But Why Tho? The Podcast

This week, we celebrate the release fo the Final Fantasy VII Remake by covering one of the most beloved RPG franchises in history: Final Fantasy. We break down how the original Final Fantasy VII shaped how we think about distribution, talk about best girls, and some of us make the claim that FF XIV is the best of the series. And we do it all with the help of Grant from Gilmore Ball Z.

In honor of the CBS All Access wrapping its first season of Star Trek: Picard, we decided to devote an entire episode to why Jean-Luc Picard matters. In this episode, Kate brings us through the creation of the character and all the red tape and stereotypes that went with it. We break down how the bald British classically trained actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, went from the person likely to play Data, to the man who defined a new kind of masculinity and leadership. To do this, we compare him to the rest of the Captains in the Star Trek pantheon and explain why no one, truly, leads like Picard.  Walking down memory lane and getting in "best captain" debates along the way, we detail why Picard matters with the help of Aaron, host of the Nerd Social Club podcast and writer for our very own butwhythopodcast.com. 

"Doom Matters" is sponsored by Podcorn* This week, we're celebrating the launch of Doom Eternal with a deep dive into the Doom Slayer, the franchise, the movies, and answer why Doom Matters all these years later. We discuss how id Software's Doom paved the way for 3D shooters, inspired a wave of Doom-clones, and has succeeded with multiple relaunches of the series across time.  *Want to sign up for podcorn? Head over to  podcorn.com and start monetizing your podcast today!

The Dead Lands is the Shudder Original co-production between the AMC genre streaming service and New Zealand's TVNZ. The series is an immersive fantasy grounded in Maori belief and culture. From traditional martial arts to rituals, The Dead Lands blends the horror, fantasy, and adventure genres by building this traditional hero narrative and Maori traditions. In this interview, I got the chance to sit down with showrunners Tainui Stephens and Glenn Standring and discuss the inspiration between the series and the process of translating sacred rituals and ideas to the screen.

Most of the time an interview only has one host asking questions, but for this special occasion all of the But Why Tho? crew joined the conversation. After covering Guildhall Studios' Sea of Legends at PAX South 2020, Kate, Adrian, and Matt couldn't wait to speak with the creative director of the studio, Ryan Schapals. If you're unfamiliar, Seas of Legends is a narrative-driven sandbox table-top where you get to play in a group as a pirate. For the gamers listening, it's Sea of Thieves as a board game, and for the initiated it's like Above and Below and Western Legends put together.

In honor of Valve's VR game Half-Life: Alyx continuing the groundbreaking and iconic series, we're covering Half-Life. Find out why it matters, how it was developed, and how it came to define Valve as a company.  Episode 132: Half-Life Matters...But Why Tho? is sponsored by Podcorn  

IFC Film's Swallow hits limited theaters and VoD on March 6th. We got the chance to speak with the film's writer-director Carlo Maribella-Davis about the film.  Maribella-Davis breaks down how he created the provocative and squirm-inducing psychological thriller, explaining his connection to the story and how he went about constructing an intimate story of a woman unraveling as she struggles to reclaim independence in the face of a patriarchal system. A story told in pastels and trauma, Swallow is a film the forces viewers to understand the trauma and pressure that triggers disorders, a choice made in how Maribella-Davis presents the narrative. You'll even get to hear about the woman who fainted during the Tribeca Film Festival where it won Bennett won Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film.  Click play on the audio above to hear our conversation about how Maribella-Davis created Swallow, with the intention of telling a larger story about the patriarchal pressures of society. A film closely aligned to

This episode is sponsored by Podcorn* My Hero Academia has exploded quickly over the last four years. From the pages of Shonen Jump to the English translation from Viz Media and the distribution of simuldub episodes on FUNimation, this superhero manga and anime has taken over weeb hearts everywhere. In this episode, in honor of its second feature film My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising releasing today! In this episode, with the help of Dr. Emory (the man with the honor of being the only guests to have more degrees than our hosts), we break down what makes My Hero Academia the heir to the shonen throne, how it reshapes the genre, and even break down why the fights in this franchise are so much more than punching. We even get into our favorite heroes, share some hot takes, and Kate preaches the word of why Bakugo deserves loves in a postseason 3 fandom. BE WARNED, there are spoilers galore in this episode. *Want to sign up for podcorn? Head over to  podcorn.com and start monetizing your podcast today! Want more of

Dead End Kids, was one of the breakout indie hits of 2019 with the first issue alone when one to sell more than 7000 copies over two printings. From writer, Frank Gogol, the series was a coming-of-age story that resonated with many readers. Now, with his second miniseries, No Heroine, Gogol is exploring deep themes of addiction, responsibility, and ultimately the everyday struggles of recovery. But, he's making this exploration through the lens of a Buffy-inspired heroine's journey.  Hit play on the interview above to hear about how Gogol aims to subvert the expectations we have for our heroes and those who are suffering in our life. We even talk about the future of Dead End Kids.  You can check out Frank Gogol at C2E2 for Source Point Press, Booth #707, and to stay up to date with his work, you can follow him @frankgogol.

Eddie Martinez stars as Vic Soto in USA Network’s series, "The Sinner," as a former Marine and rising star detective who works alongside Ambrose (Bill Pullman) at the Dorchester Police Department.  Martinez was originally born and raised in Colombia, but his family relocated to the United States when was nine years old and grew up in New York City. In this interview, Martinez talks about his began his acting career and he started acting in live theater. Martinez’s first break was getting a role on Law & Order and he has television credits include guest star roles on Orange Is The New Black, Narcos: Mexico, Hawaii Five-0, Colony, and more. Additionally, we get to hear more about how he gets into his roles, why it was important to play a traditionally "good" character, and why he connects to Vic Soto. Plus, we get into talking about his ideal roles, representation, and he even shares excitement for Netflix's Gentefied since he stared in the original web-series it's based on. Want to follow Eddie Martinez's

With the Star Wars animated series, The Clone Wars, saved and coming back for it's seventh season this Friday on Disney+, we thought it was time to dedicate an episode to the series. Set between the events of Episode II and Episode III, The Clone Wars began as an other series than the one we know today and a film. Now, it's one of the most beloved pieces of Star Wars media and has given us one of the most notable characters in the new canon: Ahsoka. For this episode, we're joined by Aaron from the Nerd Social Club podcast as we dive into the history and the future of the animated series. 

In honor of Survivor's 40th season premiering tonight, we're celebrating and dissecting the pop culture phenomena that changed the face of reality TV. From tribes to challenges and controversies, here's our take on it all, led by Kate, our Survivor superfan.

We're back! It's been a nice hiatus but now it's time to talk about the little blue hedgehog with super-fast red shows: Sonic. With the new movie hitting theaters later this month, we thought it was best to discuss the character that built SEGA and led them to be the only console to top Nintendo in the 16-bit era. This episode we talk about platforming, characters, fan devotion, and of course the redesign for the movie that led to it being pushed back. 

It's been three years since our paths crossed with the military gaming charity Stack-Up. Back then the podcast was still in it's first year, on its first episode, and they were recording in the middle of a hallway on the last day of PAX South 2017. Now, at PAX South 2020, the leading military gaming charity has been featured at The Game Awards, been included as a veteran resource in the national database, and have created a partnership with the CDC to help lower the high number of suicides among the veteran community. We got the chance to speak with CEO and founder Stephen Machuga about the growth his team has had since we last spoke with him three years ago. As Machuga explained, the years since have been filled with growth, most specifically in the charity's mental health arm since it was a awarded a grant by the CDC. Through that program, Stack-Up found that they could meet people where they are, using games a distraction, and allowing veterans and civilians to open up.

Dungeon Defenders is a tower defense RPG that has been for nearly eight years. Now, from Kickstarter to PAX South 2020, it's time for Dungeon Defenders: Awaked. Developed by Chromatic Games, Dungeon Defenders: Awakened marks the epic return of the multimillion-selling co-op tower defense RPG series.  We got the chance to speak with one of the game's producers Alec Saáre, while at PAX South 2020 about  the title, the journey to the showroom floor, and just how the studio was able to complete the game in only 11 months. In the interview included in its entirety above, Saáre explained how Dungeon Defenders: Awakened aimed to take everything that existing fans loved about the first two games while also improving on it for a new audience.  

This week we celebrated a huge milestone: our very first live episode! In the LatinX Lounge at PAX South 2020, we got the chance to record a live episode on the podcast, tackling one of the most formative gaming experience we all have had, Halo. From co-op and Cortana to re-releases and all the different ways Master Chief has defined a generation of gamers, we talk about it all. PLUS, we even get some crowd interaction. We know there is a lot left to cover so look out closer to Halo: Infinite's release date when revisit the series. 

PAX has always put community first and has launched a variety of events within the cons to help empower gamers from marginalized communities. This is exactly what The gameHERs (pronounced "gamers;" stylized the*gameHERs) is doing, and with PAX South 2020 as their first convention, we got the chance to sit down with one of the founders, Heather Ouida, to discuss their cause and their platform which launches in March. The*gameHERs is a virtual and in-person community that connects all women gamers as well as those who identify as female, non-binary and their allies. They aim to be a space for the casual players, the hard core gamers, the techies, the streamers, the designers, the cosplayers, the developers and the programmers to advance the role, voice, image and power of all gameHERs in the gaming world. During the interview, Ouida explained how they chose their areas of focus as a community.

Horror is a genre that allows us to explore our fears, society's fears, and use it as an expression to bring out our struggles. This extends from cultural issues to personal issues like illness. in Dillon Gilbertson's Sweet Heart from Action Lab: Danger Zone, monsters are everywhere and no one is safe. As the ComixCentral’s 2018 People’s Choice award-winner, Sweet Heart is a new horror comic series created and written by Gilbertson, with art by Ghastly Award-winner, Francesco Laquinta, and colors by Marco Pagnotta. Over the winter holidays, I got a chance to speak with Gilbertson about this new story, the message it holds in its terrifying pages and how horror can be used to tell deep stories. In the interview, Gilbertson explains how the series began as a thinly veiled analogy for his life with diabetes that grew to represent ta number of chronic health, psychological, and personal issues many people deal with every day. He dives into why horror was the medium of choice to tell this story and more.

When it comes to new serialized stories, it isn't just television you should be looking to, but Serial Box. Earlier this year, the platform dropped the continuation of science fiction favorite Orphan Black, with Orphan Black: The Next Chapter.  Now, the audio and reading experience that is perfect for hungry readers launches its first title in partnership with Marvel Comics- Thor: Metal Gods. Thor: Metal Gods, the first of several original serialized fiction and audiobook series based on Marvel Comics and continues the centuries-old saga of Thor and Loki as they team up for an adventure of cosmic proportions, confronting the sins of both their pasts. We got the chance to speak with Rachel Pinnelas about Thor: Metal Gods and what the future holds with upcoming titles from Marvel Comics.

It's Christmas time!! To celebrate this time of year, we're diving into the importance of a Christmas classic; DIE HARD. We cover the production history, the sequels, and just how Bruce Willis redefined what it means to be an action here. We also talk about Die Hard in a school, Die Hard on a bus, Die Hard on a cliff, and ask: Where is Die Hard in space?