The Wonderful World of Podcasts or What I Do On My Daily Commute To Work

I do like a good podcast, they are singularly responsible for getting me back into my geek groove after a number of years in the wilderness. After reading a blog post on the SFX site recommending the Geek Syndicate podcast I thought what the hell and gave it a go and the rest is history, well to me anyway. So I thought I’d post up a quick list of some of my favourite podcasts and if you’re reading this and don’t listen go on give them a go you’ll be pleasantly surprised and you never know what it could lead to. So in no particular order I present -

Geek Syndicate

The big daddy of UK geek podcasting, join hosts Barry and Dave as they take a weekly look at the murky underbelly of geekdom. This is the podcast that kicked it all off for me, it got me back into reading comics and rekindled my love for all things geek. Host’s Barry and Dave have been friends since childhood, their warmth, friendship and love of the genre permeates every episode. Get your geek on ninja’s!!!!!

http://geeksyndicate.wordpress.com/category/gs-podcast-network/geek-syndicate-gsn/

Everything Comes Back to 2000ad

Flint and Rich are without doubt the bad boy’s of my podcasting choices, foul mouthed and straight talking this one is not for the easily offended. As you can gather from the name it’s all about 2000ad the weekly British anthology comic, in each episode the boys take an in-depth and acerbic look at the latest Progs (or issues to the uninitiated). Again this was a bit of a watershed moment for me when I first started listening to Geek Syndicate, Rich and Flint where starting out with this podcast so I listened, enjoyed and then started picking up the Prog. I am now a fully paid up 2000ad subscriber and what can only be described as a 2000ad fan boy.

http://2000ad.wordpress.com/category/podcast/

The Sidekick Cast

Broadcast from the danger room in the depths of Cardiff comes the Sidekick Cast. Join host’s Gavin and Dan as they take an in depth look at the world of comics and review the latest releases in Stack Attack, then listen in awe at Dan’s deductive skills in the comics news quiz with a twist that is Secrets and Lies. This is without a doubt my favourite podcast and I make no apologies for the ass kissing which is about to come. I love this podcast, I have gone back and listened to all the back catalogue and can quite confidently say I am more than a little obsessed by it. Host’s Gavin and Dan, as well as guest Sidekicks, have a genuine and undeniable love for comics and as much as they bluster and cover it up they know their stuff. In a word BRILLIANT. There fan boy rant over dudes, so check it out yo!!

http://www.sidekickcomicsuk.com/blogs/blog5.php

Dissecting Worlds

So we come to the disagreeing duo (their words not mine). If Dissecting Worlds were a Radio station it would be Radio 4. Relatively new to the podcasting  world, they’ve been going now for a little over a year now, Dissecting Worlds takes an in depth look at the social science of science fiction. Which simply put means they pick an over arcing topic for a series for example The Military and then in each episode they talk the hell out of the subject. For the Military series they have discussed amongst others Temeraire, Space Marines, Lord of the Rings and Battlestar Galactica. It is unashamedly intelligent and informative, the host’s Kehaar and Matt are producing what is quickly turning into a must listen podcast. Although they do seem a little obsessed by the Romans, but what exactly did they do for us? Take a listen and find out.

http://geeksyndicate.wordpress.com/category/gs-podcast-network/dissecting-worlds/

British Invaders

I can’t really remember how I stumbled over this little gem of a podcast but I am really glad that I did. British Invaders is a podcast all about British Science Fiction television. In what is a simple idea, host’s Brian (from Canada) and Eamonn take a British Sci Fi show, watch it and discuss it. But what they do with a simple idea they do really well. Each Sci Fi show they pick is split over two half hour episodes in which they discuss such things as story lines, production details, if they recommend the show for a watch and where you can actually get hold of said show. If you like your Sci Fi TV this podcast is an absolute corker of a listen.

http://britishinvaders.com/

Honourable mentions also need to be made for the following podcasts Comic Racks, Small Press Big Mouth, Scrolls, Comic Book Outsiders, MOMBcast and Waiting for the Trade.

I could go on and on about podcast’s but I won’t, suffice to say that they are a great way to keep up to date with what’s going on in the world of geek and pick up recommendations for stuff that would normally be off your radar. But the really impressive thing about podcasts is that all these people do all this for free and for the love of the genre. So if you’ve never listened to a podcast or any of my recommendations please give them a go and perhaps almost as importantly as listening, if you enjoyed it please let them know. I know they would all appreciate the feedback.