What Podcasts Does Engineernerd Listen To?

April 22, 2011 | By More


I typically only used to listen to podcasts when mowing the yard. I’m not part of the Apple cult, and was hit or miss with downloading new shows. All of that changed when I recently got a small FM transmitter for my phone. My original intention was to be able to listen to Pandora during my daily commute. However, I realized that the with 45 minutes each way, I had plenty of time for other stuff, as well. I downloaded the Google Listen App for my Android phone and tried out a bunch of podcasts. Some I’d listed to before, others were new favorites. Here’s a sampling of my favorites:

Open Your Toys Podcast:

The first episode I listened to of the “Open Your Toys” podcast was a little perplexing. It wasn’t a a lot of store reports or anything else I was expecting. What it was a passion toy collecting husband and his wife discussing recent toy news. Which is pretty cool. It seems like prepping content for TVFT and ToysAreCool.com takes a lot more of my time than it used to and I don’t have the extra time to investigate all the news for myself. For the Podcast Slick McFavorite and Mrs. McFavorite focus on the news from “four greatest action figure franchises of the 80’s and all time: Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe and Masters of the Universe.” I’m not much of Transformers or Masters of the Universe fan, but I can certainly appreciate them. Slick’s enthusiastic news reporting is followed with grab bag of material that could include cool links, sales, or audio reviews. A couple of notes about this show. It’s long. Most of the episodes I’ve listened to are in the hour and a half to two hour range. This is fine with me, just don’t expect it to be over at the end of your lunch hour. Second, I’d probably rate this show as TV-MA. There is some coarse language and adult situations from time to time. But, here’s how I view this. South Park while a cartoon, is obviously intended for adults. This toy podcast while about kids things is intended for the adult collector.

Star Wars Action News:

This is probably the first podcast I listened to with any regularity. SWAN focuses on Star Wars collecting and mainly on the Hasbro line, but is diverse in it’s other coverage, as well. Another husband and wife team, Arnie & Marjorie are joined by a regular group of reporters from all over. They include a number of store reports and sales in their coverage. Mixed in some episodes are book reviews and interviews with folks associated with the Star Wars universe. This podcast generally runs about an hour and is produced weekly. The humor is kept clean and I’ve never heard anything that you couldn’t listen to with your kids in the car. Supported by a fairly active fan forum, this is probably the best Star Wars specific collecting podcast. At least from what I’ve heard.

Movie Brain Rot:

Alright this podcast is neither a husband wife team or a toy collecting cast. Movie Brain Rot is cast produced by two guys who are movie fans. Instead of the usual main stream films, they focus on cult cinema and B movies. What’s not to love about that? Each week the two self proclaimed “geek enthusiasts” discuss a film and touch on movie news. They do have an unnatural obsession with Nicolas Cage, but it’s one of the charms of the show. When they spent a whole show discussing “Turkish Star Wars,” I knew they’d found a permanent home on my playlist. I will say I don’t always agree with their opinions, but they are not presented in a way that would make me turn them off, either. Again a bit of warning. This show I would rate in that TV-MA group. There’s a slight bit of language and adult situations. But it would be hard to discuss some of their chosen subject matter without it.

Marvelicious Toys:

I like comics, I do. I just don’t buy a lot of them, nor do I have a lot of time to read them. I do however love some of the figures and films based on them. The Marvelicious Toys Cast is produced by the same team as Star Action News, and tries to cover much of the same ground for Marvel toys as SWAN does for Star Wars. This time Arnie & Marjorie are joined by Justin for their discussions. The thing that is interesting to me about this one is that Arnie is just starting into Marvel collecting and Justin has been in it for some time. Justin’s expertise on Marvel Legends really let’s him shine. In addition to store reports and news, one of my favorite segments is the “Who the Heck is That?” This is where the history of an obscure Marvel character is delved into. Much like Star Wars Action News, this show is clean enough you could listen to while taking your Marvel collecting kids to soccer practice. My hidden guilt is that I love the outtakes after the end credits included on most episodes.

Distinguished Comic Book Podcast:

Just to prove I like comics, here’s one of my favorite podcasts on the list, the Distinguished Comic Book Podcast. This is a comic book podcast that is made by folks who love comics, comic art and even create their own. Each episode, Zack and Ben take an in depth look at a comic. Normally, it is a graphic novel. However, where most folks would expect the usual superhero suspects, these guys make an effort to introduce their listeners to things that are outside of the casual readers knowledge.  They really find some great books by some great artists. Once they review the main book, they each review what else they have read since the previous book. When I these guys are knowledgeable. Both work for Discount Comic Book Service here in my local area, who is also a sponsor of the show. I’d probably rate the show PG-13. While they review a wide variety of books in a very radio suitable way, some of the topics of the books they cover probably not quite suited for the toddler set.

Don’t Look In The Podcast:

Another movie related cast, Don’t Look In The Podcast is probably unlike most other podcasts that you have heard. It’s not really as much movie review as a celebration of the film they are looking at during the episode. Imagine if you went over to a friends house to watch and discuss a film in book club style. This is the audio equivalent. It’s like hanging out with buddies and talking about a film. Just like real conversations, this cast some times breaks down goes off topic, and eventually swings back around to film at hand. Each episode focuses on one film. Since some of the films the group discusses are R rated this cast probably isn’t for all ears. However, there’s no way you couldn’t not be amused by Zombie Farmer’s synopsis of the first part of these films.

Neanderthal Marketing:

I know this one seems out of place. And it probably is. However, Mrs. Nerd is one of the hosts of this one. Each episode, Traci and Mike look at how to “Rock Your Business Without Reinventing the Wheel.” I love a couple of things about this show. First, it breaks down marketing in a way that easy to understand. Which is important for people that need marketing for their business, but marketing isn’t their forte. Second, I love the insight it gives me into my wife’s world. So if you have a small business, give it a listen. I guarantee Mike and Traci will entertain and educate you.

What’s next?

Well, I’m not sure. With varied interests I’m always looking for new things to listen to. I have to give a special shout out to the Orcca Cast team. I’m adding you guys to my playlist this week to catch up on all your nerdy collecting and comic goodness.

Be Sociable, Share!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Category: Featured, Musings

About the Author ()

Comments (2)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Newt says:

    My mower’s too lound to really listen to podcasts. Maybe I need a bigger headset.

  2. Engineernerd says:

    I have ear buds, some shows I can hear some I can’t.