In this episode, we continue discussing the videogame that I recently played quite a while every day for over two and a half months-- Tactics Ogre Reborn, on PlayStation 5.

My brother John played through it as well during that time, on PC.

In this part, we focus more on comparisons with other Tactics games and other RPGs, then get back into other facets of the game and the characters you get.

There are spoilers in this episode about some key parts of the plot, including various character deaths mid-game.  And perhaps some spoilers regarding gameplay and recruitable characters as well.

John Comberiate is our family expert on RPG videogames, especially Tactics-style RPGs.

In this episode, we discuss the videogame that I recently played quite a while every day for over two and a half months-- Tactics Ogre Reborn, on PlayStation 5.

My brother John played through it as well during that time, on PC.  Not for as long, but certainly for long enough to have a lot to say about it!

There are spoilers in this episode regarding gameplay and recruitable characters, but probably not too much in terms of the game's plot.

John Comberiate is our family expert on RPG videogames, especially Tactics-style RPGs.

We've been a little short on Pop Culture episodes lately, so I've gone back to the vault!  This is a discussion that Kelli Comberiate and I had about female-led superhero shows as part of episode 17 of Spaghetti Sass.

The Spaghetti Sass podcast series is archived online, as well as Get 2 the Point.  So you can check them both out where you find Pol and Pop, or at any of the major places where podcasts are found.

In this episode, I'm back in Jacksonville Beach for another visit.  So, Dave Comberiate and I follow up on our earlier conversation about Ron DeSantis and the Jacksonville mayoral election.  Since we spoke before, the election is over and DeSantis has officially announced he is running for President.

We look at what the results of the mayoral election mean for Jacksonville going forward, and we discuss some of Ron DeSantis's most controversial policies.

Woody and I cover a variety of current topics, all highly relevant whether it's late May, mid-June, or later.

DeSantis makes it official, how the election could play out if Biden can't run anymore at various points over the 2024 campaign, thoughts on relative popularity levels of DeSantis and Trump, free speech versus the importance of factual accuracy, some thoughts on Trump's legal situations (pre second indictment), speculation on candidates' Veep picks, the South Carolina six-week abortion ban, MD Senator Cardin retiring, and the risks of a debt ceiling default.

Note: Since this recording, Mike Pence has, indeed, officially announced his candidacy for President, a debt ceiling deal was reached in time, and, of course, Donald Trump was indicted... again.

In this episode, we discuss the new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

In part 2 here we continuing covering the different characters with Mantis, Nebula, Gamora, The Ravagers, Cosmo, Nathan Fillion's character (Master Karja), The High Evolutionary, and Adam Warlock... delving both into them specifically and how they relate to the other characters.

Then we look ahead to James Gunn moving on to head the DC movie universe and how that's going to go.

This is part 2 of 2 from our interview.

Spoiler Alert: All of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and, to lesser extent, the MCU as a whole.

Special guest family MCU expert: John Comberiate

In this episode, we discuss the new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

We have some opening thoughts, then we jump into the different characters.  In part 1 here we cover Rocket, Groot, Drax, and Peter, delving both into them specifically and how they relate to the other characters.  This is part 1 of 2 from our interview.

Spoiler Alert: All of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and, to lesser extent, the MCU as a whole.

Special guest family MCU expert: John Comberiate

We're a little heavy on the Pol episodes over the Pop episodes with this upload, but this is what I have recorded and edited now, so it's going up now.

In this general news roundup, Woody and I discuss the following topics:

Biden makes running for President official
DeSantis planning to announce run in mid-May
Who benefits from the Democrats' primary calendar shakeup

Fox News settles with Dominion for $787.5 million
Tucker Carlson out at Fox News
Pence testifying on the 2020 election

Schumer and Elon Musk talk AI
SpaceX rocket explosion
Alec Baldwin exonerated


And, of course, we go on various tangents while we're at it.

We recorded an episode the day that Trump was indicted.  As it worked out, we ended up recording for well over an hour and a half.  That included a lot of discussion specifically tied to that topic, but also a lot of discussion on other political topics along with it.

In the interest of getting a "same day" reaction podcast up sooner rather than later, I tried chopping out everything that wasn't tied to the topic at hand, and ended up with about 49 minutes worth of content... which I put up on April 1st.  But what about all the rest of that content?

Well, I figured I'd try something new out-- take the original recording and edit it all over again.  But, this time, chop out the Trump stuff (especially all the Trump indictment stuff), and make a cohesive episode out of all the different side tangents Woody and I went on.  I've ended up with about 34 minutes worth... not bad for topics that were purely tangential and unplanned.  


Topics discussed include: the worst possible 2024 Presidential matchup that doesn't involve any of the usual suspects, thoughts on who gets elected and why, how there was really no good time for RBG to retire, what Republicans who believe the 2020 election was stolen probably suspect about 2024, hypotheticals about Amy Klobuchar as a nominee or President, and which Democrat nowadays actually has charisma.

In this episode, I give my quick impressions for the last 10 from my list of 50 Metroidvania games I've played through in recent years.  Some of these games are relatively well-known, others are pretty obscure... but hopefully this will give you enough of a feel for each one to determine which ones you might enjoy playing yourself!

Special "guest" game-describer for this episode: ChatGPT?!!

Games addressed in this episode:
Sundered, Super Skelemania, SuperEpic: The Entertainment War, Teslagrad, The Messenger, The Mummy Demastered, The Swapper, Timespinner, Two Parsecs from Earth, and Xeodrifter