Cast of the Week XXII

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.

Cast of the Week III

CotW III winners

Before we get to the winners, some general notes:
• All microcasters, paid or unpaid, are eligible, except for Prospectors (see https://ykyz.com/blog/index.php/microcaster-levels/)
• To be considered for a prize, you must have proper episode titles and have set your email and avatar. Unfortunately this week we had to exclude some wonderful nominations on that basis.
• When choosing winners, we first narrow down the field by removing casts with poor audio quality or a topic that has connection to your microcast theme.

You will find all of the nominees for this period at: https://ykyz.com/f/cotwiii

Because this was an extra long period, we’ve added more winners and runner’s up than usual. We had lots of great nominations, but a handful of them really shined.

Here’s u/mattasher with descriptions of this week’s winners. We begin with the runner’s up:

EP. 32 Skincare Emergencies by Brown Skin Pearls. This tightly crafted, interesting episode introduces us to new uses for feminine wash.


Ep. 45 Side Hustle by IAmMillennial. Jonathan perfectly captures the moment many of us find ourselves in, where trends in tech and economics have led so many of us to become gig workers of one kind or another.


EP53 VR Gaming by NerdyOldGuy. Joel drew half-a-dozen responses for his personal take on virtual reality gaming and motion sickness.


Finally, a shoutout to ykyz’s own Teresa (ThatOneGirl) for her excellent four-part series A Place called Ohio).

And now, on to the winners! Because this was a longer period, we’ve picked two second prize winners.

Second prize
EP59 The right of public access by ThatbeardedSwede. Here’s another lovely slice of life episode from or favorite Swede. This episode discusses the tradition and laws related to public access on private property, including the right to pick berries and mushrooms. We also highly recommend ThatbeardedSwedes’ other nominated episodes on Fika and The Stockholm Syndrome.


Ep13.Spicy Food by staplezz1301. This episode mixes the author’s personal relationship to spice with a view of spiciness as a metaphor for Mexico in general. As staplezz1301’s asks, “What’s life without a little bit of spice”.


Grand prize
EP06 a ruler by fashionmusings. This well researched, high effort episode focuses on a fascinating intersection of fashion, politics, and history. Who knew there used to be cops wandering around South Korea armed with scissors to give hippy scofflaws an on-the-spot trim?


Congratulations to fashionmusings and all the other winners and runners up. Keep your eye out for great episodes for next week’s contest!