Here is this week’s Podcasts in Review, starting with the top five and honorable mentions, then moving on to the full reviews.
This Week’s Top Five
- Lords of the Sith Podcast Episode 17
- What The Force? Interview with Claudia Gray
- Skywalking Through Neverland Episode 238
- The Geek Supreme The Geek Oscars (or The Goscars)
- Star Wars 7×7 Episode 1686
Honorable Mentions
- Star Wars Core World News Episode 51 includes an interview with George Krstic, writer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
- Talking Bay 94 Episode 30 features an interview with Michael Carter (Bib Fortuna).
- Coffee With Kenobi Episode 165 includes an interview with Christopher Sean who voices Kaz on Star Wars Resistance.
Now here is this week’s Podcasts in Review…
Cantina Vizsla: Transmission Error is hosted by Stan and Sparrow as they talk about The Grammys, SpaceX, and other stuff. About nine minutes in, they get to Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, but they also talk Star Wars news, Celebration, and EA. They talk about the calendar update for Galaxy of Heroes, the chase for the Emperor’s shuttle, thoughts on rewards and shards, the B2 rework, the B1 battle droid, and more. Now this was my first time listening in to this podcast and I picked it out because it’s a Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes podcast, which I’ve been playing for a bit and I’ve been wanting to check out some various podcasts focusing on that. If you’re not into the game, you wouldn’t want to check this one out since roughly 75% of the podcast focuses on the game. However, just judging by this one episode, I’m not sure how helpful this podcast would be for “newer” players. I’ve noticed a lot of the people doing podcasts on the game have been with it since the beginning, so a lot of the stuff they talk about doesn’t help out newer players. I’ve been playing the game for a year and didn’t get much out of this one. The hosts are good, and audio quality is great, but it felt like a long episode. Part of that is their coverage of other things not related to the game. I’m not sure if I’ll be keeping this one on rotation, however, if you’re looking for a SWGOH podcast, you might want to check out a couple episodes to see if it’s a good fit for you.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 18 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Sparrow, and Stan
Rating: Okay
Children of the Force: Episode 124 they talk about Episode IX wrapping filming and the picture J.J. Abrams posted, EA and video games, the Benioff and Weiss news, more highlights from From A Certain Point of View, joke segment, Nick’s Celebration tips, and outtakes. Fun episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 57 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Al, Anna, and Liam
Rating: Fun
Coffee With Kenobi: Episode 165 features an interview with Christopher Sean the voice of Kaz on Star Wars Resistance. He talks about working on the show, the character, and the fun experience of trying to get an action figure of himself. For the news segment, Dan and Tom talk Celebration, Taika Waititi, and action figures. Then Dan talks with his son Mason about The Phantom Menace. Good interview and good episode.
Podcast Network: Coffee With Kenobi
Runtime: 59 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Dan Zehr
Rating: Good
Doing Talking: Episode 34 covers Episode IX wrapping filming and the picture J.J. Abrams posted, plus a nice breakdown and discussion for Star Wars Resistance “The New Trooper.”
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Great
Host: Madison Thames
Rating: Good
Faking Star Wars Radio: Valentine’s Special & Interview w/ C3Pwhoa Storm Duper talks with Teeb about Darth Vader #25, they do their “Duel of the Fakes” segment, go over leaked Episode IX concept art, latest Twitter poll, and talk sexy Star Wars species (this episode is not for the younglings folks). Storm Duper also interview cosplayer and model C3Pwhoa as they talk about her Star Wars fandom and more. Good episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 26 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Storm Duper
Rating: Good
Fly Casual: Episode 213 gets off to a gross start with some “would you rathers”, then they talk Episode IX titles, EA, Taika Waititi, Galaxy of Adventures figures, the dozen Roses promotion, Hot Wheels and Funko Pops. Gross start aside, overall, still a good episode.
Podcast Network: Betterkind Media
Runtime: 1 hour 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Corey, Garrick, Mike, and Steve
Rating: Good
Fly Casual: Episode 214 they talk about Magic the Gathering, fromunda cheese, and Star Wars comics. They talk about Doctor Aphra #28, Anakin Skywalker #1, and Star Wars #61. They also have some new Star Wars Resistance songs, a new “The Rest of the Saga” segment, some tangents, and they go over the StarWars.com Valentine’s quiz. Fun episode, but it can get nasty.
Podcast Network: Betterkind Media
Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Corey, Garrick, Mike, and Steve
Rating: Fun
Galactic War Report: Episode 119 is an older episode, but I had asked them for some recommendations on episodes that covered bounty hunters, scoundrels, and Nightsisters, and this was one of them. In this one, they talk about the release of Aurra Sing in Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes as they go over her abilities. They talk about the rework for Cad Bane, the release of Bossk’s ship the Hound’s Tooth, and they touch on the Solo characters now that their shards are available for grinding. So, if you play bounty hunters or scoundrels, this episode has some useful stuff.
Podcast Network: Radio Free Tatooine
Runtime: 55minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: John, and Sean
Rating: Good
Galactic War Report: Episode 125 is another older episode, in this one they talk about the release of Cad Bane’s ship and IG-88’s ship and how you can get some bounty hunter synergy going on with them. Then they discuss the rework of the Nightsister zombie and how that affects Nightsister strategies. Another good episode, though I have to admit I’m missing out on about 20% of all of these episodes as I’m not exactly sure what they’re talking about when they start tossing out gamer terms, slang and acronyms. Plus the episodes are bit more geared toward advanced players since both hosts have been playing the game since near the beginning and have very advanced teams. For instance, I’ve been playing for about a year but I still haven’t broken past a 1000 in arena ranking or gotten a single character to anything beyond gear IX. The hosts, however, are ranked around a 100 in arena and have all kinds of gear 10, 11, 12 characters. Thus a lot of the stuff they talk about and strategies they go into aren’t really applicable to anyone who hasn’t been playing the game for years or spending a lot of money to gear up characters. Still, there’s some useful stuff in it for lower tier players like me.
Podcast Network: Radio Free Tatooine
Runtime: 59 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: John, and Sean
Rating: Good
Galactic War Report: Episode 142 features Sean and special guest Urzatron as they talk Grand Arena and teams, the Emperor’s shuttle, drop rates and how random number generation works in the game, the B2 rework and B1 droid release, their meta report and who they’re grinding.
Podcast Network: Radio Free Tatooine
Runtime: 57 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Great
Host: John, and Sean
Rating: Good
Geeky Bubble: Episode 123 kicks off with their favorite chips for their question of the week, then they discuss Star Wars Resistance “The New Trooper”. Johnamarie crushes on Pyre, they talk about Yeager and his view on the First Order and the Empire and how the contrasts with Tam’s narrow view which could be building toward a conflict. Plus they highlight their favorite Neeku moments, discuss who was the sexiest Stormtrooper, and ponder if Opeepit will become a rebel. Good episode.
Podcast Network: The Star Wars Escape Pods Network
Runtime: 54 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Johnamarie, and Maria
Rating: Good
Geek Hangout: Episode 4 is hosted by Mark, and Grant as they talk about the Marvel animated news and the series heading to Hulu. They talk about David Tenant’s podcast, the movie trailers from the Super Bowl, and the new trailer for Aladdin. Afterwards they review The LEGO Movie 2 which goes light on the spoilers so you can listen in to find out if it’s worth checking out or not. This is a relatively new podcast and this was the first episode I checked out. They’ve got pretty good audio quality and do a good job of keeping the discussion going and interesting. Could be worth checking out if you’re looking for a podcast that discusses geeky things.
Podcast Network: The Star Wars Escape Pods Network
Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Good
Hosts: Grant, and Mark
Rating: Good
Get Your Geek On with David Gremillion: Episode 140 features guests Aaron, and Goose as they begin their March Madness, explain how it works and do some examples. Then they talk Transformers, Hulu news and the new animated series announced, then they talk video games, Apex Legends, and they speculate whether Star Wars Episode IX will be the highest grossing movie of 2019, and if not, who will beat it. Plus they poke at the Aladdin trailer. This was my first time listening to this podcast. It was okay. Not something I’ll be keeping on rotation, but if you like radio talk shows and are looking for one that centers on geeky stuff, you might want to try them out. They will be one of the podcasts on the Star Wars Celebration Podcast Stage.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 52 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Host: David Gremillion
Rating: Okay
Grand Moff Talkin’: Episode 85 is part two of their A New Hope commentary which also features special guest Chelsea as they wrap up the commentary for the movie with fun trivia, observations and the occasional tangent. No Jazmine in this episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 8 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Jake, Jazmine, and Riley
Rating: Good
Kessel Run Weekly: Happy Palpatine’s Day they talk about Celebration guests, then jump into their discussion of Palpatine. They talk about his aspect as a father figure for Anakin, his quest for power, the power to be able to save people from dying, his plans, betraying Dooku, and wanting a canon story of his life. Then they have some fun with discussing dating Palpatine. Good episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 43 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Danny, and Kristen
Rating: Good
Lords of the Sith Podcast: Episode 17 is part three of their character psychology series. This time Denise and Lee discuss Rey. First off, this is some great stuff. They talk about conscious for unconscious mind, the defense mechanism of splitting (things are all good or bad with no gray area), forms of attachment, and Rey’s distorted self-view. It’s very interesting how her actions match up to these issues. They talk about her tendency to form quick, intense attachments but reject any deeper relationships, how she could suffering from both denial and regression. They also talk about how Luke’s treatment of her is a re-traumatization by once again rejecting her, just like her parents did. They talk about how she lashes out at Luke, identifies with Ben, her black and white thinking, and the ideas of reaction formation. Some truly great discussion points and I highly recommend this one. If you want to get a better understanding of Rey, this one opens up all kinds of layers to ponder. I absolutely love their psychology episodes.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 7 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Denise, Lee, and Mary
Rating: Fantastic
Making Tracks: Making Tracks at Spring Fair 2019 Mark and Matt record from the Spring Fair in Birmingham as they talk about the various Star Wars products there. Lot of background noise in this one, but for the most part, it’s not too annoying. The one bit with the coffee machine is fairly bad, but afterwards is better.
Podcast Network: Fantha Tracks Radio
Runtime: 25 minutes
Audio Quality: Okay
Production Quality: Okay
Hosts: Dave, and Mark
Rating: Good
Radio D’Qar: Resistance S1E15 The New Trooper Doug is joined by his son as they talk about a local comic convention they went and one of the Star Wars Resistance voice actors they met. Afterwards Dough go over Star Wars Resistance “The New Trooper”. I have to admit, the idea that Tam is the spy is starting to look likely. Good discussion of the episode, and I liked hearing from Doug’s son in the beginning, but I don’t think he had a mic for both of them so his son was off mic and a little harder to hear.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 47 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Good
Host: Doug
Rating: Okay
Rebel Force Radio: Episode 2.15.19 goes into some title speculation, they have on guest Chris as they talk The Force Awakens, Episode IX, and The Last Jedi. They talk about The Star Wars Show and Jimmy speculates they edited out an announcement. They also continue the discussion of crying during Star Wars, and then go into some Episode IX rumors, art leaks, and theories.
Podcast Network: Rebel Force Radio
Runtime: 2 hours 28 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Jason, and Jimmy
Rating: Okay
Skywalking Through Neverland: Episode 238 they talk about Howard the Duck news and the other recently announced Marvel animated series heading to Hulu, they go over the new Aladdin trailer and their thoughts on the movie, and they talk about the top ten John Williams themes they’d like to hear in concert. Afterwards they have an interview with Bruce Vilanch who talks about his work, writing for the Star Wars Holiday Special, being on set and some of the stories from that project, as well as his work on The Brady Bunch, and writing for various award ceremonies. Fun interview.
Podcast Network: Skywalking Through Neverland
Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Richard, and Sarah
Rating: Fun
Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1686 discusses the Unknown Regions versus Wild Space and what is what. Good discussion delving into canon sources on what can be a very murky topic. I recommend giving this one a listen.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 10 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good
Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1688 goes over Episode IX finishing principal photography and the picture J.J. Abrams posted.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good
Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1689 goes over Episode IX expectations, Rian Johnson still doing trilogy, Taika Waititi on The Mandalorian, and Triple Force Friday.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 11 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good
Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1690 goes over Star Wars Resistance “The Core Problem”.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good
Star Wars 7×7: Episode 1692 provides an update on Galaxy of Adventures and speculates on the end of the Skywalker era.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 9 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Allen Voivod
Rating: Good
Star Wars Core World News: Episode 51 they talk trailer rumors, Star Wars Resistance, they do some comic reviews for Imperial Cadet #4, Count Dooku #1 and talk about the Marvel Star Wars #108 news. They talk costumes leaks and 49 minutes in, they have an interview with George Krstic, one of the writers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He talks about his Star Wars fandom, getting picked for the show, recommending Dave Filoni to Catherine Winder as the animation director for the show, working on TCW, and Star Wars in general. Good interview, some good stuff in there that I had not heard before.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 46 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Adam, Grant, and Ben
Rating: Good
Star Wars: From the Bacta Tank: Star Wars Resistance Edition: The New Trooper they talk about how the show is linking up with The Force Awakens, trusting the writing team, and they discuss Doza’s service in the Empire, whether Torra will find something out, the First Order brainwashing, and Tam’s dad working for the Empire. Good discussion, but again, fair warning, not for the younglings. They have a warning in the intro of their show to let listeners know about the adult language and content, and they definitely wade in deep on both categories.
Podcast Network: Rain Man Digital
Runtime: 42 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: David, and Michael
Rating: Good
Starships, Sabers, and Scoundrels: Episode 73.3 covers Star Wars Resistance “The New Trooper”. They talk about the lack of protection with Stormtrooper helmets, whether Tam knows Yeager was in the Rebellion, aurabesh and the alphabet, Kaz blending in, the music and the brain scraping. Good episode discussion.
Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 43 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Dennis, Jay, and Taxus
Rating: Good
Talk Star Wars: Episode 156 they go over Vusuvi’s Star Wars Resistance roundup, they talk about the Star Wars Holiday Special, decide whether they would rather have the Millennium Falcon or a lightsaber, talk about meeting celebrities, and they Marvel Star Wars #108 news. Good episode.
Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 1hour 41 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Great
Hosts: Rob, and Brad
Rating: Good
Talking Bay 94: Episode 30 features an interview with Michael Carter as they talk about how he got into film, his work on An American Werewolf in London, his work on Return of the Jedi as Bib Fortuna, and his experiences doing conventions. Good interview.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 15 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Brandon Wainerdi
Rating: Good
TechnoRetro Dads: Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! (Whoa) they go over cat jokes, the Howard the Duck news and other animated series, some Muppets news, and more. Then they talk Thundercats as they talk about the TV show and the toys. Plus there’s some Star Wars discussion. Fun episode.
Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: JediShua, and Shazbazzar
Rating: Fun
The Deucecast Movie Show: Episode 366 begins their Deucies coverage as they go over the nominations for worst movie of the year, worst acting performance, best comedy, best fantasy sci-fi movie, best drama, best ensemble, best action film, best animated feature, best score and song, best popcorn film, best original or adapted screenplay, best supporting actor, and best actor. In between those discussions, they do their most recent reflicktions for movies they’ve seen like Mary Poppins Returns, On the Basis of Sex, Tag, Knight of Cups, Velvet Buzzsaw, Greenbook, They Shall Not Grow Old, LEGO Movie Part 2, Upgrade, Blackklansmen, a bunch of documentaries and more. Good episode.
Podcast Network: Retrozap
Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Dave, Mikey, and Dr. Earl
Rating: Good
The Geek Supreme: The Geek Oscars (or The Goscars) they talk about what they’ve been up to, follow-up on Rotten Tomato scores, then they do the Geeky Oscars as they review the geeky movies that came out last year an award best director, best actor, best female actor, best death scene, best villain, etc. Leads to a fun discussion of some of the best we got last year from movies like Solo, Infinity War, Black Panther, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One and more. Plus they do a future Tomato score for Captain Marvel.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Jeff, Regina, Scott, and Taxus
Rating: Fun
The JATcast: Episode 17 James talks with Ratchet, he discusses doing voice sessions early in the morning, have land line phones have become archaic, the benefits of daily meditation, his shoulder injury, treadmills, he calls a “fan” (which is a gag), and he covers listener feedback. Good episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 27 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: James Arnold Taylor
Rating: Good
The Skyhoppers Podcast: Episode CXXXIV they talk Valentine’s Day then discuss Reylo as they go into their opinions on the ship and why they don’t personal ship those characters. They talk about Kylo Ren’s selfishness, compare him to Mara Jade, and talk about how Kylo Ren has already made his choice. They also speculate on what Episode IX will give fans. Good episode.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 3 minutes
Audio Quality: Excellent
Production Quality: Excellent
Hosts: Ben, and Ash
Rating: Good
TSW Roundtable: Return of the Jedi Retrospective features guests Rob from Generation X-Wing, Corey Riley and Matthew Gilbert as they discuss ROTJ. They talk about seeing it the first time, love for Ree Yees, their favorite characters, favorite scenes, and more.
Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth,
Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Editing: Excellent
Host: Rob Cast
Rating: Good
TumblingSaber: Worthy of Recognition with James McDowell is a special episode featuring Kyle and James as they talk about how he got into Star Wars, his thoughts on Jar Jar, and who would be on his Mount Rushmore of Star Wars and why. This leads to discussion of Ralph McQuarrie, Mandalorians, Mark Hamill, and Ben Burt.
Podcast Network: Star Wars Commonwealth
Runtime: 50 minutes
Audio Quality: Good
Production Quality: Good
Host: Carlos, Cory, and Kyle
Rating: Good
What The Force?: Interview with Claudia Gray they talk about her Spellcaster series, writing for Star Wars, the themes of found family, loyalty, and belonging, writing Leia for Leia: Princess of Alderaan, YA, Lost Stars, the Force, Master and Apprentice, and what else she’s interested in, as well as an update on when fans cast expect a sequel to Lost Stars. Excellent interview. Must listen for Claudia Gray fans.
Podcast Network: N/A
Runtime: 1 hour 2 minutes
Audio Quality: Great
Production Quality: Excellent
Host: Marie-Claire Gould
Rating: Excellent