Popzara Podcast

Cartoonist Taki Soma Talks Sleeping While Standing and Surviving the Odds

On this creative episode of the Popzara Podcast our own editor-at-large Ev Wong chats with acclaimed cartoonist Taki Soma about her eagerly-awaited solo release, Sleeping While Standing, a biographical graphic novel where moments in her life (and more) are told via colorful vignettes. These little dips form a story that’s both universally human, yet irresistibly all her own.

The State of Gaming May 2022: Evil Dead, Salt and Sacrifice, Trek to Yomi, Pac-Man Museum, Vampire: The Masquerade, Cotton Shooters, E3 2022, and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered by hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guiding you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines in the world of interactive entertainment.

May is yet another slow month for big releases, led by Saber Interactive’s Evil Dead: The Game, starring none other than Big Chin himself, Bruce Campbell! Ska Studios’ mixes Dark Souls and Monster Hunter with their super sequel Salt and Sacrifice, Devolver Digital hopes your love for Ghosts of Tsushima will net them equal success with Trek to Yomi, Namco Bandai wants you to catch Pac-Man fever again (and again) with their Pac-Man Museum + collection.

The State of Gaming April 2022: Lego Star Wars, Switch Sports, House of the Dead, Rogue Legacy 2, Sonic 2 Movie, and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.

Games discussed on this episode include: Warner Bros’ LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which compiles every mainline SW film (both good and bad) into one whimsical package, Nintendo’s Switch Sports, the long-awaited sequel to the system-seller Wii Sports, Maximum Games’ House of the Dead Remake, which does exactly that to Sega’s original lightgun classic, WhisperGames’ stylish Chinatown Detective Agency, and Cellar Door Games’ fresh-out-of early access generational adventure Rogue Legacy 2.

Movie Time! Toy Story (1995): Movie Magic and the Illusion of Life

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey as they unbox Pixar Animation Studios’ iconic 1995 classic Toy Story, directed by John Lasseter and starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as the iconic mix-matched plastic buddy duo Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

The State of Gaming March 2022: Babylon’s Fall, Gran Turismo 7, Triangle Strategy, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Kirby, Stranger of Paradise, and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans discuss the biggest new releases for March, of which there were many, including: Square Enix’s Babylon’s Fall, Sony’s Gran Turismo 7, Nintendo’s Triangle Strategy, Bethesda’s Ghostwire: Tokyo, Nintendo’s Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Square Enix’s Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, 2K Games’ Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and much more.

The State of Gaming February 2022: Dying Light 2, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Lost Ark, KOF XV, MONARK, CrossfireX, Uncharted, and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the month of love and its titles such as Dying Light 2, and Sony’s open-world sequel Horizon Forbidden West (starring cover girl superstar Aloy)

There's also Sloclap’s martial arts themed Sifu, Amazon’s Lost Ark, SNK’s The King of Fighters XV, Sega’s Total War Warhammer III, Koei Tecmo’s Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires, NIS America’s MONARK, and Microsoft’s CrossfireX, Bandai Namco’s definitely not Dark Souls sequel Elden Ring, and more.

Movie Time! The Best, Worst (and Everything Else) Movies of 2021

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast…for the year of 2021! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to movies and film. Our OG hosts Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans are joined by Popzara’s own returning champ Christian Stirling for a ridiculously long discussion of the best, worst, and everything else that helped make movie-watching in 2021 the return to normalcy we needed. Let’s get to it!

Evolving Pocket Monsters with Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Ready to catch 'em all yet again? On this chimeric episode of the Popzara Podcast our own trainer extraordinaire Cory Galliher teams up with special guest Moses Norton of The-Pixels.com to talk about Game Freak's much-needed update to their pocket monster franchise, Pokémon Legends: Arceus!

After nearly three decades of monster hunting, collecting, and trading it was probably time for a change, and that's exactly what fans can expect in the (mostly) open-world adventure awaiting them in Arceus. Cory and Moses brush up on their Pokémon knowledge and dive into Nintendo's latest AAA exclusive for the Switch. Is the new direction for the franchise super effective or does it fail to land a critical hit? If you gotta catch 'em all then you gotta listen!

The State of Gaming January 2022: God of War, Monster Hunter Rise, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, CES GPUs, Dying Light 2 and NPD

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment. Plus, it’s the first episode of the new year!

Movie Time! Drive My Car (2021) and the Cinematic Allegory

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans discuss Drive My Car, the multilingual masterpiece from writer/director Ryusuke Hamaguchi that’s sorta-kinda based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name.

A meditation about love and loss centered around an ambitious adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, what the film lacks in fidelity to the original text is more than made up for in reverence to what makes Murakami intrinsically Murakami.

The State of Gaming: The Best, Worst (and Everything Else) Games of 2021

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast…for the year 2021! And what a year it was, especially when it comes to gaming. On this special year-end recap episode our usual hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans are joined by special guest Antal Bokor (from 3rd Coast Review) - with assists from your other Popzara Pals - to discuss the best, worst, and everything else that helped make gaming in 2021 the distraction we all desperately needed. Let’s get to it!

CES 2022 Wrap-Up: OLED Displays, GPU Upgrades, Projectors, EV Cars, Laptops, AR, and the Multiverse Arrives

It’s the world’s biggest technology showcase…back in action! Well, mostly. After taking a year hiatus with a virtual-only presence, CES 2022 was a welcome return to letting humans once again mingle with the future of gizmos, gadgets and doodads, despite having a truncated running time and minus some high-profile players.

Our own Herman Exum and Nate Evans are joined by frequent (and favorite!) guest Ben Crossman from Computer America to talk, discuss, and ponder what fans and consumers alike can expect to see over the upcoming year and beyond.

Filmmakers Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu Talk Far East Deep South

On this episode of the Popzara Podcast our own transcontinental editor-at-large Evelyn "Ev" Wong talks with film-making couple Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu, the producing and directing team behind Far East Deep South, a new documentary about the surprises of discovering one’s own heritage and what it truly means to be American.

The State of Gaming December 2021: Halo Infinite, Chorus, Final Fantasy 7 PC, Big Brain Academy, The Matrix, NPD, and Sonic 2

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape featuring hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.

While many of the year’s biggest heavy-hitters debuted last month, December is no slouch when it comes to blockbusters either. Chief among them (pun intended) is Microsoft’s Halo Infinite, which unleashes its single-player campaign to help finish the fight the free-to-play multiplayer started.

The hits keep coming as Deep Silver makes space sims fashionable again with their intergalactic shooter Chorus, Square Enix goes triple-dipping with their remake/reimagining of Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade for the PC, Nintendo wants to train your brain further with Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain. Yacht Club Games brings their adorably pixelated hero to a new dimension with Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon and Ubisoft proves the content will never end for their latest Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla Dawn of Ragnarok.

Movie Time! Finding Humanity in the Cinematic Macabre: Freaks (1932) and The Elephant Man (1980)

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast!, where our own movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.

On tap in this episode are two black ‘n white classics from very different eras in Hollywood that, in their own way, help affirm that humanity comes in many shapes and sizes, and often the real monsters are right in front of us.

The first is 1932’s Freaks. Directed by Tod Browning (Dracula), the film was both incredibly controversial and a box-office disaster upon release until it found an audience decades later on VHS. The second is 1980’s The Elephant Man, directed by David Lynch, produced by Mel Brooks, and featuring one of the finest casts that included John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, and Anne Bancroft, ever assembled in one film.