In praise of...Star Wars Minute

In recent years, podcasting has become the go to for further analysis and insightful discussion about all manner of topics. For this reviewer it is a go to for all NFL, football, current media and arts. From Bill Simmons to The Guardian via Colin Cowherd, these podcasts give great information and keep abreast of all goings on. Whilst it may make the listener feel like they are being spoken to, the garnering of information from various source makes you a more nuanced and knowledgable consumer.

And when on social media you become aware of other podcasts and products of discussion which led me to becoming aware of the Star Wars minute podcast. A podcast by Alex Robinson and Peter the Retailer, two self confessed Star Wars nerds who took on the impossible task of analysing, scrutinizing and celebrating every Star Wars film one minute at a time.

That means every minute, including credits of each of the now seven films.  They started with Episode IV - A New Hope and have gone in chronological order of production. When I first encountered them they were thirty minutes into The Phantom Menace, so I had some catching up to do. Nearly a year into listening to them I have listened to all of Phantom Menace and Jedi, I am an hour into Empire with Attack of the Clones just started.

My praise for the podcast is that it is consistently witty and funny; its constant poo-pooing of the idea of the force as being categorised by midichlorians, Obi-Wan Kenobi being a complete liar throughout the films, the long con of Senator Palpatine and Yoda having a Grover moment, after all he is a Muppet.  Even to the point that Jar-Jar Binks is not the worst thing about The Phantom Menace

It utilises the guests - look forward to the episodes of Chris Radtke - to great effect and the ambition of the idea has clearly come to fruition as they are now the godfathers of minute-by-minute podcasting.

There influence can now be seen by the number of films being dissected in this manner from Back to the Future to Alien cycle to Ghostbusters. They have created a market that cinephiles, geeks and nerds all together can celebrate their favourite films. 

What comes across most in each pod is the reach of cultural knowledge that the two presenters have, using all that hidden away vaults of past television programming, obscure films and catchphrases to good use when talking about Yoda's bulging eyes when Luke Skywalker attempts to lift the X-Wing out of the swampy waters, they reference Don Knotts from Three's Company and Marty Feldman of the 1970s. It shows how influential televisual culture was on children born in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and how important those programmes were as avatars of parenting and moulding of children.

The podcast is growing more and more, they have just begun Attack of the Clones as I mentioned and while I look forward to them dissecting the worst episode of the Star Wars cycle there promises more to come with Revenge of the Sith this time next year and eventually The Force Awakens in 2018.

You can support Star Wars Minute via Patreon, where you can access bonus episodes and help keep the website going. And follow them on Twitter @StarWarsMinute

There is a great community of Star Wars fans who went quiet before the second trilogy appeared in 1999 and since has got stronger. With Disney buying out George Lucas and now owning the franchise, the forthcoming origin films of Han Solo, Lando and Boba Fett promise that the community will only get bigger and this sharing of affection and love of the film will keep getting stronger.

The 200th Americarnage

Americarnage  is one of the most entertaining podcasts across the world wide web, a show that covers all of the American sports - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB - and all things pop culture from films to music in a show that runs for approximately one hour recorded on a weekly basis.

This week beginning 14th December 2015 the show celebrates its 200th podcast with all the crew
assembled, experienced NFL broadcaster Nat Coombs, American sports specialist Iron Mike Carlson, stand-up comedian Dan Louw and the esteemed producer Harry Holgate. This week's guest is one of the All-Pro line up who has featured frequently on the pod, comedian and actor Marek Larwood.

In the last year, the podcast has taken a leap forward from something of jovial fun and fraternity mantra, to the go to podcast for NFL fans in the UK thanks to Coombs and Carlson’s stellar work on Channel 4 last year and which is much missed this season. Although their work on the NFL games at Wembley in October and November were highly praised.

The show still pays studio rates for the studio time, it is a freelance production under the umbrella of Nat Coombs' MeMo Interactive, with sponsorship now from male grooming company ManCave, where customers can email the show weekly with many answered on the show.

This interaction with the listeners and subscribers is vital to the longevity of the podcast over the last 200 shows. The hosts like their fans want genuine heartfelt analysis on a sport that when the show started in 2010 was very much on the sidelines. Now when Tom Brady and Deflategate was rampant in the off season, the BBC put the story on their Sport website as a lead story, and now it shows highlights. The sport is now closer to the centre than the margins, and it is the output of podcasts such as Americarnage, Fourth Down and Out and Double Coverage.

The quality of the show is undisputable, the quality and knowledge expressed in the show is second to none. The continued on the hoof content serves the pod well and while people may get lost in the shuffle with so many strong personalities on display, it is where the straight man of Coombs can maintain control. Although the quality of the show is apparent when some parts are missing, last week's #199 starred David Whitney who with Nat and Dan (Mike is absent) they have three side splitting moments of high hilarity starting with Old Tom Coughlin still in charge of Whitney’s favoured New York Giants in twenty years time,

‘Get me a banana on the field. Take Beckham out and put a banana in!’

‘Sir, Beckham stopped playing for us 10 years ago’

As any podcast it has these slight tangents and diversions that in other less able producers hands would turn into a mess but Harry’s sure hand makes it a great lesson, even when he has little or one microphone to work with.

With Carlson off this week, the guest is David Whitney (stand-up comedian) whose knowledge of NFL is as strong as any die hard fan, and in spite of his absence Carlson has still produced a 60 second NFL round-up of the week's action - an example of how much the show means to him. In an email I ask Carlson about the show, 'the biggest problem is reach, on C4 we can reach a hundred thousand people, many of whom aren't fans. We're always looking for ways to reach potential audience; we're better on sports than any humour site, and funnier than most sports sites.'

This continued mix of light heartedness and serious analysis is a facet of the shows popularity and staying power.

For this writer, having met the crew behind the scenes I am overjoyed they have reached this milestone. Usually you say here is to the next 200. But how about a different toast, here is to the first
TV show, After Dark Americarnage.

If you have not listened to the show please attempt to do so at www.americarnage.co.uk and follow the show and stars on twitter: @Americarnage @NatCoombs @DanLouw @dwhitters

Follow me @NextToTheAisle