The EscapeGoat Podcast

David Faggiani

A discussion podcast about most things, flaws and all. Gruntled. Misleading, but not wrong. Hosted (usually) by David Faggiani. Now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Released fortnightly on Sundays.

  1. 05/07/2025

    Episode 69 - The EscapeGoat Podcast 5th Anniversary Specials (pt 3)

    The celebration concludes! With a final set of chats about favourite television episodes. First up, we welcome back my brother Matt, with his formative memories of Jackass (Season 2, Episode 6 'Slingshot' from 2001). Next up we have Cat, returning to teach me the good word about the finale of much-loved sitcom The Good Place (Season 4, Episodes 13 & 14, 'Whenever You're Ready' from 2020). Then we have John, bringing the sunshine and illuminating the Christmas Special of The Morecambe and Wise Show from 1977. Finally, Olivia tells me about an imaginative and adorable bottle-episode of The Powerpuff Girls (Season 2, Episode 10a, 'The Powerpuff Girls Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever' from 2000) - and she allows me to then cap things off by rabbiting-on about a classic, operatically-satisfying Bugs Bunny cartoon 'Long-Haired Hare' from 1949. Phew. So much fun - and thanks so much to all the guests, and listeners! We'll be back.... 0.00 Matt on Jackass 0.53 Cat on The Good Place 2.03 John on The Morecambe And Wise Show 3.10 Olivia on The Powerpuff Girls 3.40 David on Bugs Bunny You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Matt and Mike can be found on Spotify (and other streaming platforms) with their regular co-hosted movie analysis and interview show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus' - Matt has previously appeared on several episodes of this show - including our episodes on The Batman, Count Duckula, and Time Bandits. Check them out! Cat works in TV editing in Los Angeles, and was the co-host of the now-concluded The Anime Movie Podcast.  John has been watching and talking about television comedy since people repeatedly started singing the theme tune to 1980s sitcom Dear John at him. He has also been on quite a few episodes of the show now - including a fab conversation about two very different 90s sitcom endings. And all of 'And Ninthly..' of course. Olivia appeared on the show quite a while ago, on episode 4 of the show, where we discussed South Park and episode 13, where we chatted about Pokemon and Monster in my Pocket. Check them out. Olivia is also the author of Brutalist Plants. Olivia can be reached on X on @olivia_broome or on Instagram via @oliviaxbroome. And I... I do this. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

    4h 12m
  2. 04/18/2025

    Episode 69 - The EscapeGoat Podcast 5th Anniversary Specials (pt 2)

    The celebration of the Goat continues! In this episode, Isobel gloriously adapts the brief, and talks to me about the work of one of her favourite authors, the hilarious Jason Pargin (AKA David Wong), author of books including John Dies At The End and If This Book Exists, You're In The Wrong Universe. Following that, Jonny pops up to introduce me to a creative, award-winning (and memeable) episode of Community (Season 3, Episode 4 'Remedial Chaos Theory' from 2011). Shame I only had him for about 10 minutes, but I think you'll get the gist. Finally, James makes a spellbinding return to sing the praises of the iconic Buffy The Vampire Slayer spectacular (Season 6, Episode 7 'Once More With Feeling' from 2001) - and hopefully, we're not just going through the motions. Part 3 coming soon... 0.00 Isobel on Jason Pargin 0.51 Jonny on Community 1.37 James on Buffy You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Isobel has previously appeared on episodes of the show, discussing aspects of the Star Trek franchise, the movie Happiness, and the band System Of A Down. You can find her on BlueSky. Jonny Kiehlmann is a politics, maths, book and climbing nerd based in Aberdeen and London. He is on BlueSky as well. He was previously on the show  chatting with me about Alan Moore's Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow and the endings of superhero stories in general, and discussing the remarkable abomination The Flash (2023, Alan Smithee). James podcasts at Pex Lives, about Doctor Who, Bob Dylan, western movies and whatever else he pleases. He also co-hosts the marvellous Pop Could Never Save Us (check it out!) and his Springsteen project (with Kit) We Learned More From a Three Minute Record. He, too, can be got primarily via jamesmurphy.bsky.social on Bluesky. This is his fifth appearance on this show - for example, last year, he was on (with Kit Power) talking about seminal British gangster film The Long Good Friday. Listen to that here. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

    2h 26m
  3. 03/30/2025

    Episode 69 - The EscapeGoat Podcast 5th Anniversary Specials (pt 1)

    Happy 5th Anniversary to The EscapeGoat Podcast! And to mark it, we're doing a run of special episodes bringing back guests from all stages of the show's lifespan, talking (mostly) about some of their favourite episodes of television!  This first installment is a dinosaur sandwich on cowboy bread (so to speak). First, we feature Nannina talking about the much-loved Firefly (Episode 11, "Jaynestown" from 2002). Secondly, Dru brings me an all-time double bill with The Jim Henson Hour episode "Living With Dinosaurs" from 1989) and Primal (Season 1 Episode 7 "Plague of Madness" from 2020). Kit closes this part with thoughts on on Deadwood (Season 3, Episode 5 "A Two-Headed Beast" from 2006) which is watched once, never forgotten. Enjoy! And look out for more of these in the weeks to come. And, as I say in my intro, so much love to all guests, listeners and boosters. Thank you. Long Live The Goat! 0.00 Intro 0.05 Nannina on Firefly 0.51 Dru on Living With Dinosaurs/Primal 1.51 Kit on Deadwood You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Nannina is a screenwriter, who procrastinates at writing by going down deep research wormholes into alternate dimensions. She supports her writing habit by making coffee, and can be found on Twitter and Bluesky via @NanninaGilder talking about early women filmmakers. Dru (our animation expert) previously appeared on our episodes about Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Road Runner cartoons and Count Duckula. Highly recommended. Kit Power lives in Milton Keynes and writes horror and dark crime fiction, with occasional forays into dystopian science fiction. His fiction work includes a novel, 'GodBomb!', and a novella collection 'Breaking Point', two short story collections ('A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power' and 'Voices') and novellas 'The Finite' and 'A Song For The End'. He also writes non-fiction (https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/my-life-in-horror.html with Volume 1 and 2 also available in book format) and has a limited hardback available on the subject of Ken Russell's movie Tommy. In his increasingly inaccurately labelled spare time, he podcasts - on his own show, Watching Robocop With Kit Power, on What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? with George Lea - and, as mentioned in the show, he has recently launched the new podcast series The Ultimate Horror Anthology with fellow horror author Jasper Bark. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit www.patreon.com/kitpower. He has also been on seven (!) previous episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy in turn, the Stephen King short story collections Skeleton Crew and Nightmares and Dreamscapes, his essay collection My Life In Horror Volume II, the classic British gangster movie The Long Good Friday, and the South Park tie-in album Chef Aid. Check them out! Also get him on Bluesky. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

    3h 3m
  4. 12/31/2024

    Episode 68 - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

    Happy New Year! And here, for your unhinged pleasure, is me and returning guest Kit Power discussing our highlights of the 1993 Stephen King short story anthology Nightmares and Dreamscapes. For over (checks notes) 5 hours. An all-time record. Yikes. Vital timestamps below. ENJOY! And we'll be back with more later in the the year! 0.00 - Penguin/Joker 0.26 - N&D/the Intro  1.03 - Dolan's Cadillac 1.43 - Popsy 2.15 - The Doctor's Case 2.49 - Crouch End 3.20 - The End Of The Whole Mess 3.51 - It Grows On You 4.31 - My Pretty Pony You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Kit Power lives in Milton Keynes and writes horror and dark crime fiction, with occasional forays into dystopian science fiction. His fiction work includes a novel, 'GodBomb!', and a novella collection 'Breaking Point', two short story collections ('A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power' and 'Voices') and novellas 'The Finite' and 'A Song For The End'. He also writes non-fiction (https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/my-life-in-horror.html with Volume 1 and 2 also available in book format) and has a limited hardback available on the subject of Ken Russell's movie Tommy. In his increasingly inaccurately labelled spare time, he podcasts - on his own show, Watching Robocop With Kit Power, on What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? with George Lea - and, as mentioned in the show, he has recently launched the new podcast series The Ultimate Horror Anthology with fellow horror author Jasper Bark. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit www.patreon.com/kitpower. He has also been on seven (!) previous episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy in turn, the Stephen King short story collection Skeleton Crew, his essay collection My Life In Horror Volume II, the classic British gangster movie The Long Good Friday, and the South Park tie-in album Chef Aid. Check them out! Also get him on Bluesky. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Will add to these early in the New Year - ran out of time before my NYE party :D

    5h 14m
  5. 10/17/2024

    Episode 67 - Return of the Jedi

    Join me for our final episode of Series 5 in which Matt and Patrick gather with me to discuss the classic Star Wars movie (and shared personal treasure) Return of the Jedi (1983, Richard Marquand). Brace yourself for Sith, Walkers, Ewoks and Harrison Ford impressions! Yub Nub! The EscapeGoat Podcast will revenge... I mean, return..... 0.00 Intro 0.08 Star Wars in general 0.53 Return of the Jedi You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Matt and Mike can be found on Spotify (and other streaming platforms) with their regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus' - Matt has previously appeared on several episodes of this show - including our episodes on The Batman, Count Duckula, and Time Bandits. Check them out! Patrick was on the show in 2023, talking about the start of the Ncuti Gatwa era of Doctor Who - listen to that here! And you can find his videogame photography Insta account here. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert. NOTES Here is the 2017 Elizabeth Sandifer essay on Return of the Jedi that I reference in the episode. Well worth a read, as is her other stuff on Star Wars. I have now seen both the scene from the Obi Wan show that Patrick describes... and also the 'Mouth of Sauron' one from Return of the King Matt and Patrick both admire. Can confirm: both are, indeed, good. You can see them on YouTube, of course, as you can the original 1983 trailer we use, and many, many brilliant Carrie Fisher interviews. I had the great experience of doing a podcast hosted by Patrick before, discussing fandom culture in general, and it was a good time! Listen to that one here. And all credit to DJ2FLY, for our outro. Rousing stuff. Here it is.

    2h 10m
  6. 10/04/2024

    Episode 66 - South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut/The Chef Aid Album

    On the penultimate episode of Series 5, we bring Kit back onto the show, to discuss two exemplars from the early years of South Park (Comedy Central, 1997-present). After a bit of chat about Kit's new horror short story podcast, we firstly delve into the movie South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999) - and how our thoughts on it in 2024 might differ from our teenage ones. We then have a discussion of Isaac Hayes, his relationship with the show, and, specifically, the end of said relationship, leading to the infamous episode The Return of Chef. In the second half, we set out on a gloriously enjoyable track-by-track journey through the better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be tie-in album Chef Aid (1998) - which, amongst many things, turns into an extended clebration of Hayes the man, the myth and the legend. We hope you enjoy it! Way back in 2020, me, Matt and Olivia talked about South Park Season 5 (2001) at some length - you can listen to that here. 0.00 Intro 0.05 The Ultimate Horror Anthology 0.31 South Park in general 0.46 South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut 1.38 Isaac Hayes and his departure from South Park 1.52 The Chef Aid Album: tracks 1-10 2.49 The Chef Aid Album: tracks 11-21 3.45 Closing thoughts You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! Kit Power lives in Milton Keynes and writes horror and dark crime fiction, with occasional forays into dystopian science fiction. His fiction work includes a novel, 'GodBomb!', and a novella collection 'Breaking Point', two short story collections ('A Warning About Your Future Enslavement That You Will Dismiss As A Collection Of Short Fiction And Essays By Kit Power' and 'Voices') and novellas 'The Finite' and 'A Song For The End'. He also writes non-fiction (https://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/my-life-in-horror.html with Volume 1 and 2 also available in book format) and has a limited hardback available on the subject of Ken Russell's movie Tommy. In his increasingly inaccurately labelled spare time, he podcasts - on his own show, Watching Robocop With Kit Power, on What The Hell Is Wrong With Us? with George Lea - and, as mentioned in the show, he has recently launched the new podcast series The Ultimate Horror Anthology with fellow horror author Jasper Bark. For weekly early access to his fiction, non-fiction, and podcasting work, visit www.patreon.com/kitpower. He has also been on six (!) previous episodes of The EscapeGoat Podcast, discussing each part of the original UK House of Cards Trilogy in turn, the Stephen King short story collection Skeleton Crew, his essay collection My Life In Horror Volume II, and the classic British gangster movie The Long Good Friday. Check them out! Also get him on Twitter and Bluesky. NOTES Chef Aid is on Spotify! Which is very cool. So much I could include here, but....here is the Glastonbury performance (from 2002) of Hayes performing Chocolate Salty Balls. Fantastic. And my brother Matt interviewing the superbly entertaining Toddy Walters (voice actor on much early South Park - and voice actor AND animator wrangler on the movie) can be listened to here. Also... here is Chef Aid: Behind The Menu (as mentioned in the episode, narrated by John Lydon!) and featuring several of the artists from the album. And here's a Pitchfork piece from 2010 where they talk to Matt Stone about South Park and music, including working with Perry Farrell, and a Chef Aid retrospective in 2022 from Matt Mills at Metal Hammer.

    3h 53m
  7. 07/27/2024

    Episode 65 - Red Dwarf VII

    We're back with a few more! James Murphy returns, to have a terrific chat about an influential, interesting but most-definitely flawed piece of media for both of us - that is, the seventh series of the sci-fi/comedy/drama show Red Dwarf (BBC, 1997). We cover Lister, Rimmer (and his departure!), The Cat, Kryten and his neuroses, Holly and, of course, Kochanski. Also, fan fiction, addiction, paradoxical assassinations and unlikely heroism. Gum? 0.00 Intro/preamble 0.12 Red Dwarf and our backgrounds with it 1.03 Red Dwarf VII in more detail You can find the show on X at @EGoat_pod (or post at me on @D_Faggiani - I'm on Bluesky too) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All our episodes so far are on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts. Do spread the word! We also have a Patreon - any amount of money will get you early access to episodes, and help support the show! James podcasts at Pex Lives, about Doctor Who, Bob Dylan, western movies and whatever else he pleases. He also co-hosts the marvellous Pop Could Never Save Us (check it out!) and his Springsteen project (with Kit) We Learned More From a Three Minute Record. He can be got primarily via jamesmurphy.bsky.social on Bluesky these days. This is his fourth appearance on this show - earlier this year, he was on (with Kit Power) talking about seminal British gangster film The Long Good Friday. Listen to that here. NOTES So, as mentioned in the episode, James had a great chat about the first Red Dwarf novel (by 'Grant Naylor') a few years ago, as part of the great I Don't Speak German podcast. Get that here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/02M7UaahntiYO92ROT7d2h?si=TOi4Gq4yT6G-PLVcw_qMfg Currently on YouTube, for those interested in Red Dwarf VII, is the ridiculously detailed documentary the production team and cast put together for the DVD release! Actually pretty fascinating. And you can get it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17LvjqKHqi0&t=2235s

    1h 48m

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About

A discussion podcast about most things, flaws and all. Gruntled. Misleading, but not wrong. Hosted (usually) by David Faggiani. Now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Released fortnightly on Sundays.