Thursday, December 31, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 110

Thursday is court day! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 110! Our guest judge this week is Romain Thirion, who hails from France. He is 30 years old and a journalist, currently working for a magazine called Après-Vente Automobile and its website, www.apres-vente-auto.com. It's a professional review about automobile aftermarket, economic analysis of the business of spare parts and repair. Years ago, he wrote music reviews for a Metal website called Nightfall In Metal Earth. He's a big fan of George RR Martin's writing, loves it beyond ASOIAF and his first take on GRRM's work was Fever Dream. Then, he started reading ASOIAF in French, before definitely switching to English because the French translation is so pompous that it makes it, from AGOT to AFFC, a nightmare to read. "It's an assassination of Martin's clear and natural style, which is entirely focused on storytelling, not on petty using of a sophisticated lexicon.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 109

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 109! Our guest judge this week is Marcus Roberts, a director at YouGov, the international polling company. He has previously ruled on the Wall's collapse, the Holy Hundred and the return of Jon Snow.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Boiled Leather Audio Hour #43

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, or Episode Seven Kingdoms

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Sean and Stefan discuss the new Star Wars movie! Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens Jedi mind tricked us into dedicating this episode of our A Song of Ice and Fire podcast to an entirely different fantasy franchise. How did the film fit in with larger saga? How did J.J. Abrams’s direction differ from George Lucas’s? Is Rey a Mary Sue, and if so, how does that impact the film? What the hell was up with Starkiller Base? We answer all these questions and more, including a discussion of the film’s cinematography, the performances of its actors, the pros and cons of the characters, and even a few connections to the world of Westeros. I’ve got a good feeling about this…

Download Episode 43

Additional links:
Mirror.
Stefan’s review of the movie.
Tasha Robinson’s essay on Rey.
Previous episodes.
Podcast RSS feed.
iTunes page.
Sean’s blog.
Stefan’s blog.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens review

This review definitely contains spoilers. 

Only weeks ago, I have written about Star Wars and Me and stated that while I do like the Star Wars movies, I'm not anything like a superfan for the stuff. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII from here on out) therefore wasn't something that got my blood pumping like, for example, Game of Thrones did in 2010. I was curious and reasonably excited to see the movie, which I did yesterday. So, what did I think of it? You're dying to know, I'm sure, so let's get into it. 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 108

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 107! Our guest judge this week is Fredrik Fischer, a migrant and wordwright who has liked A Song of Ice and Fire almost half his life at this point.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 107

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 107! Our guest judge this week is Joe Schafer, who first became aware of the series in 2009 while he was in college when he heard that HBO was adapting a fantasy series for TV. A fan of most things nerd he posts on Westeros.org as Ser Joe the Unknighted and he is on Twitter @joetwheets where he frequently tweets about ASOIF related content.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Is it ethical to exterminate the Aliens?

I got into a weird discussion with a friend of mine. He argued that when Ripley in Aliens encountered the Alien queen and threatened her eggs, the queen backed down, so this proves that she was ready to let Ripley get away and therefore burning the eggs and nuking the complex was essentially unwarranted aggression. The argument then developed into the general question: is it morally permissible to exterminate the Alien race, given the chance? Or is it some misguided application of anthropocentrism gone genocidal? I should be going to bed right now, so naturally, I have to delve into this question. 
We come in peace.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 106

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 106! Our guest judge this week is Jim, who is a contributor at Wars and Politics of Ice and Fire and a regular contributor at Tower of the Hand. He commonly goes by SomethingLikeALawyer.

Monday, November 30, 2015

The worst The Walking Dead season yet

So, the first half of The Walking Dead's sixth season is over, and the show is going into hiatus. I'm feeling pretty comfortable saying that this was the worst season yet, and this is not a particularily high bar to crawl under, mind you. When the whole show grind to a halt in season 2 because of all the talking, talking, talking, they could at least point to budgetary problems as the source. But that is no excuse now, and the levels of stupid that this show has reached are incredible. Not even that, it has committed the worst sin of a show of its calibre: it's simply boring. 

A Flight of Links

- 11 episodes of various series that work as standalones
- Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos diss each other
- Anita Sarkeesian reviews The Martian
- Ok, McShane is playing Septon Meribald and the Hound is alive
- Fargo more violent than Walking Dead
- Mockingjay 2 review
- Wonder Woman poster
- Good Catelyn meta
- Why Euron is Bloodraven's pupil
- Who are the "false friends" of the Pink Letter
- More about the awesomness of ADWD
- Why should Euron wake the Old Ones? 
- Iron Fist should be Asian
- Why Halo 5 is nonsenical
- How nostalgia is hurting video games
- Wertzone reviews Phantom Menace
- And Attack of the Clones
- And Revenge of the Sith
- Good meta about Jon's endgame 
- Jon VII
- Meta about a succesful North secession
- This brillant thought never crossed my mind. 
- Why did Citadel and Faith never come to blows? 
- Stannis' ideology of leadership
- The problem with Fallout 4's character being voiced

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 105

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 105! Our guest judge this week is Anders Frost Bertelsen. He first read the books shortly after the publication of AFFC and became an instant superfan. While he isn't particularly active on forums, he does keep up with most major fan theories and has spent countless hours wondering about Jeyne Westerling's hips and the motivations of Myles Toyne. In real life he lives in Copenhagen, Denmark and designs educational board games. He is also fond of american football, nordic freeform roleplaying and all kinds of strategy games.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 104

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 104! Our guest judge this week is Our guest judge this week is Anton Jumelet, a philosophy student from the Netherlands, who previously judged on rulings 65 and 81 of this court.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Star Wars and me

One of the questions I get asked the most when talking about pop culture is: "Are you a Star Wars fan?" It's often said in this way that suggests that everybody expects you to answer in the affirmative, because Star Wars is still the one franchise that everybody knows and accepts somehow over which you can be a geek or fan. They're usually surprised when I answer "No, not really." I'm not a fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or dislike the franchise. I watch the original trilogy as everyone does, I'm just not over-excited about it. Of course, it hadn't always be thus. 

Thursday, November 12, 2015

The first Supreme Court of Westeros ebook is available!

http://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Court-Westeros-Vol-ebook/dp/B017TGEV0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447297263&sr=8-1&keywords=supreme+court+of+westeros
Rejoice, everyone! With proven editor Marc Kleinhenz from Blue Buddha Press on board, Amin Javadi and Stefan Sasse finally published the long-anticipated ebook with a collection of the first 60 rulings of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Expect a book packed full with deliberations about theories, critical analysis and great opinionating about the best fantasy series that was ever written. 

The Supreme Court of Westeros, now running for close to two years, presents one ruling per week, taking on three questions from the fandom. Amin Javadi from the Podcast of Ice and Fire and Stefan Sasse from The Nerdstream Era, Tower of the Hand and the Boiled Leather Audio Hour serve as recurring judges, alternating in writing a main opinion or commenting on it, with a third judge commenting on the main opinion drawn from the fandom. Some judges are known participants in discussions on sites as widespread as Reddit, Tower of the Hand, Boiled Leather, westeros.org or the POIAF-forums, while others are distinguished writers or only silent readers - in the court, we are all alike. 

More than simply collecting all the rulings, we also made a selection of the best and most insightful comments that the rulings gathered. The discussions about the rulings are what keeps us out of the ivory tower and deep in the weeds. This allows you to have a look at the ongoing discussion of these topics. 

Without further ado, let's present to you our official anouncment text and guide you over to Amazon: (German Amazon)

"Who do you think will win the Battles of Meereen and Winterfell, and why?"
"Is Ser Meryn Trant part of Varys’s plan? He always seems to be on guard when something goes wrong or Varys’s plans spring into action."

"Is A Song of Ice and Fire ultimately an analogy to climate change?"

"Who would win in a fight between Bronn and the Hound?"

"Does Varys know that Sansa is in the Vale? He keeps a close eye on Littlefinger and knew of his desire for Sansa."

These are just a sampling of the 180 questions that the justices of the Supreme Court of Westeros convene to address and definitively answer. Using their intimate expertise of both A Song of Ice and Fire, specifically, and George R.R. Martin, generally, from their years of writing, studying, reporting on, and podcasting about the phenomenon that is Game of Thrones and its source books, they are able to provide an analysis that is always penetrating and occasionally irreverent.

Who, exactly, are the judges? Amin Javadi is a co-founder and -host of A Podcast of Ice and Fire, the longest-running (and award-winning) podcast devoted to all things Ice and Fire. Stefan Sasse is an essayist at the venerable Tower of the Hand, co-host of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour, and the purveyor of The Nerdstream Era, where the Supreme Court of Westeros goes into session every week. Both are contributors to the two Tower of the Hand ebook anthologies, A Flight of Sorrows and A Hymn for Spring, providing some of the strongest sections of each.

Joining them are a cavalcade of guest judges, ranging from such big-name celebrities in the Song of Ice and Fire fandom as Elio Garcia and
Linda Antonsson (authors of The World of Ice and Fire alongside George Martin himself) to average readers and fans from the various forums and communities from around the Westeros web.

Looking to reconsider your theories of what is happening in Martin's sprawling story or, even, to stumble across your new favorite crack-pot theory? Look no further – The Supreme Court of Westeros will be the perfect companion in your wait for the next novel, short story, or television season.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 103

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us! 
Please note that our new ebook is up and available on Amazon, collecting the first 60 rulings and the best comments in one place. It's only 5,99$, so what are you waiting for? 
And now, up to ruling 102! Our guest judge this week is Keelah Rose Calloway, a graduate of Cornell University, currently living and working in Poland. She has been a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire since before the TV show debuted, thank you very much. She enjoys the series almost as much as she enjoys being smug.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 102

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 102! Our guest judge this week is Andrew Geertsen, from Santa Cruz, CA. He began reading ASOIAF since a few years before the start of the HBO series, looking for the best fantasy series he could get his hands on. Since then, he's gone through the first three books six times, the fourth and fifth once separately, and twice using Boiled Leather's "new-reader" Feastdance order, as well as once through TWOIAF. You can contact him through his portfolio at ageertsen.daportfolio.com or check out his ASOIAF blog at notesoficeandfire.blogspot.com.

Friday, October 30, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 101

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 101! Our guest judge this week is is Johnny from Philadelphia. He began reading the series after the 1st season of Game of Thrones and began listening to BLAH and APOIAF shortly thereafter. He is on the forums at APOIAF as The Smiling Knight. This is his third time as a member of the Supreme Court of Westeros.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 100

And it is there! For 100 rulings, Amin and I have delivered verdicts on questions from the fandom, aided by alternating guest judges. To mark out 100th anniversary, we have looked way back to our humble beginnings, when this little endevour was still "Stefan's Theory Hour" and I invited Amin, Steven Attewell and Sean T. Collins to maek its 50th anniversary with a podcast about the topic. So, we're doing that again - Sean T. Collins, Amin and I dissect questions that have been collected exclusively for the 100th ruling, and we do so in a massive podcast. You find it here. 

Correction: Contrary to what was stated in the episode, Steven Attewell was not part of the last anniversary. Sorry for the mixup.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Boiled Leather Audio Hour #42

Fire and Blood: The Third Reich
We’re traveling from Westeros to Nazi Germany in this unusual—and, to us, urgent—episode of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour. Why are we venturing so far afield from our usual topics of discussion and debate? Because we’ve always believed that A Song of Ice and Fire, like life itself, is best viewed through an unsparing ethical and historical lens. Lately, however, that lens has been clouded. In recent weeks, numerous right-wing politicians—most notably Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his supporters in the United States—have distorted and repurposed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the roots of the Holocaust to suit their preexisting positions. Astonishingly, in the day since this podcast was recorded, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed suit. We believe this to be an act of tremendous disrespect for the dead, one that also does a grave disservice to the living. Given our personal and professional interests in this pivotal epoch in history, which have shaped our interaction with ASoIaF in ways large and small, we decided to explore the era’s real lessons as best we could.

What role did privately held weaponry and paramilitary organizations actually play both in the Nazi Party’s ascent to power and the resistance against it? How should we view Europe’s failure to act in the face of Hitler’s belligerence, and Germany’s failure to capitulate in the face of certain defeat? What parallels can be drawn between the forces that fueled the war Hitler ignited and those at play in Westeros and Essos? What makes World War II different enough from other conflicts for the likes of Vietnam-era conscientious objector George R.R. Martin to say it was worth fighting? Is there such a thing as a “good war” at all? In this experiment of an episode, we try to answer those questions.
Two notes before we proceed:

1) We are deeply indebted to the work of the historians Ian Kershaw and Richard J. Evans, particularly Kershaw’s two-volume Hitler biography and Evans’s Third Reich trilogy. 

2) On a much lighter note, this episode (hopefully—with iTunes, god only knows) marks the debut of our brand new logo, created by Sean’s partner, Julia Gfrörer. We are in her debt.


Additional links:
Stefan’s blog.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 99

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 98! Our guest judge this week is Talha Naushad, a professional researcher working in the middle east. When he is not working, he is dabbling his wits in contemporary history and politics and immersing himself in all things concerning A Song of Ice and Fire. He is a member of the community at JonSnow123 at Tower of the Hand and usually lurks around various forums, blogs & podcasts engrossing himself in the theories and analysis of the ASOIAF material and show.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 98

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 98! Our guest judge this week is Rick Davids, a student of Linguistics in a German city that doesn't exist (like an uncool R'hlyeh). In his spare time he writes, reads and procrastinates. He has been a fan of ASOIAF since the early 2000's and blames GRRM for ruining his appetite for fantasy with his unmatched masterpiece.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros 100th ruling coming up!

The Supreme Court of Westeros will be going into its 100th ruling only three weeks hence, so we'd very much like to do something special. A fan request that we got often was to do a special podcast, like we did back when The Nerdstream Era celebrated the 50th issue of Stefan's Theory Hour, the precursor to the Supreme Court. And, well, that's what we're going to do. 

So, if you have any question that you want to have answered in that podcast by an esteemed panel of judges, please shoot away. You can even give in questions that we already did, because the atmosphere and the panel will be different. We will then choose totally arbitrarily from all of these questions. So, fire away!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 97

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 97! Our guest judge this week is Logan Luce, an ecological consultant and nerd. He blogs about ASoIaF, among other things, on tumblr.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Boiled Leather Audio Hour #41

The Walking Dead in Westeros

We’re comparing two of the biggest shows on television in this episode of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour. One of them is an adaptation of a popular staple of nerd culture—a genre work that had only appeared in print before—which has translated its bleak themes, wide scope, and controversial use of violence into a modern-day ratings blockbuster. The other is Game of Thrones.
That’s right—the BLAH Boys are taking on The Walking Dead, and its current spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, by contrasting the shows and their source material to Game of Thrones and "A Song of Ice and Fire". How does their treatment of violence in an unforgiving world of real and supernatural menace differ? What do the relationships between the original works by George R.R. Martin, Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard and their adaptations by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and AMC’s land of a thousand showrunners reveal about their respective ideas, ideals, aesthetics, and ethics? Which shows really deserve our moral outrage, and why? We’ll be examining all these questions and more. And one of us, at least, will be getting really freaking worked up. Enjoy!

Download Episode 41

Mirror.
Sean on the Fear the Walking Dead pilot.
Sean on the most recent Fear the Walking Dead episode.
Sean on The Walking Dead.
Stefan on The Walking Dead.
Previous episodes.
Podcast RSS feed.
iTunes page.
Sean’s blog.
Stefan’s blog.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 96

Thursday is court day! 
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
Casting Call: If you want to be a judge, please email us!
And now, up to ruling 96! Our guest judge this week is Craig, a long-time geek and ASOIAF reader, starting when ACOK came out and currently on the fourth re-read. When not drinking coffee from his Targaryen stein, or searching the web in hopes of a secret TWOW release date, he listens to Excel podcasts (and BLAH, obviously) and occasionally comments on ToTH as "Tyrion".