Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff

Episode 713: Yanking Beards and Stealing Money

The Gaming Hut Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues with a breakdown on finding stuff. In Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else, Ken chats with political scientist James Fielder, who researches the politics of game worlds. At the siren behest of beloved Patreon backer Shinanoki, the Monster Hut reveals the dangerous side of nymphs. Finally the Eliptony Hut recounts the alarming tale of rampaging 18th century Hungarian vampire Michal Kasparek. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running. Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic. Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws. In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit. The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.

Episode 712: Old Tornado Hand

His head still spinning from the whirl of Gen Con 2026, Ken issues a Travel Advisory covering its news and scuttlebutt. The Gaming Hut’s Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues with tips and tricks for scene setting. With the ongoing Merryshire Detective Club Backerkit campaign in mind, the Food Hut asks which items go in first breakfast and which in second. Finally, at the behest of beloved Patreon backer Dave from Washington, the Consulting Occultist profiles Satanist, psychological warfare practitioner and Bronze Star recipient Michael Aquino. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running. Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic. Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws. In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit. The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.

Episode 711: Supervising Sub-Eviscerator

The Gaming Hut’s Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues with the handoff, the moment when the players deal with the scenario’s initial choices. In the Horror Hut we enter a hazy borderland, attempting to pin down the distinction between liminal and reality horror. How to Write Good asks when, if ever, one should use the word seems. Finally we sidle up to Ken’s Time Machine to learn which historical icons figured out that Ken was a visitor from the future. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running. Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic. Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws. In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit. The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.

Episode 710: USS Self-Awareness

Our Hamlet’s GM Screen series continues in the Gaming Hut with a look at the prelude sequence in an adventure where the PCs poke around time shopping and bartering. Keeping us in mind of the upcoming Nations and Cannons: Dark and Bloody Ground Kickstarter, the History Hut tells the tale of river pirate James Rivington. Beloved colleague Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan enters the cozy confines of Ken and/or Robin Talk to Someone Else for a chat about his new GUMSHOE game Merryshire Detective Club, now on Backerkit. Finally the Eliptony Hut wonders what’s up with alleged psychohistorian Jiang Xueqin, who successfully predicted that people would call him the Chinese Nostradamus. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running. Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic. Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws. In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit. The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.

Episode 709: From Sling to King

We open in the Preamble Hut for an important announcement. This year, along with the rest of the Pelgrane Press crew, we will be attending Tabletop Scotland in Edinburgh. The show runs from September 4 to 6; we’ll both be there with a live show. Note that we will not be at Dragonmeet in November as we have been for so many years. Tabletop Scotland is your chance to see us in the UK in 2026. Our series inspired by Robin’s new book Hamlet’s GM Screen continues in the Gaming Hut with a look the beats of scenario premises. The Archaeology Hut finds unexpected answers to the question: how did Elgin get his marbles? The Stock Character Hut undergoes a journey from innocence to experience as we examine the Kid. Wrapping up, the Consulting Occultist looks at the occult side of Renaissance polymath and automaton builder Athanasius Kircher. Want to pose a question to the show? Get your priority question asking access with your support for the KARTAS Patreon! Our Patreon-backed Letterboxd list of all films mentioned on the show is now up and running. Also check out the Goodreads list of books mentioned on the show. Snag Ken and Robin merchandise at TeePublic. Big news from mission control! If you missed out the first time, don’t panic. The wait is over: the CatStronauts board game is finally back in stock at Atlas Games! The first printing disappeared at lightspeed! Don’t let this reprint of CatStronauts slip through your claws. In a hole in the ground… they found a body! Solve this mystery and more in the most adorable, yet murdery, GUMSHOE game yet, Merryshire Detective Club. Fantasy mystery master Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan brings you all the clues and crumpets your tiny frame can handle in the ultimate game of halfling sleuthing, crowdfunding soon on Backerkit. The play The King in Yellow has haunted imaginations like a dirge since its first appearance in 1895. Now ask it to predict the future and run your life with Arc Dream’s King in Yellow tarot deck. Daniel Harms and John Scott Tynes, famous clairvoyants, divined the forms and portents of this Carcosan deck. Painter Kurt Komoda, in a fevered fugue of inspiration, reproduced designs thought long lost. Add it now to your accursed Arc Dream shopping cart. Sign up to be notified of the upcoming crowdfunding campaign for The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground at YourDadWillLoveThis.com. Download a free copy of the Nations & Cannons core rules using code KENROBIN.