Season 9, Episode 2: The Extension – "The God in the Bowl" with Mark Finn!

Welcome back, Cromrades! We're picking up steam as we head down The Road of Revisions with our guest, Mark Finn! In this episode, which we term 'The Extension,' we tackle one of the earliest-written Conan stories, "The God in the Bowl," which didn't see publication until 1952 when it appeared in Space Science Fiction.

An illustration by Mark Schultz in The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Del Rey, 2003). 

Mark Finn is a long-standing REH and weird/pulp scholar. You may have heard of his biography, Blood and Thunder? Mark continues to blog at both 'Finn's Wake' and 'Confessions of a Reformed RPGer.' Do yourself a favor and jump over to some of his written material; it is well worth your time!

Beyond Mark's writing, we spend some time in this episode talking about the ongoing series of articles at The Black Gate entitled 'Hither Came Conan,' and discuss some of the points made by Bob Byrne in his article, 'Robert E. Howard Wrote a Police Procedural? With Conan?? Crom!!!'

Anyway, 'nuff with the jibba-jabba... Here's the One Things!

Mark: Red Dead Redemption 2

Jon and Josh: Avengers Endgame! Now showing at a theater near you :)

Luke: Fred Saberhagen's The Broken Lands / Empire of the East

NEXT TIME.... THE INSPIRATION!

Questions? Comments? Curses?
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Legal Mumbo-Jumbo
Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Themes by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. Outro is "Crawling King Snake" by The Doors. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Season 5, Episode 1: Boxing Training with Chris Gruber and Mark Finn!

Welcome back Cromrades! On today's inaugural episode of Season 5, we begin our exploration of Robert E. Howard's fight stories! On board to induct us into the cult of masculinity and the world of boxing pulps are Cromcast stalwart Mark Finn, and making his first appearance on the show, Chris Gruber! Chris serves as an editor of Skelos: The Journal of Weird Fantasy and Dark Fiction, and edited "Boxing Stories" by Bison Books which collects sixteen of Howard's boxing tales. If you're looking for a more comprehensive collection of Howard's boxing stories, you'll want to check out the four-volume Fists of Iron set published by the Robert E. Howard Foundation!

Fists at the Ice House, from Robert E. Howard Days, 2016.

Chris and Mark have been pivotal in bringing Howard's boxing stories into the limelight, and we have an excellent conversation about these stories, their place in Howard's literary canon, and why they should be as widely read and discussed as the Conan, Kull, and Solomon Kane stories.

Have you listened to Waterfront Fists yet? Find it here!

Looking to dig further into fight stories and boxing pulps? Check out The Best Boxing Stories Ever Told!

Want some insight into why fighters fight? Mark recommended On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates.

One Things
Luke: The Black Mirror Christmas Special!
Josh: Krampus, from 2015, directed by Michael Dougherty.
Mark: Shut Eye, a Hulu Original series.
Chris: Hell on Wheels!
Jon: Luke Cage, a Netflix Original series!

We also recommend Mark's podcast The Gentlemen Nerds! If you check them out, tell them The Cromcast sent you!

Also, listen to Chris Gruber's lecture "Robert E. Howard : boxing and the cult of masculinity" from June 2016 at St. John's College!


Legal Mumbo-Jumbo

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beginning theme: Sudden Defeat by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: The eponymous track from the Dropkick Murphy's album The Warrior's Code. All music was obtained legally; we hope our discussion of this content makes you want to go out and purchase the work!

Cromcast Special: Roadtrip to REH Days 2016!

We're taking a small detour from The Lost Road to visit Howard's hometown of Cross Plains, TX! Josh and Jon made the trek to Robert E. Howard Days this year and brought back some audio entertainment for you all as a souvenir. This year's festival was a special one as it coincided with the 80th anniversary of Howard's death, the 30th anniversary of Howard Days itself, and the 20th anniversary of the release of "The Whole Wide World"!

This episode will be a real treat as you get to hear from luminaries such as Bill Cavalier and Rusty Burke, long time Cromrades "Listener Gary" and EvilEd, and Cromcast stalwarts Mark Finn and Jeffrey Shanks!

So kick back, pour a stiff drink (or ladle out some barbecue) and join us for our Texas adventure! Be sure you mark your calendars for next year and get down to Cross Plains!

And now... the Texas sun bears down and the dust rises as you drive through the four-way stop in Cross Plains, and approach a small white house on the left, with a pavilion off to the side... Welcome to Howard Days!

News article covering the first Howard Day in 1986.

Left: Treasures in the Cross Plains Library! Right: A Cromcaster holding an original typescript of Sword Woman!  

The Cromcast Was Here!

Daniel Look: Math Sorcerer

 Dierk Guenther gave an excellent presentation about Howard's use of time.

"Fighting, horse racing, drinking, and other feats of hyper-masculinity..."
You haven't been to an academic symposium like this before! 

Poetry reading on Howard's  

The Pavilion: Where stories are told, friendships are made, and the whiskey flows!

It's worth the trip,  y'all. 

 Show Order

• Evyl Ed (4:35)
• Watch "Hell Comes to Frogtown" and "Yor: The Hunter From The Future".
• Gary Dowell (15:55)
• You really ought to subscribe to Far Fetched Fables!
• Kurt Amacker (28:00)
• Check out Kurt's projects at Dark Notes Press!
• Rob King (35:42)
• Spend some time with the Texas Tech University Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library! They're working to digitize the Cross Plains Review! 
• Jeb Boyt (41:52)
• The Google+ Conan RPG Community is a great place to discuss the upcoming Modiphius game!
• Bill "Indy" Cavalier and Rusty Burke (56:13)
• Are you into the idea of fanzines? Hear Bill and Rusty talk about REHUPA and the history of Robert E. Howard Days!
• Arlene Stephenson (01:26:43)
• You really should consider supporting Project Pride. They keep up the Robert E. Howard House and Museum!
• Michael Scott Myers (01:32:07)
• Pick up a copy of The Whole Wide World if you don't already have one!
• Ben Friberg (1:41:57)
• Ben uploads videos from Robert E. Howard Days to his YouTube Channel. Check them out!
• Chris Gruber (1:55:43)
• Get a copy of Robert E. Howard's Boxing Stories! Treat yo'self! 
• Mark Finn (2:01:30)
• Delve deep into the mind of Mark Finn at his blog, Finn's Wake. Also, subscribe to The Gentlemen Nerds Podcast! Quality entertainment at a reasonable price (free)!
• Jeffrey Shanks (2:11:38)
• Did you miss the Skelos Kickstarter? Fear not, you can get your copies of Skelos here!
• REH Days Wrap Up (2:30:26)

Season 4 Episode 1: Howard and Atlantis (with special guests Jeffrey Shanks, Mark Finn, and Rusty Burke!)

Welcome back, Cromrades! Do we have a doozy of an episode for you! Joining us for the first half of the episode are three huge contributors to Robert E. Howard studies and pulp scholarship, Jeffrey Shanks, Mark Finn, and Rusty Burke! These three literary barbarians are in Providence, RI attending NecronomiCon representing the Robert E. Howard Foundation! If you're there, stop by and say hello! (Also take a selfie with them and tweet it at us! We'd like to make "REH Scholar Selfies" a thing.)

Consummate professionals at work!

Rusty says get your ass over to the Robert E. Howard Foundation website and sign up for a membership! There are different pay tiers that net you various benefits, as well as the regular membership which is free! It's a great way to support REH research and history, and to get familiar with current foundation activity!

Jeffrey co-edited a book forthcoming from Rowman & Littlefield alongside Justin Everett titled The Unique Legacy of Weird Tales: The Evolution of Modern Fantasy and Horror. It's pricy, but will be a great addition to anyone's pulp research library!

Mark has been productive as well! Check out his contributions to the anthologies Barbarian Crowns, HEROIKA Vol. 1: Dragon Eaters, and Asian Pulp!

Plus, these guys are part of a dynamic team collaborating on the new CONAN RPG from Modiphius Entertainment! If you haven't looked this thing over by now, by Crom's beard, what are you waiting for?

Check out Rob P's Lovecraftian music project, Innsmouth Gold! (Many thanks for the One Thing intros!)

One Things
Jon - The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Josh - Documentary, "The Imposter"
Luke - Advanced Demonology podcast, a straight up rock 'n roll podcast - good times, no hassle!

You can get Brian Keene's barbaric new book "King of the Bastards" from Apex Publications for 50% off if you use promo code CROMCAST at checkout. We get nothing, but YOU get a deal! If you take advantage of the promo, be sure and let us know what you think of the book!

This episode was based on REH's Hyborian Age and L. Sprague de Camp's Atlantis essay. You can find his book, "Lost Continents" from Dover Press! You should also check out Jeffrey Shanks' recent essay about Howard's world building on Black Gate!

Be sure to check out the reading list for this season! Let us know what you think, and we'll see you on down the road!

Our episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Beginning theme: "Sudden Defeat" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Closing theme: "From Shores Forsaken" by Atlantean Kodex.

Questions? Comments? Curses? Email us! (thecromcast at gmail dot com)

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