Slice of SciFi
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| Hosting | Michael R. Mennenga Brian Brown Summer Brooks Sam Roberts Tim Adamec Bret Filipek |
|---|---|
| Updates | Weekly |
| Genre | SciFi Newscast |
| Website | Slice of SciFi |
Slice of SciFi is a podcast and website and part of the FarPoint Media Network that looks into the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. It was the winner of the "Top Rated Podcast Award" at the Podcast Awards in 2005 .
The show was also honored with the prestigious Parsec Award for Best News Podcast in 2008.
Started in early 2005 as a response to the reaction of Star Trek fans over the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, the Slice of Sci-Fi Podcast has grown to encompass a broader range of topics. Hosts Michael R. Mennenga, Summer Brooks, Brian Brown, Tim Adamec, Sam Roberts, and Bret Filipek try to make their podcast both fun and informative, two characteristics they feel have not been brought together in other efforts.
The hosts of the show have interviewed such people as Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Fillion, Manny Coto, Claudia Black, Walter Koenig, Wil Wheaton, Bruce Campbell, Ted V. Mikels, Dean Haglund, Chase Masterson, Peter Mayhew, Lake Bell, Peter S. Beagle, Jim Butcher, Amanda Tapping, Michael Stackpole and more.
Slice of Sci-Fi is also heard each week on XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, as well as several cell phone networks across the globe.
Slice of Sci-Fi has been announced Site of the week by SCI FI Weekly on November 22, 2006 and the AMC Site of the Week in March 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
[edit] Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga is a host of the show, its Engineering Chief at the DracoVista Studios in Arizona and a published author of fantasy novels who began writing in the late 1980s. In 1996 he turned his attention to writing for the Internet. In 1998 he joined a developing writing community and was soon asked to become part of the staff. He has received recognition from Writer's Digest and Forbes Publishing for his first book, Zac and the Valley of the Dragons. His next book, Mistress of the Dragon, was released in 2001. Mennenga followed that in 2002 with The Valley of the Dragons: Dragon's Fire and Wizard's Flame, which was re-released as Dragon's Fire, Wizard's Flame in 2003.
He is a member of The Arizona Authors Association and Toastmasters International.
[edit] Summer Brooks
Summer Brooks is one of the co-hosts of the Slice of SciFi show. She is also co-producer and is responsible for booking guest appearances.
She is an avid reader and writer of sci-fi and fantasy with a few publishing credits to her name, and she desires to write and produce a TV series or miniseries that leaves a mark on people. She also co-hosts The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas, which is a podcast the specializes in reviewing older scifi books and TV shows, focusing on how they have held up over the years.
Brooks spent many years as a computer specialist for Unix servers for various large corporations, and competing in amateur full contact kickboxing. She is now a licensed massage therapist with her own private practice.
[edit] Brian Brown
Brian Brown began with the Farpoint Media family of podcasters as a recurring co-host and reviewer for The Dragon Page Cover 2 Cover podcast. He started becoming a regular on Michael and Evo's Wingin' It! starting on episode #86. He also was guest and then became co-host for The Kick-Ass Mystic Ninja podcast after Joe Murphy became ill.
Brian has been a regular voice on Slice of SciFi since show #90 and the Slice voice mail show from show #87. He took over co-hosting duties after Evo Terra left the show. Brian now can be heard every week lending his insights, ideas and vast array of voice impressions to the news stories and interviews done on the show.
In addition to his Slice of SciFi duties Brian has expanded voice acting skills to a wide variety of projects including audio dramas, other podcasts and many voice projects needing his talents.
[edit] Tim Adamec
Tim Adamec joined the Farpoint Media family as a reviewer for The Dragon Page Cover 2 Cover podcast. He soon became a frequent voice, known for his snarky and sarcastic comments starting on Michael and Evo's Wingin' It! at show #89, Slice voice mail show #88 and the Slice of Sci-Fi main show later.
Tim continues to contribute his particular brand of snark each week on Slice of SciFi. As a side note, his father has a PhD in Curmudgeon.
[edit] Michael Hickerson
Michael worked as a journalist for Slice of SciFi and eventually earned the title of Assistant Editor, before taking on the Director's position in November 2008.
Michael is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in journalism. He’s had a wide and varied career that has included stops as a sports writer/editor, tech supporting, running a software distribution company and delivering live golf scores and data. He also currently works for the state of Tennessee.
[edit] The Slice of Sci-Fi News Team
Like all successful news and entertainment venues there are a whole team of people behind the scenes responsible for that success. Slice of Sci-Fi has a news team scattered all over the globe from the UK to Canada and the U.S. to Germany. Several staff field reporters and journalists contribute stories each week to the show and the website. Fans also participate and are encouraged to do so by sending in stories and updates to the news director.
[edit] Former Cast
[edit] Joe Murphy
Joe Murphy was a reviewer on the show. He studied computer science and education for the hearing impaired and had his MA in Audiology from Western Illinois University. Murphy first reviewed Lisa Lee and Tee Morris's Morevi on the Dragonpage's forum and soon became the "official" book reviewer for the Dragon Page podcast. Later he co-hosted the Kick-Ass Mystic Ninjas show with Summer Brooks. He also frequently appeared on the Wingin' It podcast.
Joe was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer. in late 2006; he died on April 1, 2007.
[edit] Evo Terra
Evo Terra was an original co-host of the show. He is co-writer of the Podcasting For Dummies manual, co-creator of Podiobooks.com and co-creator of The Dragon Page Cover to Cover and Wingin' It podcasts. Evo served as co-host of Slice of SciFi up through show 111.
[edit] Samuel K. Sloan
A veteran of radio broadcasting, Samuel K. Sloan was a co-producer for Slice of SciFi and the Executive News Director for the show's parent company, Farpoint Media.
An alum of George Washington University, Sam has spent the last four decades writing spiritual self-help articles and political blogs. He also has over twenty years experience in writing news and radio script and hosted his own talk-teaching radio program in Pennsylvania between 1995 through 1998.
Sam was responsible for managing, editing and producing the news for the Slice of SciFi Website and the FarPoint Media company webpage and writing the show's scripts for each week's Sirius/XM Satellite radio and internet podcasting program.
Sam went into full retirement on November 11, 2011 after serving as news director from the inception of Slice of SciFi and 3 years as a news consultant.
[edit] Nina Hofmann
Nina Hofmann was the Webmaster of the Slice of SciFi, and several other Farpoint Media website. She is a civil engineer and software developer from Bavaria, Germany. She spends her workdays designing and specifying software applications.
Hofmann had joined the team upon request and was responsible for the entire look of the Slice of Sci-Fi Website and was lovingly referred to as the "Web-Queen" during her tenure with the company.
[edit] "Krazy Joe" Fiore
"Krazy Joe" Fiore joined the cast of Slice of Sci-Fi in October 2007 after moving to Phoenix from the Philadelphia area. Prior to that, he had been a regular caller to the voicemail show. Krazy Joe was known for his love of bad movies, and his catchphrase, "I'm gonna punch him in the junk!". He also frequently appeared on the Wingin' It podcast, and is currently the host of the MegaPodzilla podcast.
In September 2008, Krazy Joe moved back to his hometown of Springfield, PA. He still continues to call the voicemail show.
Despite no longer being in-studio, Krazy Joe continues to make his presence felt on the show through his periodic "Punched in the Junk" segment.
[edit] Show Elements
While the exact structure will vary from episode to episode, each show generally contains the following elements:
- News - a sample of science fiction and fantasy related news stories not posted on the Slice of Scifi website.
- TV Talk - Discussion science fiction shows currently running on television.
- Junk Punch by Krazy Joe - Krazy Joe's mighty fist of justice targets those in Hollywood who make bad decisions.
- Movie Talk - Discussion of recent and soon to be released theatrical sci-fi and fantasy movies.
- Interview - The hosts will conduct an interview with a personality from the world of science fiction/fantasy movies and television.
- Slice of Trivia Segment - a sampling of snippets from scifi and other related genre flicks designed to stump the show's hosts as they try to guess the name or source of the trivia clip.
- Podcast Endorsements - Break segments where other Farpoint Media podcasts are promoted.
- Future Talk - Tidbits of information on what's coming up down the road in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy universe.
- Website News Teasers - short headlines from news stories on the Slice of SciFi Website not covered on the radio/podcast show, designed to increase traffic to the show's webpage.
