PREAMLBE

Over 2021 I cataloged every piece of decent-to-good media I consumed in my phone’s notes app.

I mean everything. Podcasts. Movies. TV shows. Music. If I didn’t hate myself for wasting time afterwards, it went in the list.

Starting January 1st, 2022, I began writing little reviews concerning each piece with the intention of turning my thoughts into a simple 10 minute video. But the more I went on, the less and less interested I became in actually making the video itself. It was fun to write the list, reminisce on the past year, but I didn’t really want to edit everything down into something consumable for other people. It was just, kinda, for me?

So around February I ditched the whole idea of making a video, and here we are.

I’ve decided to share my thoughts with you dear reader, but in order to get to the good stuff, you’re going to have to READ! Mwhahahahaha!

Thank you for giving even a half ounce of care in regards to my opinions on these things. And here we goooo!

Adventure Zone: Ethersea

I talked about the finale of TAZ’s first season in my 2017 best of video, and after 4 long years bumbling around trying to remember how to make a decent podcast, The Adventure Zone is finally good again!

Taking place under a magical ocean of toxic waste, the McElroy family blends tabletop gaming, improv comedy, and dramatic storytelling to create a broadcast unlike any other.

There’s a sentient coral man that shoots crossbows, a salt of the earth shark fighter with phantom energy arms, and a hot-tempered former clergy who speaks in a not great French accent. It’s witty. It’s immersive. It’s everything I loved about their first season (Balance) but in a brand spankin’ new package.

Let’s. Freakin’. Gooooooooooo.

Hey Riddle Riddle

The names of Adal Rifai, Erin Keif and John Patrick Coan should be immortalized on a bronze statue somewhere because the crew from Hey Riddle Riddle are absolute comedy gods. Taking the simple premise of solving childhood riddles and improvising scenes around them, they run with reckless abandon into joke after joke after joke, and about 2 episodes in, you start to wonder why they’re not the most famous people on the planet?

This trio can make literally anything funny. Anything. Sweaters. Animals on a parade. RIDDLES! Try and make a joke about a riddle. Right now. SEE HOW HARD THAT IS?! And they’re so personable, and smart, and creative. Do I have a tiniest bit of a parasocial crush? Yes! But its warranted okay!

Timmy showed me this podcast on a road trip. He was very sneaky about it too. “Oh yah, mind if we turn this on?” It wasn’t until I was literally gasping from laughter that he told me he binged over 100 episodes in a 3-month span. If you’re not throwing this one in a podcatcher you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Finding Drago

Comedians Alexei Toliopoulos and Cameron James unravel the mystery around a very peculiar piece of fan fiction written about the bad guy from Rocky IV. It’s warm, good-hearted, detective-ing fun with low stakes and high payoff.

I love it and the sequel they made Finding Desperado (which goes after a new pop culture mystery) is really good too.

Also, Finding Drago was somehow funded by the Australian government? So that’s super cool. Can PBS make some stuff like this please?

Chameleon: The Hollywood Con Queen

This tale of a con artist navigating the entertainment industry by impersonating high powered female executives was fascinating to me for 2 reasons.

1. The folks behind the podcast do a really good job at keeping you on the line

2. It’s the type of scam that could ONLY happen right now

So often when I think about con artists I think of like, the Great Depression for some reason? Or all those movies from the 00s. Catch Me if You Can, Ocean’s 11, stuff like that. But the story of Chameleon is such a modern one, preying on the weak points in our societal structures, and forcing the listener to reexamine their relationship to spaces we exist in without thinking.

Wind of Change

In 1990, as the Soviet Union was on the brink of collapse, a heavy metal band called The Scorpions wrote a song called Wind of Change. It was a heavy departure from their normal fare (see: Rock You like a Hurricane a few years prior) but the tune managed to strike a chord all across the world with its simple production and heartfelt lyrics.

“Listening to the wind of change
The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers”

It became the soundtrack to a peaceful revolution that was already sweeping across Europe. An optimistic rally cry for the end of the Cold War…

But maybe…

The CIA wrote it.

Wind of Change chronicles an investigation into the rumor that the United States Central Intelligence Agency crafted one of the most beloved calls for peace as simple propaganda. The story takes some crazy twists and turns along the way, examines the relationship between popular media and government, and dives deep into the lives of some FACINATING people.

In Wikipediaing it for this short review I found out that its being turned into a tv show for Hulu somehow? No idea how that will turn out. Probably bad? Be sure to listen to the podcast first so you can point to all your friends now and say “oh yeaaah, the podcast was waaaaay better” like 3.5 years from now.