A collection of podcasts exploring the culture in pop culture. Our shows range from the general (flagship show The Chronic Rift) to the specific (The Batcave Podcast). We look at literature (Dead Kitchen Radio), movies (The Weekly Podioplex), family (Generations Geek), gaming (The Cardboard Jungle), and more.

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Syndication

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We're back to producing new episodes.  Be prepared to see a flood of them as we try to catch up with our promise to produce 52 episodes this year.  We start with a panel on the cult TV show Quantum Leap.  This panel was recorded as part of the American SciFi Classics track at DragonCon 2014.  Keith DeCandido and Michael Falkner were among the panelists.  The panel celebrated the 25th anniversary of the series.

The panelists include:

 

 

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Quantum_Leap.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 5:19am EDT
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We continue with our quest to bring you 52 new episodes of the Rift for the year 2015.  This time around, Keith sits with this panel from the DragonCon British Media Track.  The topic is a Doctor Who Q&A.  Any and all questions were taken and some form of answer was given.

The panelists include:

 

 

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Doctor_Who_QandAt.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 8:54pm EDT
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A new year brings with it a new round of Chronic Rift episodes.  Our resolution to you is to present at least 52 episodes of the podcast in 2015.  To start things off, here is the first in a series of Roundtable episodes from DragonCon 2014.  John, Keith, and Mike attended the con this year and participated in a number of panels.  We begin with a look at the 40th anniversary of the NBC Saturday morning show, Land of the Lost.  It's time for Chaka, and Sleestaks, and colored crystals and Marshall, Will and Holly.  Strap in and hold on as the rapids take us a thousand feet below.

The panelists include:

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Land_of_the_Lost.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 11:48am EDT
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Keith participated in a panel discussion at Dragon Con 2013 on writing for anthologies.  The panel consists of writers and editors who have extensive experience in writing short works.  They discuss the making of anthologies and what an editor is looking for when one is submitting a short work to an anthology collection.

The panelists include:

 

 

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Writing_for_Anthologies.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 7:27am EDT
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Keith participated in a panel discussion at Houseing Works Book Store and Cafe this past February on Media Tie-Ins.

The panelists include:

 

 

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Writing_Media_Tie-Ins.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 12:07pm EDT
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We pick up our look at the various panels from Dragon Con 2013 that Keith, John, and Michael Falkner participated in with a panel that Keith led on strong female characters in science fiction.  At least, that's what the title of the panel was, but the panelists's writing ranged in terms of genre, which brought out a richer conversation.

 

 

 

 

The panelists include:

 

 

 


Show Links

 

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Strong_Female_Characters.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 4:43pm EDT
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We continue our series of recorded panels from this year's Dragon Con with one that Keith participated in.  From the American Sci-Fi Classics track, this panel took a look at the genre movies and television of 1983.  If you would like to learn more about Dragon Con, check out the link below in these show notes.


The panelists include:


Show Links

Direct download: Roundtable_-_1983_Geek-A-Mania_in_TV_and_Movies.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 8:19pm EDT
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The Chronic Rift Roundtable: Dragon Con 2013 - The Snack Counter: Medium or Large - The Genre Movies of 2013

This past August, John, Michael, and Keith attended Dragon Con in Atlanta, Georgia.  For four days, the three participated in a series of panels with fans and pros alike.  They recorded these panels and we present them to you as Roundtable episodes.  We begin this year's panel collection with Michael Falkner.  The Snack Counter: Medium or Large - The Genre Movies of 2013 was part of the American Science Fiction and Fantasy Track of programming at Dragon Con.  In the panel, Michael and several others from various media outlets discussed the summer movie season of 2013, the good and the bad.  If you would like to learn more about Dragon Con, check out the link below in these show notes.

 

The panelists include:


Show Links

Direct download: Roundtable_-_Dragon_Con_2013_Summer_Movies.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 3:13pm EDT
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As we near the 30th anniversary of the release of Ghostbusters, John puts together a Roundtable discussion on the phenomenon.  They discuss the movies, the animated series, the comics, and the proposed third movie.  Joining John is unabashed Ghostbusters fan Jay Smith and The Real Ghostbusters writer, Marc Scott Zicree.

Please comment on this episode by visiting our website - http://www.chronicrift.com, writing john@chronicrift.com, or calling 888-866-9010.

 



Marc Scott Zicree’s landmark book THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION has been credited with creating the modern genre of books on TV series and inspiring a generation of series creators and filmmakers. The COMPANION was an instant bestseller (over a half million copies to date) and named in 2006 by the New York Times one of “ten science fiction books for the ages,” the only non-fiction book on the list.

Zicree is an alumnus of the Clarion Writers Workshop, the most esteemed science fiction writing workshop in the country. Graduating UCLA, he went on to a successful career as a writer-producer in film and TV, serving on staff on such shows as SLIDERS, THE LAZARUS MAN, FRIDAY THE 13th – THE SERIES and BEYOND REALITY. He has sold over 100 teleplays, screenplays and pilots to every major studio and network, including landmark stories for such shows as STAR TREK– THE NEXT GENERATION, DEEP SPACE NINE, THE NEW TWILIGHT ZONE, BABYLON 5, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, FOREVER KNIGHT, SLIDERS, LIBERTY’S KIDS, SUPERFRIENDS, HE-MAN, REAL GHOSTBUSTERS and SMURFS. He’s written about his odd family in features and pilots for CBS, NBC and Showtime.

Zicree is regarded as one of the country’s top media experts and has been interviewed by hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio shows, including THE TODAY SHOW, AMERICAN MASTERS, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, E! TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY, WASHINGTON POST, NEW YORK TIMES and L.A. TIMES. Beyond his three-year stint as a commentator on NPR’s MORNING EDITION he is a regular guest on COAST TO COAST, one of the country’s top rated night-time radio shows.

In addition, Zicree is a lauded novelist with the bestselling MAGIC TIME trilogy, published by HarperCollins and Blackstone Audio.

Zicree has lectured at many colleges, professional conferences and museums in America, Europe and Asia, including USC, UCLA, Stanford and Ithaca, where he was a keynote speaker.

Over the last decade with his wife Elaine, he has taught classes for thousands of writers, directors, actors and producers, guiding them to successful careers in film, TV and books. Their classes have been glowingly reported on by such magazines as WRITTEN BY, SCRIPT and CREATIVE SCREENWRITING, and the Writers Store named their DVD on How To Sell a TV Series one of “ten essentials for a screenwriting career.” Beyond this, Zicree is founder and for the last nineteen years has run The Table, which has provided resources and a supportive community to thousands of Industry professionals both in Hollywood and around the world. (The documentary on the Table just won the Best Documentary Award at the SoCal Film Festival.)

One of Zicree’s recent credits is STAR TREK “World Enough and Time” starring George Takei, which he co-wrote, directed and executive produced. The episode won the TV GUIDE Award – beating NBC Universal’s BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – and was nominated for science fiction’s top two prizes, the 2008 Hugo and Nebula Awards. Zicree has also been nominated for the American Book Award, Humanitas Prize and Diane Thomas Award, and has won the prestigious Hamptons Prize and 2011 Rondo and Saturn Awards.

Most recently Zicree has completed LOVE, GLORIA, a memoir about his mother, collaborated with director Guillermo del Toro on GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES for Palace Press, worked on LOST MARS, a TV miniseries project with science fiction legend Ray Bradbury, teamed with producer Gabe Sachs (FREAKS AND GEEKS, JUST SHOOT ME, DIARY OF A WIMPY KID) on the TV series version of MAGIC TIME, and written and will be directing the upcoming science fiction feature FUGITIVE SPACE, produced by Chris Wyatt (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE). He is currently working on THE SECRET SCIENCE FICTION TV PROJECT with Oscar and Emmy winner Doug Drexler and producer Neil Johnson.

Jay Smith is a six foot tall ape-descendant and a man Harlan Ellison once called "a great scam-man liar or a born writer." Because of this, you must decide for yourself what, if any, of the following information is true.

Jay is the author of the stoner/gamer novel RISE OF THE MONKEY LORD called "Masterful", "Amazing", "A Natural Twenty", "The Stuff of Every Geek's Dreams" and "Incredible Fun" by several readers who were in no way coerced or related to the author. He is also responsible for the series of "aggressive vignettes" called BLUE COLLAR GODS. Jay also possesses his own weight in rejection slips.

In his spare time, Jay collects action figures, reads to his children (sometimes against their will) and writes audio drama scripts, including the un-produced space-western "Blackjack Masterson: Space Marshal" and the zombie apocalypse radio soap opera "HG World". His experimental soundscape program “The Delano Rose” remains popular with the hard-to-please and highly-specified “joker and toker” demographic, according to some guy who smelled like he might be on The Pot.

Jay's dream is to write the novelization of the upcoming Ghostbusters 3 motion picture.  Or cure cancer. Yeah, curing cancer would be awesome.  Jay’s website of projects, daydreams and products for sale is: www.3015north.com.  Jay’s web-log is the memorable and convenient livejournal account “dr_p_venkman”.

 

Direct download: Roundtable-Ghostbusters.mp3
Category:The Chronic Rift Roundtable -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT
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John and Keith chat with author Jeff Mariotte and media tie-in fan Steve Roby about this particular subgenre.  Is it legitimate?  Is it your gateway to mainstream literature?  Is it unfair to look at it as not original?  Make sure you rate the episode at the bottom of this entry and comment on it - here.

 

 

 JEFF MARIOTTE is the award-winning writer of more than thirty novels, including Missing White Girl, River Runs Red and Cold Black Hearts (all as Jeffrey J. Mariotte), horror epic The Slab, teen horror quartet Witch Season, CSI: Miami—Right to Die, and more, as well as dozens of comic books. He’s a co-owner of specialty bookstore Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, and lives in southeastern Arizona on the Flying M Ranch.  Keep tabs on Jeff's comings and going on his website.

 

 

 

Steve Roby is a longtime fan of Star Trek, science fiction in general, old movies, crime fiction, historical fiction, Bugs Bunny, punk/new wave/postpunk, and a lot of other things. 

For something like ten years now, Steve has been labouring on the Complete Starfleet Library website (http://www.well.com/~sjroby/lcars/), which covers over a thousand Star Trek books, official and unofficial, fiction and nonfiction. If you want to know about Star Trek: The Poems, Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage: The Unauthorized Starfleet Daily Meditation Manual, or Narratives from the Final Frontier: A Postcolonial Reading of the Original Star Trek Series, this is the site. 

Steve is a librarian in Ottawa, Canada, where he lives with his wife Laura and their cat Spencer.

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"In the not too distanct future way down in Deep Thirteen,
Doctor Forrester and TV's Frank were hatching an evil scheme.
"

For ten seasons, Joel, Mike, and the bots were tortured with the worst Hollywood had to offer, much to the delight of the viewing audience. Now, twenty years later, the show is a cult classic with DVDs being released and the tapes still being circulated. Keith and Andrea host this Roundtable discussion with Cinefantastique's Dan Persons and Frank Conniff, TV's Frank. Plus, Jay Smith tells us why zombies are "My Guilty Pleasure".

Please remember to rate the episode at the bottom of this entry. Also, please comment on the episode in our forum - here.

Frank Conniff, was best known to MST3K viewers as TV's Frank, but also participated behind the scenes as a writer and as the primary movie selector for many years. His character of TV's Frank joined Dr. Clayton Forrester at Gizmonics Institute in Episode 201 (Rocketship XM) and left the show at the end of season 6, when Torgo appeared to take Frank to "second banana" heaven. Since leaving MST3K, Frank Conniff has gone on to a variety of writing, producing, and acting projects on shows like Sabrina the Teenage Witchand Invader Zim. His current projects include Cartoon Dump, a monthly comedy/music revue, and Cinematic Titanic, a show that riffs on bad movies, along with other MST3K alums Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, and Mary Jo Pehl.

 

In his twenty plus years as writer and film journalist, Dan Persons has interviewed the likes of Paul Verhoeven, Wes Craven, Stuart Gordon, Satoshi Kon and John Kricfalusi; published the well-received novella, "A Game of the Apocalypse", in The Ultimate Silver Surfer, edited by The Chronic Rift's own Keith R.A. Decandido; and been an occasional, and somewhat peculiar, guest on the public access incarnation of the Rift. He presently is the host of Mighty Movies Temple of BadMighty Movie Podcastand The Cinefantastique Podcast when he isn't haunting the dining room of his local Popeye's.

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Judy, Orenthal, and Jay Smith join Louis Trapani to discuss the predictions made by science fiction authors about our future.  Where are the moon colonies?  Where are our deep space probes?  Where's my flying car?  Just what did they get right and what feel short?  What do we attribute to these successes and failures?

Plus, Jay Smith offers his thoughts on "My Guilty Pleasure", a look at Who Wants to be a Superhero? Post your thoughts on the episode here.

 

 New media producer, Louis Trapani founded the Gallifreyan Embassy, a Doctor Who and British science-fiction fan organization in June 1985 after seeing that there were no local Doctor Who fan groups in the south-eastern New York area. The Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island quickly established itself in the '80s volunteering on PBS pledge drives, appearing at conventions, interviewing various Doctor Who related cast and production members of the television series. Since that time, it now has a world-wide membership and audience. Louis has appreciated science fiction all his life and this interest goes beyond Doctor Who. He currently hosts and produces Doctor Who: Podshock, a weekly international podcast covering all of Doctor Who, The Sonic Newsdriver, a podcast covering current Doctor Who news, The Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi, as the name implies a show which covers all British science fiction media, as well as other shows set to launch that cover broader science fiction and fantasy. Louis has majored in the media arts department at the School of Visual Arts and has worked in the creative media realm in various ways. He has spearheaded Art Trap Productions for the last 15 years in that field. He is an artist, activist, tech addict, Mac geek, producer and director.

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John and Jay Smith are joined by Merchant Wares owner Rebecca Kindergan to discuss the fundamentals of this unique gaming platform.  Make sure you rate the episode below and take the time to comment on it here.

 Rebecca Kindergan has been larping for over 14 years and runs an online and event-based Larp Supply and Costuming company, www.merchantswares.com, from her home in the hills of northern NJ.  When she's not sewing, making boffer weapons, or preparing for events, you can usually find her chasing mythical monsters with foam weapons for their gold pieces.  Otherwise, she's an avid hiker, fisherwoman, Queen of Road Trips and just hanging out at home with her husband, Brian and their pet catfish.  
In the quest for larping, she's been to Nero in many places, including Nevada and New Brunswick Canada, as well as all over the northeast and East Coast.  Currently, she plays NeroEquinoxKnight RealmsMadrigal, and is always looking for more larps to try out.

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With this episode, we're splitting up the content and running the show twice a month.  Our first episode up is a Roundtable episode.  Keith rejoins the fold as he and John discuss the longest running science fiction television series with James Moran and Louis Trapani.

 

 James Moran was born in York in 1972. He studied journalism in Dublin before moving to London, and wrote short stories while working in the computer industry. He won the UK Sci-Fi Channel short film competition, and had his script Cheap Rate Gravity, made into a short film. His first feature-length screenplay was Severance, a horror movie starring Laura Harris and Danny Dyer. James has written episodes for Doctor Who, Torchwood, Primeval, Spooks, Spooks: Code 9, Law & Order: UK, and Crusoe, and his typing fingers are currently resting in a bucket of ice. He loves movies, TV, reading, photography, and documentaries about things that explode.

 

 New media producer, Louis Trapani founded the Gallifreyan Embassy, aDoctor Who and British science-fiction fan organization in June 1985 after seeing that there were no localDoctor Who fan groups in the south-eastern New York area. The Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island quickly established itself in the '80s volunteering on PBS pledge drives, appearing at conventions, interviewing variousDoctor Who related cast and production members of the television series. Since that time, it now has a world-wide membership and audience. Louis has appreciated science fiction all his life and this interest goes beyondDoctor Who. He currently hosts and produces Doctor Who: Podshock, a weekly international podcast covering all of Doctor Who, The Sonic Newsdriver, a podcast covering current Doctor Who news, The Hitchhiker's Guide to British Sci-Fi, as the name implies a show which covers all British science fiction media, as well as other shows set to launch that cover broader science fiction and fantasy. Louis has majored in the media arts department at the School of Visual Arts and has worked in the creative media realm in various ways. He has spearheaded Art Trap Productions for the last 15 years in that field. He is an artist, activist, tech addict, Mac geek, producer and director.

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Bringing it to the Table

 

John discusses The Chronic Rift's Audio Competition.

Andrea talks about the New York Anime Festival.

Orenthal announces his Pop Fiendish segment at the end of the show.

 


 

Review Segments

Andrea reviews the Greywalker book series.

David reviews the latest Spider-Man reboot.

Derrick joins us with a review of the movie, Appaloosa.

Corey comments on Resident Evil 4 in time for Halloween.

Rhymephile fills us in on the DVD release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

 


 

The Roundtable

John and Judy discuss the continuing evolution of horror with author Joseph D'Lacey and critic Paul K. Bisson.

Joseph D’Lacey is the author of the novel MEAT, published by Bloody Books, in which he draws on the realities of factory farming and slaughter to create a hellish dystopia. The research turned him vegetarian, making the book a cautionary statement on the growing human appetite for flesh.

Joseph has been writing horror for the last ten years but strays into other genres at the drop of a scalpel. Eco-horror is the worm currently eating his brain. His forthcoming novel ‘The Garbage Man’ deals with the dangers of landfill waste and the many other things people would prefer to keep buried…

Find out about MEAT at www.meatnovel.com or read Joseph's blog athttp://horrorreanimated.wordpress.com

 

 

Wonder Woman, Star Trek, Six Million Dollar Man & Bionic Woman, and The Omen - for a poor kid growing up in Boston (where there wasn't much to do except watch TV or go outside and find trouble), they were doorways into the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and comics.  And they remain the cornerstones of Paul K. Bisson's inner Fanboy.

Today, Paul is an actor, writer, independent media producer, and all-around Geek.  He still collects comics (mostly DC and definitely Wonder Woman), he founded the member-rich Bionic Fan Network
(http://www.bionicfans.net) and an ambitious online Bionic encyclopedia, The Bionic Wiki (http://www.bionic.wikia.com), he's the webmaster of The OmenChronicles, the only fansite devoted to the Omen film series (http://www.omenchronicles.com), and he's developinghttp://www.fancommentary.com -- a social networking site where people can upload their own audio commentaries for their favorite movies and TV shows.

For over 20 years, Paul has called Salem, Massachusetts (The Witch City) his home.  He has performed on local and regional stages and has appeared in or voiced local, independent, and industrial films and
commercials.  An avid supporter of PEG (Public, Educational, Government) television, he has produced nationally-recognized media and serves on a board of directors.

Paul has earned a living (read: day job) in industries food service, call center management, Internet service, debt collection, and of course, retail.  He currently pushes pencils and taps keyboards in the
home and business alarm industry.  But all that's about to change at the end of the year as he makes the move to Los Angeles to continue his artistic career.

Paul is honored to be a part of the discussion in this latest incarnation of The Chronic Rift!

 


 

The Wrap-Up

Orenthal delivers his new rules of geekdom in his Pop Fiendish segment.

The results of the favorite Doctor poll from the website are revealed.

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