The Middle of Culture

On this week's episode of 'The Middle of Culture', Eden and I dive into the Hugo-nominated novella, 'Ogres' by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Written from a unique second-person perspective, this tale unveils a world dominated by ogres--powerful beings towering over humans. Eden and I explore the narrative, discuss the themes, and share our personal takeaways from this story. Tune in to discover how 'Ogres' left us, whether it thrilled or fell short of our expectations. Don't miss this deep dive into this blend of fantasy and social commentary.

It's time for more Godzilla! This week on The Middle of Culture, we move to the 80s for "Godzilla vs. Biollante". What happens when you merge Godzilla with 80s action movies? Is it successful at one, both or neither? Listen as we discuss this entry in the colorful Godzilla franchise/history.

We're back this week with more Dune! On The Middle of Culture, we discuss the recent release, Dune Part 2. Did it succeed on the promises of Part 1? Is Paul the Lisan Al Gaib? Is Stilgar the unheralded comedic genius of the planet Arrakis? Listen as Eden and I discuss these questions and much more. Beware, spoilers abound!

He's back! It's time for more Godzilla. And this time, the monster has to face a formidable foe to be sure. A moth. A giant moth. And then the moth's twin larvae. That's right, this week on The Middle of Culture, we dive into the 1964 classic (?) Mothra versus Godzilla. Eden assures us this is one of the better Godzilla movies, and Peter begins to have serious doubts about this Godzilla journey, if this is one of the best ones. Still, it was a fun time and the conversation was a joy. Join us as we discuss this entry in the Godzilla-verse!

We're back baby! After both of us being under the weather, Eden and I are back to discuss our adventures with model kits. That is, of course, after we catch up on a full month's worth of media consumption that, given our recent illnesses, was quite a lot. So, join us as we catch up, and then dive into Gundam model building and our experiences with it.

We will be back in 2 weeks when Eden is hale and hearty!

This week on The Middle of Culture, join Eden and me as we journey back to the birth of a cinematic legend with a nostalgic look at the 1954 original Godzilla. Unearth the origins of a colossal cultural icon that continues to reign supreme to this day. Dive into the depths of the silver screen as we explore how Godzilla, in all its monstrous glory, first roared to life. We revisit this timeless classic that laid the foundation for an epic franchise. Discover why the original Godzilla remains a cinematic masterpiece that withstands the test of time. Godzilla has become more than just a movie; it's a symbol of resilience, creativity, and the enduring power of storytelling.

Here's a more engaging and SEO-optimized version of your podcast description:"🎉🎶 Celebrate with us on the 50th episode and 2nd anniversary of 'The Middle of Culture'! This special edition is a nostalgic journey back to our roots, revisiting the magic of our first episode. Join Eden and me as we dive deep into the eclectic soundscapes of 2023's music scene. 🌟 Eden explores a diverse mix, featuring everything from the raw emotions of emo to the rhythmic beats of hip-hop, the soulful depths of jazz, and the futuristic vibes of vaporware. Meanwhile, I stay true to my passion, immersing you in the intense world of metal – a tour through the realms of Post-metal, Death metal, Sludge, Black, and Doom. 🤘 It's a fusion of genres that promises to excite and inspire. Tune in and discover your next musical obsession! #MusicPodcast #TheMiddleOfCulture #Episode50 #MusicOf2023 #DiverseGenres #MetalMusic"This revised description is designed to be more dynamic and inviting, using emotive language and emojis to create a more engaging tone. It also incorporates keywords such as "Music Podcast," "Diverse Genres," and specific music styles for better SEO performance, attracting a wider audience interested in various music genres and podcast discussions.

Join Eden, a lifelong Godzilla aficionado, Peter, an intrigued newcomer, and our special guest Gareth, as we plunge into the cinematic world of 'Godzilla Minus One'. This week's episode is a thrilling exploration of the most recent entry to one of the most iconic monster movies series ever made. Be prepared to be astonished by the moving nature of this film. We delve into the heart-stopping visuals, with Godzilla portrayed as a menacing, terrifying force of nature. But it's not just about the monster; this movie offers much more. We dissect the profound narrative, a poignant reflection on healing and moving forward from the dark shadows of WWII. Tune in for an in-depth discussion where we uncover the layers of storytelling, character development, and the legendary impact of Godzilla on cinema. Don't miss this episode if you're a Godzilla enthusiast or just love great storytelling in film!

Join Eden and me, lifelong gaming enthusiasts, in our next episode where we dive deep into the world of quick-play video games. We’re exploring the latest gaming trend that’s taking the industry by storm: Reverse Bullet Hell, or as we like to call them, ‘Bullet Heaven’ games. These games can offer an exciting experience without the hefty time commitment. We’ll be showcasing a few standout titles in this genre, dissecting what makes them so captivating and discussing their meteoric rise in popularity. Tune in to discover why these fast-paced games have become a sensation, and maybe find your next gaming obsession!

This week we have a special guest, as John, Peter and Eden's father, joins us for a special Thanksgiving week episode of the Middle of Culture. As a palate cleanse from last week's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad movie, we look to another 1985 action film. This time, we dive into the Jackie Chan classic, "Police Story". Listen as we discuss what makes this movie an enduring classic, and an essential film for any action movie fans.

The strikes are over, and to celebrate we decided to get back to a movie. Mind you, we doubt the WGA or SAG AFTRA had anything to do with this movie from 1985. But hey, Gymkata is the movie and watching it is an experience.

The 90s were a weird time for metal. The rise and fall of grunge, the rise of nu-metal, and the enshitification of some classic metal bands from the 80s all made for a weird time. And then there was Testament.

This week we dive into some Daredevil. Eden gives a great overview of "single issue" comics, and then we spend some time talking about these examples and our thoughts and experiences with them. For Peter, it was a very educational and interesting, and we hope it is for all of you as well!

Last week Eden and Cassi talked about video games in general. This week, Peter is back, and he and Eden get a little more specific with a face off between video game RPGs. We picked 64 we thought were worth mentioning and then pit them against each other to pick our favorite from each pairing.

This week Eden and Cassi come to the rescue. I've had some stuff going on that really put me in a place I wasn't going to be great co-host, so they graciously gave me the week off and came in with some hot video game talk. Give them a listen and a 5 star review for saving the week!

As the strike continues, we continue to avoid major Hollywood fare. This week Eden brings up a short story collection. Peter bounced off it hard, but Eden reminds us the importance of media that moves us to action, not just make us feel good.

No full episode this week, just a message about what is going to tantalize your ears.

Our initial plan this week was to watch an old, reportedly hilarious bad movie. But in an attempt at solidarity with the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, we jumped into some books this week. Join us as Eden and I discuss books that were foundational to us, that we love, and then throw shade at some books we think are bad.

Visual novels are flourishing in the modern era. They offer an opportunity to tell and experience a story that, traditionally, would have just been in the written format, but with technology, these stories can be enhanced both with visuals and sound design. And most importantly, can be made responsive the the choices of you, the reader. This week we discuss the visual novel "Heaven Will Be Mine" and our thoughts about both the story as well as the experience of "reading" a visual novel.

This week Eden and I get a little into the woods. We've talked many times about music, but we wanted to discuss some of the how and why music means so much to us, and also why we continually seek out new music, rather than continue to relish the music we listened to in our early years. Yeah, it's a little navel gazey, but there you have it.

Spider-Man returns, this time traveling across the Spider-Verse, as Eden and I discuss the sequel to Into the Spider-Verse. How does this film hold up to the absolute banger that was the first? Listen and find out. General impressions kick things off after we catch up on some new media, and then we go full spoiler mode and discuss the film. I'll just say this, this movie deserves your time, attention, and money.

It's Spider-Verse season! While we originally planned to discuss the recent release of Across the Spider-Verse this week, we made a last minute decision (mostly for scheduling reasons) to start with the first film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. And you know what? That was the correct decision. It is a movie that is so incredibly well and lovingly made that it is worth watching again and then gushing over for the next 30+ minutes, and that is exactly what we do.

It was finally Peter's turn to pick something, because he finally felt like he was in a position to do so. This week we took a look at the most recent issue of Uncanny Magazine, issue 52. Uncanny is an online magazine published every two months of speculative prose, poetry, and nonfiction works. Peter has been a subscriber for a bit now, but hasn't dived in and this seemed like a good time to finally get in and check it out.

Gamera returns! And with him comes the reckoning of some serious psychological trauma. In this conclusion to the trilogy, the movie takes a much darker and more psychological turn, and in the end, is it better for it? Listen along as we discuss our thoughts and opinions of this concluding movie.

Gamera returns! This week we dive into the second installment of this relatively recent Gamera trilogy, and see the might turtle take on Legion, a wild upside down crab looking monster. If you enjoyed the first, this one is sure to please, as it really takes everything about the first and levels it up in significant ways.

It should have been Peter's turn to come up with something. Should have. But like the solid that they are, Eden saved the day from Peter's incredibly overwhelming life to offer up a trio of kaiju films for us to watch, enjoy, and discuss. We kick this trio of episodes off with the 1995 film Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. If you aren't familiar with Gamera, listen and decide if you want to make yourself familiar. And as a first timer, Peter gives this film a hearty endorsement. Plus, it was free on Amazon Prime Video, so very little by way of excuse.

What is a close encounter? And how many kinds are there? Well, there must be at least three, because this week we discuss our experiences watching the 1977 Steven Spielberg classic movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. We also discuss some recent media we have been enjoying. Join us as we take this trip with a cast of eclectic characters.

We're no strangers to talking about music here on The Middle of Culture. And while, years ago, Eden and Peter shared many similar musical tastes, those tastes have diverged and matured. This week, we discuss essential albums that have shaped the way we listen to music, and the types of music we enjoy. Come along, as we discuss our most influential albums.

This week Eden decided to challenge Peter with some anime. Anyone who has listened has heard Peter lament about his inability to really get into anime, but there has to be a first time for everything, right? Well, turns out, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury just might be that. Listen in as we discuss the prologue and first three episodes from this most recent Gundam series.

Our winter of X-content is over. This journey has lasted many months, and culminates in X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Look folks, this movie has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any X-Men movie, by a significant margin. It is worse than Black Adam, and boy howdy, that movie is an abomination. This is a right stinker, and we end on the lowest of lows. Or do we? Listen as Eden and I discuss our surprising reactions to this movie, and then rank all 10 of the X movies we have watched together. I promise, we are sane and our decisions make complete sense.

This week we take a journey. After a brief discussion of the announced DCEU projects (can you say completely underwhelming?) we travel to 1940 by way of the 1973 Spanish film (that's Film with a capital F) The Spirit of the Beehive. It is one of Eden's very favorite films, and boy howdy, did Peter have a challenging time getting into it. But it makes for a very interesting discussion on the Spain at the time, and cinema in general. Plus, it can't be any more difficult to watch than our upcoming movie. It just can't.

Our winter of X-content is coming quickly to a close with the penultimate movie, 2017s Logan. Both Eden and I were a bit nervous to watch this one again. We have fond memories of it being very good, but that was 5+ years ago. Does it hold up to further scrutiny? Or should we have lived with our fond memories and left it at that? Take a listen with us and you'll find out.

This week both Eden and I felt a bit low energy, so we went with a topic that didn't require too much energy or effort to prepare for. And, perhaps a little surprisingly, at least to me, it turned into a really fun and interesting discussion about tabletop role playing games. Join us as we discuss our journey with TTRPGs as well as our thoughts about some recent announcements about the, by far, biggest TTRPG out there.

Folks, this has been a real roller coaster. There have been highs, and there have been lows, but this week, I am pretty sure we have hit the very lowest low so far. Join Eden and I as we discuss X-Men: Apocalypse. Heads up, this movie is really, really bad. But the conversation was pretty dang good.

It should have been another entry in our Winter of Excontent. But alas, life just kicked me hard. In the balls. So, we are just sort of free wheeling it this week, with an extemporaneous discussion of some of our favorite media of the year, including music, books, movies and games.

This episode was a little different. Generally, we talk about the media and entertainment we have been consuming. However, today we wanted to talk about our efforts at creating media of our own. November is known as National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and has been for about the last 25 years. Independently, turns out Eden and I both decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. We thought it would be worthwhile to spend some time talking about our experiences in trying to write a 50,000 word short novel in one month's time.

The Summer of X has become the Fall of X, or even the Winter, depending on where you live. This week we talk a bit about games, music and then dive into the latest X movie, Days of Future Past. We discuss it's merits and Peter discusses that, despite those merits, he really, really doesn't like this movie. Or the holiday season. He has stress and needs to manage it better.

As children of the 80s, the entertainment of that time has always been highly influential for both myself and Eden. One of those influences is that of giant robots. Yes, that's right folks, this week we are ranking, reviewing, and discussing a handful of giant robots over the years. But not just any robots, these are all Mecha, robots controlled by humans. Join us as we walk down memory lane and rank these robots.

The Summer of X is now the Fall of X officially as temperatures cool off and we follow The Wolverine to Japan. Eden and I discuss what we are in to these days, and then dive into James Mangold's first movie centered on good old Logan.

Over the course of our lives, we all have opportunities to develop certain skills. Eden and I have both spent many years honing some of those skills. Yet they have, in some cases, been in very different areas, as I so painfully discovered in trying to read over 700 pages of Elf Quest comics in a few weeks. Join us as we discuss the first half of volume 1 of the classic Elf Quest comic, and reflect on how reading comics is very different than much of the other reading we do in a day.

Everyone is a fan of something. Or often many things. But do we define ourselves and our personalities by our fandoms? If so, perhaps we should find meaning in something more real. Because that seems to be when fandom becomes toxic. This week we discuss toxic fandom, in the setting of the recent backlash of The Rings of Power. And then, we just may be grateful that Eden and I don't define ourselves by our X-Men fandom, because First Class left us both wanting.

These days, you can find a video game for almost anything. A longstanding, but increasingly broad category of games are those that fall under the "simulation" genre. There are classics, like SimCity and The Sims, that almost everyone knows about. But what about more niche sim games? Euro Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator, Lawn Mower Simulator, and the game that kicked off today's topic, Power Wash Simulator, are all entries in an increasingly diverse genre. We take a look at sim games and our thoughts after spending some time washing the heck out of some things together in co-op.

This week the Summer of X returns with X-Men Origins: Wolverine. We remembered it wasn't a great movie. Critically it did worse than the previous installments in the series. So, we knew what we were getting into, didn't we? No. No, we did not. Nothing prepared us for the experience that was revisiting this movie. I won't say more though. Just listen and hopefully you will find yourself laughing along as we could barely contain our own laughter. We also briefly talk about our thoughts on episode 1 of She Hulk: Attorney At Law, and we reflect on the sad and sorry state that is the DC movie properties. This one was a trip.

War. War never changes. And neither does the world after an apocalypse! Or at least that is how it appears in much of post-apocalyptic fiction. That's on the docket this week, after a (what was going to be) brief recap of some recent Marvel Studios topics. First, we talk about *Thor Love and Thunder*, some final thoughts on the recently wrapped up *Ms. Marvel*, and finish out our Marvel talk with reactions to the *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever* trailer. Eden then takes us through the post-apocalypse, framed through the *Fallout* games, as we discuss fiction after the end of the world.

Life sometimes gets in the way. And that happened to us this week. Between travel and being away from home we weren't able to put together and episode that would meet the quality we expect from ourselves. But we will be back in 2 weeks with a great topic courtesy of Eden!

A wet fart. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Those two comments pretty much sum up our thoughts about X-Men: The Last Stand. Bad, but not bad enough to be fun, this was a movie that just fell flat in so many ways. It messed with the mythos of the X-Men in incomprehensible and stupid ways, it treated many of its characters very poorly, and is just a dud all the way around. But, it was a lot of fun to talk about. Hopefully, it is fun to listen to us talk about it as well.

Eden loves it, Peter had never even heard of it. Given Eden's love of the book, the siblings decided to read (or re-read) A Bride's Story. Come with us as we discuss this modern work of art and dive into our thoughts and emotions that this book took us on. But here is the most important part: this is a truly wonderful piece of art that everyone deserves to experience.

Some have suggested X2 is the best of the X-Men movies. Braeden and Peter decide to discuss that and put that to the test, watching this hot on the heels of revisiting the original X-Men. And we both agree, higher highs, but trying to cram too much into its run time. Stop by as we discuss this next installment of The Summer of X.

Far flung humanity, a “winner-takes-all” battle with humans and AI teamed up, yet orchestrated by other AI, and lesbian sex all combine to make for a very interesting novella from Thai author Benjanun Sriduangkaew. Braeden is a fan, Peter was unfamiliar until now, and together they discuss this third installment in The Machine Mandate series.