015 - I Don't Want To Hurt People

In this long-go recorded episode, Mandy and Michael go over Ender's Game, both in book and movie forms. Listen as Michael struggles to hand over the reigns of directing discussion to Mandy and rudely steals her thunder multiple times. Meanwhile, Mandy jogs Michael's memory of the fantastic book with her scene-by-scene memory of the entire story.

During the episode this article from Mandy about Orson Scott Card is mentioned:
The Orson Scott Card Problem

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014 - What's This?

This week Michael and Mandy did something a little bit different. This episode is a commentary audio track for one of their very favorite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas , just in time for Halloween.     Don't have time to watch it before Halloween? That's ok! It's a great Christmas movie too, so you can watch it any time between the two holidays without issue!

So go ahead, watch the movie as a refresher. Then load it up again, and listen to our instructions for getting the timing right to listen to this at the same time the movie plays. 

Curious about the versions of Danny Elfman's This is Halloween bookending the episode? 

Intro:  This is Halloween  performed by Panic! At the Disco
Outro: This is Halloween  performed by Marilyn Manson

Both are available in full on the Special Edition soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas

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012 - I Don't Need Any Calming Tea!

This episode begins the temporary conversion of the podcast to one primarily discussing Avatar: The Last Airbender. This episode touches the first 8 "chapters" of Book 1 of the series. Spoilers abound! Take heed! Do not enter without watching the series first!

Book 1's discussion will be completed in the next episode of the podcast, so be ready! 

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011 - The Knowledge of Fandom

After a too long hiatus, Michael and Mandy return to talk about their love of, and the need for, Dragon*Con and other cons in the concrete and the abstract. Digressions abound, including how to leverage fandom itself for:
  • Revisiting the thinking behind critique
  • Finding recommendations
  • Understanding others

Also covered: many other small topics, including a bit of what's coming for the podcast.

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010 - Everyone Dies in 7

Welcome to our 10th episode! In this, Michael and Mandy finally wrap up the 3-part Harry Potter discussion. Lots of music, lots of discussion, and Michael getting tired, thereby resorting to using the word "like" way  too many times.

So sit tight and enjoy this conversation about the finale of the Harry Potter series: 

  •  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
  • Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

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008 - I Don't Know What Ron Is

This week's episode begins our 3-episode spoiler-filled high level discussion on the Harry Potter  series. We start with our thoughts on the series as a whole, then proceed to discuss the first three entries:

    • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone [Philosopher's Stone]
    • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 
    • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

     

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    005 - He Is His Own Grandfather

    This week's episode is all about Time Travel. 

    In it we talk about all these things: 

    • The Two/Three Types of Time Travel
    • Terminator & Terminator 2
    • 12 Monkeys
    • Looper
    • Back to the Future
    • Primer
    • Doctor Who
    • Chrono Trigger
    • A Sound of Thunder
    • The Time Machine
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
    • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    • Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure / Bogus Journey
    • Restaurant at the End of the Universe (barely)
    • A Christmas Carol
    • Quantum Leap
    • Groundhog Day (in which we forget Bill Murray's name)
    • Midnight in Paris
    • Safety Not Guaranteed
    • That one episode of Morning Edition
    • The last 5 minutes of the first and only season of Heroes
    • TGIF
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time
    • Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
    • Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
    • A bunch of Star Trek
    • Futurama
    • Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

    And eventually we stop talking because the episode would have continued until the end of time .

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    004 - People Need To Be Saved

    This week is a 2 hour discussion about Superman. This may seem a much more focused topic than our other episodes so far, but Superman as a character is a very broad subject.

    This episode is a special treat, and Michael doesn't want to spoil any of it here. One thing: The episode is Man of Steel  spoiler safe until 1 hour, 11 minutes in, and it's made very clear  that the movie is about to be discussed. You're safe to listen that far if you still haven't watched the movie yet. 

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    003 - It's Not Cool For Spider-Man To Be Happy

    This week, Mandy and Michael discuss continuity in stories: when it's done well, when it should not be attempted, and the costs of doing it poorly when you could have just not bothered with it at all.

    Media covered in this topic: 

    • Good continuity vs bad continuity
    • Star Wars Extended Universe
    • Ender's Game
    • Isaac Asimov
    • X-Men
    • Superhero movies
    • Superman
    • The Dark Knight Returns
    • DC Animated Universe
    • Hawkeye
    • Retcons
    • Harry Potter
    • Peter Parker's deal with the Devil
    • Star Wars (Movies)

    And probably a bit more scattered throughout. 

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    002 - Thor's A Big Baby And Needs To Learn To Chill

    This week Mandy and Michael talk about sympathetic villains, by which they mean villains with which we can sympathize. 

    It's a major topic for the pair, so brace yourselves for over 70 minutes of audio!

    In this episode, the pair discuss: 

    • Star Wars
    • Thor
    • More Star Wars
    • Avatar: The Last Airbender
    • Mass Effect
    • Wheel of Time
    • Dune

    They also hit a few tangents and offshoots of conversation along the way.

    Dive in, and pack your magic hammer!

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    001 - You're Going To Make Me Want To Talk About Thor

    This is the premier, inaugural, introductory, and very first episode of Trivially Crucial. Consider this a meta-episode in which Michael and Mandy introduce themselves, the general ways in which they think about media, and discuss the importance of stories to normal life.

    Also discussed:

    • Objectivity vs subjectivity
    • Not as much Thor as Mandy would like

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