Join four friends in reading through the epic Wheel of Time fantasy novels by Robert Jordan and watching Amazon’s new Wheel of Time TV series. Every week, listen along as WOTCast hosts Caleb Wimble, Dan Kutinsky, Keeley Frank, and Nick Wicks examine these sprawling stories, characters, themes, and their social relevance today.
Episodes
Monday Dec 13, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 41-45
Monday Dec 13, 2021
Monday Dec 13, 2021
United at last, the party prepares to flee Caemlyn as an army of trollocs and fades bear down upon the city. Moiraine is able to reverse the effect of the dagger’s curse in Mat, but only temporarily; the evil which spreads in him could soon infect the entire world.
And that’s not our only world-ending threat! Turns out the Dark One is just about ready to break free of his prison if the Dragon Reborn doesn’t rush to the Eye of the World before our Big Bad can claim its power. Two problems with that: first, the Eye of the World is very, very far away. Second, we still don’t know which of our ta’veren will be the Dragon.
So it looks like everyone—Loial included—will need to travel together outside time and space through the ancient and extremely cursed Ways.
NEXT TIME: Episode 6 of The Wheel of Time and Chapters 46-53 of The Eye of the World (end of book)
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Wednesday Dec 08, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 36-40 and The Wheel of Time: Episode 5
Wednesday Dec 08, 2021
Wednesday Dec 08, 2021
While Mat lies dying of doom-laden dagger disease, Rand explores the great city of Caemlyn and meets a colorful cast of characters. Loial the "hotheaded" "young" ogier full of lore, Elayne the daughter-heir of Andor, Elaida the Red, and Queen Morgase herself, just to name a few. Elsewhere, Nynaeve, Lan, and Moiraine launch a daring rescue of Perrin and Egwene from the Whitecloaks. Is our party about to be reunited at last?
Meanwhile, in TV land, forlorn warder Stepin copes with the loss of his bonded Kerene Sedai. Neither of whom are in The Eye of the World, but we presume there's a good reason we're spending one of this season's eight episodes on this subplot! We're just not sure what it is yet.
Nynaeve navigates her first taste of White Tower politics, from which she vows to protect Mat and Rand when they are finally reunited. Alas, poor Egwene and Perrin—captured by Whitecloaks for reasons unclear—have no such protector of their own...or do they?
Content warnings: discussion of torture, suicide, and gore
NEXT TIME: Chapters 41-45 of The Eye of the World and Episode 6 of The Wheel of Time
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Monday Nov 29, 2021
The Wheel of Time: Episodes 3-4
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Friend of the show Nicholas Wicks joins Caleb and Keeley this Thanksgiving weekend to talk the latest two episodes of The Wheel of Time. And we are hot to talk about the big changes brought to the source material by Episode 3: "A Place of Safety" and Episode 4: "The Dragon Reborn"!
Nynaeve rejoins the fray, Moiraine confronts the self-proclaimed Dragon Logain, Perrin and Egwene learn the story behind the Tuatha'an's Way of the Leaf, and Thom leads an increasingly disturbed Mat and Rand on the run for their lives.
No book talk this episode! We'll resume our regularly scheduled The Eye of the World chapters next time when we're all back from holiday travel.
Content warnings: suicide, child murder
NEXT TIME: Chapters 36-40 of The Eye of the World and Episode 5 of The Wheel of Time
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Friday Nov 26, 2021
The Wheel of Time: Episodes 1-2 and The Eye of the World: Chapters 31-35
Friday Nov 26, 2021
Friday Nov 26, 2021
After decades of waiting and failures to launch, THE WHEEL OF TIME adapted series has premiered, with the first batch of episodes live on Amazon Prime! But was it worth the wait? We watch the first two episodes to find out.
Meanwhile on the page, Rand and Mat's perilous journey to Caemlyn continues in chapters 31-35 of The Eye of the World. Darkfriend after darkfriend hunts for them as Rand grows more desperate and Mat spirals into paranoia. Will the great city of Caemlyn offer safety? Or is yet another trap laid along their path by the Dark One and his agents?
ALSO: another bonus episode is live on the White Tower podcast feed for our Tar Valon tier patrons! Head over to our Patreon now to subscribe and hear Part Two of our DUNE discussion.
NEXT TIME: Chapters 36-40 of The Eye of the World and Episodes 3-4 of The Wheel of Time
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 26-30
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Wednesday Nov 17, 2021
Things go from bad to worse for our Two Rivers teens in chapters 26-30 of The Eye of the World. Nynaeve intensifies her search for her charges, Moiraine once again makes harsh choices, and Thom stays behind to proverbially HOLD THE DOOR so that Mat and Rand can escape the Myrddraal. Swarms of the Dark One's beast servants descend on Perrin and Egwene, and after a temporary reprieve they face a more dangerous foe yet in the Lord Captain of the Whitecloaks.
Besides all this adventure, we chat about the resonances of these chapters with Homer's Odyssey and puzzle over some of this novel's allusions to Arthurian legend. What's Jordan up to here, exactly?
We also announce the arrival of our first bonus episode on the secret White Tower podcast feed available only to our Tar Valon tier patrons! Head over to our Patreon now to subscribe and hear our DUNE: Part One bonusode, with Part Two to follow next week on The White Tower.
Content warnings: discussions of gruesome animal violence, bondage, and torture.
NEXT TIME: Chapters 31-35 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 21-25
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
Thursday Nov 11, 2021
In chapters 21-25 of The Eye of the World, we meet the traveling Tuatha'an—also called Tinkers—and discuss the significance of their pacifist Way of the Leaf in a world full of monstrous aggressors. Do the "Lost" children become the Lost because of their, as Keeley puts it, insatiable lust for human blood that can never be satisfied except at the point of a blade? We ask the hard questions here.
Some of us near the end of our patience for the Two Rivers teens and start to wonder where Jordan might be going with these wool-headed shenanigans. Luckily we see some light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to wolf dreams.
NEXT TIME: Chapters 26-30 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 16-20
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Chapters 16-20 of The Eye of the World take us out of Baerlon's frying pan into the fire of Shadar Logoth—a dead city of tempter ghosts and grasping, all-devouring mists. We discuss our enjoyment of these action- and horror-packed chapters...but also our mounting frustration with the three stooges Rand, Mat, and Perrin as they continue to flout common sense and wizardly warnings in favor of messing around with obviously cursed catacombs at midnight.
We also take a detour into the gender politics of the Two Rivers and an interesting factoid about Robert Jordan's relationship with his fictional women. Questions are raised, as are eyebrows.
Content warnings: brief reference to nonconsensual bondage.
NEXT TIME: Chapters 21-25 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Wednesday Oct 27, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 11-15
Wednesday Oct 27, 2021
Wednesday Oct 27, 2021
This week in Chapters 11-15 of The Eye of the World, we meet our new frenemies the Whitecloaks, learn more about the danger of the "Dragon" Logain, and find out just how far Moiraine Sedai is willing to go to keep her charges away from the Dark One.
Before that, we discuss Zach Baron's comprehensive GQ exposé on the Wheel of Time TV series production. We also chat about Netflix's hit new dystopian series Squid Game and the short sci-fi story "The Dynasty of Lilith" by Andrew Milne.
Content warnings: discussions of mass shootings and gendered violence.
NEXT TIME: Chapters 16-20 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net | Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast | Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Monday Oct 11, 2021
The Eye of the World: Chapters 6-10
Monday Oct 11, 2021
Monday Oct 11, 2021
This week, the action begins! We dive into Chapters 6-10 of The Eye of the World to find the idyllic country life of our Two Rivers crew plunged into violence and chaos. Secrets are revealed, desperate bargains are struck, and our protagonists make decisions that will change the course of their lives. Amidst this all we find some surprising moments of humor. We share our excitement for the direction the plot seems to be going, and we speculate where all these grand reveals might be taking us.
But first, we talk about the other media we've been taking in lately (you can skip ahead to 27:00 to get right to the Wheel of Time talk). Catie shares her viewing experience with Y: The Last Man, a post-apocalyptic show about a plague which wipes out a whole sex, and which may have more to do with WOT than you might guess. Dan is damning with faint praise about the musical series Smash, Caleb is pleasantly surprised by a Matrix trilogy rewatch, and Keeley brings three charming new graphic novels to the table. We even talk Game of Thrones and our various levels of enthusiasm for the new House of the Dragon prequel spin-off trailer
NEXT TIME: Chapters 11-15 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank (@keeley_reads)
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net
Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast
Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast
Sunday Oct 03, 2021
The Eye of the World: Prologue and Chapters 1-5
Sunday Oct 03, 2021
Sunday Oct 03, 2021
Welcome to WOTCast's inaugural episode! Caleb, Catie, Dan, and Keeley dive head-first into the sprawling fantasy world of Robert Jordan's first Wheel of Time novel, The Eye of the World.
Join us as we introduce ourselves, a brief history of the series, and the upcoming Amazon adaptation. Then get a close look at the Prologue and Chapters 1-5 of The Eye of the World. We talk about epic worldbuilding in the shadow of Tolkien, the meaning of all this religious symbolism, our thoughts on the (many, many) characters we're introduced to in these chapters, and more!
NEXT TIME: Chapters 6-10 of The Eye of the World
Hosted and produced by Caleb Wimble (@calebwimble)
Featuring Catie Jarvis (catiejarvis.com), Dan Kutinsky (@panzydan), and Keeley Frank
Support the show and access special bonus content at: patreon.com/wotcast
Send questions, comments, and corrections to: contact@wotcast.net
Website: wotcast.net
Twitter: @WOTCastPodcast
Facebook: @WOTCastPodcast