Welcome to the 22nd edition of the Cast of the Week Awards.
You can find this week’s nominees can be found at https://ykyz.com/f/cotwxxii.
There were lots of milestones hit these past couple weeks.
Lilith, of Maleficient Gaming brings in her 100th episode discussing Vader Immortal coming to PlayStation VR. Kayla, of Mental Musings, shares a side of math that most probably were not aware of in her 100th episode.
Our favorite Egyptologist, Life in Ancient Egypt rang in his 200th episode by discussing how Egyptians handled death. Asi the Voluptuous Voyager shares a poem that stands out to her in these hard times called “Do not stand at my grave and weep” by Mary Elizabeth Frye. Poegosi the Poet discusses if the site “live me” is worth using. A Brewtiful Mind lets us all know that beer slushies are a thing just in time for the hot summer weather. Just Thinking Aloud shares his plans on what he wants to do in his next 200 episodes. Lastly, MondragonMMA wants everyone to know that the first MMA gyms are opening back up!
Gem, of Fashionmusings, uses her 300th episode to share the history of why doctors wear white lab coats nowadays.
Addie, of Music and Peace, wants to celebrate on ykyz for hitting the amazing 400th episode milestone.
And finally, Kayla, aka Violaceous Curiosity, was the first user to hit the 500th episode milestone where she finally explains the meaning behind her username.
Congrats to all our milestone breakers.
And now, onto the CotWXXII winners! But first, a quick shoutout:
Shoutout to Practical Magic for bringing in a special guest to help out with her cast, Guest witch of the day.
And now, onto the winners! But first, a few honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions:
210. Being Brainwashed by Voluptuous Voyager discusses the importance of seeking knowledge on your own and not blindly following everything you are taught.
328. Thanksgiving in a Pan – Ish by SmartMoney shares some delicious recipes for quick dinner ideas, including a way to have the taste of Thanksgivings Day Dinner without all the work.
And now, on to the winners:
Bleats of the week:
Do y’all actually like coffee? by Claybro931 got a dozen ykyz’er to weigh in on this seeming eternal question and got some good recommendations for coffee alternatives.
Best/worst pick-up line WINS Starbucks gift card! by Violaceous Curiosity picks up the second bleat of the week award with a giveaway of her own for pick-up lines. Congrats to Poegosi the Poet for the win, make sure to listen to his answer.
For our regular microcast awards, we have:
Third Prize:
322. Parkinson’s Disease – Real Stories. What you Need to Know by Doctor Irish explanations what happens to one’s body as they begin to develop Parkinson’s Disease. The main focus is on highlighting how this disease affects real people in their daily lives both mentally, as well as, physically.
Runner up:
200. Death by Ancient Egypt shares all the details on what happens after a tomb is sealed and why the burial procedures were so important to the Egyptians for their journey to the afterlife.
Grand Prize:
197. Robot Bartenders: Yes or No? by A Brewtiful Mind takes home the grand prize with this timely and informative episode about using robots as bartenders to reduce human contact in alcohol delivery, which may be a feature or a bug, depending on your perspective. Also, make sure to check out Micah’s excellent episodes on Beer Slushies and Puppies on Beer cans.
Tag: doctor irish
Cast of the Week XXI
Welcome to the 21st edition of the Cast of the Week awards (Breaking out of Lockdown Edition). Got the sick of home blues? Get outside! But first, read on for a double dose of winners and important info.
You can find this week’s nominees can be found at https://ykyz.com/f/cotwxxi.
Junior Microcaster Prizes
We will be experimenting with a dedicated Junior Microcaster award and might do a summer program. This would be open to anyone 18 or younger. We hope to offer at least one prize per week in this category, and if we get enough participants, we might offer a Junior Microcaster of the summer award. This is a great way for a teen to launch a career in casting. Note that if you take a teenage caster under your wing, you are eligible for our Mentor program, and will get referral credit for anyone you bring on.
And now, on to the CotW XXI winners! But first, some shoutouts:
Shoutout to PracticalMagic for episode 73. It is OKAY to rest! and the reminder that during the pandemic, lowering expectations for what you get done may be the only way to stay sane.
Shoutout to Rebekah of the SmartMoney microcast for a solid review of pay-to-play games in episode 318. Paid to Play Apps – Worth It?
Shoutout to BorisTheBlade for touching a nerve with the title and content of his 175th microcast episode Fat is not beautiful, Adele’s weight loss and Social Justice Warrior fascists pt. 2.
Shoutout to Asi the Voluptuous Voyager for episode 191. Ramblings… and her thoughts about the goal of her cast and reaching out to others.
Shoutout to Mistress of the Microcast for fearlessly asking the question no one else dares to ask in her episode 260. What happened to the Bermuda Triangle?
A few microcasters had episode milestones recently. Shoutouts to Snippets With Sophia, Doctor Irish, and Smart Money for hitting the big 300. Whoot whoot!
And now, on to the winners! But first, a few honorable mentions:
Honorable mentions:
Poegosi The Poet for his intriguing and highly interacted with episode 195. Selling feet pics online strange ways to earn online.
Snippets With Sophia for episode 302. Food-Based Insults, an excellent overview of the many ways to label another nation based on their food preferences, from Limeys to Krouts to Butter Stinkers (who knew!)
ThatbeardedSwede for episode 262. Nordic Walking voice chat debates online! Apparently, this awkward looking activity works not just for the elderly but can be good for fitness if you swap out lightweight poles for ones that weigh as much as mid-sized chickens.
And now, and this time we really mean it, on to the winners:
Bleats of the week:
This award goes to the most listened to (non-microcast) bleat of the past week. Since two weeks have gone by, we have two winners.
Should they be allowed? by Muslim Things
and
Live now 🔴 Gaming chat at 5 pm Friday! by Maleficent Gaming
Quote of the week:
This award goes to my favorite quote taken from a microcast episode or bleat. The two winners this time are:
“It’s as if you asked me what colors I would want the walls of my apartment painted while there’s a gaping hole in the floors and also the kitchen is on fire”, by Just Thinking Aloud in episode 186. Right/Left Wing and Other Pipe Dreams.
And
“Covid. I blame Covid. The entire last three months I blame solely on Covid. I mean, don’t you?”, by jenagain in episode 87. Ready or Not, pt 1.
For our regular microcast awards, we have:
Fourth prize:
In episode 242. Street Corn by Black Girl Baker, we get a great explanation of how to debug dense cake as well as a mouth-watering description of how to make homemade Street corn.
Third prize:
In Greek mythology, the Titans were pre-Olympian gods. In episode 260. Story Time: The Titans, Astrocast By Diz tells their wild and disturbing story with a mix of drama and delightfully strange detail.
Second prize:
Addie, of Music and Peace, gets a silver star and second prize for episode 384. Give Addie A Sticker – Rough And Rowdy Controversy, for her excellent contextualization of Bob Dylan’s latest album. In this packed cast, Addie covers the questions of how to judge new work of an old artist, music in the time of pandemics, and, as the title suggests, stickers.
First prize:
A Brewtiful Mind takes top prize for episode 189. Could You Drink 101 Beers in a Week? In it, Micah tells the true tale of a former school track star who drank 101 beers in a week and ran 101 miles in that same week. Mixing self-indulgence, Covid relief (funds were raised), excess drinking, and the return to much-neglected exercise, this cast perfectly captures our current moment.
Behind the Microcast:
Starting with an easy question, What is your ykyz username?
Aspie and Proud is my username on ykyz.
What is your name in real life?
Elsa
And where are you from?
France!
Mind sharing what your occupation outside of microcasting is?
I’m a freelance graphic designer.
How did you get into microcasting?
I saw Fred’s post on a subreddit I was following and got curious. I got into podcast two years ago thanks to my wife (a few of my favorites are The Adventure Zone, My Brother, My Brother and Me, The Magnus Archives…) and thought it would be interesting to make something out of my autism.
Can you tell us what your microcast is about?
It’s about autism in general, from my Asperger perspective.
What made you want to do a microcast on that topic?
I was diagnosed when I was 25, so two years ago, and I felt immense relief when I got a name picked out for what was happening to me. Through my microcast, I want to spread a positive vision of what autism can be, as well as our challenges.
What is one of your favorite things about microcasting?
It made me feel more confident to share my story and to talk out loud! It also helps with my spoken English ahaha. Also, I really appreciate how YKYZ allowed me to know new people, new horizons.
Can you share a bit about your creative process making microcasts?
I start out by thinking of a topic to talk about, then do some research and write my episode(s).
Are you a “using scripts” type microcaster, or do you rather freestyle it?
I do! It really helps me to focus my thoughts and to be precise.
Do you use any special recording equipment to make your episodes?
I have a pretty basic setup: I use Audacity on my MacBook Pro and a set of Apple earphones. They do a pretty good job for now! Though I really want to invest in a good microphone.
If you could interview anyone for your microcast, who would it be and why?
I would choose Daniel Tammet, a British author who’s also Asperger. I love his books and my sister had the chance to meet him. I’ve always been fascinated with his writing.
If you could switch lives with another microcasters on ykyz for just one day, who would you pick and why?
I would switch with DoctorIrish! I love his microcast and would love to see what life is through his eyes.
Are there any furry friends in your life?
Two cats, rescued from the streets!
What’s your favorite food?
Pasta and my mom’s lemon chicken!
Do you have a favorite color?
Purple.
Care to share any hidden talents you may have?
I can do two things at the same time! I speak four languages!
What type of music can people find you most likely jamming out to?
Rock and roll.
Any favorite movies or shows that you like to watch in your spare time?
Whiplash by Damien Chazelle.
Lastly, what are some of your plans for the future?
Taking things one day at a time, to be honest, aha!!
Cast of the Week XIX
Welcome to the 19th Cast of the Week awards!
You can find this week’s nominees can be found at https://ykyz.com/f/cotwxix.
First, a few words from u/Mattasher for some super important information.
Site news
We are currently redoing our new user experience on the site, to improve first impressions and provide a more intuitive way for people to get up to speed with how to use ykyz and what we have to offer. We are hoping to roll out that change within the next two weeks.
Now, back to u/ThatOneGirl to announce the winners this week. But first, a shoutout:
Shoutout to Brown Skin Pearls for surpassing her 200th episode this week!
Runners up:
157. Fill your cup first… by Voluptuous Voyager
In this episode, Asi the Voluptuous Voyager shares her thoughts on some recent advice being passed along social media that, “once this trying time is over, remember who checked in on you.” Asi ends with the great quote, “You want to come with your cup full, my cup runneth over. What comes out of the cup is for you, what is in the cup is for me.” It is a powerful reminder to take care of ourselves too, not just looking in on others.
121. Voice and 145. My Content is Apparently Against YouTube’s Policies by Just Thinking Aloud
Mark has two insightful episodes this week. In the first one, he questions the real reasons why so many people have a fear of speaking up in public settings. In the second one, he explains why he chooses to use his voice on the ykyz platform instead of other well-known ones. In the end, it all comes down to the core values of ykyz being freedom of speech and not censoring its users for having and sharing their views on matters – even if they are a less popular opinion.
Bleat of the week:
Introducing yourself by gender, race, or sexuality in a public forum is detestable. by The Mini Devlow Show
In the most popular bleat last week (to, ironically, c/unpopular), Devlow shares his opinions on the trend of introducing yourself by “labels” first. In just under a minute, he explains that in most cases it shouldn’t matter what groups you identify with just to share a thought or two with the world.
Second prize:
18. Do you believe in ghosts? by PracticalMagic
Practical Magic shares her and her husband’s experience while looking at a house they were interested in buying. Their personal opinions on haunted houses, mixed with an old wives’ tale that “a ghost in a house brings wealth,” have her wondering if others believe in ghosts. She invites everyone to share their personal ghost stories with her.
First prize:
272. The Desire to Experience a “high” by Doctor Irish
Doctor Irish gets straight to the point in this episode. He wants everyone to know that people can have behavioral addictions to almost anything. A person can become so addicted to “normal day” activities that they start to experience withdrawal symptoms when they try and curb the behavior that gives them the “high” they are after.
Behind the Microcast:
We will start with some easy ones, what is your ykyz username?
My main ykyz username is DoctorIrish. However, I also have a second one that I do reviews on and it’s called ImperfectReviews.
What do people call you in your everyday life?
In my everyday life, my friends and family call me Noah.
Where are you from?
I am originally from Ireland!
What occupation do you have outside of the microcasting world?
Outside of the microcasting world, I am a Doctor.
What got you into microcastings?
While looking up information on “microsatellite” I came across the phrase “microcast”, some further investigation led me to ykyz. I saw the website was pretty new and interesting and the idea of starting a microcast about health topics, stuff a Doctor could answer seemed really appealing to me. Eventually, I got offered a contract and that motivated me to keep on doing it. Now I find it a fun side hobby and a challenge to condense all these complex health information topics into 90 seconds or less.
What is your microcast about?
I always use the phrase “anything a Doctor could answer” because it’s more than just Health and wellness. We’re taught to address every aspect of the patient, including their lives. So, I make my microcast broad and try to talk about lots of different things, not just disease and health, but things like medicine, mental health, medicine and sociology or medicine and anthropology. The possibilities are endless.
What led you to pick the topic you did?
It’s the field in my life I specialize in, that I trained in for so many years. I have a passion for it and I want to keep growing. If I learn to condense information into 90 seconds or less of course that can be helpful also. I think this topic will help me grow as a Doctor and as a person. I’ve also always had a passion for helping people learn. If someone takes information that’s relevant to them from my microcast, then I feel very humbled and happy.
What would you say your favorite thing about microcasting is?
Tough question! There’s a lot to enjoy actually. Challenging myself to fit a topic into 90 seconds is always a satisfying outcome after creating the microcast. Microcasting has taught me a lot, like how to use recording programs, how to be more articulate and speak more confidently. It’s another way to express creativity because I can choose music, the intro, content delivery style and so much more. However, my absolute favorite thing about microcasting is engaging with my community on ykyz. I’m always happy to hear from people that bleat back regarding a microcast I put up. It’s exciting and so humbling that someone would take the time to listen.
Do you have a creative process you use when making a microcast episode?
I do have a formula I follow. First, I keep in mind questions that people have asked me in real life and of course suggestions I receive on Discord and Twitter and other social media. During my day I write on a bunch of post-it notes, ideas for episodes that occur to me also, and they do come up randomly! I ask myself questions a lot. Then, I write a script with bullet points, stick to them and from experience I know how much writing is going to translate into a 90-second microcast. Next comes choosing how I will deliver the information, what kind of intro is catchy and a title that both stands out and is informative.
Do you write scripts for your microcast episodes?
90% of my microcasts are scripted. I write bullet points that help guide me to the next point and in between points although I often improvise. The script is a kind of a template for the topic.
What type of recording equipment do you use?
I use a Blue Snowball Microphone with a pop filter and Audacity is the program that I use to record my microcasts and edit them.
If you could interview anyone for your microcast, who would it be and why?
Really tough question, there are a lot of people I would love to interview, so many actors and actresses definitely because there is definitely a lot to learn about the way they see health, their role in health as a role model, just the topics are endless… I’ll put a pin in that question for now! For now, realistically I would love to interview anyone else that has a passion for health.
If you could switch loves with another microcaster on ykyz for just one day, who would you pick and why?
I have mulled this question over and there are so many. I really enjoyed switching places with AlbaoftheCultureMix and talking about Ireland. I would love to talk about other cultures as I have lived all around the world. For now, I would have to say NerdyOldGuy because I too have a passion for gaming and the idea of being immersed in the industry of gaming, getting to write about it, microcast and get excited about new projects sounds amazing.
Do you have any pets?
Just the one, pet rabbit!
What’s your favorite food or type of food?
Nothing beats a homemade cheeseburger. Maybe a chicken tikka masala with warm naan comes close though.
How about a favorite color?
Black looks good on everything!
Can you share any hidden talents with us all?
I studied music and art for years before I knew what I wanted to do. I play guitar, bass, and even the double bass! I would love to pick up another stringed instrument. As well as that, I can speak French and Irish (maybe not as fluently as in the past).
What type of music do you like listening to?
When I was younger I would have said Nirvana, Dream Theater or Led Zeppelin. But now, after studying music, my appreciation for music in virtually all its forms has made it really impossible for me to pick any one song or band. Nevermind, I pick Led Zeppelin lol.
What are some of your favorite movies or shows?
I watch the same dumb shows over and over again. I’ve watched The Office at least 15 times. I watch Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Rec, Scrubs, Father Ted and Better Call Saul on repeat too.
Lastly, what are some future plans you have that you wouldn’t mind sharing?
To keep growing the microcast, work on improving the quality and the number of episodes and topics and of course reach out to more potential listeners. I want to help grow ykyz and become more involved in it and be there to see it when it inevitably succeeds! For my professional career, I want to enter into a subspeciality of medicine and help more people.
Cast of the Week XVII
CotW XVI
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxvii
And now I’m handing things over to u/Mattasher for the winners of Cast of the Week XVII:
Shoutouts
Some shoutouts this week to the people who made our week:
Shoutout to If You Were In My Shoes for her willingness to share a well-crafted and poignant personal dilemma, with episode 5. There’s no point anymore.
Shoutout to Joanie for getting a new mic and making a contest out of it. You sound great to us!
Shoutout MondragonMMA and A Brewtiful Mind for each hitting episode 100.
Shoutout to Demi Semi Quaver Note for the awesome recitation of Walt Whitman’s city of orgies, complete with spot-on sound effects. A reminder to please make sure any poetry you post to ykyz is in the public domain, as is the case with Whitman.
Shoutout to Primal Haze for the outstanding first episode, 3 Reasons Why Microcasting Is A Great Idea. We agree with all of them! A reminder, though, to all microcasters: It’s best to fade out your intro music as you begin speaking.
And, last but not least, Shoutout to all of you for continuing to help promote the site. We’re now ranked at about 120k on Alexa, just 20k away from our April goal.
Honorable mentions
217. Sweden food, Swedish meatballs by ThatBeardedSwede
Our favorite Swede shares the history of meatballs and his own family recipe ingredients. IKEA may have spread this tradition around the world, but when it comes to meatballs, IMO there’s nothing better than homemade.
25. Let’s Eat and eat some more by Angelibean
Angelibean shares her newfound quarantine skill, eating all the snacks. She’s definitely not the only one stress eating, though apparently, some ykyz’ers are going in the opposite direction and stress fasting. Who knew that was a thing?
250. Tomatoes Indoors by SmartMoney
Turns out, a lot of us have food on the brain during quarantine. Our final honorable mention goes to Becky of SmartMoney with this perfect explanation of how to grow tomatoes inside.
CotW XVII winners
And now, on to this week’s winners!
Third Prize:
226. Raised And Cake Donuts by SnippetswithSophia
In this mouth-watering episode, Sophia explains the difference between the main types of donuts we consume. Spoiler alert, if it looks like a unicorn or a Pokémon, it’s a cake donut.
Second Prize:
42. “The talk” to save a life. by Doctor Irish
The good doctor gives straightforward advice for dealing with someone who might be suicidal. Never has an episode been so unfortunately timely, as one of the many, many un-considered side effects of extreme “social distancing” has been an all too predictable spike in depression and calls to suicide hotlines.
First Prize:
236. Animal Crossing Filipino textile outfits by fashionmusings
In this episode, Gem explores the intersection of fashion and gaming and describes how the Ayala museum is using in-game outfits to show off traditional Filipino textiles. In times when traveling abroad is virtually impossible, virtual fashion may be the very best thing to go viral right now.
Cast of the Week XIV
CotW XIII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxiv
And now, without any further ado, we present the winners of the 14th weekly CotW.
But first, some shoutouts:
Shoutout to Life in Ancient Egypt for passing 100 episodes this past week, and marking the occasion with a celebratory cast about celebrations in, you guessed it, Ancient Egypt.
Shoutout to both SmartMoney and DoctorIrish for passing the 200 episodes mark. So did NerdyOldGuy, and I’m not gonna lie, he had us in the first half of the episode.
Shoutout to Joanie for choosing to review her Annoying Spastic Eyelid. Spoiler alert: It gets a 0.
A second Shoutout to Joanie for doing a perfect imitation of a broadcaster in her episode 80. 🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
Shoutout to Clare for getting that perennially hated, but somehow never quite forgotten, Vanilla Ice hit stuck in my head with her episode 145. Ice, Ice Baby.
And now, on to the winners. But first, some honorable mentions:
50. Interview with Chris Martin of Coldplay! by BeyondRhythm
This fun, nicely spliced “interview” with Coldplay’s frontman kept us entertained for the full 90 seconds.
76. What makes you happy? by Poegosi The Poet
In times of trouble, Poegosi comforts us with this ode to drinking. There seemed to be a lot of drinking talk this week among bleaters, and not just on the Brewtiful Mind microcast.
Third Prize:
182. Kottabos – An Old Drinking Game by SnippetsWithSophia
Who knew drinking games were invented by the actual greeks, and not their modern(ish) day Animal House imitators? We just might give Kottabos a try at our next soiree, all the while keeping the appropriate social distance, of course.
Second Prize:
289. Hypothetical Musicians In Quarantine by Music and Peace
Beyond being a solid episode of musing about musicians under lockdown, Addie gives us the wonderful, and quite welcome, analogy of 2020 as a restart your computer year. Remember folks, “It’s just a little reset”. We can only hope.
Grand Prize:
193. Stockpile your VODKA! “Vodka can make Hand Sanitizer” – False by Doctor Irish
The Doctor is in with this myth-busting episode about the use of distilled spirits to kill the evil spirits on your hands, otherwise, know as germs. Bottom line, unless your Vodka is actually moonshine, you may want to splash it down your throat instead of rubbing it between your palms.
Thanks again to everyone who was part of our week at ykyz, and don’t forget to follow us on twitter @YKYZHaveYouSay and like our Facebook page.
Cast of the Week XII
CotW XII
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwxii
Here are the winners of Cast of the Week XII.
But first, some shoutouts:
Shoutout to our newest members of the 100 club: Andrew Steiner of Steinerland and Brian Thornsburg of Ranting and Raving. Put on your monogrammed green jackets, light up a cigar, and welcome to our exclusive club.
Shoutout to Sophia for spicing up our first week of March Madness with several episodes about the strange human custom of intentionally consuming things that burn our mouths.
Shoutout to Joel for finding a way to make a cast even more micro with his Bleat March Madness – The Micromicrocast. Unfortunately, I had to listen twice to realize the feeling of micro-deja-vu was well earned.
Shoutout to Kayla aka Violaceous Curiosity for jumping hard into March Madness with some well-done swaps.
Before we get to the winners, here are the honorable mentions for this past week.
15. Pumped Up Kicks by BeyondRhythm
He gives us the background on Foster for the People’s wonderfully cheerful song about teen angst with an imaginary(?) body count. Props to Cyannade for ending this episode the best possible way, with that maddeningly catchy whistling.
38. Earn online with the right chair by Poegosi The Poet
Microcasts call for micro topics, and Poegosi gets that right in this lovely little episode about finding just the right chair to keep you comfy, but not so comfy that you drift off. For my own part, I recommend adding a recliner to your office to give yourself a dedicated napping chair.
And now, on to the winners:
Runner-up:
124. To my wife by Aspie and Proud.
Elsa penned, then pronounced and posted this perfectly lovely ode to her partner. Well done and well within the spirit of March Madness experimentation.
Grand prize:
159. Use Headphones for this exercise by Doctor Irish
The good doctor picks up the top prize with this audio experiment, complete with show notes in an informative reply. We also strongly recommend listening to episode 160. Try this -Ambient Sound- Story Time an Audio Experience. Which uses background noises to great effect.
You may have noticed that we only gave out two prizes this week, yet we promised three during this month. In a moment of mixing things up ourselves, we’ve decided to give at least one prize next week to a swap cast, and offer a bounty to both the swapper and the swappe for double-dipping fun. Stay tuned to ykyz and don’t forget to get weird this March while you still can, it’s back to gray jackets and Cisco’s hold music next month.
Cast of the Week XI
CotW XI
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwx
Before we get to this week’s winners, we have some shoutouts to microcasters who made our week great.
Shoutout all seven microcasters who entered the 100 episode club this week. I’m talking about you Black Girl Baker, Dancing Bartender, Aspie and Proud, Astrocast by Diz, Plant Based Podcast, Voluptuous Voyager, and last but not least, xXxDisturbedOnexXx
We’re sending a second Shoutout to the Voluptuous Voyager for her episode 97. Be the bigger person? which is not only good but experiments with a delayed intro. While certainly not an approach that works all the time or for all microcasts, it worked well here and we encourage you to try out new things, especially this month (did we mention it was March Madness on ykyz?)
Shoutout as well to all of you who have offered to help out generally with promoting ykyz, we’ll be counting on your efforts to take ykyz up to 11.
Honorable mentions
Before we get to the prize winners, here are the honorable mentions for this week.
30. Steelman-ing by Just Thinking Aloud
Mark provides us with a concise, well thought out description of this important technique in arguing, which involves making the strongest possible case for your opponent before you begin to attack it.
145. You Should Never do this. The Stigmas in Health by Doctor Irish
In this episode, the good doctor gives us an important reminder to distinguish between the patient and the condition, and not stigmatize people by identifying them with their disease. I’d also highly recommend listening to the Doc’s episode 20. 600 Dollars on microtransactions on his Imperfect Reviews microcast, a warning tale for anyone who lets the little ones access an app store, intentionally or otherwise.
80. I Was A Communist by SteinerLand
Andrew tells us his first two words when growing up on the Kibbutz, an institution which is on the ropes in large part because people move away from them in search of Andrew’s third word.
Winners:
Just for March Madness, we’re adding a third prize level.
Third place:
12. Paranoid Android by BeyondRhythm
This well-crafted episode by Cyannade tells the story behind one of my favorite Radiohead songs. Rich in detail, and bookended by a couple of nicely appropriate sonic touches, BeyondRythm picks up our inaugural third place with an entry that’s well worth the 90 second listen.
Runner up:
22. Disneyland is Too Expensive by The Broken Down Starship
James clearly touched a nerve with his discussion of the high cost of Disneyland. Mixing news, official explanations, and a personal take, this excellent episode expertly lays out a lament shared by all too many parents.
Grand prize:
145. Chili Bricks – Just Add Water by SnippetsWithSophia
With her signature mix of perfectly recorded episodes, quirky history, and heaping spoonfuls of information, Sophia once again puts the spice in our bowls and takes home top prize in this week’s microcast cook-off. Who knew the freeze-dried bags of beef stroganoff campers carry today can trace their lineage back over a hundred years to bricks of dried beef, fat, salt, and chilis. Either way, it beats lembas bread.
Thanks to everyone who took part in CotW XI, talk to you soon on ykyz!
Cast of the Week IX
CotW IX
You’ll find all the nominees for this week at https://ykyz.com/c/na?faveOf=cotwIX
u/mattasher writes:
And now, without further ado, we present the winners of Cast of the Week IX.
But first, some shoutouts:
Shoutout to SnippetsWithSophia for joining the 100 club this week with her fascinating episode Rum And The British Navy
Shoutout to Clare for booting up a second microcast about African Food.
Shoutout to Doctor Irish for adopting an emoji for us on twitter. We wish there were a lovely Ram emoji out there, but sadly that’s not the case.
Another Shoutout to Doctor Irish for his touching and moving series on forgiveness.
Shoutout to @ndrewSteiner for becoming ykyz’s first user to offer Tarot readings, though I suspect his interpretations are mostly fake news.
And now, on to the winners. But first, some honorable mentions:
85. Wishing on a Star by Astrocast By Diz
Making the most of her 90 seconds, Diz takes us on a tour of some of the many cultures that have prayed to the stars and ends with her own heavenly experience wishing on a star.
16. Unreliable Eyewitness Testimony by Crime Research Perch
Sridevi begins a deep dive into why you can’t always believe your eyes in this intriguing episode.
189. Album In Review – Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles
by Music and Peace
If nothing else, Addie’s album review episode is worth a listen for her two perfectly timed chipmunk interludes.
50. BEST Valentine’s Day date idea by MarassleTassle
Sonic never lets his friends down, and neither does Marassle in this VD recommendation for the pairing of a movie and mozzarella sticks.
140. Movie Myths – Wizard of Oz by The Broken Down Starship
James dissects one of the most persistent movie legends of all time, the hanging midget of oz. This well-researched episode reveals what’s really moving in the background of that infamous scene.
And now, on to the winners:
Second place:
71. Millennium – is Lisbeth Asperger? by Aspie and Proud
Aspie and Proud’s interesting meditation on whether the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo girl is on the spectrum takes the runner-up spot this week. Elsa’s thoughtful episode makes me want to re-read Stieg Larsson’s disturbing thriller.
Grand prize:
7. My Cat Peach by Joanie Reviews Stuff
In this quick-moving and packed episode, Joanie takes on the task of reviewing (drum roll please), her cat. Lively, well-paced, and funny to the point of actual LOL, this episode rates a five out of five, just like Peach. This is the first spin-off microcast episode to win a prize. We also highly recommend you check out Joanie’s other reviews, especially her takes on Metal Straws, Textbooks, and her Boyfriend’s Snoring.