Pop Medieval Ep 45: Degrees of Deadness in Valheim
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Doc and Nina play the popular viking-themed video game, Valheim. They’ll discuss the meaning of the game and get into the finer aspects of the world.
Topics covered: being dead, naked and afraid; rewarding cooperative game play;Ms. Awesome’s Viking Animal Crossing; where fantasy name generators fail; the evolution of tree punching; sea travel realism; unforgiving viking homelife; corvid mythos; the connection between Eikthyr and heavy metal music; troll clothing; and non-toxic norse communities.
Pop Medieval Ep 44: An Interview with Professor Awesome
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In this very special episode of Pop Medieval, Nina rescues Doc from a bicycle repair man’s refrigerator and interviews him about his latest book, “The Watch of Traxis.” She asks the important questions like, is this book a horror novel?
Topics covered: the genesis of the name Prof Awesome, tabletop roleplaying games, wristwatches ruining SEO, Doc’s lazy writing style, and some Discord shoutouts!
Doc and Nina are back from their January break and have a new episode. In this Valentine’s Day episode, they’re gushing, cooing, and preening about Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Parliament of Foules” — birds, that is. Ca-CAAA!
Topics covered: Valentine’s Day as a romantic day, low-brow ducks, dream visions, “The Dream of the Rood,” dating reality shows, socially approved relationships, the dark history of the cuckoo bird, and strange podcast metrics.
Doc sends Nina to cooking school for Christmas (no, this episode is NOT late — technically we’re still within the Christmas season). She recounts her experiences with the hits and misses from her week of feasting.
Topics covered: green beans vs broad beans, The Eggnog Riot at West Point, adding fried eggs to meals, Doc’s ill-fated chicken dish, more bean discussion, the dangers of too much dairy, the sin of butter, meals for Lent
Nina says — Stay as authentic to the recipes as possible if you want to try cooking with the Black Friars. If you have dietary restrictions (like lactose intolerance) these will NOT be the recipes for you. You can, however, replace the meat with vegan options like Beyond Meat or Impossible meat.
Pop Medieval Ep 41: The Last Duel, or The Wrongs about Medieval Property Rights
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*Note: This episode contains very frank discussion of rape and sexual assault due to the plot of the film, “The Last Duel.” This also contains plot spoilers of a historical event.*
Doc and Nina review their final Movember movie — well into December — “The Last Duel.” It’s intense, it’s difficult, but it’s absolutely brilliant. Nina shares her new taglines for each chapter of the movie and Doc gives his assessment of the movie’s opinion of, um, “little deaths.” Both Nina and Doc have their own separate rants in this one, so get comfortable.
Topics covered: The Hundred Years’ war, property ownership, de Carrouges’ temper tantrums, le Gris’ project management skills, the bit of movie pandering during Marguerite’s title fade, Doc and Nina’s love of this movie despite their complaints, the French inquisition, the outcome of the duel, who owns a piece of land anyway, the science of orgasm and pregnancy, and the marriage debt.
Pop Medieval Ep 40: "There Can Be Only One, SpongeBob!"
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Doc and Nina take on a beloved camp classic for Movember: Highlander. Guess what — it’s also from 1986! And Sean Connery is back, doing his Scottish non-Scot thing again.
Topics covered: what exactly the Prize is, Christopher Lambert’s myopic sword-fighting, the Quickening, Styrofoam pillars, Rachel’s origin story, the best line in the film, medieval wrasslin’, the Kurgan as our language ancestor, witans versus things, and Doc’s experience impressing elementary school kids in “Camelot.”
Pop Medieval Ep 39: "Your Female Part is a Little Underwritten (and Greasy), Sir"
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Movember continues! Hoo boy, this is a doozy. Doc and Nina are back in the same room to watch “The Name of the Rose,” a 1986 slog with Sean Connery and Christian Slater! Can they really stop laughing long enough to explain what’s going on? (This is all Engineer Mike’s fault.)
Topics covered: who’s actually IN this movie, Sherlock Holmes, the actual title of this film, Benedictine vs Franciscan orders, the lost book on Poetics, Frasier vs Tenet, the Cotton Library fire, the greasy sex scene, Doc’s teenage dating life, Nina’s very important question
Recommendations
FYI – this movie is almost impossible to find. We’re linking to where you can buy the DVD (if you have to)
Doc and Nina kick off Mov-ember with The Green Knight. Spoilers abound.
Topics discussed: knighthood, Gawain’s confusing heritage, the fox’s identity, Gawain becoming unstuck in time, the Trojan War, the color green, who killed St. Winifred, singing naked giants, greatness versus goodness, the last ten minutes of the movie, and how to pronounce “lady” and “Gawain.”
Recommendations
A24 Screening Room (available on the Apple Store and Roku)
Doc tells Nina the spooky tale of St Erkenwald, the 13th century bishop who found an incorruptible corpse of a 6th century pagan king, resurrected him, and sent him to heaven with his holy tears.
Topics covered: sacraments, incorruptible corpses, Padre Pio, stigmata, Vladimir Lenin, HP Lovecraft, Doc’s turn as a horror writer, Jeffrey Combs, BDSM, deadites, and boomsticks
Pop Medieval Ep 36: Some Games are Good, Others are Halatafl
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Shall we play a (board) game? Doc shows Nina a board game featuring a raging Geat and Fairytale Femme Fatale.
Topics of discussion: Beowulf, Little Red Riding Hood, asymmetrical games, board games, metaphors, fox and geese, Doc’s hair, condescending comic book guys, Squid Game, and Mrs. Awesome’s patience.
