Episode 22: Galaxy Quest

Andi and Lise discuss and deeply appreciate multiple award-winning spec fic writer Nicola Griffith’s novel Spear (current Nebula finalist!)—a queer Arthurian story that will bring you right into the era from a perspective you didn’t know you absolutely needed. If, like them, you grew up on Arthurian/Camelot stories, Spear is like coming home to the people you wanted and needed to see in those tales. 

Nicola Griffith’s website HERE. 

Info about Spear HERE. 

List of this year’s Nebula finalists HERE. 

Shout-outs: Lise started watching the Netflix series Lockwood and Co., about teen ghosthunters/ghost battlers in a Britain overrun by spirits that can kill with a touch. Adapted from the first two books in the Lockwood and Co. series by Jonathan Stroud. Andi shouts-out the ol’ skool show Forensic Files which she’s watching on Hulu. The episodes are about 22 minutes long without commercials, and she’s ended up learning a lot and making it a family affair. 

We’re still hanging in there on Twitter: @LGOPodcast, @andimarquette, @LiseMacTague. 

You can also find Andi and Lise on Instagram, posting fun photos, same handles: @andimarquette, @LiseMacTague 

LGO is available on tons of platforms; please like and subscribe. It helps! Thanks! 

Andi and Lise jumped into the current zeitgeist and watched the first episode of the first season of The Last of Us on HBO Max, the TV series adapted from the video game of the same name (by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment, released in 2013). The storyline involves a post-apocalyptic U.S. in which survivors live in totalitarian walled cities while a fungus-ravaged world (Cordyceps, in case you wondered which fungus) outside the walls infects humans, who prey on the non-infected. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a survivor who engages in black market smuggling in Boston, is tasked with taking teenager Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across the U.S. Gripping, intense, brutal. But the story-telling is amazing. So…one and done? One and fun? Or One and One More? Find out! 

The Last of Us trailer HERE. 

Find it on HBO Max. Official website HERE. 

Shout-outs: Lise is trying to avoid Twitter, which is an even worse hellscape now, so she put an app to play Sudoku on her phone, which provides a nice respite during the day and doesn’t generate anxiety. Andi is finding fluffy niceness in the cozy mystery series on BritBox, Shakespeare and Hathaway, which follows a couple of mis-matched private investigators in Stratford-upon-Avon. More info HERE; watch on Acorn (DVD), BritBox, and Amazon Prime (S1). 

Even on the Twitter hellscape, find us @LGOpodcast, @andimarquette, and @LiseMactague. Also find Andi and Lise on Instagram and Facebook, same handles. 

Please like and subscribe so we can expand our content! Thanks! 

Lise is laid up this week and can’t get the latest episode edited and uploaded. While she recovers, please enjoy this conversation with Karin Kallmaker.

Andi and Lise watched the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (the whale movie!) to determine if it holds up after all these years. Here, the Star Trek crew has to save Earth from destruction by an alien probe. To do that, they need…whales. Trust us on this! It’s a great plot device! Unfortunately, whales have been extinct for centuries. So the crew devises a way to go back in time to late 20^th-century Earth to find whales to save the Earth of the future. Does it hold up? Listen and find out! 

Also note the tribute to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger at the beginning of the film. Challenger exploded January 28, 1986, killing all seven crew members. Star Trek IV premiered in theaters November 26, 1986. More on the tribute at THIS LINK. 

Star Trek IV original trailer HERE. 

Shout-outs: Lise actually  has a HALP shout-out—she’s working on a project and would like recommendations for cozy mystery series, especially those that include animals. If you have some, hit LGO up on Twitter or Lise (see below for links). Andi shouts out the PS4 game Horizon Zero Dawn, which she’s currently playing on “story” mode because she’s decided she’s actually a hoarder gamer and would much rather explore the world and collect resources. 

Twitter links: @LGOpodcast, @LiseMacTague, @andimarquette 

And please like and subscribe! Thank you! 

Andi and Lise rave about season 1 of the Netflix series Wednesday, which follows Wednesday Addams (a fabulous Jenna Ortega) of the iconic Addams family as she’s expelled from yet another high school and ends up at Nevermore Academy, a school for paranormal misfits where her parents first met. While there, Wednesday navigates tensions with the nearby townspeople, teen angst, her relationship with her mom, and a mystery in which something is killing people and it might have ties to the town’s distant past. Excellent script, tight pacing, and wonderful secondary and tertiary characters. This is full of thrills, chills, teen angst and comedy, and a mystery that will keep you guessing. 

Wednesday trailer HERE 

Shouts-outs: Lise just finished Season 2 of the animated series The Legend of Vox Machina (link HERE) on Prime, which is beautiful to look at but is also well-done and well-written and well worth people’s time. Andi is watching Poker Face (link HERE) on  Peacock starring Natasha Lyonne in a quirky, raunchy mash up of epic road trips, odd jobs, and cat-and-mouse as Nicole’s character Charlie is on the run from a Vegas casino owner in this mystery-of-the-week series. 

We’re still on Twitter: @LGOpodcast, @andimarquette @LiseMactague 

And you can find Andi and Lise on Instagram and at Facebook, same handles. 

Please like and subscribe! Thanks! 

Andi and Lise loved K.B. Wagers’ A Pale Light in the Black, the first installment of Wagers’ NeoG series. A fast-paced, diverse character-driven space opera meets sports story meets mystery with some of their fave elements: strong diverse characters with issues we can all relate to; space opera adventure; found family; sporting competition; creepy mystery. 

Find out more and get buy links at Wager’s website HERE. 

Shout-outs: Lise is getting ready to get her arm sleeve completed by a specific tattoo artist. It’s been five years, and she’s psyched about it. Andi has been playing the game Silk Rose Murders on Nintendo Switch, a fun murder/puzzle game set in an ancient Chinese dynasty. 

You can still find us on Twitter: @LGOpodcast; @LiseMacTague; @andimarquette 

Also find Andi and Lise on Facebook and Twitter (andimarquette, LiseMacTague). 

LGO is available on numerous platforms; please like and subscribe! THANKS!

In this episode, Andi Marquette and Lise MacTague discuss the first episode of Disney Plus’ new series National Treasure: Edge of History, based on the movies but starring a different cast with interesting takes on the characters and some of the issues they’re dealing with. Like the movies, this is a quest-themed movie that Andi likens to watching a quest game. Puzzle-solving, conspiracy theories, clues—episode 1 ticks all these boxes. Andi and Lise will let you know whether this is a One and Done or One and Fun! 

Trailer for NT: Edge of History HERE. Available on Disney Plus. 

Shout outs: Lise is very excited to be reading the second in K.B. Wagers’ NeoG series—space opera meets sports drama! Book 2 is Hold Fast Through the Fire. Andi shouted out Book 1 in that series, A Pale Light in the Black. Andi also shouted out the first in John Sandford’s latest thriller series starring badass/kickass Letty Davenport, The Investigator. 

Find LGO and episodes at lezgeekoutcast.com as well as lots of other platforms. LGO is on Twitter: @LGOpodcast, @LiseMactague, @andimarquette. 

Please like and subscribe! MUAH! 

Andi and Lise chat about the changing of the year, taking stock, calendars, and a few of the things they’re looking forward to in terms of books, TV shows, and games, and also their dreams to win powerball and fund game studios. 

Lise:  

Tears of the Kingdom, the next Legend of Zelda game, available in May 

K.B. Wagers’ 2023 and 3^rd installment in their NeoG sci fi series, The Ghosts of Trappist, but read the whole series! 

The space exploration/epic journey game Starfield, by Bethesda, hopefully out in 2023 

Andi: 

Author Kalynn Bayron’s latest, My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix, is out in 2023. Bayron remixes fairy tales and other stories into diverse, queer awesomeness. Andi plans to read all her stuff. 

The Mandalorian Season 3, slated to drop March 1 

Heartstopper on Netflix, Season 2. Andi’s going to give this series a try because it’s supposed to be heartwarming and we could all use more of that 

Lez Geek Out! is available on bunches of platforms; please like and subscribe! THANK YOU! 

LGO, Andi, and Lise are still hanging out on what’s left of Twitter. Find us: 

@LGOpodcast, @andimarquette, @LiseMacTague 

For this, the last show of 2022, Andi and Lise watched some LGBTQ Holiday (Christmas) movies based on a list published by Cosmopolitan Magazine (we know. We were all “WHAT?” too). They chat about the movies they saw, and throw out some other recommendations (also on the list). And also, Happy Holidays to all y’all! 

Cosmopolitan list of LGBTQ movies list HERE. 

Lise: 

• A New York Christmas Wedding (2020) – Alt-timeline to show the lead what could have been. None of this should have worked, but somehow it did. Nia Fairweather as the lead and Adriana DeMeo as the love interest. Majority Black and Latinx cast. Trailer HERE. See it on Netflix. 
• Under the Christmas Tree (2021) – classic holiday rom-com tropes, but really cute film and the leads have great chemistry. Elise Bauman as the lead, Tattiawna Jones as the love interest, and fun supporting cast including Ricki Lake. Trailer HERE. See it on Hulu. 
• Let it Snow (2019) – Rom-com based on the 2008 YA novel Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances, the film follows 6 people in the same town during a snowstorm and their evolving stories. Fun. Trailer HERE. See it on Netflix. 

Andi: 

• Christmas at the Ranch (2021) – another classic holiday rom-com trope by Tello Films: city girl returns to the ranch where she grew up to try to save it from financial trouble. Fluffy with fun characters. Laur Allen as the city girl and Amanda Righetti as the ranch hand country mouse. Supporting characters include Lindsey Wagner (The Bionic Woman, y’all!) and Archie Kao. Trailer HERE. See it on Peacock, Prime, or Apple TV. 
• The Bitch Who Stole Christmas (2021) – The drag show Christmas movie you’ve been waiting for. Hilarious, raunchy, over-the-top dragfest in which RuPaul as evil editor sends reporter to a small town to dig up dirt on its winter ball celebration, which features a cast of queens from Drag Race. Trailer HERE. Rent it on Apple TV; buy it on Prime. 

You can still find us on Twitter: @LGOPodcast, @andimarquette, @LiseMacTague. 

Also, Lise’s latest book (paranormal werewolves!) drops just in time for Christmas! Find more info about Winter’s Moons at Bella Books HERE! 

Shout-out to everybody this holiday season and we hope you find time to have some fun! 

Andi and Lise loved this collection of self-curated short stories (plus one novella) by majorly award-winning spec fic writer Marjorie Liu. These stories represent a collection from roughly 2009 until more recently, and span a range of spec fic genres, including paranormal, post-apocalyptic, fairy tale, superhero, and steampunk. Liu writes multi-layered character-driven stories that will suck you right in and leave you wanting more. Do yourself a favor and definitely pick up a copy of The Tangleroot Palace: Stories. 

Find out more about Liu and her work at her website HERE. 

Find out more about Tangleroot Palace: Stories HERE. 

Shout-outs: Lise is psyched about the game Slay the Spire (shout-out to author Meghan O’Brien, who posted about it on social media), which is a cool fusion of card games and roguelikes in a single-player deckbuilder game. Andi shouts out all the people managing to stay kind during these times, and also shouts out the late Octavia Butler, one of the high-ups in her pantheon of writers. 

You can still find us on Twitter, even as it’s rife with chaos under new management: 

@LGOPodcast 

@LiseMactague 

@andimarquette 

And find us on most podcast platforms. Don’t forget to like and subscribe! Thanks!