Pex Lives: A Doctor Who Podcast
James Murphy and Kevin Burns are both Certified Minor Internet Personalities with a shared love of Doctor Who. Explore the history of the show with them, as they watch classic serials and chat with each other each month about them. Each month, the pair will pick a classic serial to watch and then break down, exploring the themes, characters and production of the given story. There will also be jokes. Sometimes they may barely mention the show. New episodes every month.

This Shabcast is an accompaniment to this month's edition of Pex Lives, which features the long-awaited encounter between Phil Sandifer (from off of TARDIS Eruditorum) and 'Vox Day' (from off of fascism and fucking up the Hugo Awards). 

Kevin and James have kindly turned the June installment of Pex Lives over to the Sandifer/Vox Day interview, in which Phil quizzes Vox about his attitudes towards two texts, One Bright Star to Guide Them by John C. Wright (which Vox loves and Phil hates) and Iain M. Banks' The Wasp Factory (which Vox hates and Phil loves).
 
Shabcast 6 is something in the way of an 'afterparty' for Phil, in which Phil chats with myself, Kevin and James about the Vox Day interview.  Very much necessary listening.  And lots of fun.  After the serious business of the interview itself, the four of us kick back and have a chat which veers from the serious to the plain giggly.
 

This Shabcast also features frequent and vehement contributions by my elderly, crotchety and extremely loud-voiced bengal cat Quiz.  You won't be able to understand her, but I can... and she's telling me to kill.

Direct download: Shabcast_6.mp3
Category:Shabcast -- posted at: 11:32am UTC
Comments[8]

22: The Macra Terror, or, Dreadful. Did you hear that rhyme?

Pex Lives had a wondeful time talking to the brilliant Holly B. about Moffat for a little while and the classic Troughton serial, the Macra Terror. Download, enjoy, and share!

Have you heard? May is Macra Madness Month,

Direct download: The_Macra_Terror_p1.mp3
Category:Second Doctor -- posted at: 12:23am UTC
Comments[7]

May is Macra Madness Month for both Pex Lives and the Shabogan Graffiti Podcast.  Shabcast 5 - a mammoth discussion of lost 60s classic 'The Macra Terror' - sees Jack joined by longstanding online buddy, actor Elliot Chapman, who also happens to have recently been cast by Big Finish as the new Ben Jackson!  Elliot seems to be on some kind of mission to singlehandedly disprove the old prejudice about actors being thick.  And he likes Jack's blog, which Jack takes as proof of his intelligence.  This is possibly the most shabgraffy Shabcast yet, i.e. lots of Doctor Who and lots of politics... as well as unrestrained ramblings about stuff as diverse as complicity, conspiracy, CRPGs, The Prisoner (of course), Herbert Marcuse, Universal horror films, Abbott and Costello, Marshall Berman, the Nazi's Degenerate Art Exhibition and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  It's another long one.  But you don't *have* to listen to it.  Nobody's forcing you.  Ungrateful bastards.

 

Direct download: Shabcast_5_-_This_Podcast_Does_Not_Exist.mp3
Category:Shabcast -- posted at: 9:28am UTC
Comments[7]

Direct download: macramadnessmonth.mp3
Category:Second Doctor -- posted at: 9:14am UTC
Comments[25]

Normal shabcast service has been resumed after the unplanned emergency anti-fascist edition from earlier this month (though you may be hearing more from Phil and myself on the issue of the Hugos and the nazis).  This episode of the Shabogan Graffiti podcast is the long-awaited continuation of my mammoth chat with the lovely Josh Marsfelder, writer of the ridiculously good Vaka Rangi blog.  A slightly disjointed episode this one, but you're getting all the good bits.  The bits I chopped out are mostly me (Jack, that is) being inconsequential.  What's left is mostly Josh being eloquent and passionate about TNG, Trek generally, Dirty Pair, aesthetics, fan fiction, slash, Mary Sues, singularity archetypes, and all sorts and manners and conditions of interesting stuff.  We also do a bit of violently malevolent hating on Wesley Crusher... which should be entirely acceptable to all right-thinking people.  You'll love it, trust me.  Hardcore nattering, with no fascism to ruin everything.  Paint a bulls-eye on your heart right now.

Direct download: Shab_Cast_Four_-_The_Next_Iteration.mp3
Category:Shabcast -- posted at: 4:27pm UTC
Comments[5]

21: The Rings of Akhaten & The Time Warrior

Pex Lives on three continents! Abossycontrolfreak.tumblr.com is one of the crew's favourite places on the web and they had a great time talking to the woman behind it, Caitlin Smith. They start by talking specifically about the 11th Doctor episode, Rings of Akhaten, as a jumping off point to get to Clara and then go into Sarah Jane Smith's debut in the Time Warrior with the inimitable Three. This one's a keeper, folks.

Huge thanks to golden-phizzwizard.tumblr.com/ for our brilliant custom episode artwork. You should definitely check out the rest of their stuff.

Writer Robert Holmes
Director Alan Bromly
Script editor Terrance Dicks
Producer Barry Letts
Direct download: time_warriorrings.mp3
Category:Third Doctor -- posted at: 10:41am UTC
Comments[8]

A Marxist, a postmodernist and liberal walk into a bar... and form a united front.  Join me, Phil Sandifer and the superb Andrew Hickey for an unexpected emergency Shabcast on the subject of the recent fascist incursion on the Hugo Awards nominations.  (NOTE: Shabcast 3 was supposed to be the continuation of my conversation with Josh Marsfelder, but that will now be Shabcast 4... and will hopefully be along pretty soon.)
Direct download: Shabcast_3_-_This_Machine_Kills_Fascists.mp3
Category:Shabcast -- posted at: 9:57am UTC
Comments[14]

James and Kevin have a quick discussion discussing some recent developments on the podcast and what they're aiming for with them, and then delve into a short discussion of recent developments in Nerd Misogyny, specifically the news about Chris Sims' treatment of Valerie D'Orazio and how it has recently become a topic of discussion. They'll reflect on their own privelege and, as usual, make a few wise-ass remarks along the way.

Direct download: son_of_gallimaufrey1.mp3
Category:Gallimaufrey -- posted at: 12:32am UTC
Comments[5]

The first Shabogan Graffiti podcast (Shabcast) was an astounding success, breaking all previous known podcasting records and propelling its creator to instant stardom.  And it's back for a sequel, like Ace Ventura.  In this month's Shabcast, Jack Graham (writer of the Shabogan Graffiti blog) interviews his other friend, the amazing Josh Marsfelder, writer of the resolutely different and clever Star Trek blog Vaka Rangi.  Well, actually what happens is that Josh interviews himself and Jack sits back and listens.  And the podcast is all the better for it, what with Josh being so informed and enthusiastic about subjects as diverse as Trek, the obscure Japanese Anime masterpiece Dirty Pair, Polynesian culture and Lacanian criticism.   In this episode, you get just part of an immensely long (and ongoing) discussion.  Never has hardcore nerdery sounded so intellectually respectable.  (P.S. - We had some mic and software problems during our chat, which show up about 1hr 4mins into this episode.  Jack tried to find a way of cutting the offending passage, but it was annoyingly crucial for the context.  Having said that, the problem isn't too bad, and only occurs intermittently for a minute or two.  So, stick with it.)  (P.P.S - In the podcast I say that I'm going to call it 'The Joshening', but I decided against that as it turns out... though I now wish I'd decided to call it 'Q and A' instead.)

Direct download: Shab_Cast_II_-_The_Wrath_of_Josh.mp3
Category:Shabcast -- posted at: 10:06am UTC
Comments[8]

20: The Trial of a Timelord, or, Such Extraordinary Lengths to Kill Me

The only sane way tackle the Trial of a Timelord is to actively rebel against being a Doctor Who podcast.

This unedited, long awaited episode is thematically perfect for the season we're covering. Cobbled together, running late, full of strange tangents and little jewels along the way. Here and now, for you, the original Pex Lives team enjoy and endure the tail end of the entire Colin Baker era. Bridges are burnt, beers are tasted, Chris Tucker is considered, and maybe we'll learn something by the end of it.

(We will not. We'll have fun, though)

Direct download: trial_of_a_timelord_p1.mp3
Category:Sixth Doctor -- posted at: 1:42am UTC
Comments[5]