Sunday 30 September 2018

Lupine Podcast Club


Podcasts are still a relatively new venture for me. I mean, back in 2011 I guest-starred on one that was associated with a now-defunct website I was writing for. But until 2016, I didn’t pay very much attention. The time and commitment involved just seemed like too much, and I didn’t want to filter through all the crap to find the good stuff.

Still, around that time I had a number of recommendations from friends, and I thought it was time to dip my toe in. Since then it’s been quite the voyage of discovery – so while I don’t want to be that guy who’s always telling you to check out podcasts, you might enjoy some of these if you like this site.


If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent your share of time watching or reading about bad movies, maybe even listening to a podcast or two on the subject. That’s fun and all – but what if there was an equivalent for bad books?

Well, I Don’t Even Own a Television – or IDEOTV for short – steps up to fill that void in your life. J. Williams Friedman and Chris Collision take you on a journey through some of the best and worst trashy books on the market. I’ll freely admit that I am not a particularly fussy reader; I certainly don’t always agree with their takes, and I’ve personally enjoyed a bunch of the books featured. But both J and Chris are very funny and very easy to listen to, and you do also hear about some interesting books that you might not otherwise have come across.  


As I’ve noted in some of my posts about reading, I collect old books about the paranormal and the unexplained. But in day-to-day life, I tend to think things need to be viewed a little more sceptically. And this is where Ross & Carrie step in. Ross & Carrie are both former evangelical Christians who are no longer members of the faith but have retained a fascination with unusual beliefs. In their own words:

Welcome to Oh No, Ross and Carrie!, the show where we don’t just report on fringe science, spirituality, and claims of the paranormal, but take part ourselves. Follow us as we join religions, undergo alternative treatments, seek out the paranormal, and always find the humor in life’s biggest mysteries. We show up - so you don’t have to.

In a stark contrast to many other pieces of skeptical media, they largely avoid a snarky or condescending tone. They’ve been doing this in one form or another since 2011, covering just about every fringe topic you could think of – and yes, they have done Scientology. 


The second book-related podcast on here. Do you like extreme metal, leftist politics, reading and crude humour? I sure as h*ck do. DEATH // SENTENCE is the most recent entry to my regular listening, and indeed it seems to be a fairly new podcast, apparently having debuted earlier this year. Hosted by a British guy named Gareth and avant-garde writer Langdon Hickman, they’re two very well-read guys who cover a lot of interesting ground. 


As you might have guessed from looking at this site over the years, I like collecting toys quite a bit – so it’s only natural that I’d be pushing a podcast about toys on here.

Adam and Blake take you through the wild, whacky world of collecting, along with all the fun and frustration that comes along with it. The show’s been running since last year, and it’s really hit its stride. Highly recommended, and both great about interacting with their fans on Twitter too.


Irish comedian/wrestling tragic Kefin Mahon and his life partner Jo Graham talk through the basics of wrestling fandom. I came across Kefin through an episode of the previously mentioned IDEOTV podcast, and subsequently discovered he had been podcasting across a few different shows for years.  

Kefin and Jo do a fantastic job of making the oft-impenetrable world of professional wrestling accessible to the wider public. If you’ve ever thought about checking it out but weren’t sure where to start, I can wholeheartedly recommend How2Wrestling a fantastic way to kick things off. There’s also a great, welcoming Facebook group that’s grown as an offshoot of the podcast too – Team Friendship.


Saturday 15 September 2018

New true crime piece at We Are The Mutants

As regular readers may know, I write the occasional piece over at We Are The Mutants. Well, another one went up this week -- I tackle true crime for the very first time, with a look at the sinister history of murderabilia. John Wayne Gacy's artwork features prominently, so depending on your workplace, you may find it a little NSFW. You can read it here.

You can see other guest articles I've written for various sites here, too. 

Saturday 8 September 2018

I got interviewed!


As some of you are aware, I released my debut novella Lost Tunnels back in June. So the other day I sat down with the Australasian Horror Writer’s Association (of which I'm a member) for a bit of a chat about it.

You can see the whole thing here.