PrePopCulture

PrePopCulture

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PrePopCulture episodes

  • 57: Katie Rice and Strip Search

    Cartoonist Katie Rice joins Jen to talk about her comics Skadi and Camp Weedonwantcha, as well as her time on Strip Search, the web comic artist reality competition produced by Penny Arcade! Katie shares the genesis of her barbarian heroine Skadi along with what it was like to work as a storyboard artist while maintaining a web comic, and talks about her experiences as part of Strip Search from auditioning all the way to developing Camp Weedonwantcha for the win. Katie also drops some cool behind the scenes tidbits, including details on an elimination comic that almost was…

    If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

    Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

    Show links:

    • Follow Katie on Twitter and check out her comics Skadi and Camp Weedonwantcha!
    • And if you missed the promo video for this episode, check out Katie and Jen going head-to-head Strip Search elimination style!
    • Strip Search
    • Penny Arcade
    • Abby's Kickstarter for The Last Halloween and Lexxy's already Kickfunded project The Cloud Factory
    • Ricky Garduno's Nightmare Theatre
    • Theme song:

      Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

      58 min
    • 56: PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

      Danny Mastrangelo returns this week to chat about all the hubbub surrounding the recent PlayStation 4 and Xbox One announcements. DRM, broadband connectivity, privacy, and price have been hot button issues for gamers when it comes to the next generation of consoles, and choices Sony and Microsoft have made about these systems have drawn some lines in the sand. Let's just say we all know who came out as player 1 by the end of E3.

      If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

      Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

      Show links:

      • Follow Danny on Twitter and check out his video game development site Silhouette Games and video game review site Been There, Played That. You can also see his Harold team Harbinger at iO West on Tuesdays at 8pm.
      • Microsoft's Xbox One E3 2013 press conference
      • Sony's PlayStation 4 E3 2013 press conference
      • Sony's instructional video on sharing used games on PS4
      • And to learn more about the most recent next-gen console announcements, check out this Ars Technica article and see why the latest Microsoft console has now earned the moniker Xbox One Eighty
      • Theme song:

        Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

        1 hr 21 min
      • 55: Ender's Game and the Enderverse

        Dickie Copeland returns to chat about the expansive universe encompassing the novel Ender's Game and all of its sequels and related works, about which there are many spoilers so consider yourself warned! Though Dickie and Jen came to the series from different perspectives, they're fascinated by, fuzzy on, and horrified at the same bits, and both at least masochistic enough to wish they could play the Mind Game. But don't ask them how to pronounce Bonzo or Achilles, because they know they say them both wrong.

        If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

        Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

        Show links:

        • Follow Dickie on Twitter and check out her amazing poetry on her website!
        • First Meetings in Ender's Universe
        • Ender's Game and its original sequels Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind
        • Ender in Exile
        • Ender's Shadow and its sequels Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, and Shadow of the Giant
        • Shadows in Flight, the latest Shadow series book
        • Theme song:

          Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

          1 hr 14 min
        • 54: Stunt casting

          Mark David Christenson returns to talk about stunt casting, the practice of casting very famous people in small roles for movies, TV, or theater. Entertainment today has gone a bit cameo crazy, but Jen and Dave contend stunt casting can have as much chance of hurting a project as it does of helping it. And let's face it, for every time Bill Murray pops up in something uncredited, Winona Ryder's wearing a weird space robe and sticking out like a sore thumb.

          If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

          Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

          Show notes:

          • Follow Dave on Twitter and check out his podcast One Photo Reviews. And if you're in LA, see him on the UCB Harold team Mister Town City, come to his UCB Spank show He Gets It 6/19/13, and come check out our indie improv show, The Manifesto Show.
          • Cate Blanchett in Hot Fuzz
          • All of Stan Lee's cameos
          • Bill Murray in Get Smart
          • Theme song:

            Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

            1 hr 17 min
          • 53: Arrested Development

            Jacki Merchant returns this week to join Jen in dissecting the new season of Arrested Development and weigh in on how it compares to the original series. They go through the hits, the misses, the things that are just plain different about the Netflix version, and the things that (depending on your level of optimism) either didn't pay off or hinted at more to come. Of course, there are a bunch of spoilers since it would be impossible to talk about this new season's highly overlapping timeline without giving something away. Consider yourself warned!

            If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

            Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

            Show links:

            • Follow Jacki on Twitter
            • The AV Club article about about the correlation between the critical reception of Arrested Development and the Netflix stock fall on 5/28
            • The old and new seasons of Arrested Development are both on Netflix
            • NBC's Ed
            • Theme song:

              Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

              59 min
            • 52: One year anniversary!

              It's hard to believe this podcast has been going on for a year! Jen takes the anniversary as an opportunity to give some updates on topics from previous episodes and share some unaired clips. Plus she tells you where to find some fun promo videos for the podcast, because she's been doing them for a little while but hasn't mentioned them on the show itself. And who wouldn't want to watch a couple throw marshmallows at bowls tied to each other's heads in a living room replica of Double Dare?

              If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

              Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

              Show links:

              • You can follow PrePopCulture and Jen on Twitter and find the PrePopCulture video promos on YouTube.
              • Check out JJ Abrams' TED talk on his Mystery Box and his discussion of Star Trek on the Daily Show, plus Damon Lindelof telling Grantland about the Dark Tower optioning process
              • Check Arrested Development's official Twitter to find Bluth's Original Frozen Bananas
              • The East
              • Eternal Darkness sequel kickstarter
              • Come to the LA Indie Improv Festival on May 25!
              • Locke & Key
              • Michael Moorcock's advice on writing a book in three days
              • Patton Oswalt's Star Wars filibuster
              • Check out Out of Print and its YouTube channel
              • Steampunk Legos
              • Theme song:

                Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

                36 min
              • 51: LA Indie Improv Festival

                Casey Feigh (Crashbar) and Nick Mandernach (Room 101) return to discuss the upcoming 2nd Annual LA Indie Improv Festival. From where it all started in 2012, to the ways the festival has grown this year, to how the teams are selected and scheduled, these three give you an inside look at anything and everything you might want to know about this event. So take a listen, and come out to enjoy the LA Indie Improv Festival on May 25! Oh, and if you've got a line on any fruit punch SoBe Power, let Casey know. He's jonesing for it.

                If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                Show links:

                • Follow Casey and Nick on Twitter and check out their indie improv shows Crashbar and Room 101. You can also see them in UCB Harold team John Velvet and their hip hop improv group, Hip Hop Penguin.
                • Check out the LA Indie Improv Festival on 5/25/13! We're still taking volunteers and accepting donations. We're also doing a Cagematch fundraiser on 5/18/13!
                • The Manifesto Show is also still taking submissions until 5/19/13 for the 2nd Annual Manifesto Late Night Show on 5/24/13. Click the link for details on how to submit a team!
                • Theme song:

                  Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

                  42 min
                • 50: Steampunk

                  Scott Narver returns and Steve Sears comes by for the first time to discuss steampunk culture, a genre most commonly associated with the intersection of science fiction and the Victorian era. If it's steam-powered, mechanized, filled with automatons, and has zeppelins, odds are it falls under the steampunk purview, which Scott, Steve, and Jen are admittedly not experts on but are certainly interested by. But Steve does kinda have steampunk facial hair, so maybe he knows more than he initially let on…

                  If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                  Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                  Show notes:

                  • Check out Scott and Steve's podcast Curtain Jerks, their improv group Bro Squad 5 which you can see every Saturday at 9:30pm at the Saturday Night Main Event at Second City in LA, Scott's YouTube show Scott Vs Box, and Steve's forthcoming movie Dave Made A Maze. You can also follow Curtain Jerks, Scott Vs Box, Dave Made A Maze, and Steve on Twitter.
                  • Bob Bassett's steampunk accoutrements
                  • Bioshock Infinite
                  • The Boy with the Cuckoo-Clock Heart and the accompanying stop-motion animated music video
                  • Machinarium
                  • Jules Verne
                  • H.G. Wells
                  • Theme song:

                    Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

                    1 hr 15 min
                  • 49: Lifehacking

                    Stephen Perlstein returns this week to dissect lifehacking, which has the very broad definition of anything that solves a problem or increases productivity in everyday life. Lifehacking sites have everything from tips and tricks for around the house, to guides for tinkering and DIY projects, to app recommendations, to general life advice, to strategies for increasing efficiency. Basically, if there's a problem plaguing you big or small, odds are there's a lifehack for it. But if the term is so broad that it can basically mean anything, then does it really mean anything at all? Who knows, but at least Stephen's figured out how to stop accidentally washing his hair too many times.

                    If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                    Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                    Show links:

                    • Follow Stephen on Twitter and check out the Improv Obsession Podcast
                    • Lifehacker.com
                    • Lifehack.org
                    • The picture list of 99 lifehacks
                    • And if you're curious whether you're tying your shoes wrong, check out the TED talk Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes.
                    • Theme song:

                      Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

                      1 hr 8 min
                    • 48: Revival cinema

                      This week, Julia Marchese joins Jen to discuss revival cinema, the type of movie theater that has classic and special programming rather than first run films. Working at and loving the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, Julia is a veritable expert on revival cinema and has also been inspired to fight back against studios phasing out 35mm film prints by making her upcoming documentary, Out of Print. Julia shares thoughts on the importance of revival cinema to movies as a whole, what makes the New Beverly so special, plus cool tidbits about Out of Print. She also reveals what it's like to have Quentin Tarantino as your landlord.

                      If you're enjoying PrePopCulture, please rate/review it on iTunes, and like it on Facebook!

                      Want to suggest a topic for an episode? Email [email protected]!

                      Show notes:

                      Follow Julia on Twitter and stay tuned to the website for Out of Print for updates about the documentary!

                      If you're in Los Angeles, check out the New Beverly!

                      Butt-Numb-A-Thon

                      Theme song:

                      Alps by Motorama is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License.

                      54 min

                    About PrePopCulture

                    From the publisher's feed

                    PrePopCulture is a weekly one hour podcast in which my guests and I tackle all things pop culture. We'll chat about cool stuff that's under the radar, examine how things currently in pop culture got…