The Toy Department – Episode 32

In Episode 32, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly revisit their intense golf argument from last week, but avoid falling too deeply down that hole… Instead they get in some quick hitters on:

  • The new HBO drama The Night Of (3:00) and Derek’s confidence in it compared to Kolsky’s early questions about its quality…
  • USA Network’s hotshot cyberdrama Mr. Robot (8:55) – where Kolsky has faith but Derek is developing some quality questions…
  • The upcoming Rio Olympics (17:30) – will you watch? what will you watch? why will you watch? Madden and Kolsky discuss these questions and more…
  • The only-a-few-days-away MLB trade deadline (27:15) and the appropriate philosophy for teams heading into it…
  • A brief survey of the movie and music worlds (39:40) because those venues have been ignored by this podcast for far too long – Madden and Kolsky both recommend some tunes and flicks for you before assigning some homework and hitting the road…

Oh, and if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com.

The Toy Department – Episode 31

In Episode 31, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky deliver an ACTUAL “mini” episode of The Toy Department… They dive into:

  • A brief debrief of the first half of Kolsky’s nutty Phish adventures… (2:00) Spoiler alert – he’s enjoying himself 🙂
  • KimYe v. T-Swift in the battle of whether or not Kanye actually “made that bitch famous…” (8:20) wherein we discover Madden’s deeply conflicted feelings on TayTay…
  • Is golf a sport? Madden says NO – Kolsky says YES… (15:35) And it gets heated, ladies and gentlemen…

Oh, and if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com.

The Toy Department – Episode 30

In Episode 30, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky threaten to do a “mini” episode of The Toy Department… but it was an empty threat, because after opening with a discussion of the summer doldrums, they spend about an hour talking about:

  • MLB’s Home Run Derby and All-Star game (4:15) and why it doesn’t really work as entertainment anymore… Plus a little bit of general All-Star discussion…
  • Last week’s homework assignment, which was the premiere of the new HBO drama The Night Of (17:10) and why you should be excited about the show’s future…
  • Kolsky’s obsession with the band Phish (26:00) – just HOW obsessed he is, why he is obsessed and why Madden thinks he’s pretty much just a stupid hippie for being so obsessed… Which naturally leads to a discussion of how the guys got into music early in their lives, and about showmanship in music performance…

Oh, and if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com.

The Toy Department – Episode 29

In Episode 29, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky are living in a Post-Game-of-Thrones-Season-6 World (and Kolsky is on the phone from his car) but they still manage to soldier on with a podcast discussing:

  • Kevin Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors — from where he might live in the Bay Area (1:45) to how the W’s and the league will look in the coming season (4:00) to the many haters and whiners in the aftermath of Durant’s free agency (17:05)…
  • Madden’s experience at the Adele concert (31:30) and just what it is about the “diva” singer that makes her so overwhelmingly popular…
  • Last week’s homework assignment (39:25) wherein Kolsky watched the first two episodes of the TV show Roadies so that Madden would have somebody with whom to discuss it…
  • And then of course there’s this week’s homework (49:00) which YOU should also do — watch the new HBO miniseries drama The Night Of…

Oh, and if you want to subscribe via iTunes you can just click on the link below the player… Some other links down there as well… And if you want to contact the Toy Department, it’s easy — find us at ToyDepartmentPod (at) gmail.com.