On the last episode of the year (possibly the last ever?) I return to the solo minisode format to talk about the plague of "common sense" which I think is seriously damaging our current political climate.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.

I've recently started messing around with VCV Rack (www.vcvrackcom) a virtual modular synth environment, so the time seemed right to have a chat to James Lissette. James has had a long history in Palmerston North music, and a lifelong fascination with modular synths. We chat about the history and principles of modular, all while listening to a generative patch on James's hardware modular setup.

NB: this episode is (unusually) in stereo - so may reward listening on nicer headphones than usual!

The thing about doing a show about problematic faves is that sometimes your own faves become problematic. Neil Gaiman is an author whose work has meant a lot to me at various times, and who now has (at time of writing) 5 credible accusations of historic sexual assault, detailed in the podcast "Master" (https://www.tortoisemedia.com/listen/master-the-allegations-against-neil-gaiman). On my first solo episode, I talk through my feelings about Gaiman, the similar case of Warren Ellis (https://www.somanyofus.com), how these issues arise, and what we do next.

Due to a confluence of factors, the early 00's saw a massive explosion of creativity in online comics. I talk to Karella, author of Midnight Pals (www.midnightpals.com) host of A Special Presentation, or Alf Will Not Be Seen Tonight (https://apple.co/3zACns8), and Person Cursed To Know About Sinfest, about all of this. We cover the general landscape and taxonomy of 00's online comics, the factors that led to their proliferation, and where they ended up going.

Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.

In the wake of JK Rowling's general personal awfulness, it's become fashionable to say that no part of the Harry Potter franchise ecosystem was ever good. But does any piece of genuinely unmitigated garbage get as big as Harry Potter did, and stay that big for as long? I read the books as they came out, and my assessment at the time was that the worst of them was "fine". This episode I talk to Catherine McNamara, a much deeper Potterhead than I ever was, to talk about the books, the fandom, the movies, and the challenges of reckoning with art made by a person who just keeps on getting worse and worse in real time.

In the grim darkness of the future, there is only war....

This episode I talk to Mira (@anarchoshanties.bsky.social) about the deep and convoluted lore and enduring appeal of the massive and endlessly complicated Warhammer 40,000. We talk chaos gods, a potted history of the Empire of Humanity, and how to deal with a hobby that attracts a disproportionate number of actual unironic Nazis.

Find Mira's games at: https://omnicide101.itch.io/

John Cecil (Zombie Beach) joins the show to discuss The Misfits, a band who answer the question "what if the Ramones were fronted by Elvis and sang almost exclusively about pulp horror?" We dig into the band's music and career, the creative and personal tensions at their core, and the continuing artistic career of their frontman Glen Danzig.

Find out more about Zombie Beach here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Zombie-Beach-100066448457570/?paipv=0&eav=AfbTkUYHWIuHwfmrGAI2WLVwOL7qiuBCv_gDA-MYiORbfqcW89xI55MQtJ_PEoVNV68&_rdr

A show about great trash, problematic faves, and difficult art hosted by Hugh Dingwall. Produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.

This episode I talk to my brother Angus about the (at the time) controversial game Spec Ops: The Line, which used a franchise reboot of an existing tactical shooter series to attempt a series of powerful critiques of the modern military shooter genre, player culpability in videogame violence, and war in general. Did it succeed? In a word, mostly. CW for discussions of graphic violence and spoilers for a videogame from 2012.

Way back when I talked to Stuart Drake (The Fatalities) about Sonic the Hedgehog, he said to get in touch if I ever wanted to talk Blink 182, and sure enough there is a new Blink 182 album out - so now seemed like the time. We chat about the band, their history as a (kind of fractious) group, their role in popularising pop punk as a genre, and the surprising level of vulnerability they bring to their songwriting.

Find The Fatalities at https://thefatalities.bandcamp.com/

AI (or something that goes by that name at least) is the current global tech fad du jour. People have cited it as the thing that will save/doom us all, a pointless waste of time, and a means of committing fraud and plagiarism with much greater speed and efficiency than ever before. Which of these assessments are true? Kind of all and none of them. Matthew Jenkin (who actually knows things about computers) joins the pod this week to discuss the whole field.