The Fandom Apprentice

In today's episode, we harp on the importance of flossing, discuss Sam's suggestions for the Manosphere, identify the natural predators of the Jedi, talk about Ahsoka's gay awakening, and, most importantly, Sam begins creating a Catalog of Acceptable Fluids!  Covers Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) Season 2 Episodes 1-8 Holocron Heist, Cargo of Doom, Children of the Force, Senate Spy, Landing at Point Rain, Weapons Factory, Legacy of Terror, and Brain Invaders

We continue our journey through the Clone Wars with the back half of season 1, focusing on such topics as villain monologues, Jedi Get-Along Shirts, misogyny by design, stacked guest casts, and bad science! Covers Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1 Episode 11 Dooku Captured, Episode 12 The Gungan General, Episode 13 Jedi Crash, Episode 14 Defenders of Peace, Episode 15 Trespass, Episode 17 Blue Shadow Virus, Episode 18 Mystery of the Thousand Moons, Episode 19 Storm Over Ryloth, Episode 20 Innocents of Ryloth, and Episode 21 Liberty on Ryloth (2008)

Ryn's super disjointed watch order at its finest! The earliest (chronological) Clone Wars episodes were released way out of order, but we'll do our best to make sense of it all! Topics include animation issues, Anakin's attachments/rogue tendencies, Anakin and Padme's relationship, Star Wars character names, hot Jedi Masters, the overconfidence/incompetence of evil, and, much to Sam's displeasure, Jar Jar Binks. Covers Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-2014) Season 3 Episode 3 Supply Lines, Season 1 Episodes 1-10 Ambush, The Malevolence Arc, Rookies, Downfall of a Droid, Duel of the Droids, Bombad Jedi, Cloak of Darkness, and Lair of Grievous.

Hello my Punky Muffins! On today's episode, Ryn introduces Sam to everyone's favorite child soldier, Ahsoka Tano! In addition, we cover such topics as the misogyny inherent in the system, the marketing genius that came up with the concept of little wrinkly green alien babies, Kevin Kiner's absolutely incredible soundtrack, Obi-Wan and Ventress's flirt-fighting, and (unintentional?) homophobia! Covers Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Join Ryn and Sam as we dive headfirst into Star Wars Animation starting with Tales of the Jedi (the Dooku focused episodes) to add some dimensions to our villain, before we jump into the Clone Wars with some early chronological episodes! Topics of discussion include cloning, janissaries, and Dooku's moments of doubt and pain! Covers Tales of the Jedi (2022) episodes 2, 3, and 4: "Justice", "Choices", and "The Sith Lord", followed by Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) 3:1 Clone Cadets, 2:16 Cat and Mouse, and 1:16 Hidden Enemy.

Ryn and Sam are distracted- by Ewan McGregor's unnaturally blue eyes, by Sir Christopher Lee's existence, by Padme's Dress in That One Scene, and by Force-sensitive grubs, but we are totally locked in on one thing: This is not a love story. We might not like sand, but we did like this movie, gripes aside! Come join us as we discuss Willy Wonka-ing the Kamino Clone Factories, the best outfit for breaking things off with your Jedi bodyguard, Anakin and Obi-wan's very uncomfortable pseudo-sibling relationship, and much more! Covers Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones (2002)

Who the hell is Roger and why do the battle droids invoke him so much? We jump back to the start of the Skywalker Saga to discuss young Ewan McGregor, the first meeting of future husbands Artoo and Threepio, and whatever Qui-Gon and Shmi got up to during the sandstorm! Predictably, Sam hates Jar Jar Binks, Ryn has opinions about Naboo's ecology, George Lucas is prone to systemic racism and misogyny, and John Williams saves the day again. Come along for the ride! Covers Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999)

Moving on to Empire, it's the relationships episode! We discuss Han and Leia's toxic burgeoning romance, Luke and Leia's Force connection, R2 and 3PO's slightly strained marriage, Han and Luke's queerplatonic friendship, Yoda and Luke's training montage, and Chewie and Lando, the casanovas of Kashyyyk and Bespin respectively!  Covers Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

In part 2 of our discussion of A New Hope, Ryn and Sam tackle misogyny, supporting the girls, the iconic sights and sounds of late 1900s pop culture, courtesy of John Williams and Industrial Light & Magic, and who the hell gave Luke Skywalker a 13-pack in the original poster?Covers the making of and the cast and crew behind Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977). This can be more or less listened to in any order with our previous episode, but we did record these in the order that they're posted. 

It is a period of civil unrest. Rebel podcasters, striking from a hidden recording studio, have created their first episodes of a NEW SEASON.  Now, Ryn must bring Sam back to the beginning, to the very first STAR WAR, to show her the place where it all began...  What's this? A Monday update? On an off-week? Happy Star Wars Day, listeners! This is Part 1 of 2 episodes about A New Hope, covering pretty much just the plot and visual choices! We'll talk more about The Making Of and associated topics next time! But for now, topics include Leia being the most competent character, yippee-coding, post-release changes, the Force, a we establish the season's first new Rule of Fantasy! And also C-3PO and R2-D2 are married. We make the rules and they're married. Anyway, come listen! I promise we're charming to the last.   Covers the plot of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977)

Whoops! We took an unintentional break in there but we're back with the last two episodes of the Mandalorian Season 1! We discuss the weather, the music, production, whether droids have souls, video game main questlines, Giancarlo Esposito as the Perfect Villain, and Armor Mommy! Covers Episode 7: The Reckoning and Episode 8: Redemption of The Mandalorian Season 1

We roll into Mando's Monster of the Week era, get drunk on shrimp alcohol, fight a Disney Princess, wax poetic about Connor Storrie's ass, the art of tight storytelling, Kurosawa, and spoiler culture and twists! 

We enter the galaxy far far away in something of an unexpected spot with our favorite bounty hunter, and discuss his ascent into Daddy-hood, how Jawas are the Minions of the Star Wars galaxy, the galaxy's absolute worst vibrator, Space Nazis, and why Baby Yoda is so goddamn cute!Covers episodes 1-3 of The Mandalorian: Season 1

Hello there everyone and welcome back! We've missed you, but we're back now with a whole new season! Join us as we make the jump to hyperspace and set course for a galaxy far far away to discuss Star Wars! If you're new to the show, this is a great place to start. Come get (re)introduced to the scruffy-looking nerf herders hosting this thing and hear about our plans for the season. We're very excited to dive in and hope that you'll join us in this wretched hive of scum and villainy. This is the podcast you're looking for!

Finishing out our coverage of the Murderbot Media current available, we discuss worker's rights, music, special effects, sexual tension, and as a special bonus, Ryn has a Biologist Moment!Also stay tuned at the end for our announcement about whats happening for Season 3!! We're going to be taking a short break but will be back in a few weeks with brand new episodes on some media Ryn grew up with and Sam didn't! Thanks for listening to Season 2, and we hope to see you in Season 3!Covers Season 1 Episodes 7-10 of the AppleTV+ show Murderbot (2025)

There's a place beyond the wormholes... we haven't found it yet but come search with us! We have reached the Murderbot TV show! We talk visual decisions, casting, story adaptation, throuples, tentacles, and our love of practical effects! BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING NEXT EPISODE! Stay tuned! Covers episodes 1-6 of the AppleTV+ show "Murderbot" (2025)

The last Murderbot book episode and we struggled a bit here keeping up with the action, but we still love it! Murderbot is having, as per usual, a bad time, and Ryn and Sam are having an excellent one, and would love for you to join us!Topics of discussion include: the paradox of free will, putting on your own oxygen mask before helping others, and how none of us are immune to propaganda!Covers chapters 6-end of The Murderbot Diaries: System Collapse (2023) by Martha Wells

We're back! Took an unexpected break, but we're back with a new episode, which is great for us, and Murderbot is back on the planet, which is terrible for it! Ryn and Sam discuss the first half (minus 4%) of System Collapse, delving into such important topics as whales, petty data analysis, how bananas relate to far-right death squads, PTSD, and the paradox of free will! Covers chapters 1-5 of The Murderbot Diaries: System Collapse (2023) by Martha Wells

Ryn and Sam finish out Network Effect and boy howdy is Murderbot having a Bad Time! And so are the other SecUnits. Wait, other SecUnits? We have commentary on such topics as naming conventions, queer generations, suspension bondage, ART's total and complete lack of chill, and the ethics of murdering your digital baby. Is it murder if the digital baby was essentially a bomb in the first place? Covers chapters 14-end of The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect by Martha Wells (2020)

ART is alive and Murderbot gets to stop running through the stages of grief! Problem is it stopped on Anger, which it has every right to tbh. Ryn and Sam talk ART and Murderbot's relationship (and relationships in general), trusting kids to handle difficult topics, modern "AI" vs sci-fi AI, and statistics!  Covers chapters 8-13 of The Murderbot Diaries: Networt Effect by Martha Wells (2020)

Step inside (your best friend's corpse), it's a fucked up ride (through the wormhole)! Amena wishes this was a normal field trip, but with SecUnit? No way! Take your second right past Mars and join us while we talk about knees, gravity, faster than light travel, anxiety, and potential future cinematic choices for the show!Covers Chapters 4-7 of The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect by Martha Wells (2020)

Not all is well with Murderbot, but when is it ever? Ryn and Sam follow our favorite rogue SecUnit through the first three chapters of Network Effect, the first novel in the Murderbot Diaries! Topics include the gender politics of aunts, cis discomfort with trans presentation, intense feelings in platonic relationships, puppy eyes as a weapon of war, and Murderbot murdering on a murderboat. Covers Chapters 1-3 of The Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect (2020) by Martha Wells, winner of the 2021 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the  2020 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and the 2021 Locus Award for Best  Science Fiction Novel

here's been a murder! And despite what you might expect, it wasn't Murderbot's fault. It promises. And we promise topics including sleeper agents, queer assimilation, translation, and things that go blorp in the night.  Covers The Murderbot Diaries: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2021)

So, as it turns out, there are there are also some short stories in the Murderbot Universe! We get to dig into the minds of some side characters, learn more about the origins of constructs, and talk about queerplatonic relationships, coming out, and non-human personhood! If our audio quality is a wee bit sharper on this one, it's because we had some issues with our primary recordings and were working from our backups, and Sam worked her wizardry as best she could. Bear with us. Timestamps for potential/light Network Effect spoilers: 0:40:04-1:04:08This can be listened to in any order with the Fugitive Telemetry episode that you will see right above this in your feed! Your fate is your own! Choose your own adventure! Although I recommend this one first. Covers the following short stories/novelettes in the following timeline order, all of which are available for free online:1. "Obsolescence", written for the anthology Take Us To A Better Place (2020)2. "The Future of Work: Compulsory" written for Wired magazine (2018)3. "Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory" released in Reactor magazine (2021)4. "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy" written for Reactor magazine (2025)

Murderbot has to go find some old friends! We're entirely normal about it acknowledging PresAux as friends. Other topics include consent, gender presentation/human-passing, the self and the body as separate but connected entities, and finally, as all folks hitchhiking on bot-driven transports across the galaxy must, we grapple with towels.   Covers The Murderbot Diaries Vol IV: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Ryn and Sam are wildly unfocused, probably because we are simultaneously monitoring two dozen intel drones, HubSystem, and Episode 372 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon! And also being slightly horny on main, giving mini-reviews of horror movies and a romance novel, discussing Murderbot's D&D class, and once again providing evidence that capitalism is the worst villain! All before we get betrayed by our mysterious augmented human security team or before the terraforming station breaks up and falls out of orbit, whichever happens first... Anyway, come join us! Covers The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 3: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Murderbot travels to RaviHyral to investigate... well, murder. That it may or may not have been responsible for. Join us as we grapple with concepts of non-human personhood, gender, terrible bosses, queerplatonic relationships formed on threats of terrible violence, and murder! So much murder.Covers The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Welcome to season 2! We begin with everyone's favorite heartless killing machine that just wants to watch Space Netflix and unfortunately keeps having emotions! Join Ryn and Sam as we discuss aliens, why capitalism is always the problem, international law in space, and sci-fi horror!   Covers The Murderbot Diaries Book 1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2017)

Hello everyone, and welcome to the next phase of the Fandom Apprentice! If you're new to the pod, this is a great place to start- get (re)introduced to us as the hosts, our background with sci-fi, and our plans for season 2, focused on Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries! If you're a regular, come on in and get cozy with some new media!

Ryn and Sam know absolutely nothing about poetry. Neither of us took a single college-level English course. That will not, of course, stop us from having opinions on Tolkien's poetry and songs. This is what Bilbo Baggins hates. And/or what the Man in the Moon himself came down to listen to. You be the judge!     There is also An Announcement: This Is The End. Of Tolkien commentary anyway. For now. An announcement on what media comes next can be found in the last few minutes of this episode, so stay tuned! We promise it will be an excellent time.Featuring music and voices from Maury Laws, Glenn Yarborough, A.R. Rahman, Donald Swann, William Elvin, The Tolkien Ensemble, Sir Christopher Lee, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Howard Shore!x.7

A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not listen? Long have Ryn and Sam, the hosts of this podcast, overanalyzed the Lord of The Rings series. We come to the last of the movies today, so join us as we ride for ruin and the story's ending through discussions of gravity-defying snakes, mutilated tomatoes, the neverending road to cavalry tactics, music, and much more! Covers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) (2003)

We move on to the second film in the trilogy, The Two Towers! Ryn provides more commentary on music, Sam continues to hate Gollum, and we are confused about some story choices! Join us for discussions on tragically cishet immortals, incredibly hot Numenoreans, Shakespearean actors, and Skyrim! Do you get to the Cloud District very often? Listeners of our podcast do!  Covers The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) (2002)

We finally dive into the movies with an emphasis on our special interests of soundtrack, costume design, and Aragorn! Join us as we ask the big questions: what's a leitmotif? How many hugs are in the movie? And why is Aragorn so hot? Covers The Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) (2001)

We get our appendixes out! That is, we talk about the Lord of the Rings appendices. That's right, there's still more text to read! Join us as we pour over Arwen and Aragorn's romance, family trees, and the Book of Numbers, Tolkien Edition! aka a detailed timeline history of Numenor and the Second and Third Ages of Middle Earth.  Covers Appendices A-F, published at the end of Return of the King

Having reached the end of the books, we take a minute to reflect on this journey and its stages, check in to see if our Definitely Universal Rules Of Fantasy hold up, talk about Sam Gamgee as The Everyman, and dig into our remaining lingering questions! 

All good things must come to an end, a last stage, if you will. Join us as we discuss the very end of Return of the King, prison abolition, authoritarianism, Sam Gamgee's knowledge of buns, hobbit reproduction, and our feelings here at the end of this stage of our wonderful journey!   Covers Return of the King Book VI, Chapter VIII: The Scouring of the Shire (Part B) and Chapter IX: The Grey Havens  Some reading/watching/listening from our discussion this week- Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra Podcast (2023-2024) Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America by Sarah Kendzior (2020) They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent by Sarah Kendzior (2022)  No One Is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition video series by Reina Gossett, Dean Spade, and Hope Dector (2014)  Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (2003) Abolition Democracy: Beyond Prisons, Torture, and Empire by Angela Y. Davis (2005)  They Can't Kill Us All by Apes of The State (2023)

The Hobbits have returned home, but it has not escaped the ravages of time- we finally come to Ryn's favorite chapter in all of Lord of the Rings, The Scouring of the Shire, which definitely has absolutely no relevance to the current political climate, none whatsoever. Anyway, for no reason at all it's a really good time to get to know your neighbors and local communities.    Covers most of Book VI, Chapter VIII: The Scouring of the Shire- We had quite a bit to say, so we'll finish the chapter next episode!

Another travel episode! Ryn and Sam talk about their book club, immortality, what Legolas and Gimli get up to in the Glittering Caves of Aglarond, and compulsory heterosexuality! Join us for the last stage of the journey (again)!Covers Return of the King Book VI Chapter VI Many Partings and Chapter VII Homeward Bound

A disclaimer- we recorded this right after the election. So we are slightly... less enthusiastic than usual. If you don't want to hear us talking politics, skip to 0:09:16, but if you want to hear about a long furby and how're we're feeling, give our intro a listen!  Anyway, we talk about the downfall of Mordor, romance, power imbalance in relationships, and surprise Gandalf!  More within! Covers Book VI Chapter IV: The Field of Cormallen, and Chapter V: The Steward and the King

Here, at the end of all things, we finish our discussion of The Quest with  who's the top in Frodo and Sam's relationship, the professor's overuse of the phrase "last stage of their journey," volcanology, and our emotional attachment to cookware!   Covers Book VI Chapter III: Mount Doom

We're back! And we're in the darkest stage of our journey and not even the Phial of Galadriel can light our way out of this. Ryn & Sam talk ring corruption, the magic of friendship, orc bureaucracy, and true gay hobbit love!Covers Book VI Chapter I: The Tower of Cirith Ungol & Chapter II: The Land of ShadowIf you like what you're hearing, give us a follow wherever you're listening to this and on our socials @fanapppod, send us an email at [email protected], and leave us a nice review!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (apparently), and we're celebrating with a special family-friendly (for once) episode! This week we cover the Professor's "Letters from Father Christmas," aka "The Father Christmas Letters" (more on this in the episode)! Join us for a cozy holiday read through some Tolkien family lore! P.S.- The North Polar Bear did nothing wrong.x.6

Happy Thanksgiving to our American listeners and happy last week of November to everyone else! As you prepare your turkeys and gear up for... *ahem* interesting family conversations, know that you have us to keep you company! Topics of discussion include: the Year Without A Summer, mermaid ass, diplomacy, and Sauron's goose getting cooked! Or turkey, depending on the season.Covers Book V Chapter IX: The Last Debate and Book V Chapter X: The Black Gate OpensWe are now on Bluesky! Same handle as everywhere else @fanapppod

CW: Suicide, suicidal ideationSkip ahead to 0:38:45 to avoid discussion of these topicsCall the wizard and the fireman- Ryn and Sam return to Minas Tirith where Denethor has succumbed to madness and despair from the palantir, and Pippin must rush to save Faramir from a terrible fate. Tangents include the ethics of physician-assisted suicide, hot gay nurses, and a good bass line.If this episode brought up anything you would like to talk to anyone about, you can find resources here-Suicide Crisis Lines (US and Canada): 988 (https://988lifeline.org/) or 1–800–273–8255Crisis Text Line (US only): Text HOME to 741741Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (US), 877-330-6366 (Canada) Run by and for trans peopleThe Trevor Project: 1–866–488–7386 or text START to 678678National Suicide Prevention Line UK (UK only): 0800 689 5652Telefonseelsorge (Germany): 0800 111 0 111, or 0800 111 0 222 or at http://www.telefonseelsorge.de/Centre de Prevention du Suicide (Belgium): 080032123Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: https://suicideprevention.caIf we did not include a crisis line here that is available in your country or preferred language, you can find more at the link below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_linesPlease keep yourselves safe. With love, Ryn and SamCovers Book V Chapter VII The Pyre of Denethor and Book V Chapter VIII The Houses of Healing

It's our one year anniversary!! A quick thank you and retrospective and also a plea for US folks to get out and vote in the election next week. Anyway thank you for listening to us for a whole year! We look forward to bringing you our queer nerdy takes for a long time to come. We are very glad you are here with us. Here at the end of all things (but not the end of this podcast!) 

We back up to the "last stage" before the battle to check in on Merry and the Rohirrim and how they make it to the Pelennor Fields! Also discussed: hope, the death of a good king, the death of a bad king, children's hospitals, pterosaurs and other things that fly, and Shakespeare! Send us your best Hobbit band names!  Covers Book V Chapter V: The Ride of the Rohirrim and Book V Chapter VI: The Battle of the Pelennor Fields

Rohan and Gondor prepare for The Horrors of War! Ryn and Sam discuss said Horrors, first aid training, Ryn's extensive trumpet knowledge, peace, Sparta, service, and My Little Pony! CW: contains discussions of war, suicide, and parental abuseCovers Book V Chapter III: The Muster of Rohan and Book V Chapter IV: The Siege of Gondor

We begin on the last stage of our journey with Return of The King! Points of discussion include Ba Sing Se, Hobbit gender, The Guns of August, accents, and the inevitability and moral neutrality of death!Covers Book V Chapter I: Minas Tirith, and Book V Chapter II: The Passing of the Grey Company

Ryn and Sam take a break from Tolkien to discuss Beowulf and our love for this ancient story- This time: Badgers, poetry, what makes a man, what makes a monster, and what makes a good king!x.5

Ryn and Sam take a break from Tolkien to discuss Beowulf and our love for this ancient story- This time: Samsara, the concept of storytelling, background on Beowulf, politics, what makes us humans, heroes, and monsters, and the translation of the word hwæt!x.4