In 2013, when I was still deep in the throes of A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones fandom, I discovered a podcast called Unspoiled! and fell in love with it. I left the show a five-star review (which you should do for any podcast that you enjoy and want to see grow) offhandedly mentioning that I was a writer for Tower of the Hand, and would be happy to come on if they ever needed or wanted guests.
Six years later, Unspoiled! is a massive podcast network under the auspices of “Boss Bitch” Natasha Kingston, who has become a dear friend, and I have had the pleasure of co-hosting no fewer than five Unspoiled! shows. You can find links to their home pages below. You will have to become an Unspoiled! Patron to listen to three of them, but honestly, you should be one of those anyway, because I guarantee you will not find a bigger or better series of podcasts anywhere else on the internet. I don’t make any money from these shows, but they are Natasha’s bread and butter, so please support her amazing work!
PATRONS-ONLY SHOWS:
This is the current show Natasha and I are producing for Patrons, and it is a blast. I’ve never read it, but I have been one of those asshole 20-something dudes talking trash about something I had never taken the time to actually experience back in 2008-ish. Is it possible that the Twilight Saga isn’t actually that bad, and American culture just unreasonably hates everything created for and marketed to young girls? The answer will probably not surprise you!
Natasha covered the first four seasons of this HBO powerhouse herself, which means I came on for Season 5 — juuuuuuuust in time for me to get so offended that I decided to quit Game of Thrones for good. Now, don’t get me wrong — I stuck around for the podcast all the way through Season 8. How did I participate in coverage of the Game of Thrones without actually watching Game of Thrones, you ask? You’ll have to become a Patron to find out…
This was the first show in which I joined Natasha as a full-time co-host, and we have many thoughts on the first four seasons, plus Bandersnatch. Season 5 coverage will probably be a long time coming, if it comes at all; Black Mirror was starting to wear both of us down, and we’re not anxious to return to it any time soon.
PUBLIC SHOWS
When we started this show, I had read (and loved) the first four books, and Natasha none of them. By the time we finished, we had both learned a lesson about the value of person having actually completed a series before beginning to cover it, as the last three books are…not great. Still, this epic podcast is one of the most fun things I’ve ever done, and the show that cemented me as a regular Unspoiled! host.
Unspoiled! doesn’t cover many comics, but this one was a rare and excellent exception. We made our way through all 10 trade paperback volumes of Neil Gaiman’s classic comic series, and while we haven’t covered any of the newer Sandman-related material, this podcast stands as well on its own as the original run of Sandman.
Book Club and More
Unspoiled! got its start covering A Song of Ice and Fire, and for a time, I had the opportunity to participate in that podcast when we looked at The World of Ice and Fire. Unfortunately, that book is boring and I was…vocal about my dislike for it, and we never did finish covering it. However, I have been a semi-regular co-host for Unspoiled! Book Club, including one-shot coverage of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time.
For more information on Unspoiled!, visit the main website here.
Miles Schneiderman 