Podcast

Apr 242012
 
Play

Every spring, the indigenous nerd population of Long Island flocks to the Suffolk County campus of Stony Brook University for I-Con, a geeky gathering that has very little to do with endocrinology. Here, some engage in rituals known as “panels,” each with its own topic, in which panelists and audience members sometimes compete fiercely for dominance. Some take part in a display of plumage known as “cosplay,” in which they dress as characters from a movie, video game or TV show that they enjoy, possibly in order to attract a mate. Rare and exotic creatures known as “guests” move silently among the con-goers, sometimes pausing gracefully to sign autographs or give interviews. Finally, there is the dealer floor, a social gathering place where merchants build elaborate nests with the shiniest implements they can find. Join the guys in The Rag-NERD-rok Crew for an exciting glimpse at nerds in their natural habitat: I-Con!

(Get to the part of the show notes where I drop this ridiculous conceit after the break!)

Continue reading »

Mar 272012
 
Play

In the twentieth episode of Rag-NERD-rok, Ryan, Ed, Meyer and Alex take a look at several different sub-genres of horror in order to break down and analyze what exactly makes each so scary. After the break, the boys indulge Ryan with another one of his Rag-NERD-libs, and the entire crew responds to some listener voicemails/email. If you’ve ever mussed your unmentionables in terror at the prospect of being chased through the woods by a knife-wielding psychopath, having your flesh transformed into a living VCR, learning how truly insignificant man is in the scheme of things, or biting your nails in anticipation at the barbed conversation of a cannibalistic genius, then this episode is just what you’ve been looking for!

(Show Notes after the break.)

Continue reading »

Feb 282012
 
Play

In the nail-biting conclusion to our four-part geek history retrospective, Meyer gives us the lowdown on Star Wars, Erik discusses the contributions of Shigeru Miyamoto to the world of video games, Ryan drones on and on about the works of horror novelist Stephen King, and Alex pontificates on Dungeons and Dragons. After the break, we try out a new segment in which we keep it brief by imposing a ten word limit on our barbed opinions. Then, a sketch! It’s one heck of a gosh-darn good time, trust me!

(Show notes after the break.)

Continue reading »

Feb 142012
 
Play

Part three of our four-part nerd culture retrospective brings us into the time of UFOs, shirtless starship captains, questing hobbits and dashing British spies. After the break, we discuss a few changes that we’re planning to make to our update schedule, and we each pitch an idea for a role-playing scenario that you get to vote for! Finally, we have the long-awaited debut of EDSKETCH, the scariest mother-frakking piece of audio in the history of anything, ever.

(Show notes after the break.)

Continue reading »

Jan 312012
 
Play

This week’s episode of Rag-NERD-rok is a continuation of the discussion we began last week covering geek culture in The 20th Century. We’ll talk about the rise of “The Big Three” of sci-fi, Orson Wellesinfamous War of the Worlds broadcast, Universal Studios’ iconic horror films of the 1930s and ’40s, Walt Disney’s early work, and The Golden Age of comic books. After the break, we conduct an off-the-cuff Will interview, plumbing the depths of his psyche with the most random questions we can conceive of.

(Show notes after the break.)

Continue reading »