Mike v. Matt

The boys return from hiatus after some much needed summer travels. Both headed to the western side of the continent and regale you with stories of air travel, long drives, and the impending apocalypse.

Mike and Matt discuss things they’ve learned about themselves and the world in the past year of pandemic restrictions. This is not at all meant to be a discussion about the pandemic writ large or the tragedies of those impacted by it. This is only the personal perspective of two middle-aged white guys with good fortune in the middle west.

We’ll be taking a short hiatus for some summer shenanigans, but look forward to new episodes in late June.

Mike and Matt discuss books of a more adult persuasion. No, not like that.

• Neal Stephenson:
  • Cryptonomicon
  • The Baroque Cycle
  • Snow Crash
• Bill Bryson:
  • A Short HIstory of Nearly Everything
  • At Home
  • The Body
  • A Walk in the Woods
• The Bobiverse, by Dennis Taylor
• The Expanse, by James S.A. Corey
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
• Dune, by Frank Herbert
• William Gibson
  • Neuromancer
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Spook Country
  • Zero History
• Alive, by Piers Paul Read
• Adrift, by Steven Callahan
• And many more!

Mike and Matt discuss some of their favorite books from their collective youth. Mostly a recollection of 80s and 90s horror novels.

• Dragonlance Chronicles
• Robert Asprin’s Myth series
• The Magic Cottage, by James Herbert
• The Stand, by Stephen King
• Timothy Zahn Star Wars novels
• Hitchhiker's Guide the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
• Rage, by Stephen King
• Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
• Watchers, by Dean Koontz
• Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett

Mike and Matt revisit memories of Boy Scouts. Includes discussions of the Knight’s Oath, merit badge misadventures, and high impact camping.

Mike and Matt knock off a few follow up items and discuss places they'd like to visit. Includes inspirations from 8th grade assemblies, Peter Jackson movies, cryptozoology, and  statutes of limitations.

Mike and Matt are midwesterners at heart, but the landscape can prove to leave much to be desired. In this episode, the boys discuss some of the favorite places they have visited, both locally and farther (further) abroad.  And Mike reveals that he has never, not once, visited Hocking Hills.

Reading is so 2020. Mike and Matt discuss some of their favorite YouTube channels for fun and profit.

• VSauce
• SciShow
• CrashCourse
• TED Talks
  • Inside the mind of a master procrastinator
• Khan Academy
• Minute Physics
• Amoeba Sisters
• SmarterEveryDay
• Veritasium
• Kurzgesagt
• Engineerguy
• Mark Rober
• WatchMojo
• ScreenJunkies
• Wired – 5 levels
• PayMoneyWubby
• LastWeekTonight
• SecretBase
• Andrei Jikh
• Nate O’Brien
• Jim Browning
• Every Frame a Painting
• Casey Niestat
• Van Niestat The Spirited Man
• Paul Davids
• Rick Beato
• Jimmy DiResta
• Squidmar Miniatures
• Adam Savage’s Tested

Hobby talks continue! Mike and Matt discuss their experience with photography, both analog and digital. High points include collecting sunrises, family slideshows, extreme adventures and making themselves appear awesome on social media.

• Stopmotionista (Petra Cross) 
• Hilton Head Stop Motion

This is the big daddy, the hobby that goes way back, that sets the undertone for every decision Mike and Matt have made as adults: Dungeons & Dragons. Join us as we discuss our long, convoluted history with the original tabletop roleplaying game and how it has shaped us over the years. Items of note:

• Dungeons & Dragons
• Critical Role
• Adventure Time
• DM Dave
• D&D Starter Set
• Open Gaming License
• GURPS
• Check out some high dollar artisan dice
• History of the D&D Cartoon
• Roll 20
• D&D Beyond