Episodes

In this, the final episode of Chapter 9, Jen must confront a man from her past she was not expecting to see. Iorden’s civil war arrives on Bryce Riverfell’s doorstep whether he and his charges are prepared or not. And Arlene and Gwen change their course, now that Arlene’s singing has created some options for them. “The Singing Sister” is © 2014. Lyrics by Zach Glass and Christian Madera, based on a traditional English folk song. Music by Anya Gibian. We’ll be back on July 19 with the premiere ...

In this, the premiere of Book 1’s final chapter, Generals Riverfell and Traft make one last doomed attempt to reach terms before the Battle of Freehold begins in earnest. The fate of the Human Realms of Iorden hang in the balance. Fresh off their new and hard-earned revelations, the Kids take an active role in combat. But the Narrator, in a rare moment of blatant editorializing, expresses dread at having to recount what comes next. Our next episode will be coming in early August. Be sure to sub...

As they wait for the rendezvous with Ry’y lo-Th’yyt (and hopefully the fulfillment of her promise of assisatnce), Nia and Regan consider the wages of their struggles so far. But far away, in the icy seas of the south, a spurned foe plots his next move. (Spoiler: It’s Renault. That dipsh*t). There are only TWO (2!) episodes left in Book One. The next episode will be released on August 16. And be sure to like/follow/subscribe for some very exciting upcoming announcements. And check out the awesom...

As we mentioned before, we are honored to nominees for Best Podcast in the 2015 Geekie Awards. Well, the Awards are now open to a PUBLIC VOTE to determine who gets to take home a statue. If you would like to vote, just go to http://vote2015.thegeekieawards.com/ . No sign-in required or anything. It’s designed so that each voter can vote once per day per category, from now until Noon Pacific on August 31. The Geekie Awards are doing an awesome thing by increasing exposure for independently-prod...

For today’s bonus content, Christian (director, co-creator), Zach (co-writer, co-producer), Anya (Regan, Arlene, various female), Ian (Narrator, various male), Dan (Ardel, Traft, various male), Paul (Nelson, Antonin) and Lily (Gwen, Ry’y, various female) sat down with Matthew of the Audio Drama Production Podcast to talk about the highlights, challenges, and strategies that went into creating Book 1 of THE ONCE AND FUTURE NERD. Show notes are below. Awesome things the Cast & Crew are up to: T...

In this, the penultimate episode of Book 1, Julius Mooncrest mourns his nephew Antonin. But all is not what it seems with the young lord’s apparent demise. Meanwhile, at the Horse’s Head Inn, a terrible discovery threatens to cut short Gwen and Arlene’s newfound romantic bliss. And our stalwart Narrator confesses that he has run out of events with which to delay the recounting of the Battle of Freehold and its aftermath. The climactic conclusion of Book 1 is coming next. Be sure to subscribe, a...

CONTENT NOTE: The violence in this episode gets particularly graphic. Listen with care. The First Book of our Tale comes to its bloody close at the Battle of Freehold. Our deepest thanks go out to everyone who has tuned in along the way. We never would have gotten this far without you. We’ll see you again for Book 2, release date TBD. If you’re enjoying the show, please consider becoming a patron at Patreon . The more patrons we have, the easier time we’ll have getting up and running for produ...

We’re so pleased to be nominated for the 2015 AudioVerse Awards amongst an extremely wide and formidable field of contenders. We’re up for: Best Original Composition in an Original, Short-Form Production Best Audio Engineering for an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production Best Writing of an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production Best Actress with an Ensemble Role in an Original Serial Production (x4!!) Best Actor with an Ensemble Role in an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production (x6!!!) ...

Thanks so much to everyone who voted in Round 1 of the 2015 AudioVerse Awards. Thanks to you, we are now FINALISTS in EVERY CATEGORY for which we were eligible. Best Original Composition in an Original, Short-Form Production – Tom Lee Best Audio Engineering for an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production – Brian Forbes, Sam Palumbo, Christian Madera, Josh Perault, and Sandra Ramirez Best Writing of an Original, Short-Form, Serial Production – Zach Glass & Christian Madera Best Actress with an...

Hey guys! A lot of you have been writing in to say how much you miss the show and wondering when it’s coming back – and it’s really great to hear from you and to know we’re missed! The short answer is: Book 2 is coming – just not yet. We took a break after Book 1, and now we’re getting back into it. That said, making The Once And Future Nerd to the level of quality you’ve come to expect requires a big metaphorical machine with lots of moving parts, so we can’t responsibly commit to any kind of ...

We’re really excited to announce that the Special Edition of The Once And Future Nerd Book 1, is now available through Audiobooks on Tape. (They make these really cool USB flash drives that look like old cassette tapes!) The Special Edition includes: Full chapter files with credits only once per chapter for maximum bingeing (previously only available to Patreon subscribers) Bonus interviews TOAFN artwork in 4K Ultra HD, including our new map, and several never-before-seen character designs. ...

Remember the song that Arlene sang to Gwen back in Chapter 6 and again in Chapter 9? We know at least some of you do, because you wrote in to tell us how much you loved it, and to ask whether it was available as a standalone track. Well…it is now! We re-recorded it with a new arrangement and live instruments. Head over to onceandfuturenerd.bandcamp.com to purchase it for $1 (or more if you’d like to be very kind. Patreon subscribers, check your Patreon feed for a coupon code to save 50¢.) And ...

For this week’s bonus content we sat down for a chat with Justin Sloan, a prodigious Fantasy writer who has worked on and published several original novels, written for video games including Telltale Game’s Game of Thrones series, and adapted several novels for the screen. Oh and he was also a martial arts instructor in the United States Marine Corps. So yeah, it was interesting conversation. You can find Justin and links to his work here: www.JustinSloanAuthor.com www.CreativeWritingCareer.co...

Dear Fans, We’re sorry this didn’t come out sooner. We wanted to get as many of our voices on tape as possible. Full text of the statement is below: The Once And Future Nerd is an organization that stands for love and acceptance, and vehemently opposes bigotry and hatred of all forms. We believe that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. All people, regardless of race, gender, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, or any other point of identity. Many of our liste...

For today’s bonus content, Christian interviewed Stephanie Cooke of Rogue’s Portal about her latest project, a live audio drama called THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HELL. The conversation touches on how Stephanie got into audio drama, the logistics of producing a live show month after month, and her collaborative process. Follow Stephanie on Twitter for updates on all her projects. PLUS! Announcements about the future of TOAFN and a bunch of shout-outs for people who’ve gone out of their way to f...

Today we wanted to let you all know about Paul Notice (Nelson, Antonin, Smith) and his project The Notice Blog. The Notice Blog “creates work that engages, informs, and represents the world’s complexities through journalism & fictional narratives.” You can check out their website to see all the documentary shorts, interviews, live journalism, and serial fiction they’ve already done. But now through Feb. 5, they’re running a Kickstarter campaign to buy equipment and advertising so they can put o...

Today’s bonus content is the pilot episode of a new side project from our editor, Josh. It’s a D&D podcast called Taking Initiative. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did, but any feedback is welcome. If this just isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry. Taking Initiative will have its own website and feed so that this one doesn’t get bogged down with a show you didn’t sign up for. But if you’d like to hear more Taking Initiative after today, you can head over to thespark.network for all the subscr...

We are extremely pleased to announce official release dates for our next episodes (!!!) THE ONCE AND FUTURE NERD Book 2 – Myth Made Flesh Chapter 1 – “A Cruel And Sullied World” Part 1 – March 12 Part 2 – March 26 Part 3 – April 9 Part 4 – April 23 If you could all do us a favor and help spread the word between now and then, you’ll receive a) our eternal love and admiration, b) more friends to talk about the show with, and c) preference when we choose questions for our on-air, end-of-cha...

Today, we bring you yet another podcast pilot from within the TOAFN family. Greg Schulz (plays Yllowyyn) is one of the minds behind LEFT TRIGGER RIGHT TRIGGER. It’s a book club…for video games! We hope you enjoy it. If you do, make sure to subscribe to them on iTunes and follow them on Twitter. And for everyone who enjoyed the TAKING INITIATIVE pilot last time, here’s a reminder that they have a new episode out tomorrow, Monday March 6. And if you still can’t get enough D&D after that, you mi...

Today’s Bonus Content is something new we tried recording, back in late April (i.e. approximately 7000 years ago). Several of us recorded a commentary track for Book 1, Chapter 4 – “Monsters,” released all the way back in the spring of 2014. It also includes a message that we think you should hear. CONTENT NOTES for the first 8 minutes or so: police violence, racial violence, victims of hate crimes, white supremacy, and police violence. The transcript for this episode can be found here. And th...

For today’s bonus content, Anya Gibian, Zach Glass, Ian Harkins, and Christian Kelley-Madera recorded a commentary track for Book 1 Chapter 5, “The Worthiest Knight,” originally released back in 2014. ANNOUCEMENTS: This episode is sponsored by Tab for a Cause — a free browser extension that helps you raise money for charity. Join our team at tabforacause.org/toafn As always, The Once And Future Nerd is made possible by our Patrons on Patreon. This episode was a reward we promised for reaching ...