By Sean T. Collins & Stefan Sasse
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After talking about Dune in our Conversationalist-exclusive episode with Sean T. Collins, I’m returning once more to the rolling sands of Arrakis to take a deeper look at the material. After having an expert for movies and storytelling with me...
There are quite a lot stories about superheroes gone bad on offer right now. Amazon Prime alone offers two currently: Invincible, which is a pretty good cartoon series bogged down by some issues, and The Boys, which has some good...
In our second episode of the Kaiserreich series, we’re wading through blood and iron as the new nation state is formed in a series of unification wars. Follow us through Denmark, Bohemia and France towards Versailles. Why does the European...
Together with Aziz from History of Westeros I talk about the smattering of Fantasy and SciFi shows coming out in the final quarter of 2021. Foundation, Wheel of Time, The Witcher season 2, The Expanse season 6, The Expanse‘s final...
We are starting a new series on the history of the Kaiserreich! But before we can actually go into the history of German unification, we need to find out what the German Question is and why it took almost 60...
In the fourth and final part of our trilogy on the US presidents since FDR (don’t ask), Jim and I talk about presidential mythology and cults. From the New Deal to JFK, from “Morning in America” to “Yes we can”,...
Ten episodes ago, I gathered political operatives and consultants Marcus A. Roberts and Frank Spring and talked about the narratives of politics. Today, we continue in this vein, looking at the language used, the framings employed and the tropes weaponized...
In this epic final (?) instalment of our series on the American presidents, Jim and I end the Cold War with an assessment of George H. W. Bush, move over to the presidency of Bill Clinton and then try to...
In 1992, Westwood Studios created “Dune 2”, the first real time strategy game ever, spawning one of the most succesful genres ever. With “Command and Conquer” in 1995, they created one of the most succesful IPs of the era. At...
After we explored the role that magical creatures play in ASOIAF in episode 131, it’s time to look at other fantastical elements. From magical portals to telepathy, from blood sacrifice to Asshai and the Wall itself, we explore the role...
After covering FDR to LBJ in our first episode, this two-parter now comes to a close with our in-depth look at the remaining presidencies. It’s a juicy episode of almost 2 hours, so we cover a lot of ground and...
Do Snarks and Grumkins exist? Do Squishers? If they did, what would it mean? And what have the Brothers Grimm to do with it? Are direwolves monsters or animals? What’s the deal with the Others? And, most importantly, why are...
It has been a wild week. After all that casting news of “House of the Dragon”, the new bid-budget HBO show on the Dance of the Dragons, we not only got news about a Broadway theatrical play about the Tourney...
We take a break from German history to do some American history! Since it’s silly to do rankings of the American presidents, we are opting for a chronological approach. But we’re still grading them of a sort. Instead of fruitlessly...
It’s weird (and that’s a word you’ll hear a lot in this podcast), but it took me until the time between years to finally watch Twin Peaks. And the one question I have since then is captured best in the...
Sean and Gretchen reunite for a second two-hour deep dive into television’s storied recent past! This time, the Original Bad Boy and the Filthcore Queen tackle shows they didn’t touch on before or only touched on briefly. Beginning with a...
We’re talking about storytelling a lot here on the Boiled Leather Audio Hour, and on occasion, we analyzed how the Westerosi politicans are using story to drive their own machinations - or how stories ruin them. Turns out, both are...
We return to Weimar history one more time in order to draw lessons. What can we actually learn from its collapse? What ways were there to prevent it? Join the discussion, and please tell us where you want this particular...
It’s a Boiled Leather Audio Hour first! Sean’s flying solo in the captain’s chair for this episode, but he’s not alone—returning guest Gretchen Felker-Martin is here to talk about the New Golden Age of Television in all its glory. From...
It’s the last episode of the series, as we go through the presidential cabinets of Franz von Papen, Kurt von Schleicher and one Adolf Hitler. With the Reichstag burning and democracy left in the ashes, we leave the history of...
In this episode, we close off our series on the Teachers of Ice and Fire by having a closer look at Bran Stark. He is taught a little bit by his stern father before he takes off to King’s Landing,...
We’re back, and it’s the penultimate episode of our history of Weimar Germany. We cover the years 1928-1931, as the last democratic government forms just before the Great Depression starts in the US, taking down the world economy and the...
I won’t tell you whose teachers we’re talking about this episode, but at one point it’s a valuable comparison to ask ourselves what Obama could have learned from Avon and Stringer Bell. We’re also learning as we go and arrive...
We’re continuing our series, talking today about societal changes in Weimar. It’s a period caught between inertia and progress, pulled in different directions and inadequately equipped to sustain the strain. Download the episode! Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour. Torrent Our...
In this installment of our ongoing series on the Weimar Republic, Jim and I tackle the stabilization period between 1924 and 1928. We look at how a precarious balance establishes itself, why this balance comes to be and why it...
Teachers! Who likes them? Oftentimes, the influence of our tutors is overlooked and underappreciated. Not on this podcast, though! We’re taking a look at the different teachers that Sansa and Arya have and that shape their characters and world views....
We continue our journey through the history of Weimar Germany with a look at how democracies actually weather crises. In this case, the triple crisis of 1923 provides the blueprint. Why did the Republic survive this onslaught, when it would...
In the final episode in our series on the sample chapters, Sean and I tackle the much-hyped “The Forsaken”, Aeron Greyjoy’s first chapter of “The Winds of Winter”. No worries, we’ll do it in one podcast. As a side-note, I’ve...
I’m taken to school! To law school. Clint and Merry from the Learned Hands podcast join me to talk about the Sworn Sword. Why are we discussing the middle novella of the Hedge Knight trilogy? Reasons. Listen to the podcast...
We continue the talk about the Weimar Republic with the feverish combination of inflation fuelled economic growth, coups, counter-coups, the Versailles treaty and a lot of constitutional analysis! Download the episode! Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour. Torrent Our iTunes page....
It’s time to watch a Coen Brothers movie. Strap in, imagine George Clooney in viking armor, and let’s delve into TWOW, Victarion I. , Download the episode! Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour. Torrent Our iTunes page. Previous episodes. Podcast RSS...
In a dazzling new series, Jim McGeehin (of Wars of Ice and Fire fame) and I tackle the history of the Weimar Republic. In this issue, we talk about the end of World War I and the revolution that ensued,...
Tyrion II, you ask befuddled? Did I miss Tyrion I? You did not. For reasons we explain in this podast. Don’t worry, it will all become clear in a moment. But on to the topic! This episode is not about...
We’re on the home stretch! Today, in our series on the TWOW sample chapters, Sean and I look at not one but two Barristan chapters! Download the episode! Our Patreon page at patreon.com/boiledleatheraudiohour. Torrent Our iTunes page. Previous episodes. Podcast...
We’re taking a break from the usual light-hearted discussions like the one about atrocities and war crimes and go topical: amidst the Corona pandemic, we’re talking about plague and disease in Westeros and our own middle ages. You know, just...
When Tywin tried to legitimize the Red Wedding to Tyrion, he hyperbolically asked whether it was worse to kill a dozen at dinner than thousands in battle. Tyrion doesn’t have a good retort, so I turned to my trusted colleague...
Is there some foreshadowing going on? Will someone die? Is this “A Song of Ice and Fire”? We can answer all of these in affirmative as we take on “Arianne II”, chewing happily through our series analyzing all the preview...
We delve into Arianne I, the next on our list of sample chapters. It’s “A Game of Forebodings”, a chapter choke-full of predictions, prophecies, foreboding and foreshadowing. And it’s not even a Dany chapter! Rather, the point of reference is...
One of our beloved Patreons, going by the awe-inspiring alias of ABCD1234 (sorry, I can’t let a name like that stand without at least some sniping ;)) asked me a question about the financing of the Iron Bank and Marxist...
It’s been some time since the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, one of the most important TV series of our time, ended its four-season-run. Time enough to invite back Bret Devereaux, with whom I did a great episode on historical realism in...
Welcome back on our regular circuit, where we talk about all the published sample chapters! This time, we tackle Sansa’s first TWOW chapter, Alayne I. Tackling gives you the right idea, since it’s all about a tourney. Or is it? ...
It’s the time of second parters! After I came back to the long promised second episode about the Elections of Ice and Fire with Marcus A. Roberts, it was time to revisit the legal system of Planetos this month. No...
It’s our big day. Since 2011, we published 100 episodes proper of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour, aside from 38 Boiled Leather Audio Moments, 11 Boiled Leather Audio Conversations and 25 Boiled Leather Audio Popculture essays. Reason enough to take...
With the final movie of the sequel trilogy now out in theaters, Sean and I take a deep dive into “Rise of Skywalker”. It’s not really a spoiler to say we weren’t impressed, but unlike our vivid disagreements about the...
After we talked about the Night’s Watch, the Faith and the Citadel and their voting mechanisms in the last episode, we’re finally back to tackle other, even tornier election issues. How do the Great Councils of Westeros play out, if...
We’re on it again! After analyzing Theon I last month, we’re now taking an in-depth look at Mercy I. Will the roads of Braavos prove treacherous grounds? Will mercy in the end be delivered, or will all the whores and...
In a terribly clever title, I invite Clint Woods aka The Laws of Ice and Fire (see what I did there?) to talk about, well, the laws of ice and fire. We start slowly with the narrow and easily answered...
We’re finally doing it! No one asked for it, others have done it as well, but we’re undaunted by such trifles. The original dynamic duo is at it! We’re taking a deep look at the first released sample chapter, Theon...
I hope you’re all in for a bit into the very nichest of niches, as I draft my co-host Javi Marcos to talk about an obscure 1940s fantasy novel called “The Lord of the Rings”. It was a modest success...