Thoughts of a Depressive Diplomatist

Many of you who play fantasy RPGs are, I hope, familiar with James Holloway's podcast 'Monster Man' in which he reads his way through gaming books and looks at the monsters and creatures therein.  If not, I highly recommend it - a month or so ago (after about five years of broadcasting!) he created a Start Here episode.

I'm a Patreon backer and, as such, occasionally get to suggest the theme for a Special Episode.  Most often than not I'm quite at a loss when my turn comes up, but recently with 'Under Hill, By Water' on my mind I suggested an episode about encounters where the resolution isn't kill-and-loot.

He released the resul today and, if you have been interested by my recent posts about 'Under Hill, By Water' it's a must-hear.  He gets the tone of the game down to a tee.

Apart from anything else, it was worth it for James' coining of the word Nobbits for "Little Folk, similar too but legally distinct from Hobbits" (Not Hobbits).

As I posted the other day, I've decided that this March my reading should be themed around Mars.  This was because of the various missions arriving at the planet in Feb/Mar 2021.  I'll post about that reading in my usual end-of-month summary.

But it's 2021 and even I don't just get my info from the printed page.  So, I've spent some time on digital resources and looking for podcasts.  I want to flag a couple - I won't link to them, as you'll want to find them in your favorite podcast-supplier-thing.

The first is Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science, a weekly show put out by the (American) Planetary Society.  But that doesn't just cover Mars of course.

Several episodes first broadcast in 2019 (which, of course, was the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon) have been grouped together as a sub-podcast, A Political History of Apollo.  These five episodes (ranging from about 50mins to about 90mins) make very interesting listening, and are the reason for this post.  As the title suggests they take a very different approach to what the presenter terms the 'usual flags and footsteps' story.  They cover why the programme was set up in the first place, what the contemporary views of it were (even at its peak, under 50% of Americans supported the expenditure), why it was cancelled and where that left NASA.  There is also an excellent episode on the Soviet Space programme which completely revises what I thought I knew of it.

And if I'm plugging Apollo podcasts, I must mention a BBC World Service production 13 Minutes to the Moon.  The first season (also originally broadcast for the 50th anniversary) covers Apollo 11 and the build-up to it.  The second season (from 2020) focused on the Apollo 13 crisis. Both rely heavilly on NASA's oral history programme, but also include new interviews and first-hand accounts.

I've been listening to a new podcast today: Role Play Rescue.  It's a chap who's been roleplaying since the 80s and is evangelistic about the benefits of making some time for play in one's life.  What he says is of interest, not only to those who enjoy RPGs.

So, I point you to his episode "What Stops You From Gaming?"
I was pointed to it because of an interview with Gavin Norman, the writer of B/X Essentials, which my gaming group is playing (and play-testing).  For me, the big change in 2018 has been to find a group and actually playing games rather than just thinking and writing about them.  It's had a very positive impact on my life.

For longer that I care to look into I've been promising to restart this blog.  And for most of that time, I seem to have been promising to talk about podcasts.

Perhaps what has been putting me off is that my thoughts on podcasts are really unoriginal.  I'm going to summarise them in a few points

• if you podcast is over an hour and a half long,  it is probably too long
• if you podcast contains a description of how you've edited it, you've failed in the editing process
• nobody wants to listen to you eating or drinking (unless it's a really niche podcast)

a podcast hosted by two friends and former grad-school colleagues who have been reading and enjoying the [Icelandic] sagas for years. We’re both professors of medieval literature and we both have beards.  Though we live quite far apart, recording Saga Thing gives us an opportunity to get together again (virtually) and talk about our love of medieval Iceland.  Our goal is to read and review the sagas, one at a time, in an epic quest to put the sagas of the Icelanders on trial and to celebrate the greatness of saga literature.

This one is a present for The Wife

This one is for me

It has nice pictures

And we both like this film

Now, I think I've probably mentioned James Holloway's podcast Monsterman ('Because Monsters Are Interesting') before.  Some of you will know James from his blog Gonzo History: Gaming Edition, but Monsterman is

a podcast that delves into the classic AD&D Monster Manual from 1977. Every episode looks at one or more D&D monsters, digging deeper into their inspirations and uses. 

It's not so learned as to put one off, but there's some really interesting stuff there.  Basically a mix of 'real' mythology and a consideration of why it appealed to hairy '70s types.  If you play RPGs and especially if your a GM who's interested in world-building, it will reward listening.  We need more of this kind of stuff.

It suits my magpie mind very well and, quite frankly, if you find my approach to blogging of interest, James does in much better.

I've recently been listening to a couple of Geeklyinc podcasts.

The first is then deliciously darkly comic SAYER - as the blurb says:-

SAYER is a narrative fiction podcast set on Earth’s man-made second moon, Typhon. The eponymous SAYER is a highly advanced, self-aware AI created to help acclimate new residents to their new lives, and their new employment with Ærolith Dynamics. 

I'm enjoying it a lot - witness the fact that I zoomed through 50 episodes in a couple of days (and nights!) and have been eagerly awaiting new ones.

Second, is Cthulhu & Friends.

actual play of the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game using a modified version of the d20 ruleset.

This I'm more ambiguous about.  I want to listen to some Call of Cthulhu play or some Mythos-inspired Pulp Fiction, but the truth is that I don't find the cast very engaging.

I've thought about it, and it comes down to the fact that They Are Dicks.  I don't mind the swearing (they make a feature of it, keeping a "fuck count" which brings a penalty.  No, what it comes down to is that (despite the GM and one of the three players being women) it's deeply misogynistic.  That might be acceptable in the role-play - set in the 1950s after all - but it's in their personal interaction.  I don't like hearing women referred to as 'bitches' and all the references to 'pussy'.

So, if anyone has any recommendations for other Pulp listening, I'd be grateful.  It doesn't have to be as pure as the driven snow, but Dicks need not apply.

Salty Types

On the dead tree front I've been buying and reading some WWI naval books lately.

It's good to reignite old interests.

It's been making me think I should make some more Old Salts posts.  Last night in reading a chapter I thought on four different occasions 'Now his story would make and interesting post".

This morning I received a surprised parcel containing the following splendid figures

These came from a fellow blogger, who likes the world to think that he's a miserable old git, but many of us know as a open-handed, generous benefactor to various projects.  Thank's mate!

Podcasts

This morning I noticed in one of those 'On This Day' columns that today is the anniversary of the discovery of Ötzi the Iceman.*

This prompts me to write about podcasts - something I've been meaning to do for a while.

Not being a fan of music, I like to listen to talk radio* or other interesting stuff while I'm on the computer or travelling.  Like a lot of people, I was put off podcasts early.  There are far two many barely-edited, unscripted stream-of-consciousnesses three-hour monologues (or worse, conversations between three or four people) by people who think they because they know something about their hobby they can produce a magazine show.   A particular bug-bear of mine is signal-to-noise ratio.  Why people can't add a little thing at the beginning of their podcast (especially if they consider they are presenting a magazine show!) that says "This starts with an intro and catch-up, we interview X at 48 mins, talk about Y at 138 mins and then discuss Z at 180 mins"**


But in search of entertainment, I've persisted.  As the best podcasts I've come across have been through recommendations on other people's blogs, I thought I'd pass a few on.

Here are the three I'm currently listening to:

History On Fire

"Whether you like history or not, if you care about bravery, wisdom, passion, larger than life characters and some of the most emotionally intense moments in human experience, you have come to the right place."

This is a history blog by Daniele Bolelli, an Italian academic and martial artist (he also has a podcast on martial arts), who's been based in the US for the last twenty years of so (some people have a problem with his accent, but it seems clear enough to me).  He says he's influenced by Dan Carlin of Hardcore History, but I've never listened to these.

My reason for starting with mention of Ötzi is that one of Bolelli's early episodes was a discussion of him.  But if you want a taste of History on Fire, I suggest you start with Episodes 1 and 2, which are a discussion of slave revolts in the Roman Republic (Spartacus is in the second episode, the first sets the scene, discusses the first two slave revolts and why there were only three major slave revolts against Rome).

Episodes are generally between 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours.

Critical Role

"Voice actor Matthew Mercer leads a group of fellow voice actors on epic Dungeons & Dragons campaigns."

As this includes video rather than just audio,  I'm not sure if counts as a podcast or is some kind of webshow*.  As the video consists of (admittedly beautiful) people rolling dice, I generally just listen rather than watch,  The show consists of a group of mates playing D&D**.  One advantage is that they've been doing so for some years, so are comfortable together and with the rules.   They play with good humour and without too much competition.  Another advantage is that they're all actors*** so know how to play in character and develop them convincingly.  The real treasure here is the love of the game that Matthew Mercer - the GM - has, and the amount of hard work he has put into world-making.  The show has been such a success that he's going to publish his setting.
Be prepared!  Weekly episodes are between three and four hours long.It's taken me over a year, but I've finally caught up with all the episodes.

If you want a taster, I'd recommend this episode that was done with one-off characters when Mercer and a couple of the players were away.

Hello from the Magic Tavern

"Hello! I’m Arnie. I fell through a magical dimensional portal behind a Burger King in Chicago and found myself in a strange magical land called Foon.  I’m still somehow getting a weak wi-fi signal from the Burger King so I host a weekly podcast from the tavern the Vermilion Minotaur, interviewing monsters, wizards and adventurers."

This one is a bit of a curate's egg and definitely an acquired taste.  It all depends on what your view of improvised comedy is*.  The benefit is that you will know within five minutes whether you hate it or not.

Personally, I feel that improv is best in small doses.  Fortunately the episodes are only 30-45 minutes long.