For Our 5th Anniversary: Announcing Terminator Month!

Duh-dun dun duh DUH!!

January 2018 is the fifth anniversary of Radio vs. the Martians! and we’re doing something big.

This January, we’re launching what we’re calling Terminator Month! We’ll highlighting all four of the Schwarzenegger-led films in the science fiction/horror franchise franchise that made him a household name: Terminator.

Every Sunday in the month of January, we’ll be back with a new episode of our Arnold Schwarzenegger podcast celebration, Podcasta la Vista, Baby!

  • January 7th: The Terminator with Matt Goodman
  • January 14th: Terminator 2: Judgment Day with Joe Preti
  • January 21st: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines with Dave Brouillette
  • January 28th: Terminator: Genisys with Sam Mulvey

It will be a month of explosions, time travel, post-apocalyptic wastelands, killer robots, helicopter crashes, catch phrases, murder, catch phrases and total vehicular mayhem!

So, come with us if you want to live!

Black Ops Episode 4 – Death is Kinda Stupid

In a bonus “Black Ops” episode exclusive to our Patreon patrons, we sit down with Sean Duncan and Sam Mulvey to dig into the concept of immortality.

From Doctor Who to Highlander, we look at the trope of the ageless person who mourns their own lack of death and ask each other, is the trope of sad immortal nothing but bullshit?  Shouldn’t never dying actually be pretty great?

We get into armchair biology, the continuity of consciousness, loneliness, the ability (or inevitability) of change over time, theological questions, muse on transhumanism and the ability to opt out of immortality at any time.

Does death serve any useful purpose? Are we really the same person throughout our lives? Would you really want to live for thousands of years. Would you really be sad or grumpy if you had all the time in the world? Aren’t vampires really kind of stupid?

Who, truly, would want to live forever?

This and three other “Black Ops” will available to all Patreon subscribers who donate at least one dollar a month! Check it out!

Fun Size Episode 13 – A Digital Effects Orgasma-Ganza

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The bad news is that due to a technical snafu, we won’t be able to share a new full episode with you this month. The good news is that we were joined in the studio by Sam Mulvey for a wide ranging conversation about random goodness — and badness.

We dive into a talk about why we’d like to see filmmaker Quentin Tarantino tackle a science fiction film, and the recent wrongful framing of Pepe the Frog as a racist icon. We also talk about why it’s just weird to pull your pants all the way down to pee at a urinal, and  we compare the highs and lows of Zack Snyder and Frank Miller.

Plus, Sam hates movies! We look at the state of current Hollywood blockbusters and ask: does every theatrically-released movie in the world have to be so damned big?

Fun Size Episode 10 – Jodorowsky’s Still Alive

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Mike and Casey sit down with Kinsey Burke, Patrick Johnson, and Sam Mulvey to bat around a contentious and complicated topic: adaptations, reboots and remakes.

How faithful should a work be to its source material when it’s adapted from one storytelling medium to another? What happens when it deviates over time? What about when a beloved past work is rebooted in ways we cannot stand? Is it really worth getting worked up about, now that the floodgates are open?

And can a bad adaptation transcend the source material and become a wonderful hypnotic disaster? Is it time to make peace with changes to Game of Thrones, and the Ghostbusters remake?

Also, Mike fights — against all odds —  to protect a young friend from a 43 year-old movie spoiler.

Fun Size Episode 9 – Something, Something, Iron Man

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We’re joined by Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey, who politely tolerates listening to Mike and Casey talk about Captain America: Civil War. And evidently, both of us take different sides.

And we ask the question, what are conspiracy theorists like in the Marvel and DC Universes? When you live in a world where the president can be — and has been — replaced by an alien duplicate, are there any ideas that left that can make you look like a crackpot?

We wax poetic about the 2004 Denzel Washington vigilante movie, Man on Fire, and how for many years, it was Mike’s Punisher movie.

And Mike says goodbye to legendary comic book creator Darwyn Cooke.

Podcasta la Vista, Baby! Episode 3 – Hercules in New York

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“It’s tremendous! It’s stupendous!! It’s FUN!!!”*

We’re back with a dive into a mythic time — in more ways than one — with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey to test our endurance against the herculean labor of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first starring role, in 1969’s Hercules in New York!

Bored of his idyllic life on Mount Olympus, Greek demigod Hercules provokes his father Zeus into sending him to modern day Earth. There, he beats up longshoremen and bullies college athletes. He eventually becomes a successful professional wrestler, and battles both the machinations of the gods and gangsters alike.

*none of these statements are true

Fun Size Episode 8 – No, Jack Bauer!

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We sit down with Greg Hatcher and Sam Mulvey to continue our talk on vigilante justice, including our feelings about the anti-terrorism torture-sploitation action show that was 24.

We dig into the sad exploits of local “real life superhero” Phoenix Jones and why he turns the superhero-loving Mike into a J. Jonah Jameson.

And we dive into Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and how Zack Snyder’s vision of these characters is equal parts stupid, pretentious and insecure.

Fun Size Episode 4 – A Discussion About Sam’s Feelings

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In the first of two Fun Size discussions this month, we sit down with Rebecca Friedman and debate the merits and popularity of post-apocalyptic fiction and video games, and why absent panelist (and spouse) Sam Mulvey will probably never discuss it on the show.

Is the genre inevitably juvenile, and does its recent popularity speak ill of us as a society? Disagreement follows.

[NOTE: Some Fallout 4 spoilers]

Episode 20.5 – I’ve Been Peeing Into a Jar This Whole Time

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It’s B-roll time, as we wrap up the Watchmen discussion with Sam Mulvey and Rob Kelly.

We get a little bit more into why Zack Snyder’s movies fail — and why they also don’t fail enough to be fun or interesting. We talk about Uwe Boll’s recent crowdfunding meltdown, Steve Ditko’s Objectivist superhero, Mr. A, and why you should be able to hear criticism of your favorite things like a grown-up.

We talk about the possible consequences of Disney’s purchases of Marvel and Lucasfilm, and wonder how truly terrifying it would be to have to repossess the American Nazi Party’s “Hate Bus.”

Episode 20 – Watchmen

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 “Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face.”

Mike and Casey are charging our electric cars, voting for Richard Nixon, and getting a booth in the Gunga Diner with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey, and Rob Kelly of the Fire and Water Podcast. Our topic, the 1986 mini-series that has been labeled “the greatest comic book of all time,” Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s Watchmen.

We dig into the series’ aggressive and intentionally unflattering deconstruction of the superhero genre, the often uncomfortable morality and motivations of its characters, and the controversial and underwhelming 2009 Zack Snyder film adaptation.

*for those interested in donating to a great cause we mention on the podcast, please check out the Hero Intiative.
Music: 
“Pruit Igoe and Prophecies” from Watchmen (and Koyaanisqatsi) by Philip Glass

Previously titled: “You’re Gonna Like This. It’s Got G. Gordon Liddy in it!”

Episode 19.5 – Are You a Bad Enough Dude to Beat Up Uwe Boll?

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We’re back with more B-roll goodness! Mike and Casey are joined in the studio with Sam Mulvey of Ask an Atheist and his brother, Mike Mulvey for a wide-ranging bullshit session.

We dig into contests with pop culture prizes that never materialized, like guests spots on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and the Captain America Broadway musical that never was. We chat about film director/walking human garbage Uwe Boll’s challenges to literally fight his critics and perceived rivals.

We discuss the recent reboot of Archie Comics, as well as the character’s past and current encounters with the Punisher and the zombie apocalypse. We get into why we all dig Netflix’s Daredevil series, even if a lot of the current comic book TV shows aren’t setting our worlds on fire.

Episode 17.5 – He’s Kind of Just a Little Bit Weirdo Cultist

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In our latest bonus episode, Mike and Casey get ready to record our most recent episode and chat a bit about Orson Welles, great actors starring in shitty movies, and some of their favorite fictional cliches.

Later, we’re joined after recording the Spielberg episode with panelists Todd Maxfield-Matsumoto and Scott Kramer to talk about the upcoming Star Wars sequel, more of Steven Spielberg, and the many misuses and strengths of actor/cultist Tom Cruise.

Plus, a random cameo from Sam Mulvey!

Episode 15 – Fighting Games

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HA-DOOOU-KEN!

Mike and Casey hit the arcade and stack their quarters, because this month we’re in head-to-head combat with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey and Nathan Martin of the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. This month we’re talking about the gaming equivalent of the O.K. Corral: Fighting Games!

We look at the genre’s roots with classics like Karate Champ, and the genre’s 1990s explosion with titles like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, Tekken, King of Fighters, Clay Fighter, and countless clones. We explore the genre’s connections to side-scrolling beat ’em ups, and the competitive — and often intimidating — culture that’s sprouted up around these games.

Music: 
“Ken’s Theme” from Street Fighter II by Yoko Shimomura

Previously titled: “Finish Him!”

Meet Us at the Jet City Comic Show on November 8th!

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Hey folks, Radio vs. the Martians! is making its first convention appearance!

Mike Gillis and Casey Doran will be joined by fellow panelist Sam Mulvey at the Jet City Comics Show in scenic Downtown Tacoma, Washington on Saturday, November 8th from 10 am until 5pm.

We’re going to be chatting with attendees and getting the word out about the podcast! We’ll be sitting in Artist Alley at Table #J-05, which is right here.

So, please drop by, say hi, and check out our new banners! Remember! All sanity, free will and the fate of Crystal Pepsi rests on you stopping by!

See you there!

Episode 9 – Nintendo

nintendoSorry, Mario! Your podcast is in another castle!

Mike and Casey pull on their Power Gloves and strap on their Virtual Boys because, it’s time to save the Mushroom Kingdom with Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey and Bob Mackey of the Retronauts podcast! This month, we’re talking about the video game company that practically served as a fifth food group for an entire generation: Nintendo!

We discuss the company’s multi-decade dominance of the video game market, its legacy, and how it pulled the industry out of the nosedive of Atari’s implosion in the early 1980s. We talk about how visionary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto created the canvas of our childhoods, and how the company went from standing atop the wreckage of Sega to becoming the Switzerland of the modern day console wars.

Music: 
Opening Theme from the Legend of Zelda” by Koji Kondo
Overworld Theme to Super Mario Bros. 2” by Koji Kondo

Previously titled: “On the Altar of Saint Miyamoto”