Podchasm: Recent Episodes
Jacob Tender & Mike Comite
The boys are back in the same town. Jacob and Mike meet up to record a live episode of the show from a friend of the show's apartment. Our thanks to Terin for playing host and one man audience to us for the hour.
Podchasm's format is getting squished and the people of New York City could be too. Mike visits his wonderfully pedantic audiologist. Do you recall when The Man would weaponize frequencies to disperse loitering teens.
Links:
- How worried should New Yorkers be about falling window A/C units?
- Tinnitus | Mayo Clinic
- Tinnitus frequency matching
- Jacob's brand of hearing protection: ACS
- Westone brand
- The Mosquito sound | Wikipedia
- Coming Soon:
- Dune (2020)
- Avatar II (2021)
- His Dark Materials (2019)
- The Lord of the Rings (TV Series)
- The Silmarillion | Wikipedia
- Artemis Fowl (2020)
Mike takes us behind the scenes of a musical performance on Conan. This leads to a discussion of the poor preservation of late night TV. The guys see drastically different concerts and discuss glow-ups from their local music scenes.
Links:
- Mike's appearance on Conan with Julia Nunes
- The Whip Cracker teaches Conan how to do it
- Julia Michaels Live
- Pedro The Lion Live
- Fred Grzybowski, The World's Best Extreme Pogo Artist
Netflix has content. Hollywood doesn't scare our kids enough anymore. We do talk about Avengers. We'd warn you of spoilers, but know you've surely been spoiled by now.
Links:
- Spiderman and Elsa
Two pop-punk kids reminisce about seminal groups, both hard and soft. Times have changed since the year of Farley's death and Dude Ranch, surely for the benefit of Pete Davidson if not for the fans of Tom DeLonge.
If you don't get the grade you deserve, but instead get a better one, Is that okay? There's a lesson in objectivity vs subjectivity here and what might happen when you feign wisdom. Don't forget to tell yourself that you're the boss every once in a while, even if it's only when you're feeling it.
Links:
- Nardwuar
- Chad's Journey | SNL
- Serial Episode 06: The Case Against Adnan Syed
- Disney's 10 year release schedule
NPR messed up big time. Game Of Thrones is hard to watch. Jacob brought back Fall Out Boy. The guys promise this is only an Alien podcast for one more week.
Links:
- NPR presses the wrong button
- Bantha Fodder look-book
- Nick Quah's thread on his parody account going too far
- Fall Out Boy on Wikipedia
- The Cure To Growing Older, Jacob's 2012 essay about the band
- We Liked You Better Fat: Confessions of A Pariah, Patrick Stump's essay
- Mike's piece on Hop Along
- Mike on the latest Old Best Friend album
- Almost, an album by Old Best Friend
- The Hard Times
- Game Of Thrones BluRay box set.
- Alien Shorts on YouTube
- Jacob's notes on the Alien Shorts
- Introduction to David 8 on YouTube
- Meet Walter on YouTube
Was Fermi right? If Aliens are out there, should we have been visited already? If we were, what would that look like?
Your hosts speed through some movies they can't totally agree on, then chat about—you guessed it—podcasts. Jacob has a busy podcasting schedule including a new show. Luminary has launched and there's a lot to discuss. What do you call an audio program behind a paywall?
Links:
- The Fermi Paradox explained
- District 9
- Titanic
- Hateful Eight
- Dune
- Annihilation
- Alien Day (4/26)
- Bantha Fodder episode 31
- Breaking Ground
- Luminary Bad
- Luminary Worse
- Create Vinyl with Bandcamp
Jake bought some compact discs and comic books he'll never read. The Alien 40th Anniversary shorts have begun premiering. Mike has a bum knee and a haircut.
The guys lament the "end" of their favorite podcast and the greater threat of locking down "podcasts" behind a paywalled platform. Ads are fine and often actually good.
Links:
- Coldplay on Discogs
- WatchAlien: Containment
- WatchAlien: Specimen
- List of Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts
- Alien 40th Anniversary Shorts Project
- Jacob's Alien Universe Chronology list on Letterboxd
- Lyle The Intern on David Letterman
- MBMBaM reading Extreme Restraints ad
- MBMBaM's Extreme Restraints jingle
Jacob's eating habits are brought to bare once again as conversation devolves into Walmart-based crime. Mike shares tour stories and tips.
They both have missed show regrets and there is a Beatles tangent. Gigs are just harder to get to these days.
It's early and Skype's thumb emoji is not the sort of aggression Jake wanted to wake up to today.
In anticipation of the 40th anniversary of the series, they finally talk about the Alien prequel films. Spoilers abound. Skip ahead to about 43 minutes if you don't want to hear about the genealogy of the Xenomorph.
There is follow up on our security episodes with tips on how to find and remove your digital footprints and stop others from tracking your down and how to apply new appendages to your Apple device. Pro tip: Just delete your Facebook.
Finally, Mike begins watching Patriot and gives Jacob hair care advice.
Links:
- Shaw / Giger reference in Alien: Covenent
- List of films in the Alien universe on Letterboxd
- List of Star Wars-related films on Letterboxd
- Alien 40th anniversary short films
- Facebook stored millions of passwords in plain text
- Remove your information from people search sites like MyLife, Intelius, and Spokeo
- Please watch PATRIOT on Amazon Prime Video
- The "No Poo" method
Its inching closer and closer to Spring and that means getting more intimate with the music we crave. Talk of these springtime records brings on an impromptu discussion of digital music storage and Jake's archival obsession.
Links:
- Swinsain
- Plex
- Winamp
- Apple Music is a nightmare and I'm done with it by Jim Dalrymple
- The Best External Optical Drives | Wirecutter
- Replacing tracks while keeping existing metadata (like playcounts)
- MusicBrainz & Picard - ID3 database and bulk tagging
- Kid3 - ID3 editor
- Advent loudspeakers
- Soylent
- Bantha Fodder (the other show)
Your OpSec is probably worse than you think it is. The guys invite on a security expert to show them the ropes of password security and Jake's information is leaked on air.
Links:
- Samuel Fox, our guest, is on Twitter.
- The xkcd method (and the counter-argument)
- xkcd on password reuse
- Chuck Johnson pooped on the floor and everyone knows it.
- The stories of @Lizard and @Chris
- Have I Been Pwned?
- [Password Manager / 2FA] 1Password
- [Password Manager] LastPass
- [2FA] Authy
- [2FA] Duo
A bomb is dropped at the top of the show and one of your hosts gets a deep fake out. After 4 years, Jacob completes a video game while Mike has just begun one. The secrets of music supervisor roles are spoiled and Jacob has another new podcast, this time it's actually for work.
Links:
- "Time Enough At Last" - The Twilight Zone
- Captain Disillusion
- Alien Isolation (passive mod)
- Us (2019 film)
- Dead Space
- P.T.
- Last Of Us parts one and two
- Death Stranding
- Doom Annihilation (2019 film)
- Breath Of The Wild
- Audible/Kindle sync
- Kingdom Hearts 3
- Metal Gear Solid V (Konami / Kojima breakup explained)
- Free Solo (2018 film)
- Breaker
Grab life by the big horned sheep. Adam Sandler monopolized 90s comedy. Who will rule the 20s?
Following the birthday of one of your hosts, the pair waxes about age, expectation, "the track," and the inspirational transformation friends take as new parents.
A mysteriously convenient package arrives at Mike's apartment and Jake gets a surprise of his own.
Bread, filling, bread. The subject of sandwiches make up the meat of this episode. Cabbage was bought and it was the liverwurst. The perfect bite is located and a business idea is born with waffle-cut fries on the side. There's also a game!
Grab a fluffernutter, a bag of kettle-cooked chips, and salivate responsibly.
Sandwich Shops:
- Primanti Brothers
- Darwin's
- Melt
- Deli Ohio
Thank you to CountryLiving for the list of regional favorites.
Mike is working through the tedium of his record release and binary options are a bother. Does negative feedback hose the customer service employee sipping chai lattes on the other end? Despite being the reigning NYC Battle Pod champion, his desire to play it cool is very powerful.
Jacob has a very busy schedule prior to his work retreat, hence the truncated length of this episode. They'll make it up to you with a savory follow-up next week.
Help Sam Lloyd Beat Cancer
What do you do if you have the largest archive of Late Night's greatest show? Australian timezones are weird, huh? Jake's schedule is back on track, but he's been feeling off lately. He's added a carbon monoxide detector to his Amazon cart.
Does Spotify buying Gimlet matter? Justin Jackson makes a case for Apple as a buyer. In the era of Netflix, why are all of the greatest shows still from cable networks? Jake is still making use of his CD/DVD drive.
Rest In Peace Venetia Fair. Long live Sprained Personality. Buy a CD from Mike's old band here. Buy a new album, Almost, from Old Best Friend here.
The fellas get some life-changing listener mail and debate who they should call first with the news. There is apartment follow-up and an update on Jake's Twitter cleanup.
Alien Isolation is a very good flawed game, as told by a flawed player. Mike's father narrowly avoids a disorderly arrest at a local football match with toasty hands, indeed. Do Ohioan's have accents? Tabletop roleplaying games require some self-awareness.
There is spoilery talk of Escape at Dannemoraat the end.
The first winter storm of the season has hit the midwest and Jacob is making the most of it. Mike is applying protective wax to his pup's paws.
There is follow-up on last week's podcasting conversation detailing how to keep yourself and your cohosts accountable for your show. Schedule aggressively.
The big conversation this evening is scrubbing your past. Specifically, cleaning out the Twitter junk left behind by an older you. It's an introspective and nasty affair. So is the task of world waste. Also, dog poo bags are terrible.
Speaking of trash, Jacob has returned to Survivor and dragged his partner down with him. The Comite household has similar disgusting vices.
The Stereo Confidential podcast (formerly Modern Vinyl) can be found here. Good luck guys!
There is spoiler-free talk of Escape at Dannemora, with more to come when Jake finishes the show.
He may not have the tools, but Jacob has big plans to build winter lodgings on public land. Mike resurrects a gaggle of log dead snow people and his father's ice phallus. Don't put clothes on the dog.
There are a bunch of reasons to have someone take over your thing while you're gone. Share your audience and take a break every once in a while. Just don't get your hopes up for this show, folks.
The main topic this week is podcasting for beginners. The barrier to entry is dropping too low. They venture into the weeds on gear, but first come up with some general advice for how you should expect things to go to start and how to keep things going. Don't spend too much $ on microphones to start. Record in your closet. Make your priorities planning, sustainability, and enjoying the process.
If you have podcasting questions, you can ask on Twitter.
Why not DiGiorno? Jacob's ratio has tanked and his hard drives are full of science fantasy content. This leads into some talk of The Franchise™. The lines between shows are blurring.
Can customer entitlement be tied to social media? If so, can we challenge our patrons to the #BirdBoxChallenge? The guys talk about Bird Box and very old M. Night Shyamalan movies. Mike and Jacob can't agree on horror, but both adore the Alien series.
Cheating in academics has evolved over the years. Gone are the days of 3x5s.
Mike has a new song out called "Anna" and that feels good. We discuss the various podcast theme songs Mike has composed over the years as well.
New year, new whatever. We've got some aspirations, but no rush. Divorced Christmas as adults is not what our elementary school classmates made it out to be.
Windows Movie Maker is as bad as the impending cord apocalypse, but not as bad as HitClips. Remember HitClips? We've broken into the streaming business. Please comment, like and subscribe.
Why aren't there laws about woodcutting in NYC? This log chopping has delayed our holiday gear talk. Weezer gets an oddly specific amount of airtime from Jason Bourne. We are the filter for our parent's musical tastes. A Pokémon trainer went rogue and a police report was filed. Have a happy and healthy germ season, everyone!
Human beings love crime porn. Is that wrong? Podcast sponsors don't seem to think so. There is talk of Trash TV and a spoiler-free spoiler discussion, which is followed by the closest thing to a Bantha Fodder episode in 6 months. Food pairing ratios are impossible to manage. We won't hear otherwise. Jacob is nostalgic for school lunch and Mike yearns to trek trail. Kids these days have no survival skills.
All dogs go to heaven. Given the ultimatum, which appendage would you excise? Trick ears are undetectable by modern medicine and selecting the correct headphones for exercise is important. Family history is only interesting after you look into it yourself. Oh and, for the love of God, please put your phone on vibrate.
Journey into the depths of Apple Music's music exploration features, passing by emo bands in search of anything different.
Jacob and Mike host their playlists for this episode on Apple Music.
It's Election Night 2018 and the polls are closing. The fellas discuss the United State's current voting system and one that might be better. On the housing front, rent comes with its perks, but uncertainty is part of the deal. Records can't be spoiled and reviews don't matter as much as some writers think they do. Audio editing scratches a different itch.
Technological difficulties plague our recording sessions and daily lives. Wandering the streets alone is great, but Halloween becomes increasingly sweet after outgrowing your conservative parents' rule. Podcasts about podcasts are what you want. We have what you want. How about them Apples?
Trigger Warning: this show contains talk of meat (and pie).
Mike is late and Jake has the pre-show sh*ts. Language arts class is in session and today's lesson is Amazon Echo pronunciation and pre-iPhone emoticon. Podchasm has been re-remastered for the very first time and both hosts have upgraded their audio-recording suites. Family style restaurants are not as veggie friendly as they should be. Seriously, what's up with the Applebees menu? It's established that Grandpa is a helper and Italian-Irish funerals get so wild that they, themselves, have the potential to kill.
My 14-Hour Search for the End of TGI Friday's Endless Appetizers
Studies have that empathic links can be created between podcast host and listener. This is an open invitation for free beers. Jokes are exploding somewhere in Manhattan and Mike is capturing them all like the stern listener he is. Meanwhile, central air and radiators are trying to get a word in. One of Autumn's finest traditions is most certainly a trap. Confirmation bias is the basis for modern cable tv. Very nais.
Putting the remote down is a good first step towards flexing your creative muscles. Simplified, remove convenience where it doesn’t belong. Delete. Your. Apps. Bad writers could benefit from reading something other than Twitter. Take action on your aspirations. Take an aspirin after your actions. Just relax.
We live in times appropriate for pleasurable long waits. New England is full of crunchy people and dreams of drone-based economies. Xbox-adjacent glasses of Mountain Dew™ lead to anxiety. Anxiety leads to smashed controllers. What a paradox. Surround yourself with ensemblists who will defend you from nasty woodwind bullies. In fact, pick your school-age clubs and activities carefully, you're going to learn a lot. Snowballs ∝ fist fights.
If it's raining, why are you wearing denim? NYC can be experienced in less time than it takes your dry cleaner to remove the smell of said metropolitan from our corduroy vest, at least according to men on business. Making friends is tough as a kid. You may end up with a few that are less than stable people, but totally reliable pals. It's often harder to forge friendships as an adult, but maybe you'll find one in your sibling. If you're lucky enough to do so, support your grandmother's tattoo.
Noise pollution is a problem and Skype is partially to blame. An athletic director sets a young man on a path that he could have never calculated. At least he got to control the radio. Visit your local library and make a friend. Feel free to jump without a safety net, but don't put us in a box unless it has a great story. There is always a bigger buck.
When not showering your metropolis with sticky strands of proteinaceous spider silk, perhaps you can lead the charge on a violent riverway. It's uncouth to haggle with the merch person. Don't run out of pride gas if you can help it. Twitter got bad and there is no hope in the federated timeline.
Puke producers are man's best alarm clock. Beware sonic pulses at Diller Park. Jacob is on the hunt for a certified used vehicle that he will cherish, unlike those from the early years. Break out your notebooks, because Mike shares his A+ driving techniques. They buffed it out in the end.
Somedays you walk through security checkpoints with brass knuckles and that's okay. We can't all deal in cards. Stay wary of your everyday carry and mind the excess ego spilling from the frames on your parents' walls. Most importantly, revisit your listening habits to remain a productive member of society.
The act of putting something out there is at odds with mental damage reasons. Also, being a fan is hard. Jacob and Mike are starting something new to break the block. In doing so they dredge up what makes their other projects so difficult to sustain. Here goes nothing.
For years Jacob Tender and Mike Comite toiled away at their critically acclaimed (albeit infrequently published) science fiction podcast. Hours of quality conversations about anything else were lost before and after the tapes were rolling. Here's to making up lost time with good friends. Welcome to Podchasm.