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.

Categories

Public Access Show Episode
general
Mighty Movie Podcast
The Cinefantastique Spotlight
Presenting the Transcription Feature
Batcave Podcast
The Weekly Podioplex
The Cardboard Jungle
Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast
The CFQ Interview
The Chronic Rift Spotlight
SciFi Diner Podcast
Generations Geek
Mighty Movie's Temple of Bad
G2V Podcast
The Chronic Rift In Review
HG World
It Has Come to My Attention
The Chronic Rift Roundtable
This and That With Him and Her
Dead Kitchen Radio
Doctor of the Dead
The Dan and Travis Show
The Dome
Watching the Skies
The HTD Express
Who's Talking
All Hail the Scream Queen
WCRS Radio Stage
Shazam/Isis Podcast
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The OSI Files
Home Game Show Version Podcast
Doctor Who & Mister Drew
The Chronic Rift Podcast
Guardian of Forever Podcast
The Hornet's Sting
The World's Greatest Super Friends Podcast
Once Upon a Village

Archives

2024
February
January

2023
December
November
October
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2012
December
November
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2011
December
November
September
August
July
June
May
March
February

2010
December
April
March
February
January

2009
December
November
October
August
March
February
January

2008
December
November
October
September

March 2024
S M T W T F S
     
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31

Syndication

 “It Pays to Be Married” was a daytime game show aimed at housewives.  Five days a week, Jay Stewart interviewed couples from all walks of life who had faced and solved problems within their marriages. It was an inspirational, if generally light-hearted, program.  On tonight’s program, Jay interviews a Latvian war bride who had trouble adjusting to life in America.  Then Phil Harris and Alice Faye explain the marriage-centric origin of their radio show and tell the unexpectedly moving story of the birth of their first child.  Next, on “The Bob Hope Show,” Bob teams with fellow radio comedian Fred Allen.  The two bemoan television’s threat to their radio careers and decide to break into the new medium.

 

Episodes

It Pays to Be Married

January 27, 1954

“Guests:  Mr. and Mrs. John Scovern”

March 8, 1954

“Guests:  Phil Harris and Alice Faye”

2:31

 

The Bob Hope Show

February 7, 1950

“From the Vine Street Playhouse with Fred Allen”

32:30

Comments[0]

 We start out with a very faithful adaptation of the one of the oddest short stories in American literature, Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener.” It’s the story of a Wall Street office clerk, Bartleby, whose job is to make copies of documents. Then one day, he doesn’t want to, saying simply "I would prefer not to."  Indeed, he would prefer not to do anything.  It’s an enigmatic tale presented by the “The NBC Theater.”  Then the cast of “The Danny Kaye Show” celebrates Valentine’s Day.  Danny portrays “Dan Cupid” in a sketch about the little cherub spreading love and sings one of his patented dialect songs about Russian acting coach Stanislavski.

 

Episodes

The NBC Theater

December 2, 1950

“Bartleby, the Scrivener”

2:52

 

The Danny Kaye Show

February 10, 1945

“A Valentine for Jack Benny”

32:52

Comments[0]

During the Golden Age of Radio, there was almost no Afrocentric programming, and what little there was was comedy or music.  “New World A-Coming” broke that mold.  This series of docudramas was created by African-American journalist Roi Ottley and inspired by his Peabody-Award-winning book of the same name examining life in Harlem.  This episode takes on domestic service inequality as well as the inequality which took place in the armed forces during World War II.  Then on “You Bet Your Life,” Groucho grills two high school students about vocabulary they should know.  Next, a married couple sailing around the world recall how they met while in the Army.

 

Episodes

New World A-Coming

June 18, 1944

“The Mammy Legend”

3:04

 

You Bet Your Life

January 30, 1952

“The Secret Word is ‘Food’”

28:24

Comments[0]

SLXLM

“The Jack Benny Show” starts the year off right, with talk of Christmas presents and Jack and the gang going to the Rose Bowl for the New Year’s Day game.  Then on “Information Please,” are you up on are you up on famous dinner parties, the first words of poems, and the specialized slang of obscure professions?  Get ready to stump the experts.

 

The Jack Benny Show

January 5, 1941

“Rose Bowl Game – Stanford vs. Nebraska”

2:13

 

Information Please

January 23, 1942

“Guests: and Alexander Wolcott and Deems Taylor”

32:20

Comments[0]

 Episode 56—All Aboard the Hogwarts Express

Science fiction writer Scott Pearson’s cohost Ella Pearson recounts her many Harry Potter-themed adventures while living in England: visiting places where J. K. Rowling worked on the books, spotting filming locations from the movies, making two trips to the Harry Potter Set Tour, and seeing the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

 

Segments

00:28 Intro

01:20 Rowling in Edinburgh

05:31 Digression: Doctor Who in Glasgow

06:21 Platform 9 3/4

08:40 Harry Potter Studio Tour

18:18 Interlude: A Wee Bit More o’ Scotland

18:58 Back in the Studio

35:15 Potter Nostalgia

37:25 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Direct download: GenGeek56.mp3
Category:Generations Geek -- posted at: 8:12am EDT
Comments[0]

We’re going to spend Christmas with “The Great Gildersleeve” and family.  Teen-aged Marjorie would rather go out on date, unexpected guests drop by, and we’re treated to Lillian Randolph as Birdie singing a Christmas spiritual.  Then Eve Arden returns as “Our Miss Brooks,” a high school English teacher who never gets a break, not even during the holidays.  In need of cash to attend a New Year’s party, she lets herself be talked in to babysitting job on the big night.

 

The Great Gildersleeve

December 23, 1945

“Christmas Eve at Home”

1:46

 

Our Miss Brooks

January 1, 1950

“Babysitting on New Year’s Eve”

32:18

Comments[0]

What would Christmas be without Jack Benny going Christmas shopping and doing it on the cheap?  On this episode of “The Jack Benny Show,” Jack tries to decide between metal- or plastic-tipped shoe laces as a gift for Don Wilson.  Then on “Fibber McGee and Molly,” Fibber tries to make a fruitcake using an old family recipe, but his lack of skills (not to mention smarts) keeps getting in the way.

 

 

 

The Jack Benny Show

December 8, 1946

“Jack Buys Don Shoe Laces for Christmas”

2:06

 

Fibber McGee and Molly

December 16, 1947

“Aunt Sarah’s Fruitcake”

32:00

Comments[0]

 Thanksgiving is coming for the great schnozzola and his handsome sidekick on “The Jimmy Durante and Gary Moore Show.”  We learn about Gary’s ancestor, Casanova Moore’s, efforts to invent the kiss. Then the cast gives a jazzy spin to the Miles Standish / John Alden / Priscilla Mullins love triangle.  Next up is “Duffy’s Tavern.” This is not specially a Christmas episode, but it references Christmas and centers on Archie’s plan to make a little money for the holidays.

 

Episodes

 

The Jimmy Durante and Gary Moore Show

November 22, 1946

“Thanksgiving Pilgrim Opera”

3:18

 

Duffy’s Tavern

December 21, 1951

“Archie to Buy a Split Atom”

32:53

Comments[0]

Bob Bailey stars as the man with the action-packed expense account, that fabulous freelance insurance investigator, the eponymous “Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.”  Johnny finds himself in Los Angeles, where the beneficiary of murdered penny arcade operator’s insurance is an aging movie queen from the days of the silent films.  The plot’s twists and turns take Johnny from Venice Beach to skid row to a swanky movie colony beach house.  

 

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 

October 29 – November 2, 1956

“The Silent Queen Matter”

2:18

Comments[0]

 Tonight we’re going to do something unusual. I’m going to give you two versions of the same World Series-themed episode of “The Bob Hope Show.” But don’t worry; you’ll get very little repeated material. The show as aired went out on October 11, 1949. We’ll play that second.  First you’ll hear the longer, unedited rehearsal for that episode, recorded a week earlier. Some of that audio was used in the final broadcast and some of the bits were re-recorded.  You’ll hear flubs, false starts, and ad libs.

 

Episodes

 

The Bob Hope Show

October 6, 1949

“Rehearsal”

4:17

 

The Bob Hope Show

October 11, 1949

“Guests: Jackie Robinson & Joe Page”

41:37

Comments[0]