December 13, 2019
In the eighth episode of The Year In Pop, co-hosts Andy Atherton and Scott Criscuolo are joined by J Arsenio D’Amato and George Ribellino to discuss all of the goings on in the news, sports, TV, music and movies for the year 1979. The guys talk in depth about the launch of ESPN; the deaths of John Wayne and Thurman Munson; Magic Johnson entering the NBA; The Dukes of Hazzard; The Facts of Life; the Village People; Rocky II; The Jerk & The Muppet Movie.
December 12, 2019
Wing-It Month continues as the HTF offer up a lengthy review/recap of the first three parts of the CW's ambitious Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths! Greg and Nick offer their thoughts on how the event is shaping up more than halfway through, from surprising cameos and shocking twists to heartwarming and heartbreaking farewells. Hear from them about how this may be greatest the superhero television event of them all!
Mild-mannered reporters by day, Greg Phillips and Nick Duke share an intense love of comic books that has made them the Hard-Traveling Fanboys.
December 12, 2019
Welcome to another edition of This Week in the NFL. On this episode, your co-hosts the Cowboy and the dapper John D'Amato take you through all the big games! They look back at the 49ers shootout victory over the Saints and the Chiefs humbling of the Patriots in New England. They also preview the big match ups for Week 15. Enjoy!
December 10, 2019
In this special holiday quickie edition of Laugh-In Theater, host Andy Atherton is joined by Jennifer Smith & Mirandia Berthold (Geek N’ Sassy) to do a live watch of the 1965 TV special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Before they dive into the special, the gang discusses Christmas traditions (as both a child and a parent); their disdain for The Elf On A Shelf; Keepsake Ornaments; singing snowmen; the rules of decorating a Christmas tree; their favorite Christmas songs; Hallmark movies; the frustration of putting together toys; favorite foods to eat on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Southern bias towards egg nog and much more.
December 10, 2019
This week's Diamond Conversation heads back to the actual diamond as we are joined by former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher and current free agent, Tim Dillard. Dillard a side arm reliever by design spent last season in the Texas Rangers organization and brought his 17 years of professional experience back to his hometown of Nashville, TN playing for Texas Affiliate, Nashville Sounds. Tim is a also a second generation ball player, his father, Steve Dillard played in the Major Leagues for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox. However, Tim's knack for the "viral video" takes the stage as he discusses how he keeps his teammates so loose and engaged with his hilarious lip sync music parodies and movie parodies posted across all of his social media platforms.
December 9, 2019
Join Kevin and Mary for another week of The Brother/Sister Re-Watch, as this installment covers episodes 3 and 4 of The Office's 4th season, "Launch Party" and "Money". During this episode, siblings discuss their very different reactions to "Launch Party", previously unseen depths presented by the show, some very great comedy, and their takes on the Schrute family farm.
![The Glenn Butler Podcast Hour Spectacular, Episode 48: Star Wars Scores: The Prequel Trilogy]()
December 8, 2019
Star Wars Month continues on The Glenn Butler Podcast Spectacular, as Glenn & Scott examine the epistemological quagmire that is John Williams’ scores for the Star Wars prequels. How hard was Williams trying to replicate the magic of his older Star Wars scores, and did he succeed? How did the music editing in The Phantom Menace affect his work on Attack of the Clones? Does Williams’ Revenge of the Sith score carry the emotional weight of that story, even when the movie largely fails to do so? What is the backbone of each score? What do the themes stand for? And can Glenn & Scott resist the temptation to take cheap shots at the movies and keep the focus on the scores? YOLO!
Musical selections by John Williams:
The Phantom Menace
“Anakin’s Theme” (original release)
“Padme Meets Anakin” (Ultimate Edition)
“Anakin, Podracer Mechanic” (Ultimate Edition)
“Watto’s Roll of the Die” (Ultimate Edition)
“Hail to the Winner, Anakin Skywalker” (Ultimate Edition)
“Anakin and Group to Coruscant” (Ultimate Edition)
“Qui-Gon’s Mission/Obi-Wan’s Warning” (Ultimate Edition)
“Anakin Defeats Sebulba” (original release)
“The Death of Qui-Gon and the Surrender of the Gungans” (Ultimate Edition)
“The Flag Parade” (Ultimate Edition)
“Qui-Gon and Darth Maul Meet” (Ultimate Edition)
“The Tide Turns” (Ultimate Edition)
“The Battle Rages On” (Ultimate Edition)
“Qui-Gon’s Noble End” (original release)
“Augie’s Great Municipal Band” (original release)
“End Credits” (original release)
Attack of the Clones
“Love Pledge and the Arena”
“Across the Stars (Love Theme)”
“The Moisture Farm” from Star Wars
“Meeting with Fett”
“Shmi’s Funeral”
“Zam the Assassin and the Chase Through Coruscant”
“The Meadow Picnic”
“Ambush on Coruscant”
“Return to Tatooine”
“The Tusken Camp and the Homestead”
“Bringing Mother Home”
“Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale”
“The Arena”
“Dex’s Diner”
Revenge of the Sith
“Battle of the Heroes”
“Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith”
“Anakin’s Betrayal”
“Padme’s Funeral”
“End Credits”
December 6, 2019
Welcome to another edition of This Week in the NFL! Your co-hosts the Cowboy and the dapper John D'Amato take you through all the Week 14 action including HUGE games Chiefs @ Patriots and Niners @ Saints. They also take a quick look back at the Dallas Disaster on Thursday Night Football against the Bears and discusses Eli's (triumphant?) return to the starting gig for the Giants. Enjoy!
December 6, 2019
The boys are back in the studio and revisiting a topic from the days of yore. Several years ago, the Hard-Traveling Fanboys penned a column looking at the first two episodes of the ill-fated 1999 cartoon Spider-Man Unlimited. Now, more than five years later, they're looking to the END of that series to see if it improved. From the High AF Evolutionary and his Knights of Wundagore to Counter-Mary Jane, from sym-by-otes to a literal Shit Storm, it's a show you can't miss!
Mild-mannered reporters by day, Greg Phillips and Nick Duke share an intense love of comic books that has made them the Hard-Traveling Fanboys.
December 4, 2019
In a special Star Wars Edition of The Great Debate, host Andy Atherton is joined by Scott Criscuolo and the Geeks Who Like Sports, Lee Elias & Ray Carsillo. The gang discusses and debates a variety of Star Wars topics including: characters that should’ve gotten more screen-time; characters with the best introduction and death scenes; planets that they’d want to spend more time at; coolest buildings in the universe; their favorite light sabers; coolest game or knick-knack; favorite space and land vehicles; creatures they’d like to ride, own as a pet or eat; quote some of their favorite lines; what they consider the best Star Wars video games; things they want resolved/closure on when Episode IX is over and where they’d like to see Star Wars go in the future. And as always, the show closes with a fun rapid fire round that runs the gamut of the Star Wars universe.
December 3, 2019
This week, Diamond Conversations heads to the great white north as I welcome in 2012 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Jack Graney Award recipient and longtime Toronto Blue Jays announcer, Jerry Howarth. Jerry is here to discuss his book Hello, Friends! Stories from My Life and Blue Jays Baseball, a true personal journey into the life of Jerry Howarth both as a broadcaster but also his years growing up in San Francisco, California and how he fell in love with sports at a young age. In addition to stories from Jerry's past, he discusses some of the biggest moments he had the pleasure of calling as a Blue Jays announcer and even recites some of his most famous lines from the iconic moments discussed. This is a Diamond Conversation for the ages and it found here EXCLUSIVELY on Place to Be Nation.
December 2, 2019
Kevin and Mary return for another installment of The Brother/Sister Re-Watch, this week opening up the fourth season of The Office with episodes 1+2, "Fun Run" and "Dunder Mifflin Infinity". The siblings cover a ton of topics such as the themes of the episodes, the Dwight/Angela dynamic, Ryan's unleashed smugness, Michael's inability to accept blame, and much more.
![The Glenn Butler Podcast Hour Spectacular, Episode 47: Star Wars Scores: The Original Trilogy]()
December 1, 2019
Glenn and Scott kick off Star Wars Month on PTBN Pop by examining John Williams’ scores for the original Star Wars trilogy the only way they know how: at great length. They take in three of the most widely beloved and influential scores of the past 40 years, and find more to say about them than they expected. Topics include the semiotics of thematic usage, temp-tracking, which themes lived beyond their introductions and which ones didn’t, and which themes introduced in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi belong in A New Hope. Also, strap in for some Hot Takes!
Musical selections by John Williams, except where noted
Star Wars
“Main Title”
“Learn About the Force”
“Wobani Imperial Labor Camp” from Rogue One by Michael Giacchino
“Burning Homestead”
“The Moisture Farm”
“Wookiee Prisoner”
“Detention Block Ambush”
“The Death Star”
“Imperial Attack”
“The Battle of Yavin: Use the Force”
“The Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky
“The Dune Sea of Tatooine”
“The New World Symphony” by Antonin Dvorak
“The Throne Room”
“Prologue” from The Vikings by Mario Nascimbene, 2018 recording by Nic Raine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus
“Imperial Attack”
“Main Title” from King’s Row by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
“End Title”
“Chasm Crossfire”
The Empire Strikes Back
“The Imperial March”
“The Death Star” from Star Wars
“The Trash Compactor” from Star Wars
“The Battle of Hoth: Ion Cannon”
“Carbon Freeze”
“The Battle of Hoth: Imperial Walkers”
“Betrayal at Bespin”
“Imperial Starfleet Deployed”
“The Ice Planet Hoth”
“Rescue from Cloud City”
“Han Solo and the Princess”
“Han Solo and the Princess” (concert suite)
“End Title”
“Luke’s Nocturnal Visitor”
“Yoda and the Force”
“Darth Vader’s Trap”
“The Asteroid Field”
“Mynock Cave”
“The Wampa’s Lair/Vision of Obi-Wan”
“The Ice Planet Hoth”
“Deal with the Dark Lord”
“Rescue from Cloud City”
“Hyperspace”
“The Clash of Lightsabers”
Return of the Jedi
“Jabba’s Baroque Recital”
“Lapti Nek” (film version)
“Jedi Rocks” by Jerry Hey
“Den of the Rancor”
“Sail Barge Assault”
“Han Solo Returns”
“Bounty for a Wookiee”
“Parade of the Ewoks”
“The Forest Battle” (concert suite)
“Ewok Celebration”
“Victory Celebration”
“The Emperor Arrives”
“The Emperor’s Death”
“Luke and Leia”
“Into the Trap”
“Final Duel”
“Alliance Assembly”
“The Fleet Goes Into Hyperspace”
“Light of the Force/Funeral Pyre for a Jedi (Alternate)”
“Darth Vader’s Death”
“Approaching the Death Star”
“Ewok Celebration”
November 29, 2019
The Hard-Traveling Fanboys are the Longest-Running Weekly Episodic Comic Book Podcast in ALL of Place to be Nation. Together with the Manager Todd Weber, the HTF celebrate this Thanksgiving Season by presenting a SECOND carefully-curated selection of the greatest musical appearances from Good Old JR himself, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross. Jim's unique vocal stylings continue to be the only way to truly recognize the singular achievement of never once missing, nor phoning in an episode. Featuring songs by Lizzo, Aerosmith, Lil Nas X, John Michael Montgomery, Tenacious D, the immortal Freddy Fender and more!
*celebrity voice impersonated
November 27, 2019
On the season finale of DC4U, Russell and Todd talk about all the things they're thankful for from DC Comics this year and some of the big things they're looking forward to in the coming months. From Brian Michael Bendis' Superman/Action Comics to Scott Snyder's epic Justice League run and some amazing offerings from DC Black Label, there's no shortage of things to stuff your eyes with on the comics shelf. Listen to their lists and then tell us what you've enjoyed most about this first season!
