We start a (slightly) new form of the podcast this week, and we kick it off with the theme of "Gateways to Geekdom."

Week in Geek: Andrew plays Commander (aka Elder Dragon Highlander) with a custom 30 Rock deck while Dan plays Journey which was recently released for the Playstation 4.

Listener Gateways: Thanks to listener input, Dan and Andrew discuss the classic gateways to geekdom that are Star Wars and the Atari 2600.

Gateways to Geekdom: Thanks to a listener suggestion from an earlier episode, Andrew and Dan discuss the various gateways to geekdom have been as well as the impact those gateways had on geeks and nerd in general.

The Farpoint Gateway: Dan and Andrew discuss a gateway to geekdom that was especially important to Andrew, the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint."

Question of Geek:

What do you think is an effective use of dreams or dreaming in a fiction (in any medium)?

Leave your answer as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook and Google+ pages to keep up to date with the fans and content. You may also e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com. Be sure to leave a review on iTunes of the show to help the show out.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Main Title" adapted from John Williams' "Main Theme" from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (from the Atari 2600 game, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by Atari)

-"Iron Man 3" by Brian Tyler

-"Star Trek: The Next Generation - End Credit" by Ron Jones

-"Come On, Come Over" by Jaco Pastorius

We're back after a few weeks of Shortcasts and this week it's all about space, keeping all of the recent NASA news in mind.

Week in Geek: Andrew plays and ponders the mechanics and morals of Endeavor while Dan geeks out over The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Boast of Bethel: With the new images of Pluto, Dan wonders how HP Lovecraft, a devoted amateur astronomer who was writing when Pluto was first discovered, would process these high-definition images. Then he laments the divide between science and creativity.

The Influence of Space: With everybody looking up again, Andrew and Dan discuss how humanity's reach into the great unknown has influenced our use of it in fiction.

Browncoat: Dan finally gets Andrew to sit down and watch the pilot to the short lived, but deified, sci-fi western television show, Firefly. 

Question of the Geek:

What was your "gateway to geekdom"?

Your answer could be read on next week's episode! To contribute, leave your answer as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the official Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also e-mail the show at forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com. If you subscribe to the show on iTunes, be sure to rate the show on the iTunes store in order to help spread the word to new users through the magic of Apple's algorithms.

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Uncertainty" by Reber Clark (from At the Mountains of Madness - Sketches for the H. P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast)

-"Firefly [Main Title]" by Sonny Rhodes

-"Victory" by Ben Prunty (from FTL: Faster Than Light)

-Excerpt from "The Whisperer in the Darkness" read by Dudley Knight for KPKV Radio

Our last Shortcast of the break covers San Diego Comic Con 2015. We look at the big reveals and some news that was released (mostly movie and TV-related) before asking ourselves, now that it's all over: what is SDCC now?

Feel free to leave your thoughts about this year's SDCC as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join the conversations happening at our official Facebook and Google+ pages. Furthermore, you can e-mail us any questions, comments, or concerns at forallpod [at] gmail [dot] com.

We're back next week with Episode 57! Thanks for your patience!

For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast recap.

Featured Music:

-"Thunderbusters" by Wax Audio

We've got a new Week in Geek Shortcast this week.

First, Andrew played an app-assisted board game called Alchemists as well as pondered the implications of an Escapist article about A.I.-created Magic: The Gathering cards. Dan finally gets 100% on Batman: Arkham Knight, and also decided to give the 2001 animated sci-fi flick, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, another chance.

We'll be back with one more Shortcast about the recent San Diego Comic Con before returning next week with Episode 57!

For all intents and purposes, that was a Shortcast.

Featured Music:

-"Thunderbusters" by Wax Audio

Andrew talks to former guests Jake Waltier and Jonathan Adler as they discuss board game company Fantasy Flight Games and their license to publish tabletop games based on content created by Games Workshop, including the settings of iconic games like Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 settings. Also, Jonathan admits his feelings about Kit Kats! kitkatfast.tumblr.com

Featured Music:

-"Reign of the Septims" by Jeremy Soule (from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion)

-"Thunderbusters" by Wax Audio

The first of our shortcasts for the summer break. Today, it's all about our week in geek. Andrew discusses Blizzard's foray into the MOBA world with Heroes of the Storm, while Dan talks about Batman: Arkham Knight some more before discussing the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, Conan the Barbarian.

Week in Geek: Andrew watches the classic Italian film with tenuous ties to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Sacco y Vanzetti while Dan can't drive in Batman: Arkham Knight.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: With this week's theme being about death, they watch antoher TNG episode titled "Tapestry" where Captain Picard...dies?!?!

Death (and Defeat) in Gaming: An extension from last week's topic about violence in gaming, this week Dan and Andrew examine how death is used––and how it has changed––in gaming.

The Death of Optimus Prime: Looking away from gaming for a bit (while staying on topic), Andrew and Dan discuss a prominent nerd death from the 1986 classic, The Transformers: The Movie.

Question of the Geek:

What has been the most impactful fictional death for you and why?

Leave your answer as a comment on the page for this episode at forall.libsyn.com. Be sure to join in on the conversations happening at the official Facebook and Google+ pages. You may also e-mail us any questions, comments, or concerns at forallpod [at] gmail.com. If you subscribe to your podcast on iTunes, be sure to leave a review to help spread the show to new potential listeners.

We won't be posting full episodes for a few weeks as we take a summer break, but we will have Shortcasts going up in our absence, so keep checking the feed!

For all intents and purposes, that was an episode recap.

Featured Music:

-"Stayin' in Black" by Wax Audio

-"Star Trek: The Next Generation - End Credits" by Ron Jones

-"Rogue Legacy (Main Theme)" by Tettix

-"Death of Optimus Prime" by Vince DiCola (from The Transformers: The Movie)

-"Dare" by Stan Bush (from The Transformers: The Movie)