Ancient Geeks

About Ancient Geeks

Two old geeks talk about being young geeks, at a turning point in popular culture. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the threads of modern geek culture emerged and wove together. Science fiction, fantasy, comics, movies, TV shows, tabletop games, computer games, ad all their incarnations. The great SF&F writers, Star Trek, Star Wars, monster movies, D&D, Doctor Who, the Marvel and DC superheroes, 2001, Planet of the Apes, conventions, Zork, Ultima...What was it like to experience these for the first time? Why did we love them? And how do we feel about them, decades later?

Publisher

Ancient Geeks

Category

fiction

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

15 Jan 2025

Latest episode

19 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

91 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Ancient Geeks episode 89: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion

   The Silmarillion was J.R.R. Tolkien's life's work. Seriously, he worked on it his entire adult life. Published posthumously, it tells the story of the first two ages of his world, focusing on the tragic history of the Elves, with a great deal of human tragedy thrown in for good measure. Plus the creation of the world, the plots of an evil god, and the further plots of his protege. It's more than a backstory to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; it's a mythopoeic saga that stands on its own. It's also a challenging read, which is why Tom tried to read a couple of times before, and failed. He succeeded in summiting The Silmarillion this time, with Steven's encouragement. Steven read it long ago, and re-read it for this episode. What are our thoughts on this unique piece of fantasy literature, from the perspective of both a first-time reader and a long-time fan? Did it add to our enjoyment of Lord of the Rings? What are the best parts of this series of interconnected tales? Does anything rival the depth and breadth of its world-building? And to whom would we recommend this book? Elves! The power of song! Elves! Treks across the world! Elves! Hubris! Elves! Who's for Melkor? Elves! Sacred trees! Elves! Defying the gods! Elves! Balrogs and orcs and spiders, oh my! Elves! It's all here. Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact someancientgeeks@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack, where we post daily. And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Ancient Geeks episode 88: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 3

   We wrap up our discussion of the pivotal second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation with our reviews of the rest of the episodes we didn't cover last week. There are some definite gems, but also some definite meh episodes, and some stinkers. But what does it mean to be a bad TNG episode? Whatever the Platonic ideal of badness is, Steven is more forgiving than Tom. Hear us put the rest of season two on the diagnostic table. Picard squared! We make things go! We reach our peak! We have people follow us around and interpret for us! We're outrageous!  We have short refractory periods! Someone's embarrassing mother visits us! If the Enterprise isn't working, just unplug it, and plug it back in again! Hey look, another super-being! It's all here. Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact someancientgeeks@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack, where we post daily. And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor

3. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Ancient Geeks episode 87: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 2

   We continue our discussion of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two by discussing some of the must-watch and should-avoid episodes. There are classics like "Q Who," "Measure Of A Man," and "The Emissary." Not only are they really good, but they established characters, adversaries, and plot elements that continued to be important for the series. And then there are the regrettable episodes, like "Up The Long Ladder" and "The Child" that make you shake your head with disbelief that they did not learn the hard lessons from season one. Both the good and bad episodes help triangulate on where ST:TNG had arrived in season 2. They also help identify what made this season important for the future success not just of the series, but also of the franchise. We'll continue discussing individual season 2 episodes next week. Battling Borg! Cantankerous Klingons! Ambiguous androids! Cringy Celts! Clumsy clones! Menacing Moriarity! Engaging emissaries! It's all here. Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact someancientgeeks@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack, where we post daily. And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.