Surprisingly enough, there are very few really good video podcasts out there. New York Times, Minute Physics (my personal favorite), Dilbert, and io9 We Come From the Future, which sadly aired their last episode recently, are some of the video podcasts that are definitely worth a look.
Unlike most video podcasts I follow, iO9, which was hosted by the bespectacled Esther Inglis-Arkell and adorable Annalee Newitz, is less of an educational podcast and more of a short entertainment clip. Still available through YouTube, iTunes, and Revision3, the videos are high-resolution and of exceptional quality. Production values and the editing were also very good. The download sizes for each episode is a little bit bigger than normal if you're using iTunes, but I always felt it was worth the wait. The series discussed comic books, games, TV shows, popular culture, and science fiction. Esther and Annalee carried the show with their infectious enthusiasm for both the absurd and the rational. Although some of the topics were clearly for a today's generation (e.g. Twilight, Harry Potter, and romance books), Annalee would make the occasional reference to old-school movies such as The Last Starfighter and Tron. Oddly enough, I wasn't really familiar with many of the books they discussed or the TV shows they mentioned (save for the popular ones like Fringe), but the show was goofy and the hosts endearing.
The show made me realize just how broad the geek culture and popular sci-fi community was. Unlike other self-serving video podcasts primarily produced by egotists and attention whores, We Come From the Future was refreshingly honest about being opinionated. Fanbois can be extremely volatile and the hosts had fun while treading extremely shaky grounds (from fandom perspective at least). Their recent episode discussing James Bond was certainly a different look at the aged superspy, while an earlier episode previewing the awesome Avengers film made me want to hit the theater a second time. Although I really didn't know the guests (particularly the sci-fi authors) they had on the show, I did like lovely Felicia Day's brief appearance through webcam and cutie Veronica Belmont (co-host of Tekzilla among other shows) serving as a temporary co-host.
It's sad to see an entertaining show go especially with such few episodes aired. There were many other topics I would have liked them to take on such as Game of Thrones, MacGyver, and Spider-Man (though it's obvious the pair were more Batman and DC). Ester and Annalee had their odd and awkward moments (such as that ridiculous Jedi sword-fighting tutorial) and less interesting episodes, but not as terrible as some of the low-brow forced crap out there. Esther gets Experimental was nice but the fun was more about seeing them run the experiment than demonstrate the science behind it. Overall, however, the webisodes were funny and a welcome break from all the educational content I watch on my iPad.
Kudos to Ester and Annalee for a great and truly underrated run. And I hope we get to see them again . . . in the future!
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