I love GWC. And when I say “I love GWC,” I mean everything and everybody connected to it, in addition to everything the podcast, site, and its citizenry have exposed me to over the years.
GWC came to my attention via the venerable Rolling Stone magazine, of all places, during season 2. BSG Mania was becoming a thing, and the magazine ran a brief spotlight on some new kind of thing called a podcast, which it called “the NPR of BSG.” I had missed season 1, but the buzz was impossible to ignore for season 2. So I tuned in and quickly became obsessed, in a way I hadn’t been with a TV show in awhile. Maybe ever. So when I learned there was a talk show dedicated to my new-favorite program, I was in.
At that point, I had heard of podcasts, but I hadn’t checked any out. I downloaded a couple episodes, burned them onto CDs, and dropped them into my car for my next half-hour drive. Before I played the first one, as I was putting the CD in, I got a full-on adrenaline rush from my gut, like I was on the precipice of something new and exciting. GWC did not disappoint. The first couple episodes featured call-in guest Very Jerry (?) and Audra’s “Here in CIC” BSG song. I’m a lifelong glutton for media, music, TV, radio, movies, comics, etc. But this podcast thing impressed me as a bold, potent frontier that was as compelling as any other kind of media outlet out there.
(And that was a correct impression. Late-night talk shows seem positively ridiculous to me now, how they offer 5, maybe 10 minutes of chit-chat with a celebrity, when shows like Nerdist get icons to open up for anywhere from 60 minutes to four hours! But still, no matter how far podcasting has come, GWC remains an all-time favorite. It’s hosts and regulars were 99.99% civilian, but with knowledge on par with any professional pundit.)
Obviously, GWC didn’t invent podcasting or internetz forumming, but it represented the best aspects of social media before “social media” was a thing. (And, sadly, the rise of social media has drained away the forum traffic…)
The show kept me company during a couple long years, when I’d wake up at 3 am and drive to work in the darkness. As episodes became longer, when I faced a two-hour drive for a holiday weekend, I came to embrace any opportunity to sit and soak in the sci-fi talk. When I first started listening, our first child was a few months old, and putting her to sleep was never easy. I spent a lot of time driving her around to lull her into unconsciousness. And having GWC to listen to made many of countless drives far more enjoyable.
BSG was — is — enthralling, and it just needed to be parsed, mulled over, and discussed. At that point, we were living in a new state, I was working weird hours, and for the other non-Battlestar 167 hours of the week, I didn’t have anyone to talk about the show with. Audra, Chuck, and Sean filled that void. And, over time so did the growing legion of callers and posters. I wish I could recall every single favorite call-in moment, but there were so many, I lost track. Week after week, someone always made me think about my favorite show in a new way.
And as the show’s list of topics expanded, the conversation only grew better. I loved moments like Starbuccanneer/KLucassm calling in to draw parallels between Roslin’s latest political imbroglio and an obscure episode in US presidential history. And it was always great to hear callers who would reference some obscure cultural product I loved. Or people like GalaxyRising/Julie, whose voicemails contained phrases like, “And I just happened to have a sonic screwdriver with me, so…” And folks from all over the world, such as the long-absent GalaxyRanger. If I start naming great people I’ve met (or never actually met, but kinda know) via GWC, I’ll be here all day, and I’ll still forget some names…
Anyway, it was always nice to pour a morning coffee, log in, and see a series of posts updated minutes ago. GWCers are cool, thoughtful people. And most people aren’t thoughtful.
When the GWC website grew from a comments section to a Forum, I groaned, because did the world need another website full of snarky nerds snarking at each other? In the past, shows like Buffy had prompted me to check out a message board or two. And… well, you know what typical forums are like. But BSG, again, was the kind of show that required some interactive discourse. So I logged on and hastily chose the throwaway handle “dxf.” If I had any idea how much time I’d have spent on the boards, I’d have picked a better name. At the time, posting online was completely uncharacteristic for me. But with my head full of BSG and GWC, it seemed necessary. And it was.
Y’all know the rest. GWC grew and grew, until it wasn’t just a podcast, and it wasn’t just a forum, and it wasn’t just an online community. I think it turned a corner when Armando — who was one of the site’s hyperarticulate, bright people whose posts I enjoyed — was in a bad situation. His young daughter was going through some tough times, and Armando just needed some positive energy from anyone who was willing to send some his way. As a fellow new parent, I didn’t envy his position. And I understood how significant it was that someone would think to post such a personal call on a science fiction website. For me, that’s the moment GWC was no longer just a podcast & forum; that’s the point when it became a real community. He wasn’t the last person that GWC was able to offer some kind words & support when they needed it.
Let’s face it: Even when you have great people in your world, life can be lonely, whether you’re driving or work, or you’re stuck at a computer all day, or you’re the only person you know who’s fixated on an hourlong genre cable drama. It’s important to have people who get your references, who appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
Over the years, those of us who were lucky enough to call in and make it to the meetups —
Aside: I wish I’d gone to more meetups, but life gets in the way. In 2011, at the last minute, I decided to scrap my plans for the weekend, buy a ticket, and go to the meetup. After spending a day figuring the logistics and finances, I looked at the calendar and noticed my wife was going out of town. And I couldn’t go. That sucked.
— were literally welcomed into Chuck & Audra’s home, both online and in real life. They were gracious hosts, and while I certainly can’t claim I was close with the Crüe, I do know they were hellaciously busy during GWC’s biggest years. They easily could have skipped weeks or recorded one long session a month and broke it into four parts. But they didn’t. They kept the long podcasts coming, fresh, week after week after week, regardless of holidays, regardless of how complicated & busy their personal lives were.
Along the way, mostly with help from other people who generously shared their talents, I was able to make a meager contribution or two:
I loved Chuck & Audra’s initial GWC “poundy drums” music, and somehow got it into my head that it should have techno remix. Musician and swell guy Joe Minadeo kindly remixed and extended the theme in several iterations, including what became the permanent outtra music. He also composed the original music for the GWC Christmas episodes, which belong on a Hollywood soundtrack somewhere. Minadeo is a great guy — this point bears repeating — and a helluva musician, whose body of work includes a THX trailer, documentary scores, hip-hop, commercial music, and endless instrumental music that I can listen to on infinite repeat (his Low in the Sky project is my favorite). If you need some music, look his way.
DJ Cable — an electronic artist of some note with the group goth-ish Encoder — kindly composed the “new hotness” techno theme that eventually became GWC’s intro music.
Of course — or maybe not “of course,” since it always warrants a mention — Minadeo and Cable’s valuable contributions pale in comparison to regulars whom we seldom saw or heard. Juan and his tech skills made so much of GWC possible, not to mention the Crüe’s unfailing commitment to quality. GWC led me to other podcasts, and I can’t tell you how many podcasts from big names and bigger outlets disappointed me in many ways, from insubstantial content to unlistenable sound quality. In my mind, GWC absolutely set the bar for professionalism in podcasting.
And as the fourm boss, Solai is the invisible pillar who made so much of our online interaction possible…
…not to mention the other moderators who valiantly wield the banhammer, keeping GWC an oasis that remains free from trolls, spam, and the other ills that make online life such a wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Over the years, I recommended GWC to more than a few people. Some liked it. Few if any embraced it the way we have. But that’s OK. It just reinforces my impression that GWC is a special place, and GWCers are special people, and it’s not for everybody, and that’s OK.
I could still go on & on, but let’s leave it there. GWC — all of you — thank you being part of the community, and simply for being you. You’re an important part of this, whoever you are.
As Chuck said every week: “Our mission: enjoy new science-fiction, fantasy, and other cool stuff every week, and share the experience with you — oh yeah, and have some fun in the process.”
Mission accomplished.
Peace,
dxf
