Best Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick Podcasts (2024)

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16: “Godzilla vs Kong” Review: The Audience is the Real Winner 59:19

3y ago59:19

59:19

After years of build-up and hype, “Godzilla vs Kong” finally stomped its way into our living rooms and theaters (and hearts) this past week to save us all from the pandemic! Hyperbole aside, we’re stoked to be talking about what’s bound to be the biggest film release of the year and the personal ways we each celebrated along the way. Should go with…

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15: “Resident Alien”: Who’s The Killer, And More Than One Alien? 52:48

3+ y ago52:48

52:48

Who really killed Sam Hodges? Is Harry really the only alien walking amongst us? Why won’t they give Linda Hamilton more lines? We’re figuring that out on today’s podcast as “Resident Alien” quickly speeds towards its season one finale on Syfy! This show is living rent free in our heads at the moments, so it’s only fair we break down and broadcast …

1
14: “WandaVision Finale”: The MCU does “Pet Sematary” 1:07:33

3+ y ago1:07:33

1:07:33

Another week, another Disney+ finale that somehow came out of nowhere! You know we’re gabbing about “WandaVision” on today’s episode, and if you’ve been on TikTok at any point in the last 8 weeks, you also know there is PLENTY to talk about. Where do the characters go from here? How does the finale set up future shows and movies? Was it really Agat…

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13: “Godzilla” Geek Out: The Showa Years 1:01:32

3+ y ago1:01:32

1:01:32

What’s your favorite Godzilla movie? Who’s your favorite monster? Chances are you have a quick answer to these questions if you grew up with Godzilla, but what about those of us that are barely starting our radioactive journey? We answer this and more on today’s episode as we kick off our “Godzilla vs Kong” coverage with a good ol’ fashioned Godzil…

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12: “Resident Alien”: The Best New Show You’re Not Watching 51:21

3+ y ago51:21

51:21

You ever plan on watching a new show, but for one reason or another, you put if off until you eventually forget to watch it altogether? Well, Brain Slug’s here to make sure Syfy’s new show “Resident Alien” isn’t one of them, because it really is one of the best shows out there right now! So boot up those DVRs, pick up the comics, and tag along as w…

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11: “Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous”: We Need More Cartoons Like This 46:55

3+ y ago46:55

46:55

What do you call a blind dinosaur? What do you call a blind dinosaur’s dog? If either of these iconic dad jokes took you back on some dino- nostalgia fueled trip through memory lane, you’re in luck because today we’re talking Netflix’s “Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous”, the first animated series set within the “Jurassic Park” Cinematic Universe (coi…

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10: “Wandavision”: What the Heck is Going On? feat. Felipe Rosales 42:09

3+ y ago42:09

42:09

We hope you like all things Marvel and MCU, because that’s all we’re talking about on this week’s podcast! Join us and returning guest Felipe Rosales as we try to process the gleeful strangeness and dread of “WandaVision” on Disney+, plus plenty of speculation on the overall direction the MCU may be heading post “Avengers: Endgame”.…

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9: Air Force One: Why We Need It 46:15

3+ y ago46:15

46:15

Welcome to a special Presidential Inauguration 2020 edition of The Brain Slug Podcast. With Trump out (thank god) and Joe Biden in, we thought we’d honor what’s sure to be an intense day in the United States by talking about 1997’s “Air Force One” one of our absolute favorite movies over here at Brain Slug, and easily the best presidential film out…

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8: The WandaVision Hype One 49:02

3+ y ago49:02

49:02

Happy 2021 y’all! We know the world’s on fire (again) at the moment, but let’s try to ignore that for a bit so we can talk about “WandaVision,” the first of what’s sure to be many great Marvel Cinematic Universe series on Disney+.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick

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7: The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale feat. Ally Andrews, Felipe Rosales, and Brook Munro 2:02:21

3+ y ago2:02:21

2:02:21

We’re talking The Mandalorian Season 2 finale on this year’s extra stuffed Christmas episode! Joining us for today’s discussion is film composer and returning guest Brook Munro, Flip and the Combined Effort frontman Felipe Rosales, and Ally Andrews from the Knights of Wren podcast! John even makes his big Brain Slug debut! We hope our fun and exten…

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6: The DCEU Hot Take One 52:35

3+ y ago52:35

52:35

Grab your cape cowl and get ready for some slomo, because we’re talking DC Comics movies this week! With Christmas and Patty Jenkin’s “Wonder Woman 1984” right around the corner (thanks HBO Max), we thought now would be the perfect opportunity to go back and revisit (or just plain visit in some cases) some of the earlier entries in the DCEU leading…

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5: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Mandalorian Season 2 (so far) 1:14:42

3+ y ago1:14:42

1:14:42

We’re halfway through season 2 of The Mandalorian on Disney+! That was fast, huh? Gotta love (or hate) that 2020 time. As such it was time for our planned mid-season review of everyone’s favorite single-space dad centered series, and of course we had thoughts (some louder than others). We discuss what we think is working, what isn’t, and brace ours…

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4: Film Scoring and Music feat. Brook Munro 1:03:13

3+ y ago1:03:13

1:03:13

We’re talking with film and media composer Brook Munro on today’s Brain Slug! Join us as Brook reveals what it takes to be a music man, his many inspirations and driving passions, and the story focused approach he uses to create music. Brook Munro writes music for film, commercials, and new media. When he was young, his mother introduced him to Sta…

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3: Election 2020 Special feat. Matt Keating 48:46

3+ y ago48:46

48:46

Election anxiety got you down? Can’t stop doomscrolling twitter? Never fear! In a special election episode, we have friend of the podcast and resident political expert, Matt Keating, on the show to discuss politics in pop culture (skipping Star Wars... this time) and discuss our picks for best fictional president! What do Jaws and the response to t…

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2: Happy 2020 Halloween 1:15:40

3+ y ago1:15:40

1:15:40

Bonus 2020 Halloween themed episode to start off your (safe and socially distant) 2020 Halloween festivities! With everything this year has thrown at us, and the 2020 US Presidential election a few days later to boot, we thought we’d distract ourselves from the chaos with a nice conversation about our favorite spooky Halloween traditions, from favo…

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1: What to Remember from The Mandalorian Season One 1:05:39

3+ y ago1:05:39

1:05:39

Welcome to episode 1 of The Brain Slug Podcast! For our inaugural episode under our new slimy head overlord, we’ve decided to not change things up at all from Force Fan Podcast and talk about Star Wars again! Go figure. All kidding aside, with season 2 of The Mandalorian premiering this week on Disney +, we thought we’d go over all the important pl…

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Force Fan “Fin” 20:25

3+ y ago20:25

20:25

Force Fan Podcast is officially coming to an end, but to quote Luke Skywalker (and Rian Johnson’s excellent scriptwriting skills): No one's ever really gone. We break down exactly what that means and our future plans on this short and emotional episode, so take a listen. And from the bottom of our hearts: Thank you to everyone who has supported us …

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87: Words About Books– “Doctor Aphra” 50:31

4y ago50:31

50:31

It’s another Force Fan Book Club on today’s special Friday Edition of Force Fan Podcasts! You know we’re talking the new “Doctor Aphra” audio drama by Sarah Kuhn. Some slight disagreements about how strong this one stand on its own, but overall, it’s a whole lot of fun on a bun that we can’t recommend enough!…

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86: Words About Comics– “Vader: Dark Visions” 1:16:32

4y ago1:16:32

1:16:32

Who is Darth Vader? That’s the big question we’re asking ourselves as we deep dive into all 5 issues of last year’s “Vader: Dark Visions” comic mini-series! Did “Dark Visions” fulfill its promise to show us new sides of Vader? Well, sort of. Plus, some discussion on that surprising new “The Bad Batch” animated series that’s scheduled to hit Disney+…

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85: Words About Books – “A New Dawn” 1:00:38

4y ago1:00:38

1:00:38

Long have we waited... For a new Force Fan book club episode! After months of putting it off (for many reasons, some good and some lazy), we finally sat down and talked about “Star Wars: A New Dawn” by John Jackson Miller, the first (and most excellent) first novel written under the guide of Disney’s Lucasfilm Story Group.…

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84: Star Wars and Drinks 49:17

4y ago49:17

49:17

New (lit) episode this week! We’re talking “The Mandalorian” publishing group, new upcoming reference books/novels/comics, and touch upon an insane online rumor, all over some nice and refreshing adult beverages. And yes, things get loud fast.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick

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83: Another Casual Update One 38:50

4y ago38:50

38:50

We’re back with a new casual episode after taking a few weeks off to reflect on all the chaos going on in the world. Rather than focus on a book club like we originally had planned, we decided to just chat about all the Star Wars news and announcements since our last recording as a way to slowly try and get back into the groove of things.…

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82: Words About Books – “Tarkin” 42:48

4y ago42:48

42:48

Welcome back to a new (and regularly scheduled) Force Fan Podcast book club episode! Today, we thirst over James Luceno’s 2014 “Star Wars: Tarkin”, the second new canon novel produced under Disney’s Lucasfilm Story Group! There’s a lot to love and not to love, so take a listen and then give us your thoughts on this peculiar Star Wars novel!…

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81: The Casual Upcoming Stuff One 50:38

4y ago50:38

50:38

It’s been over a year since our last casual episode, but considering that we’re living in a post "The Rise of Skywalker” and Clone Wars season 7 world, we think now’s a good time as any for us to just sit back and talk about all the upcoming Star Wars projects we have to look forward to. Spoiler Alert: We have a lot of new Star Wars coming our way.…

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80: Words About Clones– “The Siege of Mandalore Arc” 58:58

4y ago58:58

58:58

May the 4th be with you, Force Fans! We’re celebrating by releasing a special early episode this week where we discuss The Siege of Mandalore Arc and the series finale of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars!” MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD if you listen before watching. Hard to believe it’s been 12 weeks already, huh? They’ve been a heck of a time and we couldn’t be …

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79: Words About Comics– “Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir” 1:12:13

4y ago1:12:13

1:12:13

Welcome to our first official “Words About Comics” book club! To celebrate (and mourn) the impeding end of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”, we decided to go back and revisit the “Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir” comic series, another excellent Clone Wars story that was initially lost but found a home in a new medium. A whole lot of love and new realization…

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78: 3 Years of Force Fan Podcast w/Flip 53:01

4y ago53:01

53:01

Hard to believe we’ve been podcasting about “Star Wars” for 3 years now! To celebrate, we invited back our original Fans of the Force guest Flip (from Flip and the Combined Effort) to talk about his deep dive into the animated and literary side of the “Star Wars” Universe. We had a blast discussing his experience binging all of “Clone Wars” and his…

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77: Words About Clones – "The Ahsoka Underworld Arc" 57:23

4y ago57:23

57:23

We’ve come to the end of another Clone Wars Season 7 arc, and you know what that means: A new podcast episode where we talk about it! Check out our thoughts on the (controversial?) Ahsoka Underworld Arc, plus some more light discussion on those Rosario Dawson rumors and what we hope to get from the upcoming Siege of Mandalore Arc!…

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76: Words About Books – “Ahsoka” 47:34

4y ago47:34

47:34

New book club episode! In keeping with our current Ahsoka and Clone Wars theme, we thought it was about time we formally talked about “Ahsoka” by E. K. Johnston. It’s a small book with a big bite, and to make it even better, it also offers us a peek into that long-awaited bit of Star Wars lore we’re about to finally experience in this final “Clone …

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75: The Story Lives Forever – “The Rise of Skywalker” (Re-Release) 55:39

4+ y ago55:39

55:39

Original airdate: December 21, 2019 Hope you’re caught up on all 9 Skywalker Saga films, because we’re finally talking about the big film we’ve all been waiting for: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”. MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. Take a listen and then join in on the conversation with us online, because we know you have thoughts on the big finale!…

1
74: Ahsoario Dawno 49:03

4+ y ago49:03

49:03

We’re talking all sorts of things about Ahsoka Tano this week! Everything from what the character means to us and her journey up till now, all the way to that big bit of Ahsoka “news” that dropped a few days ago. You know the one, and if you don’t, take a listen to the episode and find out!By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick

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73: Words About Clones - "The Bad Batch Arc” 59:52

4+ y ago59:52

59:52

We’re talking The Bad Batch arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars today! It was a wild and emotional ride with a lot of surprises (we never watched the unfinished episode reels beforehand), and we can’t wait to see what else the season has in store for us.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick

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72: Words About Books - "Dooku: Jedi Lost" (Re-Release) 1:25:22

4+ y ago1:25:22

1:25:22

Original airdate: June 13, 2019 We’re back from our accidental hiatus! With real life out of the way (and possibly sleep deprived), we caught up on all that Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge craziness, some new video game updates, and then finally (FINALLY) had a chance to properly talk about the most excellent “Dooku: Jedi Lost” audio drama.…

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71: Words About Books – “Dark Disciple” 46:45

4+ y ago46:45

46:45

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John Frederick

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70: Project Luminous LIVE React 45:43

4+ y ago45:43

45:43

Anything ILLUMINATING happen this week? Sorry… Anyway, we recorded a special life react episode (so please excuse the mess) to celebrate the HUGE and long-awaited reveal for Project Luminous! There’s plenty to be excited for as we head into the next phase of Star Wars, and we all couldn’t be more excited! Also, can you tell it was past Adrian’s bed…

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69: The Story Lives Forever – “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” 35:49

4+ y ago35:49

35:49

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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68: The Story Lives Forever – “Solo” 37:21

4+ y ago37:21

37:21

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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67: The Story Lives Forever – “Rogue One” 31:25

4+ y ago31:25

31:25

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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66: Words About Shows – “The Mandalorian”: Chapters 6-8 1:05:20

4+ y ago1:05:20

1:05:20

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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65: The Story Lives Forever – “The Rise of Skywalker” 55:39

4+ y ago55:39

55:39

By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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64: The Story Lives Forever – “The Last Jedi” 37:07

4+ y ago37:07

37:07

Here we are Force Fans... We’ve reached “The Last Jedi”, the Star Wars film that broke the fandom (not really). If you’re a fan of this fantastic addition to the series, we invite you to tune in and to let us know exactly why you love the penultimate chapter of the Skywalker Saga.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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63: The Story Lives Forever – “The Force Awakens” 44:20

4+ y ago44:20

44:20

We jump from 1983 to 2015 to talk about “The Force Awakens” as we head into the Sequel Trilogy in our “The Story Lives Forever” mini-series! Have a listen and then let us know what you think of the first film in the Disney era of Star Wars.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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62: Words About Shows – “The Mandalorian”: Chapters 3-5 44:48

4+ y ago44:48

44:48

We’re taking a break from the Saga films to talk about the OTHER amazing Star Wars thing going on right now: The Mandalorian. We’re talking season one up to this point (focusing mainly on Chapters 3-5), and you know if we’re talking about Mando, we have to talk about Baby Yoda too.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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61: The Story Lives Forever – “Return of the Jedi” 29:28

4+ y ago29:28

29:28

We’re at the end...well, the first end anyway. We’re talking "Return of the Jedi” on today’s The Story Lives Forever mini-sode, and you KNOW it has some of the most powerful moments in the entire Saga. Let us know what this particularly powerful Star Wars means to you!By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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60: The Story Lives Forever – “The Empire Strikes Back” 27:00

4+ y ago27:00

27:00

As we get ever closer to the release of “The Rise of Skywalker” we’ve finally reached the Star Wars film many in the fandom consider to be the best of the Saga! You know we’re talking about “The Empire Strikes Back”, one of the greatest sequels ever made. It’s impossible to pick a favorite anything is this one, so we’ll allow you to pick the whole …

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59: The Story Lives Forever – “A New Hope” 31:09

4+ y ago31:09

31:09

We’re back to where it all started with the fourth film in the series (a sentence only a Star Wars fan can understand). Tune in and find out what happens when a Gen Xer, a Xennial, and a Millennial talk about the original 1977 epic!By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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58: The Story Lives Forever – “Revenge of the Sith” 34:25

4+ y ago34:25

34:25

The whole trio’s back together to finish off the prequel trilogy in our “The Story Lives Forever” rewatch! Bust out the headphones and turn up that speaker, because you’re about to find out why “Revenge of the Sith” is both the best and worst prequel film, and why we love it regardless!By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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57: The Story Lives Forever – “Attack of the Clones” 39:03

4+ y ago39:03

39:03

Back again so soon? Of course! We have to talk the second movie in our “The Rise of Skywalker” rewatch: “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.” Listen in and find out why it’s the funniest and most unique of the Saga films, and why the awkward love plot is perfect the way it is.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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56: The Story Lives Forever – “The Phantom Menace” 28:25

4+ y ago28:25

28:25

Will “The Rise of Skywalker” reintroduce Midi-chlorians into the mix?? Will Palpatine have a new droid army as part of his final plan?? We discuss this and more on the first of our Skywalker Saga mini-sodes! Tag along with us as we revisit “Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace.”By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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55: Words About Shows – “The Mandalorian”: Chapters 1&2 w/ Matt Keating 56:48

4+ y ago56:48

56:48

Matt’s back in the “studio” to join us on the first of our 3 planned “The Mandalorian” focused episodes! All the tangents and Baby Yoda love you could ask for in a Star Wars podcast.By Adrian Meza, Cat Ray Rugg, John K Frederick

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