Ancient Geeks
by Ancient Geeks
Latest episode
Ancient Geeks episode 91: Larry Niven's Ringworld
Ancient Geeks episode 91: Larry Niven's Ringworld
About this podcast
Two old geeks talk about being young geeks, at a turning point in popular culture. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the threads of modern geek culture emerged and wove together. Science fiction, fantasy, comics, movies, TV shows, tabletop games, computer games, ad all their incarnations. The great SF&F writers, Star Trek, Star Wars, monster movies, D&D, Doctor Who, the Marvel and DC superheroes, 2001, Planet of the Apes, UFOs, conventions, Zork, Ultima...What was it like to experience these for the first time? Why did we love them? And how do we feel about them, decades later?
Episodes
The newest 20 of 93 episodes
- Ancient Geeks episode 91: Larry Niven's Ringworld · 1 h 39 min · Episode 93When Steven and Tom were young science fiction fans, Larry Niven's 1970 novel Ringworld impressed us with the scope of its imagination. A giant ring encircling a star, populated…
- Ancient Geeks episode 90: Quatermass and the Pit · 1 h 7 min · Episode 92Before Mulder and Scully, before Doctor Who, before Carl Kolchak, there was Professor Bernard Quatermass, scientist! The protagonist of several popular British TV series and…
- Ancient Geeks episode 89: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion · 1 h 31 min · Episode 91The Silmarillion was J.R.R. Tolkien's life's work. Seriously, he worked on it his entire adult life. Published posthumously, it tells the story of the first two ages of his…
- Ancient Geeks episode 88: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 3 · 51 min · Episode 90We wrap up our discussion of the pivotal second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation with our reviews of the rest of the episodes we didn't cover last week. There are some…
- Ancient Geeks episode 87: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 2 · 1 h 18 min · Episode 89We continue our discussion of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two by discussing some of the must-watch and should-avoid episodes. There are classics like "Q Who," "Measure…
- Ancient Geeks episode 86: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 1 · 52 min · Episode 88We return to the 24th century for the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We start our discussion with an overview of this pivotal season. What did we expect, when…
- Ancient Geeks episode 85: The Farthest Shore · 1 h 1 min · Episode 87We finish our discussion of the first three Earthsea novels by Ursula Le Guin with The Farthest Shore. We see Ged, the magician, as an older man, risen to Archmage. There's…
- Ancient Geeks episode 84: The Tombs Of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin · 1 h 9 min · Episode 86Continuing our coverage of Ursula K. Le Guin's first three Earthsea books, we turn to The Tombs Of Atuan. This time, the focus is on a female protagonist, Tenar, and her very…
- Ancient Geeks episode 83: A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin · 1 h 3 min · Episode 85We begin our three-part coverage of Ursula K. Le Guin's classic fantasy series, starting with A Wizard Of Earthsea. It starts with a story arc that may sound familiar, a young…
- Ancient Geeks episode 82: Planet of the Apes TV, cartoons, comics, and wrap-up · 1 h 9 min · Episode 84The popularity of the original series of five Planet of the Apes movies meant there would be more than just a chain of sequels. In this episode, we talk about the POTA spin-offs…
- Ancient Geeks episode 81: Battle for the Planet of the Apes · 1 h 11 min · Episode 83The fifth and final movie of the original Planet of the Apes raised expectations. It's going to be the last movie...and the title says that there will be a battle for the entire…
- Ancient Geeks episode 80: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes · 1 h 31 min · Episode 82Ever wonder how we went from the swinging Sixties and Seventies to the brutal oppression of apes over humans? Conquest of the Planet of the Apes tells that story. The child of…
- Ancient Geeks episode 79: Escape From The Planet Of The Apes · 1 h 2 min · Episode 81Of course there would be more sequels after Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, even though it was designed to be the last. In fact, the chief purpose of Escape From The Planet Of…
- Ancient Geeks episode 78: John Carpenter's Dark Star · 1 h 10 min · Episode 80We wrap up our series in which we look at the first movies of directors who later made the classics of geek cinema. In this episode, we discuss John Carpenter's student film…
- Ancient Geeks episode 77: Steven Spielberg's Duel · 56 min · Episode 79We continue our series about the first movies made by directors who later made the classics of geek cinema. In this episode, we discuss Duel, a TV movie made by a very young…
- Ancient Geeks episode 76: George Lucas' THX-1138 · 1 h 3 min · Episode 78We begin a series of episodes about the first movies from directors who later made the classics of geek cinema. In this first episode, we take a look at George Lucas' first…
- Ancient Geeks episode 75: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade · 1 h 6 min · Episode 77Harrison Ford and Sean Connery? More Nazi villains? A Grail quest In spite of the disappointment of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we said, "Sign us up!" And it was…
- Ancient Geeks episode 74: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom · 1 h 7 min · Episode 76Of course there was going to be a sequel... We had high hopes for the second Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Spielberg, Lucas, Ford...How could it go…
- Ancient Geeks episode 73: Raiders Of The Lost Ark · 1 h 23 min · Episode 75You can hear the soundtrack start to play in your head already... No history of early geekery would be complete without Raiders Of The Lost Ark. In this episode, we talk about…
- Ancient Geeks episode 72: Fantasy Star Trek crew draft · 50 min · Episode 74We take a detour from our normal reminiscences of geekery past to recruit our favorite Star Trek crews. Across all of Star Trek, from the original series to the modern era, whom…
