Mandy and Michael talk about all 11 seasons of Supernatural , the long and meandering tale of Sam and Dean Winchester, two often brave and sometimes idiotic brothers who both save and wreak havoc on the world around them. We talk about how strong the show is at times, how far it fell, and discuss whether or not the show is–and the brothers themselves are–redeemed after a precipitous fall. Spoilers abound, but for a change we don't think they matter. IfListen freely and decide if you want to watc...
Aug 16, 2016•1 hr 31 min
Mandy and Michael talk the first 11 issues of The Wicked + The Divine. It's the modern day supernatural multi-pantheon ongoing comic written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Jamie McKelvie. The first bit is spoiler free, so feel free to listen and find out if you're interested! Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Aug 01, 2016•1 hr 40 min
Mandy and Michael talk about Matt Fraction's Hawkeye . It's funny. It's goofy. It looks bad. (Ok, no. That's a reference. The comic actually looks fantastic.) You should read it before listening to this, but if you won't, listen to us and maybe we'll convince you to! Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Jul 16, 2016•1 hr 21 min
Mandy and Michael talk about Joss Whedon's greatest (fact) work: The 2002 sci-fi classic space western Firefly and its conclusion movie Serenity. We talk about amazing rogues, wonderful dialog, botched scheduling and production on the part of Fox, and more. Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Jun 27, 2016•1 hr 41 min
Mandy and Michael discuss Captain America: Civial War , the third movie starring the Greatest American Hero, Steve Rodgers, which many have perhaps not incorrectly dubbed Avengers 2.5 . There's plenty to criticize and discuss, regardless of how much they liked the movie, so brace yourselves for some character-by-character critique. Tune in to find out who Michael thinks the only 3 reasonable prominent characters (of a huge cast) are in the entire film. There are many many spoilers for the entire...
Jun 13, 2016•1 hr 41 min
In this episode, Mandy and Michael finally talk about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed , the long awaited 7th Episode of the franchise. Disagreement and affection for the new movie abound in an *extremely* long look recorded when the movie was still in theaters. Buckle in! Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
May 30, 2016•3 hr 9 min
Just a little late for Season 2 of its show's debut, here's yet another long-ago recorded episode in which Mandy and Michael discussed the first season of the joint Marvel and Netflix project Daredevil. Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)
May 16, 2016•2 hr 51 min
In another long-ago recorded episode, Mandy and Michael spoke right after Sherlock Series 3 concluded. Listen in for our impressions back when our feelings were fresh! Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)
May 02, 2016•1 hr 33 min
In this long-go recorded episode, Mandy and Michael go over Ender's Game , both in book and movie forms. Listen as Michael struggles to hand over the reigns of directing discussion to Mandy and rudely steals her thunder multiple times. Meanwhile, Mandy jogs Michael's memory of the fantastic book with her scene-by-scene memory of the entire story. During the episode this article from Mandy about Orson Scott Card is mentioned: The Orson Scott Card Problem Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The sh...
Apr 18, 2016•2 hr 45 min
This week Michael and Mandy did something a little bit different. This episode is a commentary audio track for one of their very favorite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas , just in time for Halloween. Don't have time to watch it before Halloween? That's ok! It's a great Christmas movie too, so you can watch it any time between the two holidays without issue! So go ahead, watch the movie as a refresher. Then load it up again, and listen to our instructions for getting the timing right to li...
Oct 30, 2013•1 hr 23 min
This episode wraps up the length discussion of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 1 - Water. This episode touches the remaining chapters, including many many spoilers! Make sure you listened to episode 012 first! Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Oct 24, 2013•1 hr 54 min
This episode begins the temporary conversion of the podcast to one primarily discussing Avatar: The Last Airbender. This episode touches the first 8 "chapters" of Book 1 of the series. Spoilers abound! Take heed! Do not enter without watching the series first! Book 1's discussion will be completed in the next episode of the podcast, so be ready! Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Oct 17, 2013•1 hr 43 min
After a too long hiatus, Michael and Mandy return to talk about their love of, and the need for, Dragon*Con and other cons in the concrete and the abstract. Digressions abound, including how to leverage fandom itself for: Revisiting the thinking behind critique Finding recommendations Understanding others Also covered: many other small topics, including a bit of what's coming for the podcast. Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Sep 19, 2013•58 min
Welcome to our 10th episode! In this, Michael and Mandy finally wrap up the 3-part Harry Potter discussion. Lots of music, lots of discussion, and Michael getting tired, thereby resorting to using the word "like" way too many times. So sit tight and enjoy this conversation about the finale of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael)...
Aug 15, 2013•1 hr 47 min
This week, Mandy and Michael continue the Harry Potter discussion with nothing but Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , the fourth and middle entry in the series. Make sure to listen to episode 008 first! Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)
Aug 09, 2013•51 min
This week's episode begins our 3-episode spoiler-filled high level discussion on the Harry Potter series. We start with our thoughts on the series as a whole, then proceed to discuss the first three entries: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [Philosopher's Stone] Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Aug 03, 2013•1 hr 44 min
In this week's spoiler free episode, Mandy and Michael spend an hour talking about children's media: why it's important, why its quality matters, and what some good stuff is. Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)
Jul 24, 2013•1 hr
This week we do a lot of talking about barriers to entry in approaching different media. Lots of non-spoiler conversation about comics, video games, books, movies, and television. At ~1:23, Mandy mentions her blog post: Where to Start: Epic Fantasy Foll ow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Jul 19, 2013•1 hr 32 min
This week's episode is all about Time Travel. In it we talk about all these things: The Two/Three Types of Time Travel Terminator & Terminator 2 12 Monkeys Looper Back to the Future Primer Doctor Who Chrono Trigger A Sound of Thunder The Time Machine The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure / Bogus Journey Restaurant at the End of the Universe (barely) A Christmas Carol Quantum Leap Groundhog Day (in which we forget Bi...
Jul 10, 2013•1 hr 38 min
This week is a 2 hour discussion about Superman. This may seem a much more focused topic than our other episodes so far, but Superman as a character is a very broad subject. This episode is a special treat, and Michael doesn't want to spoil any of it here. One thing: The episode is Man of Steel spoiler safe until 1 hour, 11 minutes in, and it's made very clear that the movie is about to be discussed. You're safe to listen that far if you still haven't watched the movie yet. Follow us on twitter:...
Jul 04, 2013•2 hr 1 min
This week, Mandy and Michael discuss continuity in stories: when it's done well, when it should not be attempted, and the costs of doing it poorly when you could have just not bothered with it at all. Media covered in this topic: Good continuity vs bad continuity Star Wars Extended Universe Ender's Game Isaac Asimov X-Men Superhero movies Superman The Dark Knight Returns DC Animated Universe Hawkeye Retcons Harry Potter Peter Parker's deal with the Devil Star Wars (Movies) And probably a bit mor...
Jun 19, 2013•1 hr 20 min
This week Mandy and Michael talk about sympathetic villains, by which they mean villains with which we can sympathize. It's a major topic for the pair, so brace yourselves for over 70 minutes of audio! In this episode, the pair discuss: Star Wars Thor More Star Wars Avatar: The Last Airbender Mass Effect Wheel of Time Dune They also hit a few tangents and offshoots of conversation along the way. Dive in, and pack your magic hammer! Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @...
Jun 12, 2013•1 hr 14 min
This is the premier, inaugural, introductory, and very first episode of Trivially Crucial. Consider this a meta-episode in which Michael and Mandy introduce themselves, the general ways in which they think about media, and discuss the importance of stories to normal life. Also discussed: Objectivity vs subjectivity Not as much Thor as Mandy would like Follow us on twitter: @TrivCrucial (The show) @Auhim (Michael) @Brown_Ajah (Mandy)...
Jun 05, 2013•37 min
