Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Patron Services

If you’re a big goofball, married to a goofball, are dating a goofball, or are friends with a goofball, I’ve got another podcast for you! Even if you’re not a goofball or don’t know one nearby, you’ll probably enjoy the podcast: Wonderful! 

If you remember my podcast reviews of The Adventure Zone, you’ll recognize the name, Griffin McElroy! Wonderful! is a podcast where Griffin and his wife, Rachel McElroy, talk about things that they find truly wonderful! Sometimes the topics are little things, like tiny syrup bottles from Cracker Barrel. Some topics are larger, like the Society for Creative Anachronism. 

They start each episode with “small wonders” and things they’ve thought about recently for a short discussion. As they discuss, they move on to bigger wonders that they go more in-depth with, sometimes talking about the topic's history or how the said topic came to be. Another lovely detail of Wonderful! is Rachel’s “Poetry Corner” when she brings up a poem that resonated with her and reads it to listeners. The episodes are about an hour long and so fun to listen to while cooking or cleaning throughout the day. With shutdowns resuming, it’s nice to have some charming voices to keep you company while gushing about fun silly things that make them happy.

I’ve listed various wonders mentioned in Wonderful! and a few poets that Rachel reads works from below! 

Some recent episode small wonders:

• Rachel ordering their Thanksgiving meals ahead of time.

• Griffin’s adventures in discovering ASMR to help his sleep issues. 

• Heating pads for aches and pains

• Sea glass

• Language development in children

• Backgammon

Some recent larger wonders and topics discussed:

• Flash mobs

• Snake reproduction

• Seafood boils

• Fencing

• LARP-ing (Live Action Roleplaying)

Poets Rachel has read from:

• Jacqueline Woodson

• Rita Dove

• Louise Glück

• Michael Palmer

Wonderful! can be found on the Maximum Fun Network or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast Review: Rusty Quill

 

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Patron Services

There really is nothing like settling in to do some work and turning on a podcast to keep you company, especially when you’re teleworking during a pandemic. One of the things I miss most about the office is being able to spin around in my swivel chair and crack a truly terrible pun at my coworker behind me. Unfortunately, times have changed considerably and as an at-risk asthmatic, I’m only able to slightly turn at my dining table and test my jokes out on my cats.  Compare some sleepy kitten eyes slowly blinking at me to the raucous laughter of a well-timed joke. Definitely not the same response.

Enter: Rusty Quill Gaming, a podcast where five friends sit around a table and play a Pathfinder campaign. Much like another podcast review of “The Adventure Zone,” it’s a fun excuse for friends to be silly, roleplay various characters, and act out a story together. However, unlike The Adventure Zone, this podcast is clean and kid-friendly! Also unlike the Zone, these folks are English, so you can expect plenty of jokes about Brexit and Tory Britain that might soar over your little ones’ heads, yet can still provide you with some sensible chuckles! 

Join Ben Meredith, Bryn Monroe, Alexander J Newell, Lydia Nicholas, and James Ross for the prologue and first season of Rusty Quill Gaming where they adventure around 19th century London, Paris, and Prague. While I won’t spoil anything, there are certainly more places they’ll visit together!

Ben Meredith plays an aggressive, no-nonsense, trident-wielding Dwarven Cleric that has hinted at the experience with piracy on the high seas. Bryn Monroe plays a reserved and personable Egyptian halfling sorcerer and son of a wealthy banking family based in Cairo. Lydia Nicholas plays a socially awkward human rogue named Sasha Rackett with a pessimistic outlook that can be traced to her rougher upbringing. James Ross plays Sir Bertrand (Bertie) MacGuffingham, a boisterous, pompous, wealthy human fighter that might be struggling under a mountain of magical debt. Alexander Newell is the dungeon master of this particular game, and he has no qualms about causing more problems for the players or killing off characters. 

Rusty Quill Gaming can be found on Itunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Podcast Review: TMA

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Patron Services

A long somber violin tune greets your ears and a low Londoner’s voice whispers “Rusty Quill Presents...The Magnus Archives.” This eerie welcome brings you into each episode of The Magnus Archives. If you start at the beginning of the series, it starts out as twenty-minute tales of horror that have been submitted to the fictional Magnus Institute in the form of statements. Most episodes are recorded by Jonathan Sims, the head archivist at the institute. 

I discovered The Magnus Archives after seeing a great deal of content on a social media platform I frequent. It was mostly fanart, but I was intrigued and added it to my Google Play podcasts. There it sat, for several months while I readily ignored it in favor of Ologies and The Adventure Zone. It was like having a pile of books next to my bed waiting to be read and consumed, but I had to be in just the right mood to be able to get to it. This is a podcast that you need to devote some attention to in order to be able to absorb the creeping dread.

I’ve never been a fan of horror; I didn’t really understand the appeal of jumpscares and gore. This podcast offers neither, instead relying on the slow torture of Sims’ voice not so much reading the statements as performing them. That isn’t to say that his voice itself is torture - quite the opposite! He’s excellent at evoking the feelings that the fictional writer might have and the editing and soundscaping only add to the excitement. Ambient sounds and slow, creeping instrumentals are played in the background at pivotal points during a statement or episode. Because Sims is recording in his fictional office at the archives, occasionally he’s visited by another voice, usually, a coworker butting in or an individual making a statement in person.

As the podcast proceeds, you begin to discover a pattern in certain statements and the world is slowly built through these short recordings. You learn to recognize the voices of Sims’ coworkers: Tim, Martin, Sasha, and their boss, Elias. What started out as some enjoyable eerie tales to listen to while working, became much more exciting than I was aware of with an overarching plot spanning several seasons. 

As of right now, it has spanned 160 statement and plot-driven episodes, with some Q&A following each season and a few tabletop gaming episodes as well. The Magnus Archives can be found on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Podcast Review: The Adventure Zone (pt. 3, final)

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Administrative Assistant

Part Three: The Adventure Continues!

The Adventure Zone has now begun its next great campaign, with a new ruler of the world: Travis. Travis has taken over the role of Dungeon Master or DM for their latest great project: Graduation. Graduation takes place at Hieronymous Wiggenstaff's School for Heroism and Villainy where Griffin, Justin, and Clint play as Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt, a yet unnamed firbolg, and Argo Keane. The McElroys play as individuals who weren’t qualified to be Heroes or Villains, but were good enough to train as sidekicks or henchmen. The three start their story as roommates at this school and are steadily introduced to their peers and courses. There doesn’t seem to be a definite goal as of yet, but Travis has created intrigue at every turn to keep listeners wondering at his next moves. It’s important to note that Travis places a heavy focus on exposition and a significant amount of introduced non-player characters which may make it confusing listening to the first time around. While I’m not completely sold on this campaign, I’m hopeful and excited to see how it progresses in the coming months. 

The McElroy family is also prone to conduct live shows all over the country and has created smaller arcs and bonus episodes such as (K)nights, Elementary, Fur, Hootenanny, Inheritance (Dadlands), and even a Holiday Brawl episode. While their main focus has always been a comedy, there are plenty of heartwarming moments in each main campaign that makes you fall in love with their characters and growth. It’s easy to see how this hit podcast gained traction with so many listeners and has also been adapted as a graphic novel, tabletop board game, and is now undergoing development as an animated series. As someone who had only started listening to the podcast in 2018, it’s been great fun catching up on the backlog of episodes and listening to the story grow and change with the McElroys themselves!

The Adventure Zone can be found on the Maximum Fun Network or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Click here to listen: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/adventure-zone/

Podcast Review: The Adventure Zone (pt. 2)

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Administrative Assistant

Part Two: Finding their Footing in Amnesty

With a touching ending to the Balance campaign, the McElroys needed to find something else to appeal to their audiences and fill the void. Unfortunately, it was difficult for them to decide how to proceed with so many tabletop gaming options out there for them to test their tales on. After sampling a few test runs with mini-arcs for the campaigns of Amnesty, Commitment, and Dust, they decided to loop back around and build on the groundwork of Amnesty. Much like the Balance campaign, Griffin has returned to compose more music for the family’s adventures and has all of his original music posted online via his Bandcamp. The Amnesty campaign begins in 2018 with Travis, Justin, and Clint creating characters through a game design known as Monster of the Week which utilizes the game engine from Powered by the Apocalypse. All that to say, moves are decided with two standard D6 dice; a much simpler system than D&D. This campaign, run by Griffin, takes place in a small town named Amnesty in West Virginia. The campaign centers on three player characters: Aubrey Little, Duck Newton, and Ned Chicane, played by Travis, Justin, and Clint respectively. With similar humor and love, Griffin crafts a Twin Peaks meets X-Files tale of two connected worlds, cryptids disguised as humans, and an alien force that is out to destroy the peace that was so difficult to create, to begin with. 

The Amnesty campaign, despite only lasting thirty-six episodes, takes on a much more serious tone than Balance but still incorporates a lot of the childish humor and boyish charm that the McElroys have made their brand. 

The Adventure Zone can be found on the Maximum Fun Network or wherever you get your podcasts. Look out for the next article on this rowdy family and their subsequent Dungeons and Dragons campaigns!

Click here to listen: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/adventure-zone/

Podcast Review: Adventure Zone (pt. 1)

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Administrative Assistant

Part One: Introduction and the Balance Campaign

What starts off as a goofy game of Dungeons and Dragons between three brothers and their dad ends in tears as Griffin, the youngest brother, weaves an incredible tale full of laughter and love. Griffin, Travis, and Justin McElroy are three brothers from Huntington, West Virginia that decided to embark on a Dungeons and Dragons campaign to expand their repertoire. The McElroys already had a multitude of podcasts including Sawbones, The Besties, and My Brother, My Brother, and Me. The Adventure Zone began in 2014 with these three brothers and their father, Clint McElroy, setting up their characters and meeting in a tavern for their first mission. The family embarks with these newly created characters and a few unusually named NPCs, or non-player characters, to join them. (One such NPC is named ‘Barry Bluejeans’ by Griffin after Justin and Travis both snipe at him for trying to create unusual fantasy names to match the setting). 

The Adventure Zone has been running a similar set up since 2014, but there have been several different story arcs and methods of gameplay that the McElroys employ for the podcast. The first campaign, Balance, appeals to those fans of traditional D&D fantasy although Griffin manages to squeeze in a little bit of science-fiction for some extra flavor. The campaign is built on the 5th edition of D&D mechanics, but a late arc named The Stolen Century is played with a Powered by the Apocalypse engine which is a simpler system. While the McElroys struggle a bit with game math and mechanics, they always manage to use their critical successes and failures to aid in building the story. The Balance campaign is broken up into eight arcs and each arc has the three heroes, Taako, Magnus, and Merle searching for a magical relic for an organization known to them as the Bureau of Balance. Balance takes them through caves, trains, and automobile races as well as crystal caverns, towns that repeat an hour nonstop, and even a challenging wheel of sacrifices. 

The campaign itself runs for sixty-nine episodes and is clever, emotional, and a little bit unsafe for work at times with ribald jests and blue humor. Another fun thing to note is that starting with the fourth campaign arc, The Crystal Kingdom, Griffin McElroy begins composing music to add more drama and ambiance to the show. 

The Adventure Zone can be found on the Maximum Fun Network or wherever you get your podcasts. Look out for the next article on this rowdy family and their subsequent Dungeons and Dragons campaigns!

Click here to listen: https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/adventure-zone/

Podcast Review: Ologies

Podcast Review

Contributed by Taryn Tranby, Administrative Assistant

Ologies, hosted by Alie Ward, is an energetic podcast that focuses on the world around us by compartmentalizing various fields of study into individual episodes. Beginning in 2017 with the pilot episode focusing on Volcanoes (Volcanology), Alie Ward has continued on to other topics such as Paleontology, Herpetology, Dendrology, Thermophysiology, and many more! If you don’t mind some minor vulgarity in the realm of swearing and in-depth questions on the procreation of slugs, this is definitely the podcast for you. One of the excellent aspects of this particular podcast is that there is no designated listening order. The episodes aren’t chronological and you can pick up on whatever episode sounds the most interesting to you. (However, to be fair, even the episodes I thought unappealing have kept me enthralled the whole way through)!


Each week, Ward bombards a different specialist with questions about their current position, their career path, and their studies. Thanks to Patreon contributors, Ward also asks a series of rapid-fire listener questions and adds whether or not they were popular questions. She starts the podcast with an introduction to the title topic as well as the etymology of the word itself. (Etymology is also one of the episodes). As Ward introduces her guest, she explains the show set up to them and begins asking about the guest’s career path, what they’re currently working on, and various questions about the subject at hand. Ward is also excellent in adding asides after each complicated concept that’s introduced to make it easier for listeners to understand and follow along. At the end of each interview, Ward asks the guest what their favorite and least favorite aspects of their job are. (Be sure to listen through all of the ‘Thank Yous’ at the conclusion because each week, Ward divulges a secret)!


Alie Ward is currently a science correspondent for Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca, a host on ‘Food: Fact or Fiction’ on the Cooking Channel, and a volunteer at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.


Ologies can be found on Itunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.