

(Also they got me through the Tom Bombadil chapters… still so boring, don’t @ me!)

While their first episodes are a bit awkward still and the editing is a bit wonky, Max and Ramon get crazy good at this podcasting thing really really fast (also maybe they possible did have someone with lots of podcasting experience to give them very helpful feedback and make suggestions after their first few episodes which helped them grow their podcast and maybe this person is still kind of a little proud about it despite not having helped THAT much…).

They have created an amazing community, have been nominated for prizes in Germany and Austria, and it is always a pleasure to listen to them. Their banter is a lot of fun, they have been friends for years and clearly enjoy hanging out with each other, and there is a lot of enthusiasm and love for the topic!

Mordor She Wrote

Mordor She Wrote is a podcast I recently stumbled across. It has more or less the same premise: Audrey is the Lord of the Rings expert, Kayla is the newbie. They are doing a good job, but the podcast is only in its first few episodes, so it is difficult to say how it will develope…

So if you are a Lord of the Rings fan and you speak German, I cannot recommend Tollkühn enough (look at me, recommending a German podcast, crazy times)! Come join us, we have T-Shirts… 

If you do not speak German, but you are interested in the premise, give Mordor She Wrote a try.

If you, like me, still spend most of your time at home due to quarantine, you might always be looking for new things to watch or listen to. So I have collected a few of my favourite wholesome, feel good things you might enjoy:

Secretly Incredibly Fascinating

(podcast)

Each week Alex Schmidt, former host of the cracked.com podcast, invites guests and discusses why life is secretly more interesting than we think it is. He picks topics which, at first glance, sound kind of lame, like Pears, or Wooden Blocks, or Refrigerators, or Tires, invites guests (many of them former cracked staff), and talks about them.

This simple concept could easily go wrong, but the mix is just perfect. Alex is so excited about all the stories and facts he digs up, he is really good at doing research, and together with his guests he manages to make even the most boring-sounding topics interesting. 

It’s impossible for me to even pick a favourite episode! (*maybe the one about Franklin Pierce, but that’s just because Dan O’Brien is his guest, and I’ve always had a bit of a crush on Dan O’Brien, don’t judge me he is nerdy and cute in just the right way…)

But here are some of my favourite recurring podcast moments!

The “topic, known for … famous for...” openings (”Socks. Known for being a garment. Famous for … nothing else, really”)

The intro to the regular “Stats and Numbers” segment. Listeners can submit names for this segment, and yes the names are usually terrible song lyric puns involving math terms, and yes, of course Alex does sing them, and is it a bit bad, yes, but is it hilarious? Also yes!

This one joke in the sign-off that is always the same “There is another episode for you available right now!”… long long pause … “IIIIF you support this show on patreon.” It’s not a good joke, and he does it in every single episode, and somehow I still like it.

I used to be a big fan of the cracked.com podcast, never missed a single episode since the very beginning. Alex was the second host, and has always done an amazing job with it. So when the podcast went away, I was heartbroken. But this really charming new show is so much fun, and he clearly puts so much heart and soul into it! I am always surprised when they start wrapping up, because it never feels like it’s already been an hour. I enjoy every second of listening to it, and clearly, Alex enjoys every second of creating it!

This podcast is great. It’s fun, it’s well-paced, the guests are great, you actually learn something, and there are nearly 30 episodes as of now, so there is plenty to listen to during these quarantine hours!

Bonus Recommendation:

In 2020, Alex Schmidt also created a one-off podcast miniseries called: “1 Way To Make An Emoji” which I cannot recommend enough! I learned a lot about Bisons, about Emojis, and, not gonna lie, the ending? Totally caught me by surprise. This series as a whole (and especially the ending) is easily my favourite podcasting moment of 2020! It’s only a few episodes, but it is really good!

Btw, this is the emoji, and it is adorable!!

Honestly, I’ve listened and/or watched so many hours of them at this point, somebody else should benefit. I love all of these very, very much and don’t really have favorites, so I’m gonna start with the smaller fandoms and work backward.

1. Campaign Podcast (Star Wars/Skyjacks)

System: Star Wars uses Edge of the Empire. Skyjacks uses Genesys.

Medium: Podcast

Status: Campaign: Star Wars (complete); Campaign: Skyjacks (ongoing)

A group of professional Chicago-based improvisers get together to roleplay found families like you’ve never seen. Every character is loveable and clever, even the ones who shouldn’t be (looking at you, Tryst), but the best parts are when they’re all together, bickering. Kat and James do a superb job wrangling groups of players who work hard to make life as difficult for their own PCs as possible. Mostly just shenanigans and heart - so, so much heart. I’ve laughed harder listening to this podcast than almost any other piece of media. Also, nobody in space or on airships is straight. 

***The Star Wars game requires little-to-no preexisting Star Wars knowledge to enjoy, which I know because I enjoyed it so much and have maybe seen two of the original movies all the way through. 

2. Neoscum

System: Shadowrun

Medium: Podcast

Status: Ongoing

Do I understand the rules of Shadowrun? Absolutely not. Do I enjoy the heck out this podcast anyway? Absolutely YES. I’m still working through the backlog of this one, but I’ve heard it just keeps getting better the longer you listen (and I already like what I’m hearing). Another (equally hilarious) group of Chicago-based improvisers roleplaying found families, but this time it’s a group of criminals driving cross-country in an 18-wheeler named Xanadu to complete jobs against shadowy governments and the companies that run it all. Heists and hijinks. Lots of dirty jokes. Hot demon ladies on motorcycles. What else do you need?

3. Dimension 20 (Fantasy High/Escape from the Bloodkeep/The Unsleeping City)

System: DnD

Medium: YouTube videos, College Humor’s DROPOUT site, and upcoming Twitch livestream

Status: Fantasy High S1 (S1 complete, S2 coming Sept. 2019); Escape from the Bloodkeep (complete); The Unsleeping City (ongoing but I haven’t gotten there yet)

I saw this video of one of the characters continually failing insight checks and asking characters if they’re his dad, and I was sold. Brennan is a truly solid DM who firmly believes in the Rule of Cool, creating badass and ridiculous NPCs, and making his friends cry. I highly recommend starting with Fantasy High, but if you watch Critical Role you might want to start with Escape from the Bloodkeep because Matt plays a gay knock-off Nazgul with an inferiority complex and improbably bad luck who’s trying to bring back the Dark Lord™ with a bunch of other ridiculous baddies. Fantasy High is about a bunch of teens with high fantasy powers attending a high school that trains would-be adventurers, and their first big boss battle is against a lunch lady and a monster made of animated creamed corn. Yeah, you heard me: creamed corn. 

4. Friends at the Table

System: Oh god, so many. Here is a good list. Generally systems based on Powered by the Apocalypse and Blades in the Dark.

Medium: Podcast

Status: Seasons in Hieron (onoing, but ending in the next few weeks); Counter/WEIGHT (complete); Marielda (complete); Twilight Mirage (complete); Bluff City (Patreon exclusive, S1 complete)

I think Austin (the GM) describes it best at the beginning of each session when he says it’s a podcast about “critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interactions between good friends.” The worldbuilding of FatT is honestly baffling, and they work so hard to make the game inclusive and diverse.  Seasons alternate between fantasy games set in Hieron and sci-fi games. Lots of googling dogs, off-mic laughing, mechs, leaning into the failures, gays, and sometimes crying. If part of the joy for you is how much the players obviously love each other, listen to FatT. 

Also, shout-out to Jack de Quidt for making the best podcast soundtracks I’ve ever heard. They’re a genius. 

sorry I haven’t been around much, winter is always such a tough time for me. Because it’s dark and cold and all I want to do is sleep, and also because it’s main season at my work place so whenever I don’t sleep I am probably at work.

But now spring is here and I’ll be more active again, hurray!

Thanks to everyone who is still following this little silly blog of mine,

At the moment I’m picking up all the stuff that got neglected those last few months (this winter has honestly been much tougher than any previous winters before, not gonna lie), so it might take a bit until I have time for lists and asks again, but I’m working on it and I’m excited to share all the new podcasts I’ve discovered with all of you.