Fuel Your Fandom

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We all know that TV and movies aren't real life. And most contexts, it's a really good thing they're not. That's good for a lot of reasons. But one of the biggest ones is — let's face it — some of our favorite fictional characters would be horrible people to know in real life. And we don't even mean the sociopaths and supervillains. We're talking about beloved characters who just happen to be low-key horrible people. In this episode, Saint and Jim take a look at why we'd never actually be friends with these folks. Of course, they also dip into some news, tangents, and meandering. Like they do.  

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There's no doubt about it — there's never been a better time to be a nerd. Given the abundance of entertainment aimed directly at us these days, it's become obvious that the geek have truly inherited the earth. HOWEVER. How much of a good thing is TOO much? Given the frankly absurd proliferation of movies, comics, TV shows, video games and countless other channels of media, it's feeling ever more impossible to keep up with it all. In this edition of the FYF podcast, Saint and Jim take a closer look at just how bloated the nerd mediasphere has become, and how overwhelming it feels trying to keep up with it all. So if you can find the time (amid obsessing over your growing Netflix queue, stressing over your heavy Kindle backlog and sighing over the fact that they just announced 17 new "Assassin's Creed" games), we'd love it if you could earhole this one.

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Some weeks, episode themes reveal themselves. Others, there's just so much nerd news, it can be hard to narrow it all down into one installment. This was one of the second kind. In this edition of the Fuel Your Fandom podcast, Saint and Jim face down an absolute deluge of newsworthy geek-o-sphere goings on, and hand-pick some of the biggest standouts. And in an unprecedented move, some late-breaking nerd news sent the boys back to their mics to record an addendum — since something absolutely huge happened just after they wrapped up. So get this in your earholes, and get plugged in to what's up.

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Time travel is a sticky concept. While the IDEA of trekking through the timeline is totally feasible (especially given commonly accepted Einsteinian theory), the PRACTICE of traipsing across the ages can be complicated, indeed. What happens if you encounter yourself? Are you risking disrupting the timeline? Can you give yourself stock tips?  How do quantum physics factor in? In this edition of Fuel Your Fandom, Saint and Jim are joined by time travel expert and filmmaker John Lampson, who breaks down the three types of temporal travel, his favorite on-screen examples of the concept, and why so many of the paradoxes that could theoretically arise for active chrononauts shouldn't be a real worry in reality.

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Spoopy season is here, and Saint and Jim are celebrating with a special guest. Stephen King superfan Zach Dahlem joins us for a look into the bestselling horrormeister's career and catalogue, including both on-the-page and on-screen versions of his works. We'll take a look at King's early pulpy stuff, his mid-period "recovery" works, and how he's been taken more seriously in the third act of his arc — whether he wants to admit as much, or not. As per usual, we'll have some winding little tangents along the way. But you knew that already. Happy earholing!

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Technology moves fast. Sometimes a little TOO fast. As such, for every overnight success in tech, there are countless overhyped "next big thing" gadgets and/or services that are announced, released, and then fall flat on their digital faces. Sometimes it's immediate, other times early adopters are left with slowly obsoleted zombie gear, and on occasion, something just ends up being vaporware that never sees the light of day. And then, there are those pieces of failed tech that still have devotées years later despite having fallen out of favor with the tech tastemakers. On this episode, Saint and Jim take a look at the long and winding road littered with the corpses of tech flops. As a "bonus", fans of meandering run-ups will also be subject to listening to them prattle on about racist snowflakes, the increasing speed of digital movie releases, and the coming rise of the "synthespian."

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Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Gen-X icon Kevin Smith has had a storied and celebrated career bringing his special brand of foul-mouthed slacker authenticity to screens of various sizes for coming up on three decades now. So, in the wake of the release of his latest opus "Clerks III", Saint and Jim take the opportunity to look back on the oeuvre of The Garden State's "favorite" auteur. We probably should've saved this for episode #37, but oh well. Earhole it anyway.

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In terms of pop-cultural constants, there aren't many stalwarts more enduring than Saturday Night Live. Currently heading into its 48th season, SNL has launched more careers, catchphrases and comedy icons than any other American entertainment institution — and it isn't even close. On this episode, Saint and Jim are joined by Saturday Night superfan Stef Schoepple to kick around everything from one-on-one encounters with the cast, to moments of controversy, to why the all-too-frequent whine of "SNL isn't funny anymore" is complete bullshit.

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It's a fact — superheroes are everywhere these days. Movies, comics, video games...no matter what you're into, you can find capes and tights everywhere. But part and parcel of the long-running and wide-ranging storylines of superheroes is a sticky narrative question: how do we keep bulletproof gods who can literally fly somewhat grounded and vulnerable? Or at least enough so that we as the audience can still relate to them? On this episode, Saint and Jim break down the many flavors of Kryptonite, look at how Batman and Iron Man can hang despite having no actual superhuman powers (other than money), and what we can all learn from heroes of their eras, like Spider-Man and the X-Men. Plus, fans of tangents will enjoy a little of bit nerd news catch-up involving fantasy racism, the British Monarchy, and the fantastic Taylor Hawkins tribute show.

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There's just something undeniable about the appeal of a classic pinball machine. The flashing lights, the casino-like sounds, and the tactility of the physics involved all add up to a "Sure, I can spare a couple of quarters" response in almost everyone when we see one in the wild. But — as it is with most things — there exists a hidden shadow realm of die-hard pinball aficionados who are not only walking historians of chrome spheres and flippers, but who have the experience to spank these marvels of entertainment engineering into total high-score submission. Today, Saint and Jim are joined by four of them: Christopher Franchi, Jeff Parsons, and Dr. & Mrs. Pin (of both the Super Awesome Pinball Show, and Mrs. Pin's Pinball Podcast). These folks are an absolute treasure trove of knowledge on pinball's past, present, and future. During this surprisingly wide-ranging conversation, they team up to offer us a glimpse into a world most of us aren't even aware of. So cram this in your earholes, and get ready for a masterclass on all things pinball.