The Incomparable Superfeed

Put on your summer best and board a ferry to New England’s hottest tourist destination! It’s time for us to discuss “Widow’s Bay,” a funny horror story about the mayor and other denizens of a cursed island. Of course there’s a creepy clown, and a slasher, and a dark secret that goes back centuries. Of course Stephen Root is wild-eyed! Once you visit Widow’s Bay, you’ll never want to leave… which is good, because you might not be able to.

"Widow's Bay"

Host Jason Snell with Annette Wierstra, Tony Sindelar, and Monty Ashley.

It’s time for the next spin on the genre wheel, as “Strange New worlds” lurches from horror to comedy. Dave Foley is a weird alien with a weird pleasure planet. There’s a thin strand of plot and a Star Trek take on “The Hangover.” Pike gets a lot of tattoos! There’s Klingon karaoke! Someone’s wearing a Mugato suit! Most importantly, Scotty and Ortegas learn to understand each other and Spock bonds with an imaginary—or is he?—Jim Kirk. Also, prompted by the last two weeks’ genre whipsaw, Scott and Jason have deep thoughts about what we like, why we like it, and how we process stuff that doesn’t fit in our definition of the thing we like.

Hosts Scott McNulty and Jason Snell.

Texas lightning? You gotta get inside when that happens. Oh, wait, it’s just the nickname of some con artist who claims to be a spy? Magnum wears a tuxedo and plays high-stakes poker? This episode forces Phil to introduce a very popular new segment, “That’s not how it works!” The segment recurs. A lot.

Hosts Jason Snell, Philip Michaels, and David J. Loehr.

Which detective is better, Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes? I mean it’s obviously Holmes but that won’t stop Jacob Haller discussing two genre defining stories, Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (1892).

Host John McCoy with Jacob Haller.

In the return of the choose-your-edition edition of Random Pursuit, we bring back the same players with their same chosen editions, but this time we make sure they get more questions from their chosen edition. This is helpful…to some players…

Random Pursuit LI

Hosts Erika Ensign and Steven Schapansky with Dan Moren, Jason Snell, Kirsten Goruk, Monty Ashley, and Shelly Brisbin.

Dan Moren -

Jason Snell -

Kirsten Goruk -

Monty Ashley remains really cool.

Shelly Brisbin -

In this episode, a nice ghost helps out, we learn the origin of the shard, and the party sleeps with the dead.

Keys from the Golden Vault - Shard of the Accursed, Part 4

Host Tony Sindelar with Annette Wierstra, Chip Sudderth, James Thomson, Kathy Campbell, and Monty Ashley.

Edited by Erika Ensign.

This week Dan is on assignment and John and Guy are left to fend for themselves. We’re back covering My Adventures with Superman and, hoo boy, does the Man of Steel get his metal tested in this set of episodes. After that we do a little Superhero Sweep and call it a day after not being able to remember anyone’s name.

Hosts Dan Moren, John Moltz, and Guy English.

Boo! It’s a spooky situation as Kirk, Spock, and La’an encounter a dead starship and face their worst fears. How did we, as non-horror fans, like the episode? That might be the scariest reveal of all.

Hosts Scott McNulty and Jason Snell.

Listener Joseph is unclear about where rafts fit into the whole boat hierarchy. We also toss some kayaks, canoes, and submarines into the water.

Hosts John Siracusa and Jason Snell.

Here is an early film by David Lean about a chance encounter at a train station that leads to complicated feelings for both parties. It’s “Brief Encounter.” Ceilia Johnson (ever heard of ‘er?) gives a nuanced, emotional performance. And the film is very real and down-to-earth, despite the intensity of the relationships depicted. It’s a love story, if you’re interested in genre things, but there’s plenty for cinephiles to appreciate as well.

Brief Encounter

Host Shelly Brisbin with Micheline Maynard and Annette Wierstra.

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