2021

We are gathered here today to do a podcast.

Yes you heard that, we’re out here doing a podcast did you know that? We do it every week, you should subscribe! You can find us all over the internet it’s pretty great actually. Even on this very website, did you know that? It’s The Gathering, written by John Fay and aired on September 2, 2011.

Show-notes:
1:57: Avengers: Endgame surprised audiences everywhere by having a 5 year time skip, implying that for 5 years Earth’s mightiest heroes just kind of  lay there and took it.
6:25: I could really go for some Jubilee Pizza right about now. I haven’t had store bought pizza in ages.
12:42: I only found 49 fics with both Esther and Jack in them . It seems 14 of them pair them up romantically. I must commend this fic in particular for 1) the weirdly inspired Lois Habiba/Esther Drummond ship and 2) being 3 times the length of the longest thing I’ve ever written. In other news Esther/Rex seems to be a popular pairing, and also I hate how much time I spent on this.
13:58: Just go read Frankenstein so you can understand all of Kiyan’s references.
15:23: I was gonna make a joke about cosmology vs cosmetology, but people take this way too seriously apparently and write whole articles about the two.
27:55: Check out Inevitable: A Classic Sci-Fi Podcast if you want to listen to us do what we’re doing here but for other shows. Like The Prisoner. Or The Prisoner (2009).
36:38: Harry Bosco is not a real process, and yes the first result on google is the Tardis wiki page for Harry Bosco.
37:44: People get into arguments over which translation is the best, for some reason. This is actually a bigger problem for the Bible more than anything.
38:30: I couldn’t find the exact quote by Murakami, but I did find this fascinating New Yorker Article about his works and the difference between Japanese and English translations of Japanese works.
45:02: The real antipode of Shangai is Los Charrúas. You can see the top ten closest cities/towns to the exact antipode here. (Editor’s note: They talk about this in the next episode.)
46:00: Ф
51:33: Winnie the Pooh ranks among the most profitable media franchises ever.
51:20: Yes, the soviet Winnie the Pooh movies really do exist, this wasn’t a joke.
52:45: Here’s that article on how much money Winnie the Pooh generates.
53:34: Here’s a list of highest grossing franchises where Kiyan is getting his numbers from.
53:48: Pokemon Jet.
54:58: Industry standard for a physics PhD is only 6 figures though.
57:38: Ego the Living Planet is actually in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, if you can believe it.
59:50: M’tower *tips hat*
1:00:09: Yeah the Eiffel Tower was never meant to be permanent, sorry to disappoint folks.
1:00:50: Smithsonian has a brief history of the Ferris Wheel and its relation to the Eiffel Tower.
1:08:23: Tardis wiki to the rescue! Knibbs!
1:09:47: Check out our movie trilogy podcast, Triple Play: A Movie Trilogy Podcast, if you want to listen to us talk about timeless classic cinematic masterpieces like Beverly Hills Chihuahua (which the episode for isn’t out yet, but we also watch other timeless classics like Troll 2).

Torchwood © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Torchwood title music was originally composed by Murray Gold. The version used in this episode was arranged by Murray Gold.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
Subscribe on Google Play!
Subscribe on Spotify!
Check us out on Facebook!
Check us out on YouTube!
Check us out on Twitter!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

You know, like a troll who lives under a bridge?

Doctor Who and Torchwood have had their share of trolls in our time, but this week just takes the cake. How can we sit here and listen to this absolute nonsense from someone so untrustworthy? And yet for some reason this is the job we decided to do, and this is the task we set before us. How disappointing. It’s The End of the Road, written by Ryan Scott and Jane Espensen and aired on August 26, 2011.

Show-notes:
4:06: It’s just a prank, bro.
7:05: Here’s a site that looks like it was made in the late 90’s that has a lot of detail on the burning of “Atlanta” for Gone With the Wind.
8:20: A birthmark in your eye has an official name, actually, it’s called a “nevus.”
8:46: The Latin name of the immortal jellyfish is Turritopsis Dorhnii (as you’ll find out in a minute in the episode) and the Wikipedia page contains basically everything we know about them (not much).
9:20: Polyps are one of the developmental stages of jellyfish and some other creatures. The other stage is the medusa stage. Some members of the cnidaria phylum have both polyp and medusa stages and others only have one.
14:23: Ben Shapiro is a racist.
18:05: Kiyan is reading the Wikipedia page for electrocardiography here but I’m going to link a more expert source in mayo clinic’s ekg page.
27:15: According to our own list(s) of Doctor Who deaths, Kal was the one who died in An Unearthly Child.
27:57: I looked for five seconds and all I found on a blood covered Tickle-Me-Elmo was this 45 minute video. (Editor’s note: this isn’t what I was referencing.)
32:48: The US government notably never gets anything done in a reasonable amount of time, taking 8-10 months to even recognize that COVID was a problem. It’s so bad that the New York Times was even commenting on it… in 1979.
36:10: Fine… I’ll do it myself. (It was Age of Ultron)
47:41: This quote is not only from Watchmen, it’s basically the first scene in the movie.
50:35: It is required to vote in Australia, but as noted they make it really really easy. Voter turnout in the US is historically really, really bad.
51:57: Yes, Georgia really did restrict voting rights after the Democrats won both two senate seats and the presidential race there in 2020.
52:45: Here’s that gerrymandering puzzle if you want to learn how busted the US voting system is. Try to get to level 6. Here’s an article from about a year and a half ago about the worst examples of gerrymandering in the U.S.

Torchwood © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Torchwood title music was originally composed by Murray Gold. The version used in this episode was arranged by Murray Gold.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
Subscribe on Google Play!
Subscribe on Spotify!
Check us out on Facebook!
Check us out on YouTube!
Check us out on Twitter!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Love. Compassion. Kindness. There are plenty of hidden 8th sins to choose from, and that’s why, now more than ever, you need to specify. Speaking of things that are happening now more than ever, we’re now more than ever talking about Torchwood Miracle Day episode 7. We haven’t talked about it before, and sadly we probably never will again. Until we really run out of content and have to rewatch Torchwood or something. It’s Immortal Sins, written by Jane Espensen and aired on August 19, 2011.

Show-notes:
1:49: Wikipedia lists only the episodes of The Walking Dead that have already aired (all 150 of them as of writing) whereas IMDB lists all episodes that have been commissioned and filmed.
5:32: This is the Telltale Walking Dead we were referring to here.
6:10: Polygon has an incredibly interesting deep dive into the problems Telltale Games faced that caused their downfall, including their long-standing refusal to update their engine. Also, the original Telltale is defunct now, but there’s a new Telltale in town.
8:37: For those interested in the history of the Italian mafia in New York, The Five Families is where you want to start.
9:14: Generally I wouldn’t link a Quora page, but Wikipedia has such a non-existent explanation for why “Mick” is a derogatory term for a person of Irish descent that in this case I will.
12:57: That Jordan Peele gif.
20:12: If you had told me when we started this podcast that I would be linking to the Wedding Crashers page on Wikipedia I would not believe you.
23:16: The Rams are LA and the Raiders are Vegas now, but they used to be located in Oakland California. The Bears are in Chicago. So are the Bulls, but they’re basketball.
41:08: Train A leaves a station in Chicago heading towards LA at 30 mph at Noon. Train B leaves LA at 3PM, heading towards Chicago traveling at 60 mph. The question is, at which point during this question did you realize that America’s rail system is pitiful compared to basically every other wealthy country in the world?
42:15: It’s a dot sight.
46:15: Two things, first off, who knew there was a sci-fi stack exchange? And secondly, why do they have an entire thread just on the question of “Who gave the shop-keeper Clara’s number?”
47:21: Here’s that Today I Found Out page about the phrase “to coin a phrase” that seems like it was clearly made just for this purpose.
48:01: You should rather check out phrases.uk for information on the phrase “to coin a phrase.”
1:01:56: It’s been 84 years.
1:03:00: NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and is just a dumb thing people with too much or too little time on their hands do when they’d rather write than tend to their other responsibilities.
1:04:04: As promised here’s the link to that dialect quiz. Actually this one is really fancy and maps out all of your dialect influences across the United States.

Torchwood © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Torchwood title music was originally composed by Murray Gold. The version used in this episode was arranged by Murray Gold.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
Subscribe on Google Play!
Subscribe on Spotify!
Check us out on Facebook!
Check us out on YouTube!
Check us out on Twitter!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Is there a reason why after doing the podcast for so long we have literally no short term memory?

You ever heard that song? You know the one. “something something stuck in the middle with you.” The only official way to watch The Middle Men is to have that song playing just on constant repeat while watching. That’s it. That’s the official way to watch this episode, you heard it from us first. It’s The Middle Men, written by  and aired on August 12, 2011.

Show-notes:
6:40: The Stargate Wiki mentions that Eric Steinberg is of Korean and “mixed European” descent with no source or citation.
11:20:Suicide is actually illegal in many countries around the world, but it does not seem like the punishment for attempting suicide is death. I cannot find concrete evidence that it ever was, actually.
12:54: I tried to find information on what jobs use a bell to end the work day and I couldn’t find anything! Have this part of the intro to The Flinstones about it instead.
17:18: This website has the most definitive guide to pronouncing Geraint, I’ve just decided right now.
21:21: The Pandemic has taken so much from us, not the least of which is what surely would have been the magnum opus of television history, the original fully filmed season 7 finale of The Blacklist.
24:58: The quote that I’m referring to was said by Aretha Franklin in reference to Taylor Swift. Can’t believe I mangled it that badly, but here’s the NPR review that quotes it.
26:05: You should check out our blog because we said so. Here is my concluding article on the Prisoner video game for the curious.
26:12: Be sure to check out Inevitable: A Classic Sci-Fi Podcast for all your obscure science-fiction television needs.
37:26: It’s called compassion fatigue and it’s actually a major problem in front-line workers right now due to COVID-19.
38:42: School shootings happen way too often to even cover adequately in the news anymore.
39:40: According to the CDC, the positive rate of  Influenza testing decreased 100 fold due to mask wearing, social distancing, and other COVID prevention measures.
51:18: As always, “Ianto Jones (19 August 1983-2009) was an ex-member of the ill-fated Torchwood One and a member of Torchwood Three, initially serving as more of a “support man” or “tea boy”, but later taking a more active role in missions.”
52:06: Vera’s page on the TARDIS wiki is no better than Ianto’s in terms of outlining her achievements.
53:53: Our Back Pockets has a solid post on the history of Be gay Do Crimes.
1:02:17: Here is the exact same link I provided last week talking about the Great Leap Forward and its use and connotation with the Chinese Communist Party.

Torchwood © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Torchwood title music was originally composed by Murray Gold. The version used in this episode was arranged by Murray Gold.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
Subscribe on Google Play!
Subscribe on Spotify!
Check us out on Facebook!
Check us out on YouTube!
Check us out on Twitter!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Not to be confused with Religious Seniority.

It’s Categories of Life, written by  Jane Espensen and aired on August 5, 2011.

Show-notes:
0:40: Seth MacFarlane created a lot of other stuff besides Family Guy. Most of it isn’t very good.
29:18: It was in Destiny of the Daleks. Thanks @Prof_Quiteamess and @lisacartman.
31:28: Shockingly, Hillary Duff is still acting in things, they’re just not good things.
32:48: Hillary Clinton also acts in things.
37:50: I guess this is a Hillary Clinton themed episode so here’s what Wikileaks gave us on that topic.
41:54: Who Killed Kennedy?
42:56: The novel Shell Shock indicates hat Peri’s stepfather Howard sexually abused her. But according to the TARDIS wiki, this has been contradicted by other material.
47:05: More on the coffee conundrum here.
52:35: We neglected to mention that the phrase “Great Leap Forward” is also associated with an entirely different totalitarian regime.
1:04:46: According to Wikipedia, Scorpion is ” [l]oosely based on the life of its executive producer and self-proclaimed computer expert Walter O’Brien.” Lol.
1:05:50: You ever check out Fargo, eh?
1:06:11: Rolling Stone reported (in 1988 lol) that in the author’s note to Libra, Don DeLillo wrote that the book was “a work of the imagination” and that “[w]hile drawing from the historical record, [he] made no attempt to furnish factual answers to any questions raised by the assassination” of Kennedy. He said the novel was instead “a way of thinking about the assassination without being constrained by half-facts or overwhelmed by possibilities, by the tide of speculation that widens with the years.”

Torchwood © The BBC
Any other references belong to their respective owners, no copyright infringement is intended by this podcast.
The Torchwood title music was originally composed by Murray Gold. The version used in this episode was arranged by Murray Gold.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts!
Subscribe on Google Play!
Subscribe on Spotify!
Check us out on Facebook!
Check us out on YouTube!
Check us out on Twitter!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS