The EscapeGoat Podcast

This week... I'm not on the show! Which is a novelty. Instead, many-times-prior guests Matt and Isobel host, and discuss the innovative and eccentric Armenian-American metal band System of a Down, a topic very close to both their hearts.

They chat about their fervent fandom, youthful and not-so-youthful gig and album memories, and then spend a serious negotiation coming up with a joint 'Top 5' tracks of the band. A great enthusiastic discussion, whether you love SOAD or not!

0.00 General discussion and memories of System

0.40 Matt and Isobel's Top 5 System tracks

1.02 Other favourites/closing thoughts

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Matt can be found on YouTube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus'. He has previously appeared on several episodes of this show - including the very first one.

Isobel is a full time Nomad who travels from home to home, house-sitting and exploring new places. Her blog, house-sitting booking form, and online shop can be found here: https://www.thenomadlifestyle.co.uk/. She previously appeared on three episodes of the show, discussing aspects of the Star Trek franchise and the movie Happiness.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The music podcast mentioned by Isobel, No Dogs in Space, can be found here. Also, Marc Maron recently (April 2021) had Serj on his WTF show, it's a fun listen!

Cat returns to the show for the first of hopefully two episodes about her and David's respective favourites in the Legend of Zelda game series!

After about 30 mins of chat about their recent podcasting efforts, they get onto chatting about the stone-cold N64 classic, Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998). This includes digressions into fictional maps, orientalism, bisexuality, The Terminator and which tunic Adult Link looks hottest in. Enjoy!

0.00 General chat/making podcasts

0.30 Ocarina of Time

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Cat works in TV editing in Los Angeles. She is the co-host of The Anime Movie Podcast.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music in this and prior episodes recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

You might find these three pieces on Ocarina of Time interesting, by Tom Massey, Moses Vandenberg and L.I. Underhill respectively. This extended post/theory about the game's Temples is absolutely wild too.

Matt is my guest this week for our 30th episode, discussing his first impressions of Seasons 3 and 4 of The Sopranos (1999-2007, HBO), which he's watching for the first time. This follows on from our episode on the first two seasons last year.

N.B. This podcast contains no spoilers for The Sopranos beyond the end of Season 4, so if you've only seen that far, it's safe to listen! We do make references back to Seasons 1 and 2, as you might imagine.

0.00 Intro

0.08 Season 3

0.55 Season 4

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Matt can be found on YouTube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus'. He previously appeared on several episodes of this show - including our previous one on Sopranos Seasons 1 & 2.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The only Saturday Night Live sketch anyone ever needs to watch can be seen here. He was just THE best actor.

In this installment, I welcome Kit back to the show, to continue our deep dive on the BBC House of Cards series, with the middle part of the trilogy To Play The King (1993, BBC). Also featuring chat about Trump, The Justice League... and, if you stick around til after the credits... some UK politics. Who are we kidding... politics throughout. SPOILERS for House Of Cards and To Play The King. We make minor veiled references to The Final Cut, but spoiler-free we hope, as we'll be back for that. If you like this, I'd definitely recommend you check out Episode 21, where we both talk about House of Cards (1990) the first part of the trilogy, in equal depth. In fact, probably listen to that first, really. 0.00 Preamble and chat 0.34 The British Monarchy and us/To Play The King in general 1.02 Sarah/Elizabeth/Stamper 1.45 Mycroft/Chloe/The King/wrap-up 2.47 Epilogue

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! We are also now on Patreon. Do share and enjoy.

Kit Power lives in Milton Keynes and writes horror and dark crime fiction, with occasional forays into dystopian science fiction. His fiction work includes a novel, 'GodBomb!', and a novella collection 'Breaking Point', two short story collections ('A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power' and 'Voices') and novellas 'The Finite' and 'A Song For The End'. He also writes non-fiction (https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/my-life-in-horror.html with Volume 1 also available in book format) and has a limited hardback available on the subject of Ken Russell's movie Tommy. In his increasingly inaccurately labelled spare time, he podcasts - on his own show, Watching Robocop With Kit Power, What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? with George Lea, and a Patreon exclusive show on the Sherlock Holmes canon with the legendary Jack Graham. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit www.patreon.com/kitpower.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

If you want a bit more Richardson reading Machiavelli (and who wouldn't?), here's the YouTube excerpt we made use of - you can probably get the whole audiobook somewhere online. Oh, and last episode, we highlighted the Grey Poupon mustard ad from the 90s... there's also this.

This time, I am joined by the wonderful Colleen Cheetham-Gerrard to talk first (relatively briefly) about the WandaVision finale, which had just aired two days ago when we recorded this! Subsequently, we talk about a mutual passion - Doctor Who (1963-, BBC) and more specifically, the Matt Smith/Karen Gillan-starring Season 6 (2011)! Is it fantastic? Flawed? As usual, a bit of both? Listen on...

0.00 WandaVision

0.33 Doctor Who and us in general

0.49 Season 6 in detail

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Colleen Cheetham-Gerrard, despite the name, is not a Daily Telegraph columnist. Instead, she's a stand-up comedian and public speaker who can mostly be found on the London circuit (or these days on Zoom). Colleen is also a co-host for Strong Female Leads, a Standard Issue podcast focussing on nerd culture from a feminist perspective. You can find Colleen on @thecolleencg on Twitter and Instagram and Strong Female Leads is on Twitter @strfemaleleads, as well as in all the usual podcast locations."

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

We mention both Elizabeth Sandifer (and her vast TARDIS Eruditorum essay collection) and Jack Graham in this episode - you can find them both here: http://www.eruditorumpress.com/. This is the Andrew Blair piece from 2011 I mentioned https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-a-celebration-of-william-hartnell/ - Andrew has since written loads more for that site, as well as several other places, and can be found on Twitter on @freelance_liar.

Also, I found this on YouTube, from Doctor Who Confidential - remember that? It's arguably quite cute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBfQ6ppm8jQ

In this episode, Matt and Rich join me to talk about the slightly divisive 2003 album Radiohead album Hail to the Thief. We discuss what Radiohead mean and meant to us, where they were at in 2003, and the strengths and weaknesses of the album in question. Hope you enjoy!

0.00 General intro chat

0.16 Radiohead and our experience with them

0.47 Hail to the Thief specifically

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Matt can be found on YouTube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus'. He previously appeared on Episodes 1,4, 9, 15 and 17 of this podcast, where we discussed Zombies, South Park, All About Eve/Meet The Feebles, The Black Adder and The Sopranos respectively!

For more Rich, check out Episode 03, where Rich and I discussed Westerns (although not Deadwood!), Episode 08, where we discussed The Pixies, Episode 12, where we talked about the Road Runner cartoons with Dru, and Episode 14, where we chatted about Game of Thrones and Deadwood!

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The HttT review from the NME I read a bit from on the episode can be found here. An extensive interview with the band originally released as a bonus disc with the special edition of the album (I think) is on YouTube here.

New episode, featuring YouTube creator and author George Daniel Lea! After a fun time discussing everything from contemporary horror game Visage to puzzle game classic Lemmings 2 to The Chronicles of Narnia to the ITV sitcom Vicious... we finally (at the 1hr mark) get around to chatting about the main focus of the episode, the Mervyn Peake adaptation Gormenghast (2000, BBC). We talk about the show's amazing ensemble cast, its startling aesthetics, and its differences from Peake's very idiosyncratic books. Hope you enjoy!

0.00 General chat/intro

1.00 Gormenghast (2000)

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do share and enjoy. We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

George is a prolific YouTube creator, mostly on videogames, pop culture and literature, whose channel can be found here. His horror fiction and reviews can be discovered on his website Strange Playgrounds. He can be reached on Twitter on @EnigmaticElegy.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

As mentioned in the show, Gormenghast does not yet seem to be available to stream on BritBox, which is a shame, but can be purchased on DVD and BluRay, and it looks like it's currently up on YouTube for free - as is the 1980s BBC radio adaptation, for contrast!

As mentioned in the preamble, Michael Ward's book Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis (Oxford University Press, 2008) is well worth a read.

For this edition, I welcome back Nannina Gilder, to talk about another Rod Taylor movie (and another of my all time favourites!). We discuss The Time Machine (1960, George Pal) as well as our backgrounds with the Wells novella from 1895, sci-fi in general, and what little we can remember of the 2002 adaptation! Enjoy chat about Morlocks, Eloi, pre-Facebook Asimov internet message boards, offensive adventure fiction tropes and The Big Lebowski.

0.00 General chat/intro

0.24 The Time Machine as a story/our background with Sci-Fi

1.00 The Time Machine (1960)

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do share and enjoy. We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show!

Nannina is a screenwriter, who procrastinates at writing by going down deep research wormholes into alternate dimensions. She supports her writing habit by making coffee, and can be found on Twitter @NanninaGilder talking about early women filmmakers. She previously appeared on Episode 20, talking about Hitchcock's The Birds.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The Time Machine by H.G Wells can obviously be purchased from pretty much every bookseller in the world, although you might be harder pressed to pick up a copy of The Time Ships by Stephen Baxter (1995) although it's well worth it if you can! Also, this exists.

In this episode, John returns, to discuss one of his favourite shows with me, that being the cult British sitcom Spaced (1999-2001, Channel 4).

We talk about the choices Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg made in bringing the show to the screen, as well as the indelible signature of Edgar Wright as director, and what the other actors contribute to the whole mix. We then have a brief chat about the 'Cornetto Trilogy' of movies (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End), particularly what approaches they might continue from Spaced, and what they do differently.

0.00 Intro

0.06 Spaced/Season 1/Tim & Daisy

1.00 The other characters in Spaced/Season 2

1.52 The 'Cornetto Trilogy' and Spaced

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

John has been watching and talking about television comedy since people repeatedly started singing the theme tune to 1980s sitcom Dear John at him. He previously appeared on Episode 19, chatting about Inside No 9.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

Spaced is currently available to stream on both Netflix and BritBox. The BFI panel discussion from January 2020 from which we play a clip from can be found on YouTube, as can this fascinating cut scene from the finale, which I hadn't seen when we recorded, or I would definitely have mentioned it (I think they should have included it.) The mid-noughties 'reunion' doc Skip To The End featuring Hynes, Pegg, Wright and most of the other contributors to Spaced can be found on DailyMotion.

For the second part of a conversation either side of the US Election, I am joined this week by Tierney Hamilton, and also by my friends Megan and Sophie.

In the first half, we discuss events since the November election, and how Trump and Biden have played the situation. We also unavoidably discuss the storming of Capitol Hill by a pro-Trump mob on 6th January (we were recording on 9th January, so it's pretty fresh). We discuss the possibilities and benefits of impeachment.

In the second part we discuss the new shape of the Senate after Georgia, the likely politics of the Biden administration and some of his Cabinet picks (and Kamala Harris) and what the hell lies in store for the future of the Republican Party post-Trump... and the USA itself.

0.00 Intro/events since November/Capitol Hill

0.54 The Georgia Senate results/the future for the Democrats/the future for the Republicans

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are on Spotify, our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Tierney Hamilton (7 February 1812- 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. She created some of the world's best known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. If you want Alternative Facts... Tierney Hamilton is a dog person and PhD student in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester. Her research interests include Art and Technology, Expanded Cinema, Interactivity, Relational Aesthetics, Exhibitions and Public Engagement, and Arts Equity.

Megan is a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom who is retraining into accountancy in her free time. She's also an avid reader and crafter. She was born and raised in Indiana but has lived the past 17 years in the UK and Ireland. She currently resides in Ireland with her husband and kids.

Sophie is an artist and educator, originally from Manchester (UK) now living in Omaha, Nebraska.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

You can watch the Justice League Unlimited clip used in the middle of the episode on YouTube here: Seemed pertinent, and a good tie-in to our previous episode!