Nerd Lunch

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax talk about The Book of Boba Fett (with SPOILERS), the Oscars, Married Couple Origin Stories, and professional caregivers, among other things they've been watching and thinking about.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather for another wandering discussion about what they've been listening to and reading. Conversational stops along the way include fan-made audio plays, radio, Ain’t It Cool News, and the ComiXology-Amazon merge.

Michael talks about the most unusual James Bond novel of all, The Spy Who Loved Me. No Jaws. No Russian spy on a revenge quest. No underwater lair. Just a heartbroken girl, a remote motel, and a couple of thugs sent to kill her.

Opinions are divided when Michael, Rob, Pax, and Lizzie cover the second Thor film on their conversational journey through the MCU.

In this solo episode, Michael talks about the four James Bond short stories collected after Ian Fleming's death as Octopussy and The Living Daylights. In addition to the two title stories, later editions also included "The Property of a Lady" (commissioned by Sotheby's) and "007 in New York" (to placate American readers after a rather cranky essay Fleming wrote about the city).

Rob, Pax, Evan, and Christian Nielsen form teams and test their superhero knowledge as Michael asks them questions from a card game he got in his Christmas stocking. There is triumph and there is defeat, but mostly there's a lot of laughter.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming’s James Bond books with Thunderball, a controversial novel with complicated origins that finally introduces Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE to the series.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming’s James Bond books with the eighth in the series. For Your Eyes Only isn't a novel, but a collection of five short stories. Elements of all five have turned up in various films though, whether it's the titles of "Quantum of Solace" and "From a View to a Kill" or the villains of "Risico" and "The Hildebrand Rarity" or the revenge-seeking daughter of "For Your Eyes Only."

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Delaney wrap up their look at Star Trek: Enterprise. The show tried some new things in its final season, so the panel talks about whether or not that worked to improve things for them. And then there's that series finale...

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax chit chat about The Beatles, The Morning Show, the post-Endgame MCU, and whether or not the Supernatural is real.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gather again to talk about what they've been listening to and reading. And their favorite flowers. Lots of recommendations, but in the process of meandering the conversation occasionally settles into topics like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Fast and Furious movies, and gritty super hero comics.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels with the seventh in the series, Goldfinger. Like with the film version, the novel introduces a lighter tone than had been in the series so far. But is that a good thing or bad?

Michael, Rob, Evan, Pax, Kay, and Robert Zerbe reconvene to see how they all did on their pop culture resolutions and predictions from 2021. And to make new ones for 2022.

Michael continues exploring Ian Fleming's James Bond novels with the sixth in the series, Dr. No. It's the pulpiest so far, but also has big character development for Bond and a surprising thematic connection with Pierre Boulle's novel, Planet of the Apes.

Michael asks Dave, David, Erik, Evan, and special guest Rob Graham to find the hidden connection between A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968), Running Scared (1986), and V for Vendetta (2005). If you haven't seen one or more of the movies, feel free to skip to the discussions of your choice: 00:02:36 - Review of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968) 00:33:31 - Review of Running Scared (1986) 00:52:25 - Review of V for Vendetta (2005) 01:16:45 - Guessing the Connection

The AfterLunch Star Trek Council reconvenes to discuss Enterprise's attempt at a serialized story in its third season. Michael, Rob, Evan, and Delaney talk about the Xindi, the Expanse, and spatial anomalies in addition to Archer's darkening, Reed's insecurity, and whether there's such a thing as too much time travel.

Michael discusses the fifth Bond novel by Ian Fleming and it's a bold entry in the series. Fleming spends the first half of the book on the villains and their plan, not introducing Bond until halfway through. And then ends the story on a cliffhanger. 

One, last Christmas episode of the year and it's about Last Christmas. Michael and Rob talk about Paul Feig's film from a couple of years ago, co-written by Emma Thompson and starring Emilia Clarke, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson, and Henry Golding. And also featuring of course the music of George Michael.

Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax continue their conversation from last episode. They talk about (and unwrap) Christmas presents, break a tie, discuss shows like Hawkeye and Cowboy Bebop, share some Christmas traditions, and address the Bitsy McBitserson in the room.

Just before the Christmas holiday, Michael, Rob, Evan, and Pax gathered to talk about what they've been listening to and reading. As always with these Lounge discussions, the conversation goes its own way, but major topics include how to read short story collections, irritating things about interview podcasts, The Force Awakens and the whole Star Wars sequel trilogy, and of course lots and lots of Christmas music.