VOK 692 – Agatha Christie minipod 4 – The Man In The Brown Suit

Posted on June 26, 2022 by | Leave a comment

In this brief spoiler-free episode Bina007 critically discusses Agatha Christie’s fourth novel and first standalone adventure, The Man In The Brown Suit, originally published in 1924. Smart, beautiful, courageous Anne Beddingfield sees a man murdered at a tube station and follows the clues all the ways to South Africa and romance! The novel is great fun and slightly silly but stars both my favourite Christie heroine AND my favourite villain. That said, it is of its time when it comes to depicting racial attitudes and has some rather bizarre things to say about marriage.

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VOK 691 – Agatha Christie minipod 3 – Murder on the Links

Posted on June 12, 2022 by | Leave a comment

In this brief spoiler-free episode Bina007 critically discusses Agatha Christie’s third novel and second Hercules Poirot murder-mystery, published in 1923. The novel is flawed and doesn’t repay a reread other than to show us Christie in debate with herself about what kind of detective novelist she wants to be – and that is very much NOT a Gaston Leroux or Arthur Conan Doyle but rather someone who focuses on logic and psychology rather than material clues.

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VOK 690 – Agatha Christie minipod – The Secret Adversary

Posted on June 7, 2022 by | Leave a comment

In this brief episode Bina007 continues her brief introduction to the full-fledged VOK Agatha Christie reread by reviewing Christie’s second novel and first Tommy and Tuppence thriller, The Secret Adversary, published a hundred years ago. It is a fast-paced fun novel that reads like a cross between John Buchan and PG Wodehouse with a side order of Evelyn Waugh’s Bright Young Things. It reflects the economic travails of post-war England – the rise of the New Woman – and the fear of communist revolution.

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VoK 689: A History of LGBT+ Movies (public lecture)

Posted on June 3, 2022 by | Leave a comment

To celebrate LGBT+ Pride Month, Valkyrist explores the depiction of queer characters and issues throughout cinema history.

The presentation includes video clips from the following movies:
Morocco (Josef von Sternberg, 1930)
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
The Boys in the Band (William Friedkin, 1970)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994)
Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)
Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist
Music from Focus Features

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VOK 688 – Intro to the Agatha Christie reread & The Mysterious Affair At Styles

Posted on May 30, 2022 by | Leave a comment

In this brief episode Bina007 introduces a new VOK Re-read series that will cover some of the most famous and beloved novels from the Queen of detective fiction, Agatha Christie. In order to whet your appetite and perhaps tempt you to join along, Bina007 describes Christie’s first published novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published just over a 100 years ago, and introducing the world to the famous Belgian detective Hercules Poirot. There are spoilers toward the end but these are clearly telegraphed.

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VoK 687: Video Game Hall of Fame #1

Posted on April 29, 2022 by | Leave a comment


The Vassals of Kingsgrave return to the video game world with a new format for discussion inspired by the Easy Allies YouTube channel. Join Zach (Alias), Bing (Shoeshiner), Matt (blu3arm0r), Katie (Lady Griffin), Alex (LuckyCharms), Jock (munrojock2), Peter (Shellfish), and Patrick (Ser Patrick the Tall) as they each nominate a game they hope will be inducted into the newly created VOK Video Game Hall of Fame.

3:20 — Civilization 5
11:55 — Barbie Riding Club for Windows 98
22:40 —The Outer Wilds
39:40 — Resident Evil 4
55:50 — Ghost of Tsushima
1:17:00 — Bioshock
1:25:40 — World of Warcraft
1:41:10 — Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
1:53:10 —Voting
2:02:10 — Aftershow

Credits:
Edited by Zach/Alias

Format inspired by the Easy Allies Hall of Greats

Music:
World of Warcraft – Seasons of War
Outer Wilds – End Times

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VoK 686: Elden Ring (Review)

Posted on April 12, 2022 by | Leave a comment


The Vassals of Kingsgrave return to the video game world to discuss one of the biggest releases of 2022, Elden Ring. Join Zach (Alias) and Matt (blu3arm0r) as they talk everything they enjoyed from this expansive game.

Credits:
Edited by Zach/Alias

ZeroLenny Youtube Channel

Music:
Elden Ring – Main Theme
Elden Ring – The Final Battle

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VoK 685: The Movie Passport #5 – Nepali Cinema

Posted on February 2, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Namaste! Welcome to The Movie Passport, a podcast series about world cinema. In this episode, Duncan (Valkyrist), Pukar (raptureatlas) and Tanja (scilens) travel to the country of Nepal to discuss the following films:

9:01 – White Sun / Seto Surya (Deepak Rauniyar, 2016)
40:53 – Soongava: Dance of the Orchids / Soongava (Subarna Thapa, 2012)
1:20:43 – Sherpa (Jennifer Peedom, 2015)

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist

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VOK 684: Song of Achilles

Posted on January 29, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Sing, Vassals, of Achilles’ rage! Kat/kitkathistory24601, Sara/DrBlood, Katie/deadleavesinmyhand, and Jock/munrojock2 gather to talk about Madeline Miller’s novel, The Song of Achilles.

(Note: We lost the first 25 minutes of the podcast and had to rerecord them. Apologies for any editorial inconsistencies.)

Credits:
Edited by Peter/Shellfish
Image by artswade

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VoK 683 – Yellowjackets S1

Posted on January 24, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Join Bina, Matt and Thomas as they discuss the first season of the hit mystery-thiller TV show Yellowjackets, airing on Showtime. The aftershow starts at 42m. Twin Peaks spoiler at 48m.

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VoK 682: The Witcher (Netflix series) – Season 2

Posted on January 21, 2022 by | Leave a comment

We’ve read the books, we’ve played the video games, and now we push onward into season 2 of Netflix’s “The Witcher” series. So toss a coin to your Witcher and listen as we figure what we liked, and didn’t like, about the direction of the Netflix adaptation.

Potential major spoilers from the The Witcher book series in the aftershow.

Hosts: Bina (Bina007), Michal (Inkasrain), Bing (Shoeshiner), David (davidhhh), and Adam (drownedsnow)

Edited by Adam

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VOK 681: Arcane

Posted on January 11, 2022 by | Leave a comment

The vassals discuss and review Netflix’s hit animated show Arcane.

Friedrich Engels can come and fuck me up.

Hosts:

Peter/Shellfish
Abby/Daceymormont
Zach/Alias
Alex/LuckyCharms
Katie/LadyGriffin
Dana/Taindana
David/davidhhh
Matt/Blu3armor

Credits:
Edited by Peter/Shellfish

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VoK 680: The Prolific Works of George R. R. Martin (Ice & Fire Con 2021 Panel)

Posted on December 23, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Decades before Martin began writing A Song of Ice and Fire, he was already an award-winning writer who had published a variety of science fiction, horror, and fantasy stories. In this panel, Amin and Duncan (Valkyrist) survey Martin’s other notable works, looking for connections to ASOIAF and discussing his overall development as a writer and his philosophy toward writing.

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist

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Links:
George R. R. Martin’s “Thousand Worlds” Wiki

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Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, Books & Novellas, Fandom, Podcast, Science Fiction

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VOK 679: 2021 Video Game Discussion

Posted on December 15, 2021 by | Leave a comment


The Vassals of Kingsgrave return to the video game world to discuss some games they enjoyed playing in 2021 (even if not all those games came out then). Join Zach (Alias), Bing (Shoeshiner), Matt (blu3arm0r), Katie (Lady Griffin), and Zander (The Lord Baron) as they talk the year 2021 in gaming with all its highs and lows.

11:05 — Hades
18:55 — Return of the Obra Dinn
26:00 — Kingdom Come: Deliverance
33:20 — Resident Evil Village
44:25 — Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
53:55 — Persona 5 Strikers
1:02:30 — Humankind
1:07:30 — Mass Effect: Legendary Edition
1:09:00 — Guardians of the Galaxy
1:10:55 — NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139
1:21:55 — Most Anticipated Games of 2022

Credits:
Edited by Zach/Alias

Music:
Persona 5 Strikers: You Are Stronger
NieR Replicant: Kaine Salvation

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VOK 678: The Wisdom of Crowds (by Joe Abercrombie)

Posted on November 23, 2021 by | Leave a comment


The Vassals of Kingsgrave dive back into the world of the First Law, created by Joe Abercrombie. Join Brett (White Raven), Greg (claudiusthefool), Alex (LuckyCharms), and Zach (Alias) as they review and discuss the final book in the Age of Madness trilogy, The Wisdom of Crowds.

Credits:
Edited by Zach/Alias

Music: Kellan the Undying by Drumurboy

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VoK 677: Creature Chat – Ghosts

Posted on November 15, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Is this the night the hand comes out?

Hosts:
Peter/Shellfish
Sara/DrBlood
Matt/Varley
Kat/kitkathistory24601
Adam/drownedsnow
Michal/inkasrain
Zander/TheLordBaron
Jock/munrojock2

Credits:
Edited by Peter/Shellfish

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VoK 676: Halloween Kills (Review)

Posted on October 30, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Join Kevin/KevinPendragon (Discord) and Glen/Dagos_Rivers (Discord/Podcast of Ice and Fire Forums) as they discuss Halloween Kills. A movie that more than lives up to its name if not its predecessor.

Credits:
Edited by Kevin

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VOK 675 – Mystic Shenanigans – Dune Book 1 Discussion

Posted on October 18, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Join Bina, Patrick, Kat and Hannah as they discuss the the first book of Frank Herbert’s Dune series.

We discuss Patrick’s viewing of the new film; Paul as an elf; the gender of Kynes; Alia as a Star Trek alien; Fremen vs Mereen; the tenuous position of Chani; the lack of nuance with the “bad guys”; the Fenrings as Lannisters; and the Bene Gesserit’s mystic shenanigans.

No spoilers for later books.

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VOK 674 – Lynch’s Dune DVD Commentary

Posted on October 7, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Join Bina, Patrick, and Kat as they watch the notorious commercial flop but iconically designed David Lynch version of Dune.

Spoilers for book one of the Dune series.

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VoK 673: The Movie Passport #4 – Polish Cinema

Posted on September 25, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Dobry dzień! Welcome to The Movie Passport, a podcast series about world cinema. In this episode, Duncan (Valkyrist), Alex (Lucky Charms), Bina (Bina007) and Matt (Blu3arm05) travel to the country of Poland to discuss the following films:

9:13 – Sewer / Kanal (Andrzej Wajda, 1957)
28:00 – Cold War / Zimna Wojna (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018)
40:31 – The Painted Bird / Nabarvené Ptáče (Václav Marhoul, 2019)
1:04:55 – The Day of the Wacko / Dzień Świra (Marek Koterski, 2002)

Credits:
Edited by Valkyrist

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