With No Time To Die set to open, the James Bonding podcast returns after nearly two years

Plus, Kesha stars in the dreamy, druggy Electric Easy from QCODE

By Marnie Shure, morgan mcnaught, Dan Jakes, Jose Nateras  |  October 4, 2021 | 5:00pm

Aux Features Podcast

Screenshot: Apple Podcasts

Electric Easy
Verse 5: Nirvana

Good news, stoners: QCODE Media has a new scripted neo-noir detective story starring Kesha and Chloe Bailey as sexy singing robots à la Blade Runner. The story is sort of a Romeo-and-Juliet scenario between Vector the robot and a lovable gang member, Lucky, who has a vendetta against the electrics. Electric Easy understands the assignment and delivers a crispy, kitschy podcast that dabbles in the world of poetry and spoken word (plus robot cats). Wear your best headphones, because the audio is sexy and lush, effortlessly enhancing this bonkers world. (There is no way you aren’t supposed to be lifted while listening.) Each episode is framed as a verse—think of it like a ’90s mixtape of story-telling. “Verse 5: Nirvana” is the part in the song where it slows down and holds you before picking back up again. Vector and Lucky are on the run, taking mind-altering drugs and having sex (scored to something that somehow sounds exactly like fucking on Molly would sound). It’s hard to pull off this level of horny and tender in an audioplay, but Electric Easy rides the space between feelings like glitter on the mattress. [Morgan McNaught]

James Bonding
No Time To Die Is Nigh

One of the perks inherent to the podcasting medium is that creators can simply dust off a long-dormant feed in order to release a limited run of fresh episodes out of the blue. Such was the case for James Bonding this week: listeners were gifted a pleasant surprise notification blip on Matt Gourley and Matt Mira’s Bond-franchise breakdown series for the first time in more than 18 months. Before diving into their specific hopes for Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007, the friends and cohosts compare parenthood notes, including Gourley’s dilemma of whether or not to attend the No Time To Die Los Angeles premiere within hours of his daughter’s anticipated birth, and Mira’s son’s newfound enthusiasm for rampaging elaborate Lego sets. There’s something deeply soothing about the Matts’ voices and the general tenor of the show, which takes its Bond fandom just seriously enough without losing sight of how silly it all is. It seems like Bond needs constant encouragement to be Bond these days, and while the hosts disagree on how interesting that predicament is, they firmly agree on one thing: The Broccoli estate will (hopefully) hold firm on no 007 streaming TV shows. [Dan Jakes]

The Calls Are Coming From Inside The Podcast
Go to a Kinko’s! (Oculus with Rachel Perzynski/Mirror, Mirror with G.G. Graham)

While there are about a dozen horror movie podcasts for every classic horror film, The Calls Are Coming From Inside The Podcast tackles the popular genre from a more personalized angle: Host Kevin Sparrow invites guests to talk about how a specific horror movie impacted them, in an attempt to examine “what horror feels like.” In this episode, Sparrow is joined by Rachel Perzynski to discuss Oculus (2014), the first scary movie that Perzynski, being generally horror-averse, ever saw. Sparrow is skilled at peering beyond the obvious adrenaline rush that these films generate, examining the personal context of the guest’s viewing experience to try to understand how it moved them. For example, Sparrow asks Perzynski about her headspace prior to entering the movie theater, the different metaphors within the movie, and how those metaphors reflect and resonate within her as a viewer. Each episode also provides a second film recommendation, in order to see if its scares stir the same emotions as the first. [Jose Nateras]