SciFi

Wham Bam Pow Ep. 20 - End of Watch

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Show: 
Wham Bam Pow

This week, we chat about the 2012 action/thriller/police procedural End of Watch -- does it get the "buddy cop" trope right? Plus, Rhea and Ricky help Hollywood with its branding problem by brainstorming some alternate tag lines for the movie. YOU'RE WELCOME, HOLLYWOOD.

Follow us on Twitter! Cameron is @cameronesposito, Rhea is @rheabutcher and Ricky is @rickycarmona. Discuss the show using the hashtag #WhamBamPow!

Don't forget about our Facebook and Tumblr pages.

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Wham Bam Pow Ep. 7 - Oblivion

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Show: 
Wham Bam Pow

What do you mean Marlon Brando wanted to play a green bagel? And hey: why wasn't there a Sixth Element? Ricky, Rhea & Cam answer these questions. Plus! A review of Tom Cruise playing Tom Cruise in Tom Cruise's new film OBLIVION. It's obliviatious!

Follow us on Twitter! Cameron is @cameronesposito, Rhea is @rheabutcher and Ricky is @rickycarmona.

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Wham Bam Pow Ep. 6 - Godzilla and Film Writer Max Borenstein

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Show: 
Wham Bam Pow
Guests: 
Max Borenstein

It's a Rhea/Ricky Pitch It face-off! Plus screenwriter Max Borenstein joins us in studio to talk about getting started in film & reveals his 2014 project & hey! Speaking of that we reviewed the best Taco Bell commercial of all time: GODZILLA.

Follow us on Twitter! Cameron is @cameronesposito, Rhea is @rheabutcher, and Ricky is @rickycarmona.

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Doctor Who Writer Steven Moffat and Stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan: Interview on The Sound of Young America

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Show: 
Bullseye
Guests: 
Stephen Moffat
Guests: 
Matt Smith
Guests: 
Karen Gillan

The sci-fi adventure series Doctor Who has been a fan favorite for more than 40 years. The original run of the show, from 1963 to 1989, is mostly remembered by Americans for its cheesy special effects and distinctly British eccentricity. A series revamp in 2005 dispensed with the former and kept the latter - it's a huge hit, both critically and commercially, in the UK.

This month the fifth series of the new version of the show launched on BBC America, with a new head writer (the highly acclaimed Steven Moffat), a new Doctor (Matt Smith) and a new companion (Karen Gillan). Moffat, Smith and Gillan are our guests on this Sound of Young America. They talk bout the significance that Doctor Who held in their lives, and about what it's like to put a personal stamp on a revered cultural phenomenon.

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Jane Espenson, "Caprica" Executive Producer: Interview on The Sound of Young America

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Show: 
Bullseye
Guests: 
Jane Espenson

Jane Espenson (above right) is a television writer and the executive producer of "Caprica," a new series set in the Battlestar Galactica universe. She's also been a writer on shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Gilmore Girls and even Ellen. She started her career as a linguist at UC Berkeley, research assistant to the eminent George Lakoff. She tells us about how submitting a spec script for Star Trek: The Next Generation was her big break, and how she navigates the waters of half-hour comedy and hour-long dramas. "Caprica" is a prequel to the rebooted (and critically acclaimed) Battlestar Galactica, and touches on classic sci-fi themes with a focus on family relationships. The show stars Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales (above left) and Allessandra Torresani.

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Best Friends

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Did you know that Jordan Morris, "Boy Detective," is basically best friends with Don Draper and Ted "Theodore" Logan?

IT'S TRUE.

Podthoughts by Ian Brill: "Escape Pod"

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Editor's note: long-time listener and freelance journalist Ian Brill will be contributing a weekly podcast review to the blog called "Podthoughts." I've decided to institute this feature because I feel there's a great vacuum of useful information about podcasts, and a lot of folks who want to make informed choices about what they download. This week, Ian covered "Escape Pod," a science fiction short story podcast produced by Steven Eley.

Escape Pod,” produced by one-time The Sound of Young America guest Stephen Eley, offers a real service to those who are interested in smart, literate science fiction but are having trouble finding a place to start.

I’ll use myself as an example: Ever since junior high, when my Dad insisted my brother and I spend a few days a month at the library, I’ve gravitated to the works of Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Harlan Ellison. Later, I would become interested in Philip K .Dick and Douglas Adams. Each writer matched pointed views of human nature and society with big, imaginative ideas.

More recently, though, it’s been difficult. During my four years working towards a degree in English, I was too busy studying the accepted classics like The Great Gatsby and As I Lay Dying to catch up on any sci-fi – and certainly not any new stuff.

Walking the aisles dedicated to sci-fi in a bookstore or library can be intimidating for a casual fan of the medium. Lining the shelves are dozens of authors who, while prolific, are unknown to anyone not deeply committed to the genre. Even someone who pays a lot of attention to the world of letters may not be familiar with all these works. While there were once be magazines like “If” and “Fantastic” that published short stories and novellas, it’s hard to find any such services today. That’s why you should turn to “Escape Pod.”

It’s appropriate that a new media technology should give new hope to those searching for good sci-fi short stories. Each week on Escape Pod, listeners hear a new short science fiction story, typically from authors who’ve chosen to license their pieces using the Creative Commons license.

Most stories come in under an hour and flow nicely when spoken. It’s clear that Eley is looking for stories that may contain big ideas but still manage to communicate them in a very clear and direct manner. The 100th episode’s reading of “Nightfall,” read by Eley himself, felt like it could have been an audio play. While some of the episodes have actors brought into to read the stories, (Steve Anderson does a great job with Kevin J. Anderson’s “Job Qualifications” in episode 96), it’s Eley who reads a lot of the stories. In “Nightfall” and Bruce McAllsiter’s “Kin” from episode 108 he proves himself to be really adept and creating distinct and interesting voices for all the characters, no matter how strange and alien they may be.

While the readings take up most of the air time Eley does discuss listener feedback at the beginning of many episodes. The listeners all enjoy sci-fi but have different viewpoints on what the genre can give us. These samples of the discussions place the stories in a valued context for listeners not overly familiar with sci-fi.

Bringing these stories into digital audio form – where they can be enjoyed in a car or on a lunch break – is a wonderful use of new media. Literature like this doesn’t have to fall to the wayside because there are more temptations to not read out there. Instead, Eley has found a way to bring these works into the future -- which is where they belong.

www.escapepod.org

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