RetConned

Is there room for stop-motion animation in a world of computer-generated art? How is stop-motion animation staying relevant these days? We talk to the founder of Emmy-winning stop-motion studio Bix Pix Entertainment on this episode of RetConned.

Nintendo’s seventh foray into console gaming carries with it the nostalgia, simplicity, and fun of previous iterations. But this time bringing the console with you on your own adventures is as easy as making starting an adventure with Link or Mario. If you were looking for a system that carried the emotional gravity old hats normally associate with Nintendo, it might be better to look for a Nintendo Mini NES elsewhere.

He’s called “The Merc with a Mouth,” but these days, Deadpool is also a Golden Globe Award nominee. Perhaps the most excited person of all when it comes to Deadpool’s success is the character’s co-creator, Rob Liefeld, who has long been one of Deadpool’s biggest – and most vocal – fans. Having campaigned for a Deadpool movie for decades now, the writer and artist saw that persistence pay off with the film’s record-breaking run last year.

Doctor Who is the longest running science-fiction television series since its start in 1963. A cultural phenomenon, Doctor Who grabbed international attention after its reappearance on TV following a brief break from production in the 1990s. There have been a total of 12 actors who officially played the doctor and the series is showing no sign of stopping its run. On WAMC’s podcast, RetConned, the team talks with the editor of a new book on the psychology of the Doctor.

Brewery Ommegang, located just outside of the American home of baseball… Cooperstown, New York. It’s a Belgian brewery that started brewing ales in 1997. We talked to Phil Leinhart and Allison Capozza at the brewery in Cooperstown about what goes into making a Game of Thrones beer.

Released in 1991, Tecmo Super Bowl was the first sports video game officially licensed with the National Football League and the NFL Players Association. The game continues to this day, moving from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) to the internet. This week the team dives headfirst into the game to talk with the creator of TecmoBowl.org

Ashley J. Williams and the franchise that features him isn’t noted for gripping storytelling and political correctness but rather comedy and excruciating amount of blood. In this episode we explore diversity in the Starz television show, Ash vs Evil Dead with Ray Santiago and Michelle Hurd.

Could a history lecture be enhanced by allowing students to virtually experience a moment in time? Faculty at Williams College in western Massachusetts think so and WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Jim Levulis went to find out how they intend to do it.

On Thursday, Star Trek celebrated it’s 50th anniversary and all year long fans have been marking the occasion with various conventions, memorabilia, fan fiction, and even food. This week on RetConned, visit the final frontier when it comes to beer.

Arguably the most overlooked part of video game production exists in music and sound design. Some music makes you laugh, some makes you cry, some is weaved into the game itself through decisions made and some is the game itself. But just how did we get from the nostalgic computer sounds of yesteryear… to the sweeping orchestra scores of today?

Back in the 1970s, early video games had arrived. And although primitive by today’s standards, they gradually grew in complexity and scope – both in terms of gameplay and sound and music. Dr. Neil Lerner, a musicologist at Davidson College in North Carolina, recently spoke with WAMC’s Lucas Willard about the influences on the sound of early video games.