Phoenix Foundation - A MacGyver Podcast

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: October 7th, 2016 —

MacGyver and Jack Dalton must protect a supremely punchable asset from assassins to extract intelligence.

OPENING GAMBIT: Mac and Jack escape a burning building in Somalia in bodybags… but alive.

MISSION: Phoenix must intercept an annoying accountant for bad guys to indict a terrorist group known as Division 77.

This week’s highlights include:

Once Upon a Time in Shaolin… is a double album by the New York hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan which was limited to a single copy sold in 2015. One double-CD of the album, which was recorded in secret over six years, was pressed in 2014 and stored in a secured vault at the Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. The album was auctioned to the highest bidder through auction house Paddle8 in 2015. A legal agreement with the purchaser states it cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, although it can be released for free or played during listening parties.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Shaolin.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: September 30th, 2016 —

A former fling of Jack’s is stranded undercover in Venezuela, disavowed by the government.

OPENING GAMBIT: A North Korean cyberterrorist is smuggled through the DMZ to South Korean authorities!

MISSION: MacGyver and the team move to recover an undercover agent being held hostage by arms dealers in South America.

This week’s highlights include:

A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure used to block electric fields. It is formed by conductive material or by a mesh of such materials. Faraday cages are named after the English scientist Michael Faraday, who invented them in 1836.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: September 23rd, 2016 —

A DXS agent is killed during the terrorist theft of a deadly biological weapon

MISSION: MacGyver and his new team move to intercept a biotoxin, but lose an agent in the process. In the aftermath, MacGyver is dragged back into the investigation to prevent a large-scale bio-attack on U.S. Soil.

This week’s highlights include:

We neglected to mention a couple more notes from last night’s premiere, specifically that Bozer brings up Penny (presumably Parker) when explaining to Mac where this missile prop came from. Expect her to show up at some point. Also, MacGyver makes VO mention of his long-claimed, rarely exhbitied fear of heights.

Shodan is a search engine that lets the user find specific types of computers (web cams, routers, servers, etc.) connected to the internet using a variety of filters. Some have also described it as a search engine of service banners, which are meta-data the server sends back to the client. This can be information about the server software, what options the service supports, a welcome message or anything else that the client can find out before interacting with the server.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shodan_(website).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: Never, 2003 —

Clay MacGyver, inexplicable nephew of Angus, starts off his career at the Phoenix Foundation with a bang!

MISSION: An explosion at a private diamond mine sets MacGyver on the path of a terrorist group called the United Liberation Front who plan to exchange blood diamond money for black market weapons.

This week’s highlights include:

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (Film)

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century is a 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie, starring Kirsten Storms as the eponymous heroine, and directed by Kenneth Johnson. The film was based on the book Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century written by Marilyn Sadler and Roger Bollen. The film was originally conceived as a pilot for a potential television series. The film was the first under the Disney Channel Original Movie banner to produce a sequel, Zenon: The Zequel (2001). A third and final installment was also produced, Zenon: Z3 (2004).

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenon:_Girl_of_the_21st_Century_(film).

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: November 24th, 1994 —

A mysterious assault on a friend’s birthday party leads MacGyver on a nuclear hunt.

MISSION: When a good friend is killed on his birthday, MacGyver intends to solve the case without police. Things get complicated when suddenly his deceased friend’s research indicate illicit nuclear testing in London.

This week’s highlights include:

Rhyming slang (Language)

Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language that utilizes rhyme. It is especially prevalent in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It started in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhyming slang. In America, it is used in the underworld where it is known as Australian slang.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: May 14th, 1994 —

An old professor of MacGyver’s drags him along on a hunt for legendary Atlantis.

MISSION: MacGyver’s former professor is fighting an uphill battle proving the existence of Atlantis to the board of his university. MacGyver is enlisted to help track down the artifacts that will seal his case.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a link to that I Was There Too episode with Clancy Brown.

Odessa Catacombs (Archeology)

The Odessa Catacombs are a network of tunnels under Odessa, Ukraine and its surrounding region, that are mostly the result of stone mining, at first, and then smuggling. The Catacombs are on three levels and reach a depth of 60 metres below sea level.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odessa_Catacombs.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: May 21st, 1992 —

MacGyver returns for one last Phoenix mission, recovering Jack Dalton’s body, dead or alive.

MISSION: MacGyver follows Jack to a remote location rumored by locals as home to the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, a nearby military installment threatens the miraculous spring.

This week’s highlights include:

Heavy water (Chemistry)

Heavy water (deuterium oxide (2H2O)) is a form of water that contains a larger than normal amount of the hydrogen isotope deuterium (2H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen), rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (1H or H, also called protium) that makes up most of the hydrogen in normal water.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: April 25th, 1992 —

A long-lost relative of MacGyver’s teams up to protect another important tape for Mei Jan.

MISSION: MacGyver must help Mei Jan broadcast new evidence of abuse by the Chinese Government and a stranger arrives to change the course of Mac’s life.

This week’s highlights include:

Here’s a list of other shows that shot on board the SS Lane Victory.

Buprestidae (Entemology)

Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some 15,000 species known in 450 genera. In addition, almost 100 fossil species have been described.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buprestidae.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 30th, 1991 —

A potentially illicit urban renewal development threatens the home of an acquaintance of MacGyver’s.

MISSION: MacGyver is out to uncover the illegal eviction of a series of tenants from a building being sold for a massive urban renewal development.

This week’s highlights include:

Dont ask me to explain how this works, but it seems to.

Schrödinger’s cat (Theoretical physics)

Schrödinger’s cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead, a state known as a quantum superposition, as a result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur. The thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of the interpretations of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger coined the term Verschränkung (entanglement) in the course of developing the thought experiment.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: December 16th, 1991 —

MacGyver is caught in the crossfire of the gang violence that plagues the city.

MISSION: Kids from the Challenger club are repeatedly recruited into gang life as MacGyver and their parents try to talk them out of it.

This week’s highlights include:

The Indian actor I mentioned from 40 year old virgin was actually convicted of attempted premeditated murder, not actual murder. His name is Shelley Malil. He also played one of the yuppies in the Superbowl Budweiser commercial with everyone screaming “What are YOU doing!?”

It turns out, a Stargate trilogy was indeed in the works, but who knows if that’s still happening.

Dirty Harry (Franchise)

Dirty Harry is the name of a series of films and novels featuring fictional San Francisco Police Department Homicide Division Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan who is notorious for being extremely violent and ruthless in his methods, and a danger for any partner assigned to him. Actor Clint Eastwood portrayed Inspector Harry Callahan in all five of the movies.

Check out the article on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Harry_(film_series).