This Is Rad!

School is in session and todays lesson: Radness. This week Kyle and Burnside sit down with Kyle's cousin Drew Donnelly who is a high school physics teacher. While he has the most experience, both Kyle and Matthew has spent time in the teaching trenches and each of them have some pretty amazing stories to share. They discuss using snark in the classroom as a tool to fight mean teenagers. Drew recounts some insane stories of student pranks. Seriously some of his former students really redefined what it means to mess with a teacher. But for those who shudder at the idea of going back to school, fear not! Drew is one of the people who hipped Kyle to a million nerdy things and the boys go on a pretty sweet side tangent about PC gaming. Enjoy this supersized episode and thanks for listening!

 

Weekly Rads:

Kyle: What Nerve: Alternative Figures in American Art 1960 – the Present (book)

Laura: A Futile and Stupid Gesture (movie)

Direct download: TIR_Teaching_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm PDT

It's time to d-d-d-d-duel! This week we have Connor McSpadden of the Mean Boys podcast and LA comic Atlas Novack for a chat about the insane world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Both boys spent the bulk of their teen years playing this collectible card game and them attempt to explain it to Kyle and Burnside. Burnside has a little bit of advantage as he has spent some time playing the Pokemon card game (along with a now in recovery Hearthstone addiction), while Kyle is wholly ignorant to this sector of the nerd world. And man do the boys get deep. They discuss the mechanics of the game, the mythology of the show, and give their own personal insights into the idea of living in a world built around card dueling. If you are a fan of Yu-Gi-Oh!, you are going to have a good time with this episode. If you have no idea what is going on, there are some pretty sweet riffs to be had. If you've ever wondered if Connor has dreams of opening a real world duelers island out in international waters, you'll get your answer inside!

 

(Brief Warning: the language in this episode gets a bit salty at times, nothing crazy but figure it was worth a heads up. Listen at your own discretion.)

 

Weekly Rads:

Kyle: Drawn and Quarterly: 25 Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics and Graphic Novels (book)

Direct download: TIR_YuGiOh_final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm PDT

Porgs, space race horses, and a planet made of meat. Rad returns for our yearly Star Wars state of the union with our resident Star Wars experts Klee Wiggins and Ed Greer. For our fourth installment the gang have gathered together a little over a month after the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi for a round table discussion of what they loved, what they hated, and everything in between. SPOILER ALERT: if you have not seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi you might want to duck out on this. But for real, if you haven't seen it yet and you're still worried about spoilers maybe you're working too much. It's been over a month and you only needed like 3 free hours somewhere along the line. Go see it if it means that much to you, and then come join this party. The gang break down this polarizing edition to the Star Wars cannon. There are also some pretty sweet riffs. Klee and Ed are always favorite guests and this episode is no exception.

 

Weekly Rads:

Kyle: Coco/My Winnipeg (movies)

Matt: Travel Man (show)

Laura: Addicted to Americana (book)

Ed: Toys That Made Us (show)

Klee: Len and Ainsley's Big Food Adventure (show)

Bonus Rad: Humble Bundle

Direct download: TIR_StarWarsLastJedi_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm PDT

You cannot be told what is rad. You must be shown. This week on the show we have comedian Ken Garr discussing the films and general radness of Keanu Reeves. They work through the classics like Point Break and Speed along with a few of their personal favorites that you might not be as familiar with. Ken and Kyle also talk about their odd friendship, for two guys who live in the same city they only ever seem to see each other at gigs out of town. Speaking of out of town, you get some fun bonus guests on the intro this week, Kyle has been doing a few dates out of town with Keith Carey and Nicole Becannon and has been pretty much sick the entire time. He'd like to thank Dave Apkarian for being a saint while the three of them crash at his place. Burnside and Laura will be back next week and they send their love!

 

No weekly rads this week due to illness. Unless you wanna count “not vomiting” as a weekly rad.

Direct download: TIR_Keanu_Reeves_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm PDT

Seriously rad Steven Universe episode... ACTIVATE! This week Kyle and Laura hold down hosting duty as they welcome the truly delightful Kyle Shire. That's right, Laura gets to deal with two times the Kyle as they break down the Cartoon Network show Steven Universe. Kyle (our Kyle) has seen the show but does not have the deep deep knowledge that Laura and Kyle (guest Kyle) have. And boy does he get an education. The show is amazing and shows a whole new generation of people making shows for kids just how smart and progressive kids TV can be. They discuss the deep lore of the show and explore some of the cool ways that the show plays with fantasy storytelling as a way to spread messages of love and acceptance. They also answer a bunch of listener tweets because it turns out you guys have some thoughts on the show. It gets deep. Laura really shines in this one. A super fun way to kick off a new year of podcasts!

 

Weekly Rads:

(with Bonus guests Connor McSpadden and Atlas Novack)

Kyle: Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix (book)

Burnside: John Claude Van Johnson (Show)

Connor: The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn (book series)

Atlas: The Ranch (show)

Bonus Rad: Viewtiful Joe (video game)

 

Direct download: TIR_Steven_Universe_Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:30pm PDT

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