Tag Archives: Derek Madden

The Toy Department – Episode 35

  By toyAdmin | August 19, 2016 - 5:53 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 35, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with Madden’s impending death via Metallica (you’ll see) before getting into:

  • The idea of a single band or artist (like the aforementioned Metallica) transcending their genre to the point that they fully represent it (3:15)… And whether the genre of “rock” has faded to the point where it needs a representative artist (11:00)…
  • Movies!! Madden went and saw Sausage Party (17:00)… while Kolsky went to the drive-in (20:15) and checked out Suicide Squad (21:10) and Bad Moms (26:15)…
  • The HBO Show Vice Principals (29:30), which has kicked things up a gear and gotten Madden engaged…
  • The new Netflix show The Get Down (33:30), which neither Madden nor Kolsky have watched yet… But they discuss the show’s creator, Baz Luhrmann, and assign the pilot to each other for homework…
  • More Netflix with a final breakdown of this season of Orange is the New Black (38:30)… No spoilers in this text, but there ARE spoilers in the discussion so BEWARE!!
  • HBO’s The Night Of (50:11) and its latest episode, which may have raised some questions about the truth and the background of the main character…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! 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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 34

  By toyAdmin | August 10, 2016 - 11:22 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 34, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with a recounting and reviewing of their weekend at Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco, and then discuss:

  • Netflix’s new show Stranger Things (14:30) and the guys’ differing opinions on the experience… and a little compare/contrast with the other big summer show, HBO’s The Night Of…
  • The latest episode of USA’s Mr. Robot (29:10) and how the show seemed to maybe, possibly figure some things out about itself in last week’s episode…
  • The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio (44:00), with some discussion of the TV ratings and NBC’s broadcast choices as well as the viewing interests of Madden and Kolsky… which somehow develops into a US Women’s Soccer debate (56:00)…
  • And while they’re on the soccer subject, a little bit of an English Premier League preview (1:01:40), by which we mean Kolsky asks Madden how to properly watch the EPL and gets scolded for choosing Chelsea as his team…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! 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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 33

  By toyAdmin | August 4, 2016 - 7:15 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 33, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky briefly celebrate each other and their partnership before diving RIGHT in to discuss:

  • Madden’s trip to Lollapalooza, Madden & Kolsky’s impending meeting at SF’s Outside Lands, and some of the general issues at and around music festivals in general (2:00)…
  • A series of TV topics – from HBO’s new comedy Vice Principals (17:45) to the problems that Peak TV presents for the consumer (24:25) [which includes a couple minutes on Stranger Things at 27:25] to some thoughts on Roadies (35:35)…
  • Jason Bourne, the latest installment in the Bourne series of films (43:00), and Kolsky’s frustration with the current state of the action movie, and movies in general…

By the way, if you like this podcast, TELL A FRIEND!! 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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 32

  By toyAdmin | July 28, 2016 - 12:37 am | Uncategorized
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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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 31

  By toyAdmin | July 20, 2016 - 10:53 pm | Uncategorized
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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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 30

  By toyAdmin | July 13, 2016 - 10:36 pm | Uncategorized
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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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 29

  By toyAdmin | July 6, 2016 - 10:10 pm | Uncategorized
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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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 28

  By toyAdmin | June 29, 2016 - 7:52 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 28, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open the podcast with a brief discussion about podcast listenership, then branch out to cover the very latest in:

  • Game of Thrones (2:20) where they break down the season finale (including small but heroic women doing WORK) and do a bit of looking forward to what’s next for our friends in Westeros…
  • International soccer (29:00) including Lionel Messi’s assertion that he intends to retire and a quick look at Euro 2016…
  • Madden’s Drake quandary – his girlfriend wants Drake tickets for her birthday, but Madden is disgusted with him… What does a man do in this situation??? (49:55)
  • A quick couple of TV-show-watching homework assignments for the future (57:40)…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 27

  By toyAdmin | June 22, 2016 - 7:54 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 27, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with a quick NBA finals recap/react before some deep dives into the very latest in non-essential topics:

  • Sunday’s penultimate episode of Game of Thrones Season 6 (6:15) which, with its battle scenes and intriguing interpersonal interaction, was much more up Madden’s alley than the previous episode…
  • Team USA Men’s Soccer (24:35) and their ugly loss to top-ranked Argentina in the Copa America semifinal, plus some general discussion of the team’s future prospects…
  • ESPN’s OJ Simpson docu-series (53:55) and just how wonderful a job that it did in placing the remarkable OJ story in context…

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.

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The Toy Department – Episode 26

  By toyAdmin | June 15, 2016 - 7:24 pm | Uncategorized
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In Episode 26, Derek Madden and Matt Kolsky open with a brief digression (is that a thing? Can you open with a digression?) about a new HOT TAKE SPORTS TELEVISION SHOW before diving deep into:

  • Game of Thrones, wherein Kolsky and Madden come to virtual blows over the direction of the series (2:05 – SPOILER ALERT by 2:30 or so)… The guys discuss Derek’s distaste for a lack of realism in certain parts of the story, and project towards the next couple episodes…
  • The NBA Finals (34:00), including the suspension of Draymond Green, the baiting behavior of LeBron James, and where the series goes from here…
  • A short look ahead with some potential homework for next week (48:50)…

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.

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