For the millions of people who tune in every week, keeping up with HBO’s “House of the Dragon” is a pastime. For Mallory Rubin, it’s like a professional sport.
Rubin has created two weekly podcasts about Dragons, a series of Game of Thrones prequels. For training, she watches each episode a minimum of three times and usually prepares a 7-8 page summary of her discussion. Cross-reference this show with George R.R. Martin’s original books and his eight seasons of “Thrones.” (Rubin has watched every episode of “Thrones” over a dozen times.) Many podcasts live or die on the charisma of their hosts or co-hosts. But Rubin’s show—”talk about the throne,‘ Instant Reaction Show by Chris Ryan and Joanna Robinson, and ‘R’s house‘, with Robinson, provides a more in-depth analysis — relying equally on her apparent mastery of her material.
A self-professed “huge nerd” and editor-in-chief of The Ringer, Rubin has an unquenchable passion and near-encyclopedic knowledge of many of the most popular fictional worlds of the last century. Along with Jason Concepcion, she’s a hit podcast featuring in-depth readings of her 25 movies from “Game of Thrones,” the “Star Wars” saga, the Harry Potter books, and Marvel Cinematics. He was the co-host of “Binge Mode.” Universe, among other titles.
It would be difficult to design a commentator that could better respond to this moment when growth-obsessed streaming services and movie studios are pushing audiences to the limits of franchise entertainment. In addition to the two “House of the Dragon” podcasts, Rubin and Robinson co-hosted one on Amazon’s “The Rings of Power,” based on the appendix to JRR Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” We will be launching another show about our Disney Plus podcast. “Andor” — a prequel to the first “Star Wars” trilogy prequel — later this month.
“I think there will come a point in my life when fatigue sets in. I don’t think that’s part of my experience right now,” Rubin, 36, said. rice field.
Rubin began her career as an editor and blogger for the Sports Illustrated website (she still covers soccer and baseball for The Ringer), but found a natural home in podcasts. Many listeners want a deeper engagement with news and culture. An omnibus feed that includes “Talk the Thrones” and “House of R,” Ringer Verse regularly tops her TV & Film charts on Apple Podcasts, among Ringer’s other geek culture shows. is displayed. (The Spotify-owned company does not share listener numbers.)
Explore the world of The Lord of the Rings
The literary world constructed by JRR Tolkien, now adapted into a new series on Amazon Prime Video, has inspired generations of readers and viewers.
The heyday of TV ushered in the golden age of TV podcasts. (Podcasts are probably the only media format that has grown faster than TV in recent years. Spotify is now 4.4 million podcast titles, an increase of nearly 800% from 2019. )
“This is a trend that has been steadily growing over the past few years,” said Todd Cochrane, CEO of Blubrry, a podcast hosting and analytics company. “Anything that offers an insider’s perspective or analysis seems to be very popular on shows with large or passionate fanbases.”
Many new shows are now launching with their own official podcasts. A recap of the new fan-driven series (“House of the Dragon” is dozens of subjects, HBO’s official podcast) and the old one (“West Wing“office“gilmore girls) is part book club and part of ESPN’s post-game show, engaging listeners who want to relive or extend the joy of being immersed in a beloved story.
“Not everyone is obsessed with the same show you’re obsessed with, but at the same time you’re obsessed with it,” said co-founder Josh Wigler. PostShowRecaps, which publishes over a dozen TV podcasts. “In the recap show, you can pull up your chair and hear people talk about things they can’t wait to talk about.”
In a pair of video interviews from her home office in Los Angeles, Rubin, who has a broadcaster’s constant caffeine disposition, is surrounded by various tokens from her fandom life. A Grog figurine from The Mandalorian, a replica of Thor’s hammer, and Jon Snow’s direwolf Ghost from Game of Thrones sit on a bookshelf lined with Marvel comics. was Among her most prized possessions are life-size replicas of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber and Jon Snow’s sword.
“I have a strange amount of what I can only describe as a weapon,” she said.
Rubin’s love of fantasy fiction began in another bookshelf in his childhood bedroom in Leisterstown, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Her father, an environmental policy consultant, filled her with books she hoped they would enjoy together, including Tolkien’s The Hobbit. After sucking up the ‘Lord of the Rings’ series, she later turned to the ‘Star Wars’ movies, ‘Dune’ and Harry Potter. Her mother is a former elementary school principal, she has an older sister with autism, and this story became a connecting point for her family after her parents divorced.
In high school, Rubin took a serious interest in major league baseball and discovered a knack for facts and statistics. Other fans have been impressed by her ability to recall specific grips used by pitchers and to describe the preferred strategy of 1970s Orioles manager Earl Weaver. While in college, she noticed a similar urge to analyze at the height of her Pottermania. Rubin spent hours researching her theory on online forums. muggle net When leaking cauldronAs a journalism major and aspiring baseball writer, she already felt she was chasing one unlikely dream. Her idea of her love of pop culture becoming central to her career was beyond her wildest imagination.
Rubin’s two passions first came together on the sports and pop culture website Grantland, where he joined as editor in 2013. Bill Simmons, who hired Rubin at Grantland and later brought her to The Ringer when she launched it in 2016, said he was impressed with her. By her work ethic and her enthusiasm.
“She was a 10 out of 10 when it came to the world we wanted to cover,” Simmons said. I think you are also aware.”
Joanna Robinson, Rubin’s co-host on “Talk the Thrones” and “House of R,” says Rubin’s multilingual cultural fluency is his secret weapon for recording sessions. . “When you talk to her, a ton of perfectly relevant quotes from Harry Potter, Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings roll right out of her mouth. “I was like, ‘Do you remember the whole series? How is this possible?'” she said.
Rubin’s first recap podcasting experience was in 2010 when he covered “Lost” in a weekly segment of the College Football Podcast hosted by Stewart Mandel for Sports Illustrated.she was an admirer of the writer Jeff Jensen’s in-depth summary blog Listen to “The Official Lost Podcast” (one of the first official recap podcasts) hosted by showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse on Entertainment Weekly. Like many fans, Rubin has come to regard the experience of tearing down the show with his obsessive pals as meaningful as an hour a week he sits in front of the TV. rice field.
“There was no room in my life for anyone who wanted to talk about anything other than ‘Lost,'” Rubin said.
In collaboration with musician Jenny Owen Youngs,Vampire Slayer bufferingAbout the podcast, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the show with a cult following is “a magical vehicle for building community.” , amassed approximately 180,000 listeners each month, many of whom attended live ‘Buffering’ events or donated between $2 and $10 each month to the ‘Buffering’ Patreon account.
“There was a fan who met the spouse Old “Buffy” bulletin board, or someone who grew up on the show and listened to it with kids who saw it for the first time,” Youngs said. “It was kind of like being part of a family.” (Russo and Youngs are planning a new show on “The X-Files.”)
Since “The Rings of Power” premiered in September, two weeks after “House of the Dragon” premiered, Rubin’s week was almost split in half. She typically receives screeners for “Dragon” on Wednesdays, tapes “Talk the Thrones” on Fridays, and “deep dives” into each episode of “House of R” on Tuesday mornings. Last week, until Rings of Power wrapped up its first season, she was getting screeners for Rings of Power on Tuesday afternoons and podcasting about the show on Thursdays. Although not officially working weekends, Rubin describes Saturday as the “ideal preparation day” for her sessions for recording the following week.
“We’re the Hermione couple unleashed on the TV show,” said Robinson.
Rubin said she recognizes that her favorites aren’t for everyone, and that not all hero’s journeys are created equal. And I don’t expect all listeners to get as much pleasure from her. But if they hit the play button, Strong popularity of the genre She and her colleagues will be ready and waiting.
“One of the things I love about these stories is that they are constantly being discovered and rediscovered,” Rubin said, paraphrasing a quote from the first Game of Thrones novel. Told. “Words are fixed, but perspectives change.”