Binary System Podcast Archive

This episode originally broadcast on May 1, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-455-wtnv-266-the-return-of-poetry-week-and-random-trailers/

It's poetry week in Night Vale! Let's all pull together and submit at least a couple hundred poems each, and this time could we please not have any incidents with the menacing obelisk in the Dog Park and oh come on WHAT DID I JUST SAY?

After the recap we've gotta talk about some amazing new trailers. Well, newish. Okay some of them came out weeks ago but seriously you guys the 28 Years Later one with just the Kipling poem is so cool.

Also Kathryn has an update on the Windblade model we're putting together. It's only taken us, uh, two years so far? We're gonna get it finished eventually, honest.

This week's outro is a clip from Terminator vs. Robocop by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

This is the Superman trailer we talked about shut up we're not crying YOU'RE CRYING.

This is the Nathan Fillion Guy Gardner Super Bowl spot. It's made of awesome.

Here's the Tron: Ares trailer. Obviously, we're in.

Finally here's the trailer for Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme. We were in even before they used the finale from The Firebird Suite for the trailer.

In other news, we haven't tracked down who did that awesome Hawkeye/Black Widow photo edit using an image from 28 Weeks Later, but you can see a copy of it here.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on April 24, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/04/binary-system-podcast-454-black-mirror-uss-callister-into-infinity/

We actually DO have a Welcome to Night Vale episode to recap...but we also watched an episode of the latest season of Black Mirror. Believe it or not this is actually what we said we were gonna do, so of course we have to post a recap right away.

After a quick discussion of some not so great news (the Pope just passed away, some of his potential replacements are problematic, and Neil Gaiman needs to fire his PR manager and then GO AWAY), we get into all the details about USS Callister: Into Infinity. We were both a little worried that the sequel wouldn't live up to the first installment that came out (wow, really?) more than seven years ago. However, everyone involved did an amazing job, and the result is an episode that surprised and delighted us.

Added bonus at the end, we keep forgetting how long a free Zoom meeting is, so please enjoy almost a full minute of the two of us talking to nobody as we wait for Kathryn to start the new meeting already, God.

This week's outro is a clip from Images by AFTERTUNE.

Correction: our friend David gave Sinners a better than fine review, he really liked it, here's his review!

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on April 17, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/04/binary-system-podcast-453-star-trek-lower-decks-black-mirror-love-death-robots-and-godzilla-minus-one/

"It’s beautiful. It's really intensely weird, but it’s beautiful."

So like the title says, this week we're talking about Star Trek: Lower Decks, Godzilla Minus One, and the newest seasons of Black Mirror and Love Death + Robots. SOME of which we've actually watched. (Okay it's Star Trek and Godzilla. LD+R isn't out yet and we haven't psyched ourselves up to watch Black Mirror yet because DEAR LORD SO BLEAK.)

Anyway, spoiler warnings for the Peanut Hamper episode of Lower Decks, because we've gotta discuss how there's not a trope left unturned in this show, and they will subvert every expectation you have. Think you know which way they'll go? Nope because BIRD PEOPLE ROBOT SEX that's why.

Then we'll get into why we're looking forward to Love Death + Robots (Robert Valley mostly) and why we haven't watched Black Mirror yet (when you look at *emphatic gestures at THE WORLD* sometimes it's hard to jump in.)

From there we talk about how Godzilla Minus One is possibly Nathan's second favorite Godzilla movie (and when you know how much he loves Godzilla that is SAYING SOMETHING) before discussing Wonder Woman 1984, consent in Vampire Diaries, the recent San Diego earthquake and Japanese beds that eat people.

This week's outro is a clip from Sanctum by White Bat Audio.

No lie, the 1998 Godzilla movie was hit or miss, but the museum trailer is SO COOL.

Correction, the Black Mirror we said was kinda bleak and pointless was "Hated in the Nation," not Hated in America.

Correction, the Black Mirror Elizabeth said was fine was "Demon 79."

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast April 10, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/04/binary-system-podcast-452-wtnv-265-labyrinth-and-beastars-season-3-finale/

Okay, we need to address that (?) in the episode title. Raise your hands, how many of you out there knew that Beastars Season 3 was going to be in TWO PARTS?

Wow, that many of you? Okay, well we'd ask everybody to check back for updates on when the second part will be released, but we were stunned to find out that episode 12 was not in fact the end of the whole entire series, and apparently we were the last to know.

Over in Night Vale, this week Cecil is appalled to learn that someone is broadcasting on Night Vale Radio's frequency (rude). Oh, and also that Leonard Burton, his former mentor who died a gruesome death years ago, was brought back to life and has been forced by the mysterious Labyrinth company to send coded messages over the radio for an upsetting amount of time. Fortunately everything should be back to normal now...

...hang on, where did all the doors go?

This week's outro is a clip from by Stretch by Noisy Oyster.

You can find Hannah's story of her weeks-long ICU experience here: What It's Like To Have a Near Death Experience and Survive

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on April 3, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/04/binary-system-podcast-450-beastars-star-trek-lower-decks-and-wondercon-2025/

FIrst up this week we do a quick breakdown of WonderCon 2025, discussing everything from the amazing cosplay to low-frills motels, with some quick tangents into Cowboy Bebop (gotta love the anime rooms at Con) and Skibidi Toilet (finally saw some Skibidi merch in the wild!)

After that we jump into the second-to-last episode of Beastars, and while there was a lot of forward momentum in the plot (and a ton of not very subtle homoerotic subtext) (also that was someone's tail that got cut off last episode not a penis THANK GOD) we're still not sure how they're going to pick up all the dangling threads in one episode.

Finally we jump into the Deep Space Nine episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, where Boimler beats the house at gambling, Mariner and Jennifer are adorable, and badass Tendi is badass.

This week's outro is a clip from Light Fantastic by Noisy Oyster.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on March 27, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/03/binary-system-podcast-450-beastars-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

Episode 450! That's...kind of a milestone, right? To celebrate, let's do the same thing we've been doing for a few weeks now!

First up, Beastars Season 3, episode 10. This episode merits a trigger warning, since we finally get to see what led to Legoshi's mother's death, and it's pretty heartbreaking. There's also a brief tangent where Kathryn explains why a mournful wolf howl will always hit her in the feels.

After that it's the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "Reflections". Ensign Rutherford's adventure where he has to somehow make peace with his younger, angrier self is all kinds of interesting, and triumphant, and man did they manage to make that Romulan Warbird look even more intimidating than normal. And over in the B plot, Ensign Boimler loses his temper, and God help us but it just never stops being funny.

This week's outro is a clip from Dreamgirl 88 by Dirk Dehler.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on March 20, 2025, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/03/binary-system-podcast-449-wtnv-263-duet-beastars-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

On this week's Night Vale we got to hear from Cecil's former boss Leonard Burton, who's much more than just a radio host. He's also dead!

After the recap we jump into episode 9 of the final season of Beastars, where they'd like us to believe that someone got un-alived but they've pulled that stunt before, we're not buying it.

Then we jump into two more episodes of Lower Decks: season 3, where even if our four main characters can't seem to stop and parse out a situation for five seconds before making a decision (you all could've had a room! Together!) we can at least agree that Dr. T'ana is just hilariously wrong and awesome.

Plus some tangents into Jack Quaid's movie career, Twin Peaks music, books that color your whole travel experience, and a political rant (but that last one was totally Elizabeth's fault and she's very very sorry.)

This week's outro is a clip from by Waggish by Grumplefunk.

The Twin Peaks singer we were trying to think of is Julee Cruise.

Correction: it's not the twenty’s anniversary of House of Leaves IT’S THE TWENTY FIFTH AAAAAA.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on Marcy 14, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/03/binary-system-podcast-448-beastars-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

The episode of Beastars that we recapped this week isn't quite as unsettling as last week's episode. That civet cat is still off-putting and weird, but my goodness do the animators do an excellent job with Yaya's animation. The team that animated that zebra in the noodle shop, however, can go sit in a corner and think about what they've done.

We really hope everyone has already watched Season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks, because we have an in-depth recap of episodes 1 and 2 with all the spoilers.

For a little extra flavor, we included a discussion of "Rule of Three" and "Comfort Blanket", two podcasts which talk about the things we love and also give us fascinating information about why they work so well. Elizabeth's also reading an excellent Naomi Novik short-story collection, and Kathryn's reading another book in Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, a collection of lovely little children's adventures that have so much heartbreak embedded in the very fabric of the stories that she's not sure if she can keep reading them. (She's totally going to keep reading them.)

This week's outro is a clip from Aqua by Ekilorea Sound.

Correction: Elizabeth and Kathryn (mostly Kathryn) repeatedly mispronounce the Beastar "Yaya" as "Vaya". Sorry about that. We're also still not 100% we're getting Legoshi and Rouis's pronunciations right either.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram! 

This episode originally broadcast on March 6, 2025, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/03/binary-system-podcast-447-wtnv-263-hysteria-land-beastars-and-the-oscar-nominated-animated-shorts/

On tonight's recap of Welcome to Night Vale we learn that Night Vale's newest attraction, Hysteria Land, is not an amusement park, it's a theme park. And the theme is "amusement." We'd argue that the theme is also "existential dread" and "impossibly frightening." Arms inside the ride, kids, watch out for the dead animals.

After that we go over this year's Oscar Nominated Animated shorts, which while not quite at the level of last year's nominations, were still very good, ranging from the bittersweet kick in the feels of In the Shadow of the Cypress, to the silly but very fun Magical Candies, to the DOWNRIGHT DISTURBING Wander to Wonder. (Which was still extremely well made but whoo boy that one's dark.)

And after THAT, we've got to go over episode seven of the final season of Beastars. Well, we have to go over one scene anyway, which was hands down the most disturbing thing this show's done YES THAT SCENE THE ONE WITH THE RABBITS WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL.

This week's outro is a clip from bROKEn dREAM by hARITON zOE

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

This episode originally broadcast on February 27, 2025, the original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/02/binary-system-podcast-446-wtnv-262-the-man-who-is-not-tall/

"That's a good question." 

"Thank you!" 

"It's best to not ask questions. Especially good ones."

If the title to the Welcome to Night Vale episode sounds familiar, we're seeing the return of a harrowing duo from Night Vale's past: The Man Who Is Not Tall, and The Man Who Is Not Short. And unfortunately The Man Who Is Not Tall is now...Steve Carlsburg. Yes, Cecil's beloved brother-in-law has taken on a dangerous new job, and Cecil has questions.

After a recap were we discuss the rules of childhood games that scared the crap out of us, and also Cecil bemoaning the loss of decorum (I mean, Cloud Perverts? Really?), the Binary Podcast System team also talk about Season 3 Episode 7 of Beastars (which Kathryn hasn't seen), and the 2025 Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts (which Elizabeth hasn't seen), and then take a brief digression to talk about The Menu, which we've both seen and talked about it at length already but come on, it just dropped on Netflix and how can we resist?

This week's outro is a clip from CARAVAGGIO by hARITON zOE 

You can listen to our episodes about The Menu and the 2024 Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts, we promise we didn't rehash too much about what we loved from those in today's episode.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!