Author Archives: Mike Gillis

Mike Returns to the Gimme That Star Trek Podcast!

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Mike pops back into Siskoid’s Gimme That Star Trek podcast to join a giant cast of podcasters to contribute the second installment for the gargantuan task of reviewing each and every episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation.

Mike shares his thoughts on an episode from the fourth season, “First Contact,” where the U.S.S. Enterprise’s mission to make, well…first contact, with an alien species who are about to achieve faster-than-light travel for the first time, goes horribly wrong. And now, Captain Picard must deescalate a crisis, when the planet’s paranoid security minister mistakes the Enterprise crew for hostile invaders.

Check it out!

Fun Size Episode 40 – The Fucking C-Word

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We sit down again with Tobiah Panshin to open up a bit about medical scares and Mike’s recent testicular cancer diagnosis and treatment. We dig into the heavy emotional weight that comes with getting scary news from a doctor. We also look at how the fictional depiction of cancer in popular media really doesn’t prepare you for the reality of even a highly treatable cancer.

Plus, we chat a little about the recent, strange anxiety about vaping, and how it compares to past moral panics like video games, rap music, Satanism, and Dungeons & Dragons.

Oh, and don’t vote for Joe Biden. He’s just awful.

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Podcasta la Vista, Baby! Episode 20 – Red Sonja

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A woman and a warrior that became a legend.

This month, we’re back in the Hyborean Age to battle wizards and monsters with Tobiah Panshin of the House of Jack and Stan to test our mettle against the third and most poorly-received of Arnold’s fantasy epics: Red Sonja!

When her family is murdered and her body defiled by soldiers of the mad Queen Gedren, a vengeful Red Sonja is gifted with great power to take her revenge. Sonja’s help is sought by a dying priestess when Gedren steals an ancient Talisman with the power to make or destroy worlds. Now with the aid of the mighty Lord Kalidor of Hyrkania, Red Sonja must battle to the center of a kingdom of perpetual night to destroy the Talisman, and save the world!

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Casey Appears on the Gimme That Star Trek Podcast!

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Put away those razors, because things are about to get pretty hairy! Casey drops by Siskoid’s Gimme That Star Trek podcast to talk about the beards of Trek!

From Commander William Riker of the Next Generation to Mr. Spock’s mirror universe counterpart in the original series, beards have been fashion statements, signifying evil twins and even a sign that a television series is about to get a whole lot better!

Check it out!

Mike Makes an Appearance on Rob Kelly’s Mountain Comics podcast!

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Mike makes his first appearance on Rob Kelly‘s nostalgia-driven Mountain Comics podcast! We pour over one of the comic books of Rob’s youth, vacationing as a child in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

This episode, we delve into ancient tombs and battle demi-goddesses and ape monsters with Robert E. Howard’s famous Cimmerian hero in November 1984’s Conan the Barbarian #164 from Marvel Comics.

We explore Conan’s unique brutish morality, the comic’s impressive art by Gary Kwapisz, and reminisce about how these comics often pushed the envelope of what you could get away with in a Code-approved comic book of the time!

Check it out!

Fun Size Episode 39 – How Could We Forget Odo?

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In the aftermath of our Deep Space Nine panel, we rejoin Michael Warbington and Siskoid to talk a little about the stuff we wish we had gotten a chance to mention.

We talk holographic club owner, Vic Fontaine. Is he the greatest creation of artificial intelligence in the Trek universe, topping even Data? How did the show tackle thorny topics like racism? And has the show been excluded from the recent wave of 1990s nostalgia?

Plus, we look ahead with a pair of Trek fans at the fact that both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard are going somewhere that excites us: The future. Well, their future.

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Black Ops Episode 16 – An Infinite Loop of a Second Act

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In our new episode, we talking about endings!

We chat a bit about Henry Cavill taking on the lead role in a Netflix Witcher series, and why Disney should make one less live-action remake and do some good in the world!

And finally, we look at recent pop culture endings — Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame, Deadwood, the Walking Dead comic book, and the Fox X-Men franchise — and look ahead to future endings with Quentin Tarantino’s to-be-produced tenth and final film.

What stuck the landing, and what left us cold?

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Episode 41 – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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At the edge of the Final Frontier, the Universe’s greatest mystery is about to unfold!

This month, we’re strolling the promenade and enjoying a hasperat with camp director for Camp Quest NorthWest, Michael Warbington, and Michel “Siskoid” Albert of the Gimme That Star Trek podcast to delve into the beloved franchise spin-off, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine!

Widowed Starfleet commander, Benjamin Sisko, is assigned to a derelict space station orbiting a remote planet devastated by decades of military occupation. He expects a thankless humanitarian effort and a poor environment to raise his son alone. But, after a stable wormhole to the other side of the galaxy is discovered in the system, Sisko finds himself and his station – renamed Deep Space Nine –  at the very center of galactic commerce, political conspiracies, religious prophecies, and eventually war.

With a talented and diverse cast, and groundbreaking writing, it redefined what a Star Trek television show could be.

Music: 
“Main Title/Farewell” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Dennis McCarthy

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Ask Us Anything Right Here!

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In the month of December, Mike and Casey will participate in the first Ask Us Anything episode of Radio vs. the Martians!, exclusive to Patreon!

We will answer (nearly) anything you ask us about any topic, even stuff that we don’t normally tackle on the show — about ourselves, the things we believe, opinions (pop culture or otherwise) and anything you’d like to know about us!

Even though the podcast with our answers will be exclusive to our Patreon supporters, we want to open up questions to everyone. Ask a question in the comment thread below to be included in our December podcast.

So…Ask Us Anything! What would you like to know?

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Fun Size Episode 38 – The H.H. Holmes of Minecraft

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We sit back down with Sam Mulvey to learn that Keanu Reeves is now in a video game, and that he remains the best human. And we ponder…

Are there places on the internet, and in online gaming, where people are actually nice to each other? Are we doomed to transform into digital sociopaths when we’re given both anonymity and the means to kill strangers with lasers — and no consequences?

Plus, we’re approaching the upcoming reimagining of Frank Herbert’s Dune by Denis Villeneuve with optimistic apprehension. Deep breaths, everyone.

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Episode 40 – Columbo: Murder By the Book

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“Just one more thing…”

In this month’s Single Serving Selection, we join Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey to snoop around the first episode of the beloved inverted-mystery series, starring Peter Falk’s rumbled detective: 1971’s Columbo: Murder By the Book.

When one half of an award-winning mystery writing team learns that his more-talented partner is leaving for a solo career, he sees his meal ticket slipping away. The only way to save his career and claim a sizeable insurance policy is to commit the perfect murder. The only hitch is that the crime is being investigated by a personable and seemingly-clownish police detective who just might have his number.

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Black Ops Episode 15 – What Do You Think Alan Moore Did?

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In our new episode, Greg Hatcher rejoins us for a free range conversation.

We chat a bit about Trek, the character of Captain Kirk and why it can be a gift when fictional characters age along with their actors.

We try to navigate the labyrinth of public domain laws to fruitlessly try to figure out what you can and cannot do with with new adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, the Lone Ranger and the Land of Oz, and whether being public domain has produced better material.

And finally, we wax nostalgic for a bygone time when “grim and gritty” was new, and when Alan Moore blew the comic industry’s collective mind by doing a post-modern adult interpretation of a British superhero aimed at children.

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Fun Size Episode 37 – Skoodenfroodie

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We continue our chat with Joe Preti, as things get a little bit loud.

In a discussion of recent adaptations, sequels and reboots, we look a bit at the then-impending end of HBO’s Game of Thrones, its prose origins and how it all seems to be heading towards a conclusion that can’t help but disappoint.

How should we interface with crossmedia adaptations of stuff we love? How upset should we get, when we feel they get it wrong?

And then things go completely off the rails, because we really, really, really fucking hate Nazis and don’t think they should be allowed to have a moment’s peace.

NOTE: This conversation was recorded before the airing of the last two episodes of Game of Thrones.

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Mike Appears Again on the View from the Gutters podcast!

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Avengers Assemble!

In honor of the release of Avengers: Endgame, Mike is back on the temporarily-out-of-retirement View from the Gutters podcast, to participate in their first ever, Avengers Fantasy Draft!

Mike joins Tobiah Panshin, Joe Preti, and Brant Gillihan-Eddy to draft our own five-member Avengers line-ups.

Check it out and let them know which drafted Avengers team you think is the best (hint: it’s Mike’s!)

Podcasta la Vista, Baby! Episode 19 – Sabotage

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Leave no loose ends.

This month, we get scorpion neck tattoos and stock up on Axe body spray with returning guest Joe Preti of the House of Jack and Stan, to work through the needlessly ugly and mean-spirited crime ensemble: Sabotage

John “Breacher” Wharton is the commander of a hard-drinking, corrupt DEA strike force, who after a bloody shootout, decides to steal 10 million dollars from a drug bust. Now, having barely escaped an internal investigation, Breacher and his crew find that their stolen money is missing, and they are being murdered, one by one.

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