Gang, Atlas has given me permission to do a podcast. The first four episodes are up on iTunes (each is about eight minutes). It can be found on iTunes or your favourite podcatcher (that is iTunes or Libsyn compliant).
Another episode will go up tomorrow night, and then it'll go back to one a week until the fiorst 12 episodes are up. THat will be season one, and then we'll see if anyone cares about it sufficiently to make a season 2. 8)
Leaving aside all review of the podcast itself for an opportunity where I can actually spend some time taking it all in, I'd just like to say that I like your shift in language from being forced to do a podcast to being allowed to do a podcast.
I would just like to say bravo on the podcast, I have enjoyed the first 6 episodes immensely! Your choice of tackling an historical topic, it's significance to Ars and how magi might relate to it is throughly enjoying (I find the 8 minutes to go by too quickly).
I like your choice of theme music too, makes me laugh.
The theme music was just a bit of luck: Free Music Archive has some "microsongs" in the public domain and when I heard a cramhorn crashing into an electric guitar I thought...."Oh, that's just weird and lovely."
Any suggestions for episode themes still gratefully accepted. 8)
I'd have sworn it was written into the Cult of Heroes beluief structure. Can't find it now, though: perhaps it was cut out in editing?
Truth be told, my version of Mythic Europe is made up of the pre-edit versions of a lot of books, so I'm kind of like the rambling uncle who misremembers things.
HoH:TL p80 - "Some say this was an accident, brought about by a flaw in the Parma Magica or his weak Gift, while others say Mercere gave it up voluntarily in pursuit of greater magical mysteries" - so the story of Mercere sacrificing his Gift is there as something some magi believe. Seeing as some also believe Mercere's corpse was carried away by an image of a man with winged shoes, there is room for very heroic interpretations of Mercere.
It seems to fit with the historically and persistently low number of Magi Mercere; perhaps there are only one at most for each House due to this sacrifice.
Thank you for doing your podcast, and I hope you continue. While there's a lot of merit to short episodes, consider something on the order of a half hour, perhaps with a guest. That's how long I usually spend on the treadmill, you see.
In your discussion of intersex and gender in episode 10, you note that Ars fandom agreed at an early stage that gender was part of Essential Nature and could not be changed. There is, of course, The Succubus's Trick (MuCo 5), a spell that transforms the caster's gender. Can I presume that, when you say gender cannot be changed by Hermetic magic, you are referring to permanent changes in gender and not temporary changes? Or has AM5 gone in a direction contrary to this early decision by Ars fandom?
I've worked out the last few episodes of season 2:
The titles are
Pre-Romantic models of love
Prosthetic parasites
First Fruits
Why do magpies keep following me?
Guys: part of the reason I did this was for my job I needed to run a class about Patreon and Kickstarter. I managed to blag my way through it last time, but it's coming around again for (probably) February 2017, so I need to set up sites for the poidcast on those platforms (I do have Atlas's permission to do this).
Frankly I don't need the money (the podcast costs me $60 a year for hosting, plus my time) and this is making it hard for me to choose backer levels and so on. Suggestions would be great.
The only things I've thought of, as a stretch goals, are
I could pay a license fee to other Ars bloggers to move their stuff over into the podcast format.
I could pay Atlas a license to allow an audiobook version of one of the Ars books. (Heirs to Merlin is probably easiest, because it is stat free, and no, they have never heard me suggest that, it may be thoroughly impractical. Basically my idea is that you could put a foundational setting book in audio form. Order of Hermes would work, too...)
I could rescript a Google Expedition (we are using Google Cardboard for tourism for mobility-impaired people in my library from next year, and I'd love ot just be able to drop players in virtual [laces and say "This is Lake Constance! That's up there is the mountain haunted by Pontius Pilate and some dragons!"
I don't want to do the shirts/caps/keyrings thing, because I don't have any art rights, and because I've heard horror stories.
I realise this is an odd sort of pitch. I really don't need the money (It literally costs me USD5 a month, and even that's tax deductible) but I do need to do this professionally enough that I can use my account as a sort of live demo for my students. So, any suggestions for levels, or backers' material would be excellent.
